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US 6,853,290 B2Granted
Switch/volume control assembly
AssigneeSonion Roskilde A/S
InventorsMartin Bondo Jorgensen, Karsten Videbæk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to switch or volume control assemblies, in particular to switch or volume control assemblies to be mounted in e.g. hearing aids, said assembly comprising a movable member, such as a wheel-like member positioned between at least two detachable parts defining the exterior of a housing, the movable member having a part extending out of the housing, the movable member engaging a contact member so as to move the contact member with the movable member.
Claims17
A switch or volume control assembly for mounting in a wall of an apparatus said assembly comprising:
- (a) at least first and second detachable parts defining an exterior of the assembly, the detachable parts being arranged to provide a substantially circular outer sidewall of the assembly;
- (b) an inner portion inside said assembly bounded by an inner sidewall, said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall being separated by a intermediate space and being concentrically arranged, the inner sidewall establishing a waterproof connection between the intermediate space and the inner portion;
- (c) connection parts included in association with the at least first and second detachable parts, said connection parts operable to provide a waterproof connection between the assembly and the wall of the apparatus;
- (d) one or more electrical terminals extending from outside the assembly into said inner portion so as to form one or more contact areas on a surface within said inner portion,
- (e) a contact member positioned inside said inner portion for providing continuous or periodical contact between said one or more contact areas and between one or more contact areas and the contact member, and
- (f) a substantially circular and rotatably mounted movable member positioned inside the assembly and between said at least first and second detachable parts thereby occupying at least part of the intermediate space between the inner and outer sidewall, the movable member having a part extending out of the assembly so as to enable user access to the movable member, and the movable member engaging said contact member so as to move the contact member with the movable member, the movable member further having the form of a mill wheel comprising projections along its circumference for providing friction between the wheel and a finger of an operator,
- wherein the mill wheel is positioned such that the projections substantially scrape along an internal side of the outer sidewall of the assembly, so as to scrape moisture from said intermediate space and out of the assembly when rotating the wheel.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.