The present invention relates to the sector of electric switches, and it particularly concerns a rocker switch with elastic front protection cap.

Switches of this type may be unipolar or bipolar of various sizes, and they find wide application in electric and electronic appliances and in white goods destined to operate in surroundings with a high degree of humidity and/or in the presence of liquids. To meet the requirements of safety standards, such switches should should be protected against humidity and water; for this reason they are supplied with a supple, usually transparent, protection cap to be applied to the front of the switch body so as to encase the switch and cover the switch housing.

In a known arrangement, the protection cap is made from soft material and is provided with a perimetric flange which perfectly fits the front of the switch body around the rocker switch. The perimetric flange of the cap, as a seal, is applied and blocked to said front of switch body by means of a rigid framework provided with teeth so as to be snappingly applied to the said body.

Therefore, the cap and the mounting thereof require the presence of two separate components. Besides, to apply the framework onto the switch body, interruptions must be provided along the cap flange, in points corresponding to the coupling teeth. So, besides entailing two separate components, a cap according to such known embodiment can not ensure secure utmost tightness, since the interruptions provided in the flange may form ways through which liquid or damp penetrate.

According to another known arrangement, the protection cap for a switch of the type as described above consists of three components which permit to improve tightness, but on the other hand they have a certain complexity in execution and assembly.

Document DE-A-1.615.710 discloses, for instance, a protective cap applied to a switch suitable for installation in a flush-fit box, typically for garages, cellars and outdoors. In this document, such a cap includes a rigid cover and a flexible cap and is to be fitted to a sealing ring (gasket). The cover must be secured to the swith body by means of screws and close the front of the flush-fit box, also. The cap is fixed to the cover without covering it completely and the seal must be secured in position between the cover and the flush-fit box for thight seal.

In this configuration, it is not evident how and when the cap is fixed to the cover as it is necessary to have access to the screws securing the cover to the switch body, and any preventive fixing of the cap to the cover would make the screws unaccessible.

The object of the present invention is to obviate said disadvantageous characteristics by providing a switch of the type as described above with a cap comprising substantially one only piece which ensures reliable and secure damp or liquid tightness and which is simpler and more convenient to apply, without using screw and ausiliary gaskets.

Such an object, is achieved, in accordance with the present invention, by a rocker switch with a front protection cap particularly suitable to be used in electric or electronic appliances and designed to operate in surroundings with a high degres of humidity and/or in the presence of liquids, and where said protection cap comprises a first framework-shaped element of rigid material and a second element of soft material preferably transparent, and wherein

• said second soft elements is moulded over said first rigid element so as to form one single piece,
• the first rigid element has integral coupling teeth to engage the protection cap to the switch body,
• the second soft element totally cover said first rigid element and is provided with a perimetric base lip designed to function as a sucker on the surface of a wall in which the switch is flush mounted for use.

An example of a practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more precisely,

Fig.1

shows a perspective view of the swtich and protection cap separate;

Fig.2

shows a sectional ziew of the cap only; and

Fig. 3

shows a partial sectional view of the cap applied to the switch, which is adequately fixed to a machine wall.

With reference to the above described drawings, the reference numeral 11 indicates the body of a rocker switch 12 which rocks in a housing 13 defined by said body. All around the said housing 13 for the switch 12, the body 11 is provided with an edge 14 for receiving a protection cap 15 which is designed to frontally encase switch 12 and housing 13.

The protection cap 15 comprises two elements - one inside and one outside - integrally coupled to each other:

• a first element 16 framework-shaped, made from rigid material
• a second element 17 made from soft material, preferably transparent.

The first rigid element 16 is die-cast (???) and is provided with coupling teeth 18 turned inwards. The second soft-supple element is moulded over the first element, thus forming one substantially integral piece with it.

Such second element 17 is arranged astride the first framework-shaped element 16 and is provided with a perimetric flexible continuous lip 19 at its base.

The cap as described above is applied to the switch body 11 by fastening it to the edge 14 by means of the coupling teeth 18 integral with the rigid element 16.

The soft-supple element 17 itself, alone, would suffice to ensure protection of the switch front against damp or liquids. When the switch is finally flush mounted in a wall 20 of any electric or electronic appliance, the flexible lip 19 of the cap soft element 17 adheres against such wall like a sucker - see fig. 5 - thus ensuring utmost tightness, which can not be obtained with the known switches.