Hinged push button cluster
AssigneeDelco Electronics Corporation
InventorsEdgar Glenn Hassler, Kerry J. Kline
Life of this patent
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Abstract
For economy of molding and ease of assembly to a control panel, a one-piece cluster of push buttons arrayed in two rows includes hinges coupling groups of buttons. Each hinge is located at the intersection of four buttons and includes an arm extending from a corner of each button in a group. Each arm extends transverse to the plane of the cluster, and the four adjacent arms join to form an arch. Each arm is long and thin enough to be quite flexible for permitting each button to operate independently of the others.
Claims7
A push button cluster for an electrical control comprising:
- a one-piece molding containing at least four buttons in a two row planar array such that a corner of each button is adjacent to corners of three other buttons to define at least one intersection;
- the molding including a hinge at each intersection for joining corners of four adjacent buttons;
- and
- the hinge including an am extending from each button transverse to the plane of the array and joining the arms of the other buttons, wherein each arm is sufficiently thin and long to afford the requisite flexibility.
A push button control panel comprising:
- a trim plate having a two row array of openings for push buttons;
- a one-piece molding of buttons assembled to the trim plate with a button in each opening;
- the molding including an arched hinge at each intersection of four adjacent buttons for joining corners of said four adjacent buttons;
- and
- the trim plate having walls around each opening for guiding the buttons during push button operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.