US 4,383,144 AGranted

Pushbutton switch

AssigneeTschudin & Heid AG

InventorMarkus Kleeb

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Abstract

A pushbutton switch has a plunger guide housing in which a plunger is displaceably guided and on which control elements are detachably mounted on different sides of the plunger axis. Each control element is pushed onto a guide extending parallel to the direction of motion of the plunger and is held by a locking bolt which is rotatably mounted in the plunger guide housing. In each control element housing is mounted a spring-loaded actuator for displacement transverse to the direction of motion of the plunger, so that it can be moved by pressing the plunger from a rest position into a working position. This design has the effect that the forces produced primarily by the return springs of the actuators and transmitted over the actuators in their working position, do not exert a great force on the plunger extending parallel to the direction of motion of the plunger.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A pushbutton switch comprising:

a plunger guide housing having at least one guideway extending in a selected direction along a side of said plunger guide housing;
a plunger displaceable in said plunger guide housing parallel to said selected direction, said plunger having a knob adjacent one end thereof;
at least one switch element having a switch element housing and at least one movable actuator engageable by said plunger to move said actuator with displacement of said plunger from a first position to a second position for switching said switch element, said switch element housing having a portion which is slidably engaged with said guideway in said selected direction and shaped so as to preclude any relative motion of said switch element housing and said plunger guide housing in any direction transverse to said selected direction;
a locking element rotatably mounted to said plunger guide housing on an end thereof remote from said knob and about an axis which is parallel to said selected direction, said locking element being rotatable between a release position disengaged with said switch element housing to permit displacement of said switch element housing with respect to said plunger guide housing in said selected direction and a holding position engaged with the surface of said switch element housing facing away from said knob for preventing motion of said switch element housing at least in a direction away from said knob;
and
a restoring spring engaged with said at least actuator to bias said actuator towards said first direction thereof.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.