Pushbutton switch

A pushbutton switch comprising:

• a body including a barrel with longitudinally extending internal splines and ways between the splines;
• a plunger longitudinally movable in the barrel and including radially extending lugs in the ways;
• a ratchet coaxial with the plunger, having radially extending dogs which fit into the ways and including a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth;
• a fixed electrical terminal member;
• a rotatable electrical contact member connected to the ratchet for making or breaking contact with the fixed electrical terminal;
• and
• a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth on the plunger for engagement with camming teeth on the ratchet, the plunger teeth each having an apex offset from a centerline of the tooth for advancing the ratchet a sufficient distance that electrical contact between the fixed electrical terminal member and the rotatable electrical contact member is made substantially simultaneously with a tactile and/or auditory signal from the switch as the plunger advances toward the ratchet.

A pushbutton switch comprising:

• a body including a barrel with longitudinally extending internal splines and ways between the splines;
• a plunger longitudinally movable in the barrel and including radially extending lugs in the ways;
• a ratchet coaxial with the plunger, having radially extending dogs which fit into the ways and including a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth;
• a fixed electrical terminal member;
• a rotatable electrical contact member connected to the ratchet for making or breaking contact with the fixed electrical terminal;
• and
• a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth on the plunger for engagement with camming teeth on the ratchet, wherein the splines and ratchet dogs are arranged so that upon retraction of the plunger, the ratchet comes to a rotational position with the apex of a ratchet tooth at a location on one face of a plunger tooth between the apex of the plunger tooth and the valley between that plunger tooth and the adjacent plunger tooth.

A pushbutton switch comprising:

• a body including a barrel with longitudinally extending internal splines and ways between the splines;
• a plunger longitudinally movable in the barrel and including radially extending lugs in the ways;
• a ratchet coaxial with the plunger, having radially extending dogs which fit into the ways and including a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth;
• a fixed electrical terminal member;
• a rotatable electrical contact member connected to the ratchet for making or breaking contact with the fixed electrical terminal;
• and
• a plurality of longitudinally extending camming teeth on the plunger for engagement with camming teeth on the ratchet, the plunger teeth each having an apex offset from a centerline of the tooth for advancing the ratchet a sufficient distance that electrical contact between the fixed electrical terminal member and the rotatable electrical contact member is made upon one longitudinal stroke of the plunger and electrical contact is broken upon the opposite longitudinal stroke of the plunger.