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US3437973A - Electrical switch - Google Patents

Electrical switch Download PDF

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Publication number
US3437973A
US3437973A US623445A US3437973DA US3437973A US 3437973 A US3437973 A US 3437973A US 623445 A US623445 A US 623445A US 3437973D A US3437973D A US 3437973DA US 3437973 A US3437973 A US 3437973A
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Prior art keywords
elements
switch
contact
unit
bridging
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Expired - Lifetime
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US623445A
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John C Mabbett
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CROSBY RES Inc
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CROSBY RES Inc
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Publication of US3437973A publication Critical patent/US3437973A/en
Assigned to MABBETT, JOHN C., PLAINTIFF reassignment MABBETT, JOHN C., PLAINTIFF CERTIFIED COPY OF JUDGEMENT FILED IN THE SUPERIOR COURT, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA ON MAY 22, 1985 GIVING JUDGMENT IN SAID PATENT TO ASSIGNEE, (SEE RECORD FOR DETAILS) Assignors: CROSBY RESEARCH, INCORPORATED, DEFENDANTS
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Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/12—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage
    • H01H1/36—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage by sliding
    • H01H1/40—Contact mounted so that its contact-making surface is flush with adjoining insulation
    • H01H1/403—Contacts forming part of a printed circuit

Definitions

  • Contact bridging elements are formed on the surface of a second substrate member.
  • the two substrate members are placed against each other with the bridging elements making light surface contact with the switch contact elements.
  • pressure is applied to bring the bridging element into intimate contact with the switch contact elements, a low resistance electrical path is provided between the switch contact elements.
  • This invention relates to an electrical switch and more particularly to such a switch providing momentary electrical contact in response to the touch of the operator.
  • Switches which respond to momentary contact pressure which are often known as touch switches and which generally operate in conjunction with latching devices of the electronic or electromechanical variety, are used extensively for normal switching operations as well as in warning devices such as burgular alarms and the like.
  • a pair of switching contact elements are utilized which are physically separated from each other by a resilient separator device such as a spring or a rubber like material, the switch being closed by bringing the two switch contact elements into close contact with each other.
  • Such devices often lack the economy of construction to be desired. Further, it is sometimes diflicult to obtain a very high degree of sensitivity to the touch compatible with immunity from erroneous actuation by ambient vibrations and the like.
  • the device of this invention provides a simple and highly economical touch switch device of extremely high sensitivity to the touch yet substantially non-responsive to ambient vibrations, thus providing a significant improvement over prior art touch switches.
  • the device of the invention is formed from a first unit comprising a substrate member having a broad surface on which electrically conductive switch contact elements are formed, and a second unit comprising a substrate member having a broad surface on which electrically conductive switch contact bridging elements are formed.
  • the switch contact elements of the first unit have finger portions which interleave with each other.
  • the aforementioned broad surface of the second substrate member is placed against the aforementioned broad surface of the first member with the bridging elements in light surface contact across the finger portions of the switch contact elements.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the device of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the two component units of the embodiment of FIG. 1,
  • FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the unit carrying the bridging elements of the embodiment of FIG. 1,
  • FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the unit shown in FIG. 3,
  • FIG. 5 is an end elevation view of the unit shown in FIG. 3,
  • FIG. 6 is a top plan view with partial cutaway section of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and
  • FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the plane indicated by 77 in FIG. 6.
  • switch contact elements 12 and 13 formed on the surface 11a 2 of substrate unit 11, which is fabricated of an electrically insulating material such as a suitable plastic, are electrically conductive switch contact elements 12 and 13.
  • Contact elements 12 and 13 which may be formed by etched circuit board techniques or by electrodeposition, preferably are of copper with a flashed gold surface.
  • Switch contact elements 12 and 13 include bar portions 12a and 13a from which extend a plurality of finger portions 12b and 13b respectively. Finger portions 12b and 13b are interleaved with each other. The bars and finger portions of contact elements 12 and 13 while in close proximity to each other make neither physical nor electrical contact.
  • lead wires 15 and 16 Connected to bar portion 12a and 13a respectively are lead wires 15 and 16 which carry the switching signal to the circuits being controlled, when switching is accomplished as to be explained hereinafter.
  • Substrate unit 20 has a plurality of electrically conductive contact bridging elements 21 formed in the broad surface 20a thereof.
  • Bridging elements 21 may be formed in the same manner as contact elements 12 and 13, by etched circuit board techniques or electrodeposition. These bridging elements are also preferably fabricated of a highly conductive material, such as copper with a flashed gold surface.
  • Substrate unit 20 is preferably fabricated of a flexible electrically insulating material such as a suitable resilient plastic and is segmented by longitudinal slots 23 and transverse slots 24 which provide a separation between the individual bridging elements 21 and give these elements some independence of motion relative to each other. This provides a significant advantage in that it enables reliable switch operation in response to light finger pressure on any portion of the switch operating surface 26, this by virtue of the fact that the individual bridging elements 21 are not significantly restrained in their motion by the adjoining portions of unit 20.
  • the broad surfaces 11a and 20a of units 11 and 20 are placed against each other with bridging elements 21 bridging adjoining finger portions 12b and 13b. While there is light surface contact between the bridging element and the finger portions, this affords only an extremely high resistance electrical path between finger portions 12b and 13b, thus not permitting any significant electrical current flow therebetween. It is to be noted that there may be a very small separation between the opposing surfaces of the substrate members in the construction of the assembled unit but that such actual physical separation is not necessary to the proper operation of the device.
  • Substrate units 11 and 20 are encapsulated in a jacket 30 which may be fabricated of a suitable flexible material such as a resilient plastic.
  • the switch is actuated by the application of a small amount of pressure on any portion of surface 26 which brings one or more of bridging elements 21 into intimate bridging contact with a pair of fingers 12b and 13b, thereby providing the desired momentary electrical path.
  • the switching units 11 and 20 can readily be manufactured by mass production techniques, such units being fabricated in a large sheet which then can be cut up to form the units for individual switches. This makes for great economy of fabrication.
  • the individutl switches can also be of relatively small size and by virtue of their complete encapsulation are substantially moisture proof. This type of switching device is primarily designed to provide a current path in a relatively low voltage low current circuit which may if so desired be utilized to control a high voltage high current device.
  • the device of this invention thus provides a simple highly economical momentary contact touch switch which has high touch sensitivity combined with high reliability of operation.
  • An electrical switching comprising:
  • a first unit comprising an electrically insulating substrate member, said first unit having a broad surface with a plurality of electrically conductive bridging elements formed thereon, and
  • a second unit comprising an electrically insulating substrate member, said second unit having a broad surface with a pair of electrically conductive switch contact elements formed thereon, said switch contact elements each comprising a bar portion with a plurality of finger portions extending therefrom,
  • said first and second units being assembled to form an integral switch assembly with said aforementioned broad surfaces opposite each other and with said bridging elements of said first unit substantially in surface contact with the finger portions of both of the switch contact elements of said second unit whereby when pressure is applied bringing a portion of said two units closer together at least a pair of said finger portions are bridged by. at least one of said bridging elements and low resistance electrical contact is provided between said contact elements.

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  • Push-Button Switches (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Switches (AREA)

Description

April 8,1969 MMBBET 3,437,973
ELECTRICAL SWITCH FiIedMarch 15, 1967 1 NVENTOR JOHN C. MABBETT math . ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,437,973 ELECTRICAL SWITCH John C. Mabbett, Hollywood, Calif., assignor to Crosby Research, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Mar. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 623,445 Int. Cl. H01c 9/06 US. Cl. 338-99 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pair of switch contact elements are formed on the surface of a first substrate member, each of such elements having a plurality of finger portions. The finger portions of the switch contact elements are interleaved with each other. Contact bridging elements are formed on the surface of a second substrate member. The two substrate members are placed against each other with the bridging elements making light surface contact with the switch contact elements. When pressure is applied to bring the bridging element into intimate contact with the switch contact elements, a low resistance electrical path is provided between the switch contact elements.
This invention relates to an electrical switch and more particularly to such a switch providing momentary electrical contact in response to the touch of the operator. Switches which respond to momentary contact pressure, which are often known as touch switches and which generally operate in conjunction with latching devices of the electronic or electromechanical variety, are used extensively for normal switching operations as well as in warning devices such as burgular alarms and the like. In most of such devices of the prior art, a pair of switching contact elements are utilized which are physically separated from each other by a resilient separator device such as a spring or a rubber like material, the switch being closed by bringing the two switch contact elements into close contact with each other. Such devices often lack the economy of construction to be desired. Further, it is sometimes diflicult to obtain a very high degree of sensitivity to the touch compatible with immunity from erroneous actuation by ambient vibrations and the like.
The device of this invention provides a simple and highly economical touch switch device of extremely high sensitivity to the touch yet substantially non-responsive to ambient vibrations, thus providing a significant improvement over prior art touch switches.
Briefly described, the device of the invention is formed from a first unit comprising a substrate member having a broad surface on which electrically conductive switch contact elements are formed, and a second unit comprising a substrate member having a broad surface on which electrically conductive switch contact bridging elements are formed. The switch contact elements of the first unit have finger portions which interleave with each other. The aforementioned broad surface of the second substrate member is placed against the aforementioned broad surface of the first member with the bridging elements in light surface contact across the finger portions of the switch contact elements. When pressure is applied to bring the bridging elements into intimate contact with the contact element finger portions,- the switching action is achieved.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved momentary contact electrical switch.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an momentary contact touch switch of highly economical construction.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a momentary contact touch switch which has high sensitivity and which is substantially immune to extraneous vibration signals.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the device of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the two component units of the embodiment of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the unit carrying the bridging elements of the embodiment of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the unit shown in FIG. 3,
FIG. 5 is an end elevation view of the unit shown in FIG. 3,
FIG. 6 is a top plan view with partial cutaway section of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the plane indicated by 77 in FIG. 6.
:Referring now to the figures, formed on the surface 11a 2 of substrate unit 11, which is fabricated of an electrically insulating material such as a suitable plastic, are electrically conductive switch contact elements 12 and 13. Contact elements 12 and 13 which may be formed by etched circuit board techniques or by electrodeposition, preferably are of copper with a flashed gold surface. Switch contact elements 12 and 13 include bar portions 12a and 13a from which extend a plurality of finger portions 12b and 13b respectively. Finger portions 12b and 13b are interleaved with each other. The bars and finger portions of contact elements 12 and 13 while in close proximity to each other make neither physical nor electrical contact. Connected to bar portion 12a and 13a respectively are lead wires 15 and 16 which carry the switching signal to the circuits being controlled, when switching is accomplished as to be explained hereinafter.
Substrate unit 20 has a plurality of electrically conductive contact bridging elements 21 formed in the broad surface 20a thereof. Bridging elements 21 may be formed in the same manner as contact elements 12 and 13, by etched circuit board techniques or electrodeposition. These bridging elements are also preferably fabricated of a highly conductive material, such as copper with a flashed gold surface. Substrate unit 20 is preferably fabricated of a flexible electrically insulating material such as a suitable resilient plastic and is segmented by longitudinal slots 23 and transverse slots 24 which provide a separation between the individual bridging elements 21 and give these elements some independence of motion relative to each other. This provides a significant advantage in that it enables reliable switch operation in response to light finger pressure on any portion of the switch operating surface 26, this by virtue of the fact that the individual bridging elements 21 are not significantly restrained in their motion by the adjoining portions of unit 20.
In the fully assembled device, the broad surfaces 11a and 20a of units 11 and 20 are placed against each other with bridging elements 21 bridging adjoining finger portions 12b and 13b. While there is light surface contact between the bridging element and the finger portions, this affords only an extremely high resistance electrical path between finger portions 12b and 13b, thus not permitting any significant electrical current flow therebetween. It is to be noted that there may be a very small separation between the opposing surfaces of the substrate members in the construction of the assembled unit but that such actual physical separation is not necessary to the proper operation of the device.
Substrate units 11 and 20 are encapsulated in a jacket 30 which may be fabricated of a suitable flexible material such as a resilient plastic.
The switch is actuated by the application of a small amount of pressure on any portion of surface 26 which brings one or more of bridging elements 21 into intimate bridging contact with a pair of fingers 12b and 13b, thereby providing the desired momentary electrical path.
The switching units 11 and 20 can readily be manufactured by mass production techniques, such units being fabricated in a large sheet which then can be cut up to form the units for individual switches. This makes for great economy of fabrication. The individutl switches can also be of relatively small size and by virtue of their complete encapsulation are substantially moisture proof. This type of switching device is primarily designed to provide a current path in a relatively low voltage low current circuit which may if so desired be utilized to control a high voltage high current device.
The device of this invention thus provides a simple highly economical momentary contact touch switch which has high touch sensitivity combined with high reliability of operation.
While the device of the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that this is intended by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the following claims.
I claim:
1. An electrical switching comprising:
a first unit comprising an electrically insulating substrate member, said first unit having a broad surface with a plurality of electrically conductive bridging elements formed thereon, and
a second unit comprising an electrically insulating substrate member, said second unit having a broad surface with a pair of electrically conductive switch contact elements formed thereon, said switch contact elements each comprising a bar portion with a plurality of finger portions extending therefrom,
said first and second units being assembled to form an integral switch assembly with said aforementioned broad surfaces opposite each other and with said bridging elements of said first unit substantially in surface contact with the finger portions of both of the switch contact elements of said second unit whereby when pressure is applied bringing a portion of said two units closer together at least a pair of said finger portions are bridged by. at least one of said bridging elements and low resistance electrical contact is provided between said contact elements.
2. The device as recited in claim 1 and further including a flexible jacket for encapsulating said units.
3. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein said first unit is segmented to separate said bridging elements from each other thereby facilitating the independent movement of said bridging elements.
4. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the bar portions of said switch contact elements run substantially parallel to each other and said finger portions extend substantially perpendicularly from said bar portions.
5. The device as recited in claim 4 wherein said bridging elements run in a direction substantially parallel to the bar portions of said switch contact elements.
6. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein said first unit is fabricated of a flexible material.
7. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the finger portions of one of said switch contact elements interleave with the finger portions of the other of said switch contact elements.
References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,044,080 6/ 1936 Kemper. 2,896,042 7/1959 Koenig 20086 FOREIGN PATENTS 618,779 2/ 1949 Great Britain.
ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.
D. SMITH, JR., Assistant Examiner.
US. Cl. X.R. 20052, 86
US623445A 1967-03-15 1967-03-15 Electrical switch Expired - Lifetime US3437973A (en)

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Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3688066A (en) * 1970-12-30 1972-08-29 Wild Rover Corp Switch forms for connecting one terminal to a plurality of other terminals
US3728509A (en) * 1970-09-26 1973-04-17 Alps Electric Co Ltd Push-button switch with resilient conductive contact member with downwardly projecting ridges
US3748443A (en) * 1971-07-01 1973-07-24 S Kroll Wheel sensing apparatus
US3787718A (en) * 1972-08-08 1974-01-22 Sondell Res Deve Co Spherical electronic components
US4055735A (en) * 1975-10-23 1977-10-25 Honeywell Information Systems Inc. Touch sensitive device
US4243861A (en) * 1977-06-24 1981-01-06 The Cornelius Company Touch switch and contactor therefor
US4441097A (en) * 1979-01-29 1984-04-03 Antroy Enterprises, Inc. Device for controlling a circuit
US5510783A (en) * 1992-07-13 1996-04-23 Interlink Electronics, Inc. Adaptive keypad

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2044080A (en) * 1935-07-31 1936-06-16 Charles R Kemper Circuit controlling device
GB618779A (en) * 1945-04-03 1949-02-28 Kesselring Fritz Improvements in or relating to electrical resistance contacts operable by external pressures
US2896042A (en) * 1958-03-03 1959-07-21 Tapeswitch Corp Of America Tape switch

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2044080A (en) * 1935-07-31 1936-06-16 Charles R Kemper Circuit controlling device
GB618779A (en) * 1945-04-03 1949-02-28 Kesselring Fritz Improvements in or relating to electrical resistance contacts operable by external pressures
US2896042A (en) * 1958-03-03 1959-07-21 Tapeswitch Corp Of America Tape switch

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3728509A (en) * 1970-09-26 1973-04-17 Alps Electric Co Ltd Push-button switch with resilient conductive contact member with downwardly projecting ridges
US3688066A (en) * 1970-12-30 1972-08-29 Wild Rover Corp Switch forms for connecting one terminal to a plurality of other terminals
US3748443A (en) * 1971-07-01 1973-07-24 S Kroll Wheel sensing apparatus
US3787718A (en) * 1972-08-08 1974-01-22 Sondell Res Deve Co Spherical electronic components
US4055735A (en) * 1975-10-23 1977-10-25 Honeywell Information Systems Inc. Touch sensitive device
US4243861A (en) * 1977-06-24 1981-01-06 The Cornelius Company Touch switch and contactor therefor
US4441097A (en) * 1979-01-29 1984-04-03 Antroy Enterprises, Inc. Device for controlling a circuit
US5510783A (en) * 1992-07-13 1996-04-23 Interlink Electronics, Inc. Adaptive keypad

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AS Assignment

Owner name: MABBETT, JOHN C., PLAINTIFF

Free format text: CERTIFIED COPY OF JUDGEMENT FILED IN THE SUPERIOR COURT, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA ON MAY 22, 1985 GIVING JUDGMENT IN SAID PATENT TO ASSIGNEE,;ASSIGNOR:CROSBY RESEARCH, INCORPORATED, DEFENDANTS;REEL/FRAME:004513/0805

Effective date: 19850409