US 6,205,650 B1Granted

Method of producing and electrical switch

AssigneeMec A/S

InventorsClaus Enoch, Flemming Jacobsen

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Abstract

A method of producing an electrical switch wherein material is cut out of a sheet or web (1) of electrically conductive material such that a plurality of sets of terminals (5, 6, 7) are formed integral with the sheet (1). A housing (not shown) is moulded onto each set of terminals such that the inner terminals (7) are within the housing. Operative elements are mounted in the housing. The moulding of the housings and the mounting of the elements are performed on a plurality of sets of terminals simultaneously. The individual switches are separated from the sheet (1) either by severing the terminals 5 at 15 and 25 and the terminals 6 at 16, thereby forming a switch with a short distance (fx 4 mm) between the terminal ends of terminals (16), or by severing the terminals 6 at 16 and 26 and the terminals 5 at 15, thereby forming a switch with a longer distance (fx 6 mm) between the terminal ends of terminal (15). Hereby a switch for being mounted in an array of either 4×4 mm or 6×6 mm may optionally be produced with the same equipement and in the same process.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A method of producing an electrical switch comprising a housing at least partially enclosing switching means for cooperating with a set of at least two metallic terminals, each terminal having an exterior portion outside the housing and an interior portion inside the housing, the method comprising:

providing a substantially planar sheet of a base metal of said terminals,
removing portions of the sheet so as to form within the boundaries thereof at least two rows of said sets of metallic terminals and so that each terminal remains attached to the sheet solely at an end of the exterior portion of each terminal farthest from the interior portion thereof,
attaching a plurality of housings to the sets in the sheet,
installing the switching means in each of the housings,
separating said end of each of the exterior portions of each set provided with the housings and the switching means from the sheet, and
wherein the housings are attached to each of one or more sets in all of the rows substantially simultaneously, and the switching means are subsequently installed in each of the housings in one or more steps, each of said steps being performed in one or more housings of all of the rows substantially simultaneously.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.