TECHNOLOGY
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of switch, and more specifically,
to a pushbutton switch.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A pushbutton switch refers to a switch whose pushbutton can return to its original
position after each press operation. After a press, the pushbutton switch can be switched
to the switching-on or switching-off state, and after a next press operation, the
pushbutton switch would be switched to the opposite state (switching-off or switching-on)
from the switching-on or switching-off state.
[0003] The existing pushbutton switch drives a swing element to swing via a driver, and
then the swing element drives the switch bridge to act to achieve the switching on
and off operation of the circuit. In such an existing pushbutton switch, the driver
needs to return to the intermediate position each time when the pushbutton is released.
Thus, when the pushbutton is pressed again to operate the switch, the driver needs
to rotate from the intermediate position to tilt for an angle before starting to drive
the swing element and further drive the moving contact of the switch to act, causing
a delay between the operation of the pushbutton and the switching action of the switch
which is adverse to timely and precise control to the switch. Besides, during the
rotation process of the driver, friction will be generated on the contact face between
the driver and the swing element. On the one hand, if this friction face becomes coarse
due to causes like dirt, manufacturing and usage, the driver might be unable to rotate,
thereby disabling the switch; on the other hand, the wear caused by long-term friction
might change the dimension and shape of the contact point of the driver and the swing
element so that the driver cannot match with the swing element accurately to drive
the swing element to act, which makes the driver's operation unstable and unreliable.
Moreover, the switch of the prior art has many components, and thus has high demand
for the precision of manufacturing and fitting the components, which also increases
the manufacturing costs of the switch.
[0004] In another aspect, for the pushbutton switch of the prior art as mentioned above,
the direction of the press force applied on the pushbutton is usually different from
the driving force for directly driving the moving contact to act. Therefore, it is
necessary to utilize a particular mechanism to convert the press force applied by
the user downward into the driving force for directly driving the moving contact to
act. This kind of force conversion generally has poor efficiency and therefore, requires
greater press force from the user. In addition, such force conversion is not reliable
enough because of factors such as reliability of the particular mechanism, manufacturing
precision, abrasion, pollution and so on.
SUMMARY
[0005] In view of the above, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a switch to solve
at least a part of the above problems existing in the existed switch.
[0006] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a switch,
comprising: a pushbutton; a driver which can swing relative to the pushbutton to cooperate
with the pushbutton; a swing element that can swing with respect to a first axis,
comprising a first contact face and a second contact face located at different sides
of the first axis; an elastic element connected between the driver and the swing element;
and a first moving contact and a first stationary contact. The driver has a driving
face for pressing the first contact face and the second contact face of the swing
element, and the driver is configured to, when the pushbutton is pressed down, press
one of the first contact face and the second contact face of the swing element with
the driving face on one side of the first axis so that the swing element swings to
a first position, and when the pushbutton is pressed down again, press the other one
of the first contact face and the second contact face of the swing element with the
driving face on the other side of the first axis so that the swing element swings
to a second position. In one of the first position and the second position, the first
moving contact contacts the first stationary contact while in the other one of the
first position and the second position, the first moving contact is disconnected from
the first stationary contact.
[0007] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driver is configured such
that during the process of pressing the swing element to cause it to swing by the
driver, the driver does not swing relative to the pushbutton so that, during the process
of pressing the swing element by the driver, the position on the first contact face
or the second contact face of the swing element where the swing element is pressed
by the driving face of the driver moves gradually close to an end of the first contact
face and the second contact face adjacent to each other.
[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driver is configured such
that, when the pushbutton is released, the elastic element drives the driving face
of the driver to swing from one side of the first axis to the other side.
[0009] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the switch further comprises
a housing in which a stop is arranged, the stop defining the swing extreme position
of the driver.
[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is arranged a stop face
on the pushbutton, the stop face defining the swing extreme position of the driver.
[0011] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving face is a non-planar
face so that during the process of pressing the first contact face or the second contact
face of the swing element by the driving face, the position on the driving face where
the driving face contacts the first contact face or the second contact face varies.
[0012] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving face is formed
in a recess at one end of the driver.
[0013] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the swing element comprises
a swing piece on which the first moving contact is located and a driving arm the longitudinal
direction of which is vertical to the swing piece. The first contact face and the
second contact face extend along the longitudinal direction of the driving arm and
are distributed symmetrically about the first axis, and the first contact face and
the second contact face are located between the driver and the first axis.
[0014] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the switch further comprises
a switch bridge on which the first moving contact is located. The swing element cooperate
with the switch bridge such that the swing element, when swing to the first position
or second position, drives the switch bridge to swing to the position where the first
moving contact is in contact with or disconnected from the first stationary contact.
[0015] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the extension direction of
the first contact face and the second contact face from the ends of the first and
second contact faces close to each other to the distal ends thereof are tilted with
an angle towards one side of the first axis with respect to the direction vertical
to the main face of the swing piece. The angle can be between 0 degree and 20 degrees.
[0016] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driver abuts against the
pushbutton under the action of the elastic element, and during the swing process of
the driver, the engaging point between the driver and the pushbutton varies.
[0017] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic element is pivotally
connected between the driver and the swing element.
[0018] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driver is pivotally connected
to the pushbutton, and a contact rib is arranged on the pushbutton. One end of the
elastic element is fixed to the swing element and the other end of the elastic element
abuts against the contact rib.
[0019] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the switch further comprises
a second moving contact and a second stationary contact. In one of the first position
and the second position of the swing element, the first moving contact contacts the
first stationary contact and the second moving contact is disconnected from the second
stationary contact, while in the other one of the first position and the second position,
the first moving contact is disconnected from the first stationary contact and the
second moving contact contacts the second stationary contact.
[0020] In the switch according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by connecting
an elastic element between the driver and the swing element, the driver does not swing
when pressing the swing element to act and is driven to the other swing extreme position
by the elastic element during the resetting process. Thus, the number of components
of the switch is reduced, and the efficiency of converting the pressing force from
the pushbutton 1 into the force for directly driving the moving contact to act is
improved, and the accuracy of the position where the driver drives the swing element
to act and reliability of the action are improved.
[0021] In the switch according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, during the
process of driving the swing element to act by the driver, the engaging position between
the driver and the swing element varies while the distance from the point where the
driver applies force on the swing element to the swing axis of the swing element remains
constant, so that during the whole process of pressing the pushbutton, the driver
keeps driving the swing element to swing for the same angle with the same unit travelling
stroke. In this manner, the driving mechanism formed by the driver and the swing element
shortens the pressing travelling stroke required for the operation of switching the
circuit by the pushbutton, thus facilitating user's operation.
[0022] In the switch according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by arranging
the moving contact on the swing element, the swing element serves not only as the
actuator for receiving the driving force from the driver but also as the switch bridge
for directly driving the moving contact to act, which makes the operation of the driving
mechanism of the switch to drive the moving contact to act more efficient and reliable,
while reducing the number of components in the switch and simplifying the structure
of the switch.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] Through the following detailed description of the example embodiments with reference
to the accompanying drawings, the above and other objectives, features, and advantages
will become more apparent. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a switch according to the first embodiment of the present
disclosure;
Fig. 2 is a front view of the pushbutton of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the driver of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 illustrates the matching between the pushbutton and the driver shown in Fig.
1;
Fig. 5 illustrates an alternative for the matching between the pushbutton and the
driver shown in Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 shows another alternative for the matching between the pushbutton and the driver
shown in Fig. 4;
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the swing element shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 8 is a front view of the swing element shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the switch in the first state shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the switch in the second state shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the switch in the third state shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the switch in the fourth state shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 13 is a sectional view of the switch in the fifth state shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of the switch according to the second embodiment of
the present disclosure;
Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of the switch according to the third embodiment of
the present disclosure;
Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of the switch according to the fourth embodiment of
the present disclosure;
Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the switch shown in Fig. 16.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail only with
examples.
[0025] Referring to Fig. 1, Fig. 1 illustrates a switch according to the first embodiment
of the present disclosure. The switch can be used in various switch apparatuses for
controlling on/off of a circuit. For example, at least one such switch can be mounted
in a switch panel to form a switch apparatus adapted to be mounted on a wall to control
the switch operation of the light, for instance.
[0026] As shown in Fig. 1, the switch comprises a housing comprised of an upper housing
91 and a lower housing 92. In the housing, there are contained a pushbutton 1, a driver
2, a swing element 3 that can swing about a first axis, an elastic element 4, a first
moving contact 81 and a second moving contact 82 located on the swing element 3, a
moving contact wiring terminal 83, a first stationary contact 51 and a second stationary
contact 52. As shown in Figs. 2-4, there is arranged a pushbutton contact face 11
on the pushbutton 1 and a driver contact face 21 on the driver 2. A fixing recess
23 is further arranged on the driver to pivotally mount one end of the elastic element
4. When the elastic element 4 is connected between the driver 2 and the swing element
3, the elastic recovery force of the elastic element 4 would force the driver contact
face 21 of the driver 2 to abut against the pushbutton contact face 11 of the pushbutton
1. The elastic element 4 can be a pressure spring, a torsional spring or others as
long as it can apply elastic recovery force to the driver 2 and the swing element
3.
[0027] In the embodiment shown in Figs. 2-3, the pushbutton contact face 11 is a convex
curved face while the driver contact face 21 is a planar face, and the pushbutton
contact face 11 and the driver contact face 21 are arranged with teeth. In this manner,
when the driver contact face 21 abuts against the pushbutton contact face 11, the
teeth on the driver contact face 21 will engage with teeth on the pushbutton contact
face 11. Such a structure enables the driver 2 to swing relative to the pushbutton
1 when the driver contact face 21 moves with "rolling" (namely, no sliding relative
to each other) along the pushbutton contact face 11 in the convex curved shape. During
this swing process, the engaging point between the driver contact face 21 and the
pushbutton contact face 11 would vary. Particularly, when the driver 2 swings to two
extreme positions at the left and right sides, the driver contact face 21 will engage
with two ends on the pushbutton contact face 11 respectively at its two ends farthest
from each other. The change of the position of the engaging point at two swing extreme
positions of the driver is advantageous for the resetting of the driver 2, which will
be illustrated in detail in the following text.
[0028] The teeth engaging with each other on the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton
contact face 11 ensure that the driver contact face 21 only engages with the pushbutton
contact face 11 by "rolling" during the swing process, without producing sliding therebetween,
which is important for swing resetting of the driver 2 each time. To prevent producing
relative sliding between the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face
11, it is also possible not to arrange the teeth and instead, to configure sufficient
friction coefficient between the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact
face 11 so that under the action of the recovery force from the elastic element 4
on the driver 2, the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 can
only roll rather than slide with respect to each other. This can be implemented by
increasing surface coarseness of the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact
face 11 or by applying a slid-resistant coating thereon.
[0029] To cause the driver 2 to swing relative to the pushbutton 1 such that the positions
of the engaging points on the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face
11 are different when the driver 2 swings to the two extreme positions at the left
and right sides, the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 can
also be configured as other shapes. For example, the driver contact face 21 can be
configured as a convex curved face while the pushbutton contact face 11 is configured
as a planar face, or both the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face
11 are configured as convex curved shapes.
[0030] It is also possible to arrange the pushbutton contact face 11 as a profiled curved
surface and arrange the driver contact face 21 as at least having a part complementary
with the shape of two ends of the profiled curved surface of the pushbutton contact
face 11. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, the pushbutton contact face 11 is concave
at two ends while convex in the center, and the driver contact face 21 at least has
a convex part complementary with the shapes of the concave parts on the two ends.
As a result, with the rolling of the driver contact face 21 from one end to the other
end along the pushbutton contact face 11, the driver contact face 21 cooperates with
the pushbutton contact face 11 properly at least at two swing extreme positions at
the right side and left side so that the driver 2 can successfully swing around different
engaging points at the two swing extreme positions. As a matter of course, it is advantageous
that the intermediate part of the driver contact face 21 is also complementary with
the intermediate part of the pushbutton contact face 11 so that, when the driver 2
swings to the intermediate position, the intermediate part of the driver contact face
21 also cooperates with the intermediate part of the pushbutton contact face 11 to
facilitate the driver 2 swinging from one end to the other end stably.
[0031] As shown in Fig. 6, the pushbutton contact face 11 can also be an inwardly concave
trapezium with rounded angles at the upper vertexes, while the driver contact face
21 at least has straight sides and rounded angles complementary with the shapes of
the bevels and rounded angles of the inwardly concave trapezium, thus also enabling
the driver 2 to swing from one end to the other smoothly.
[0032] Fig. 7 illustrates the swing element 3 shown in Fig. 1. The swing element 3 comprises
a swing piece 34 and a driving arm 35. A first moving contact 81 and a second moving
contact 82 are located on two opposite sides of the swing piece 34. The bottom of
the swing piece 34 is a swing support 31 which is swingingly supported on an electrical
conductive seat 84 electrically connected to the moving contact wiring terminal 83,
so that the swing element 3 can swing with respect to the first axis. The swing piece
34 is further arranged with a protrusion 36 to support the elastic element 4 pivotally.
The longitudinal direction of the driving arm 35 is perpendicular to the swing piece
34, and the first contact face 32 and the second contact face 33 extend on the driving
arm 35 and are distributed on different sides of the first axis symmetrically about
the first axis and. The swing element 3 is made of electrical conductive material
at least in the swing piece 34 so that the first moving contact 81 and the second
moving contact 82 on the swing piece 34 are electrically connected to the moving contact
wiring terminal 83 by the swing piece 34 and the electrical conductive seat 84.
[0033] In an embodiment, the extension directions of the first contact face 32 and the second
contact face 33 from an end where the two contact faces are close to each other to
a distal end are titled towards one side of the first axis for an angle A with respect
to the direction vertical to the main face of the swing piece 34, so that the extension
directions of the first contact face 32 and the second contact face 33 are no longer
perpendicular to the main face of the swing piece 34 (shown clearly in Fig. 8), which
is particularly advantageous in the operation process of the switch for reducing the
stroke of the pushbutton 1 and the driver 2, as will be illustrated in detail in the
following text. Advantageously, the tilting angle is between 0 and 20 degrees. For
example, the tilting angle is 5 degrees.
[0034] Returning to Fig. 3, there is arranged a driving arm 24 on the driver 2, and on the
end of the driving arm there is formed a driving face 22 to contact the first contact
face 32 and the second contact face 33 on the swing element 3 so as to drive the swing
element 3 to swing. In one embodiment, the driving face 22 is formed in a recess at
one end of the driver 2 so that the driving face 22 keeps contacting the first contact
face 32 or the second contact face 33 constantly during the process of driving the
swing element 3 to swing and will not be disengaged therefrom.
[0035] In one embodiment, the driving face 22 on the driver 2 is non-planar, particular
a convex curved face at the end of the driving arm 24 so that the position on the
driving face 22 where the driving face 22 contacts the first contact face 32 or the
second contact face 33 varies during the process of pressing the first contact face
32 or the second contact face 33 of the swing element 3 by the driving face 22, which
is particularly advantageous in the operation process of the switch to reduce the
stroke of the pushbutton 1 and the driver 2, as will be illustrated in detail in the
following text.
[0036] As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 9, the housing is arranged with a stop 6 which is located
on two sides of the driver 2 to define two swing extreme positions of the driver 2.
Alternatively or additionally, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 9, it is possible to arrange
a stop face 12 on the pushbutton 1 which can also limit the swing extreme position
of the driver 2.
[0037] The pushbutton 1, driver 2, elastic element 4 and swing element 3 of the switch are
assembled together in the state as shown in Fig. 9 so that in the natural state where
the pushbutton 1 is not pressed down, the elastic element 4 abuts against the driver
2 at one end to cause it to remain in an swing extreme position at one side (the right
side in Fig. 9) under constraint of the stop 6 and/or stop face 12, while the other
end of the elastic element 4 forces the swing element 3 to remain in the swing extreme
position at the other side (namely, first position) opposite to the swing direction
of the driver 2, so that the first moving contact 81 at one side of the swing element
3 (the left side of the swing element 3 in Fig. 9) is in the left swing position and
contacts the first stationary contact 51 (not shown in Fig. 9) on the left side of
the swing element 3, and the second moving contact 82 on the other side of the swing
element 3 (the right side of the swing element 3 in Fig. 9) is also in the left swing
position to be disconnected from the second stationary contact 52 (not shown in Fig.
9) on the right side of the swing element 3. As such, in this state, the swing element
3 of the switch conducts the circuit (namely, a first circuit) between the moving
contact wiring terminal 83, which is associated with the swing element 3 and the electrical
conductive seat 84, and the first stationary contact wiring terminals, which is associated
with the first stationary contact 51, and meanwhile, disconnects the circuit (namely,
a second circuit) between the moving contact wiring terminal 83, which is associated
with the swing element 3 and the electrical conductive seat 84, and the second stationary
contact wiring terminals which is associated with the second stationary contact 52.
At this time, the driving face 22 of the driver 2 is distanced from and does not contact
the second contact face 33 on the right side of the swing element 3, or just barely
contacts the second contact face 33 without applying force to the second contact face
33 and the swing element 3.
[0038] In the state shown in Fig. 9, as the driver 2 is in the swing position on the rightmost
side, the driver contact face 21 on the driver 2 engages with the pushbutton contact
face 11 of the pushbutton 1 at its rightmost point. At this time, the connection point
of the elastic element 4 and the driver 2 is on the right side of the line connecting
the connection point of the elastic element 4 and the swing element 3 and the engaging
point of the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11, while the
elastic element 4, pivotally connected between the driver 2 and the swing element
3, keeps applying recovery force to the driver 2 along the direction of the line connecting
the connection point of the elastic element 4 and the swing element 3 and the connecting
point of the elastic element 4 and the driver 2. Therefore, the recovery force applied
by the elastic element 4 on the driver 2 will apply to the driver 2 a torque counterclockwise
with respect to the engaging point of the driver contact face 21 at the rightmost
side and the pushbutton contact face 11. In this way, the toque forces the driver
2 to abut against the stop 6 and/or stop face 12 so that the driver 2 remains in the
swing limit position.
[0039] As shown in Fig. 10, when the button 1 is pressed, the driver 2 will move downward
under the effect of pushbutton 1. As bearing the counterclockwise toque applied by
the elastic element 4 and the constraint of the stop 6 and/or stop face 12, the driver
2 will not swing relative to the pushbutton 1 during the process of moving downwards,
and therefore, the position of the engaging point of the driver contact face 21 and
the pushbutton contact face 11 will not change but remains at the rightmost end of
the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11. During this pressing
process, when the driving face 22 of the driver 2 contacts the second contact face
33 of the swing element 3, it will continue to press the second contact face 33 to
cause the swing element 3 to swing to the right side. As the driver 2 does not swing
during the pressing process while the swing element 3 swings towards the right side
during the pressing process, the relative posture of the driver 2 and the swing element
3 will change during the pressing process after the contact of the driver 2 and the
swing element 3. Namely, the position on the second contact face 33 of the swing element
3 where the swing element 3 is pressed by the driving face 22 of the driver 2 moves
gradually close to an end where the first contact face 32 and the second contact face
33 are adjacent to each other, namely, close to the center of the swing element 3.
[0040] As shown in Fig. 11, when the pushbutton 1 continues to be pressed, the swing element
3 would swing through its intermediate position relative to the housing to a swing
extreme position (namely, the second position) on the side (the right side in Fig.
11) opposite to the previous side. During this process, once the swing element 3 swings
to the position in which the connection point of the swing element 3 and the elastic
element 4 is on the right side of the connection point of the elastic element 4 and
the driver 2, the recovery force of the elastic element 4 drives the swing element
3 to swing in acceleration rightward to the swing extreme position on the right side.
At this time, the second moving contact 82 on the right side of the swing element
3 contacts the second stationary contact 52 right beside the swing element 3 to conduct
the second circuit. Meanwhile, the first moving contact 81 on the left side of the
swing element 3 is disconnected from the first stationary contact 51 left beside the
swing element 3 to disconnect the first circuit, thereby achieving the on/off switching
operation to the first circuit and the second circuit by the switch.
[0041] During the above process of pressing the pushbutton 1, with the swing of the swing
element 3, the driver 2 does not swing. As a result, the position on the second contact
face 33 where the second contact face 33 contacts the driving face 22 vary gradually
while the length of the arm of force between the force applied by the driver 2 to
the swing element 3 and the swing axis of the swing element 3 (namely, the first axis)
maintains unchanged. In this way, during the whole process of pressing the pushbutton
1, the driver 2 keeps driving the swing element 3 to swing for the same angle with
the same unit stroke without moving away gradually from the swing axis of the swing
element 3 as the swing element 3 swings, which otherwise would cause the need of a
greater unit stroke for driving the swing element 3 to swing for the same angle. Thus,
the driving mechanism formed by the driver 2 and the swing element 3 shortens the
pressing stroke of the pushbutton 1 of the switch required for the operation of switching
the circuit, thus facilitating the operation of the user.
[0042] In the case that the extension direction of the first contact face 32 and the second
contact face 33 from an end where the two contact faces are close to each other to
a distal end is tilted toward one side of the first axis for an angle A with respect
to the direction vertical to the main face of the swing piece 34, with the swing of
the swing element 3, the driving face 22 of the driver 2 can move faster toward the
center of the swing element 3 during the process of the moving relative to the second
contact face 33 of the swing element 3, which makes it possible for the driver 2 to
press the swing element 3 to move for a shorter stroke in order that the swing piece
3 can swing for the same angle to reach the operating position for switching on/off
of the circuit. Therefore, the tilting angle further shortens the pressing stroke
of the pushbutton of the switch required for the operation of switching the circuit,
thereby facilitating user's operation.
[0043] In the case that the driving face 22 of the driver 2 is non-planar, particularly
a convex curved face around the end of the driving arm 24, with the swing of the swing
element 3, during the process that the driving face 22 of the driver 2 moves relative
to the second contact face 33 of the swing element 3, the part of the second contact
face 33 of the swing element 3 located on the side of the driving face 22 closer to
the center of the swing element 3 (the left side of the driving face 22 in Fig. 10)
contacts earlier the part of the side of the driving face 22 closer to the center
of the swing element 3, which further makes it possible for the driver 2 to press
the swing element 3 to move for a shorter stroke in order that the swing piece 3 can
swing for the same angle to reach the operation position of switching on/off the circuit.
Therefore, the non-planar driving face 22 further shortens the pressing stroke of
the pushbutton 1 of the switch required for the operation of switching the circuit,
thereby facilitating user's operation.
[0044] When the pushbutton 1 is released from the state shown in Fig. 11, as the swing element
3 at that time has swung to the swing extreme position on the right side, namely,
the connection point between the elastic element 4 and the swing element 3 has tilted
to the other side (the right side in Fig. 11) of the swing element 3, the connection
point of the elastic element 4 and the driver 2 becomes to locate on the left side
of the line connecting the connection point of the elastic element 4 and the swing
element 3 and the engaging point of the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton
contact face 11. Therefore, the recovery force applied by the elastic element 4 on
the driver 2 will apply on the driver 2 a torque clockwise with respect to the engaging
point of the driver contact face 21 on the rightmost side and the pushbutton contact
face 11. The clockwise torque drives the driver contact face 21 of the driver 2 to
"roll" along the pushbutton contact face 11 of the pushbutton 1 to cause the driver
2 to swing to the left side, as shown in Fig. 12. During this "rolling" process, the
engaging point between the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face
11 will move gradually to the left.
[0045] Even when the driver 2 swings to the intermediate position with respect to the housing
as shown in Fig. 12, namely, when both the engaging point of the driver contact face
21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 and the connection point of the driver 2 and
the elastic element 4 are in the intermediate position with respect to the housing,
as the connection point of the swing element 3 and the elastic element 4 remains on
the right side as a result of the swing element 3 staying in the swing extreme position
to the right, the connection point of the elastic element 4 and the driver 2 is still
on the left side of the line connecting the connection point of the elastic element
4 and the swing element 3 and the engaging point of the driver contact face 21 and
the pushbutton contact face 11. Therefore, the recovery force applied by the elastic
element 4 on the driver 2 will still apply on the driver 2 a torque clockwise with
respect to the engaging point of the driver contact face 21 in the intermediate position
and the pushbutton contact face 11 so that the driver 2 continues to swing to the
left and pass through the swing axis (namely, the first axis) of the swing element
2 until the driver 2 abuts against the stop 6 and/or stop face 12 on the left side
of the swing axis of the swing element 2 and forces the driver 2 to remain in the
swing extreme position, as shown in Fig. 13. At this time, the engaging point of the
driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 has moved to the leftmost
side of the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11.
[0046] In the above swing process of the driver 2, as the pushbutton 1 has been released,
the recovery force of the elastic element 4, while driving the driver 2 to swing,
further drives the driver 2 and pushbutton 1 to move upwards together away from the
swing element 3. Therefore, during the swing process of the driver 2, the driver 2
does not contact and press the swing element 3 anymore. In other words, during the
swing process of the driver 2, the movement of the driver 2 will not be affected by
the swing element 3. Meanwhile, the swing element 3 will also always remain in the
extreme swing position to the right under the elastic recovery force of the elastic
element 4 and keep the operation state of disconnecting the first circuit and conducting
the second circuit. The driver 2 will also stay in the swing extreme position on the
leftmost side under the constraint of the stop 6 and/or stop face 12 and the effect
of the recovery force of the elastic element 4. In this manner, the resetting action
of the pushbutton 1 is completed and the driver 2 is also ready for the next press
operation of the pushbutton 1.
[0047] When the pushbutton 1 is pressed again, the driver 2 will be driven by the pushbutton
1 to move downwards to contact and press the first contact face 32 on the left side
of the swing element 3 to cause the swing element 3 to swing to the left side. Meanwhile,
the driver 2 remains not swinging relative to the pushbutton 1 so that the first moving
contact 81 on the left side of the swing element 3 contacts the first stationary contact
51 again while the second moving contact 82 on the right side of the swing element
3 is disconnected again from the second stationary contact 52. In this way, the switch
conducts the first circuit again and disconnects the second circuit, thereby achieving
again the on/off switching operation by the switch for the first circuit and the second
circuit. During this pressing process, the driving face 22 of the driver 2 will also
move relative to the first contact face 32 of the swing element 3 gradually close
to the center of the swing element 3, and similar to the case when the driving face
22 drives the second contact face 33, the effect of shortening the stroke of the driver
2 is also achieved.
[0048] When the pushbutton 1 is released again, the driver 2 will swing to the swing extreme
position on the rightmost side again according to a process similar to that described
with reference to Figs. 11-13, and meanwhile, the engaging point of the driver contact
face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 also changes to the rightmost end of the
driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 again to be ready for the
driver 2 to drive the swing element 3 to act and the driver 2 to swing for resetting
for the next time.
[0049] In the embodiments of the switch described above, as the driver 2 does not swing
or rotate during the process of driving the swing element 3, the distance between
the driver 2 and the swing axis of the swing element 3 remains unchanged. Therefore,
the driver 2 can drive the swing element 3 to swing for the same angle with a constant
unit stroke, thereby making the stroke of driver 2 (and the stroke of the pushbutton
1) even smaller. Thus, the user can operate the pushbutton 1 more easily to achieve
reliable switching operation of the switch. Furthermore, since the deciding factor
for the driver 2 to drive the swing element 3 to swing in place is the distance between
the driver 2 and the swing axis of the swing element 3, it is possible that by means
of simply arranging the distance between the driver 2 and the swing axis of the swing
element 3, the switch can obtain the expected strokes of the driver 2 and pushbutton
1. For example, by configuring this distance small enough, the stroke of the driver
2 and pushbutton 1 can be smaller.
[0050] In the embodiments of the switch described above, the direction of the force applied
by the driver 2 on the swing element 3 is substantially the same as the direction
of the force for pressing the pushbutton 1. Hence, the majority of the force from
the user for pressing the pushbutton 1 can be converted directly into effective force
for the driver 2 to drive the swing element 3 to act to switch the position of the
moving contact. Thus, the switch exhibits high converting efficiency of the force,
thereby lowering the requirement on the force from the user for pressing the pushbutton
1.
[0051] In addition, by directly arranging the moving contact on the swing element 3, the
swing element 3 serves not only as the actuator for receiving driving of the driver
2 but also as a switch bridge for directly driving the moving contact to act, which
not only enables less number of components in the switch but also makes it possible
to apply the driving force from the driver 2 directly on the moving contact without
being converted by other components. Thus, the driving force of the driver 2 can drive
the moving contact to act with higher efficiency and meanwhile, the acting mechanism
of the switch is less sensitive to the dimension and the operation of the switch can
be more reliable.
[0052] In the embodiments of the switch described above, by connecting the elastic element
4 between the driver 2 and the swing element 3, the same elastic element 4 can drive
the swing element 3 to swing to the swing extreme position with greater speed to achieve
on/off switching operation on the circuit as quickly as possible, and during the resetting
process of the driver 2, provide supporting force to the swing element constantly
to keep the swing element 3 in the swing extreme position so as to maintain reliable
conduction or disconnection position of the corresponding moving contact and stationary
contact. Meanwhile, the same elastic element 4 can also drives the driver 2 to reset,
thereby avoiding the use of two different elastic elements to achieve the above two
functions respectively. In this way, the number of components in the switch can be
reduced and thus, the structure of the switch can be simplified. Besides, when the
pushbutton 1 is pressed to the bottom, the elastic element 4 is compressed to the
greatest extent, so that the elastic element 4 provides the largest contact force
for the moving contact, which enables the moving contact to contact the stationary
contact more reliably during the contact and reduces the bounce of the moving contact
generated when engaging with the stationary contact.
[0053] In the embodiments of the switch described above, the driver 2 does not swing during
the operation process of driving the swing element 3, and during the resetting process
of the driver 2, it is directly reset to the swing extreme position where the driver
2 will drive the swing element 3 for the next time. Thus, the driver 2 remains in
the swing extreme position where it is ready to press the swing element 3 all the
time in the natural state of the switch with the pushbutton 1 being not pressed and
there is no intermediate position. Therefore, the driver 2 can accurately drive the
swing element 3 to act each time to achieve the operation of the switch for switching
the circuit smoothly, precluding the misgiving that the driver 2 cannot accurately
reach the predefined position for driving the swing element 3 from its intermediate
position during each pressing process.
[0054] In the embodiments of the switch described above, by defining two swing extreme positions
of the driver 2 with the stop 6 on the housing and/or the stop face 12 on the pushbutton
1, the position where the driver 2 presses the swing element 3 can be controlled accurately
by simply controlling the position of the stop 6 and/or stop face 12 on the housing
and/or pushbutton 1, which also facilitates obtaining greater symmetry of the respective
driving positions for the driver 2 on two sides of the swing element 3.
[0055] In the embodiments of the switch described above, since the driver 2 achieves swing
support of the driver 2 by engagement between the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton
contact face 11 of the pushbutton 1, and the engaging point between the driver contact
face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 varies during the swing process of the
driver, during the resetting process of the driver 2, the elastic element 4 can not
only reset it to the rightmost swing extreme position when the driver 2 is at its
leftmost swing extreme position so as to be ready for the next driving action but
also reset it to the leftmost swing extreme position when the driver 2 is at its rightmost
swing extreme position so as to be ready for the next driving action. Meanwhile, the
engagement between the driver contact face 21 and the pushbutton contact face 11 also
causes the rotation radius of the driving face 22 of the driver 2 to increase to exceed
the distance between the driving face 22 and the connection point of the driver 2
and the pushbutton 1, thereby achieving greater swing amplitude of the driver 2 in
a compact inner space of the switch, which also reduces the stroke of the driver 2
and the pushbutton 1 and the size of the switch.
[0056] In the embodiments of the switch described above, as the converting efficiency from
the force for pressing the pushbutton 1 to the force for driving the moving contact
to act is improved, and moreover, and there is no other mechanism which brings remarkably
increased resistance to the movement of the driver 2, as compared to the traditional
switch, the switch according to these embodiments does not have significantly greater
requirement on the pressing force for pressing the pushbutton 1 during operating the
switch.
[0057] Variations can also be made on the basis of the switch according to the first embodiment
of the present invention as described above to achieve at least a part of the various
advantageous technical effects of the first embodiment according to the present invention.
[0058] In a second embodiment shown in Fig. 14, the switch differs from the switch in the
first embodiment in that the swing element 3 only serves as the actuator for receiving
the driving from the driver 2. The swing element 3 is not arranged with a moving contact
but only has a driving head 37 on the lower end. Between the first contact face 32
and the second contact face 33 of the swing element 3 and the driving head 37, there
is arranged an swing shaft 38 which is rotatably supported on the housing. The switch
is further arranged with a separate switch bridge 7 which is made of electrically
conductive material with two ends serving as the first moving contact 81 and the second
moving contact 82 respectively. The center of one side of the switch bridge 7 is swingingly
supported on the electrically conductive seat 84 electrically connected to the wiring
terminal 83 of the moving contact and the driving head 37 of the swing element 3 contacts
the other side of the switch bridge 7. When the pushbutton 1 is pressed, the driver
2 drives the swing element 3 to swing to two different swing extreme positions (namely,
the first position and the second position) in the same manner as in the first embodiment,
and the driving head 37 on the swing element 3 would press the side of the switch
bridge 7 the same as the swing direction of the driving head 37 of the swing element
3 (namely, the side opposite to the swing direction of the first contact face 32 and
the second contact face 33 of the swing piece), so that the first contact 81 or the
second contact 82 of the switch bridge 7 on the end of this side contacts the corresponding
first stationary contact 51 or second stationary contact 52 and meanwhile, the second
moving contact 82 or the first moving contact 81 on the other end of the switch bridge
7 is disconnected from the corresponding stationary contact, thereby achieving the
operation of the switch for switching the on/off state of the circuit. In this embodiment,
as the switch bridge 7 located below the swing axis of the swing element 3 is introduced,
the order for the swing element 3 to drive the moving contact to conduct and disconnect
the first circuit and second circuit is contrary to that depicted in the first embodiment.
When the pushbutton 1 is released, the driver 2 is driven by the elastic element 4
in the same manner as depicted in the first embodiment to swing to the other swing
extreme position and thus gets reset.
[0059] In the third embodiment shown in Fig. 15, the switch differs from the switch according
to the first embodiment in that the driver 2 has a planar driving face 22', and instead
of having the first contact face 32 and the second contact face 33 on the swing element
3, the swing element 3 is provided with a first contact point 36 and a second contact
point 37 located on two sides of the swing axis (first axis). When the pushbutton
1 is pressed, the driving face 22' of driver 2 does not swing either, but moves linearly
along with the pushbutton 1 to press one of the first contact point 36 and the second
contact point 37 to cause the swing element 3 to swing so that the moving contact
on the swing element 3 contacts or is disconnected from the first stationary contact
51 and the second stationary contact 52 respectively. During this pressing process,
the position on the driving face 22' pressing the first contact point 36 or the second
contact point 37 moves gradually close to the edge of the driving face 22'. In other
words, similar to the first embodiment, during the pressing process, the contact point
between the driver 2 and the swing element 3 also keeps varying, and the distance
between the force applying point from the driver 2 to the swing element 3 and the
swing axis (the first axis) of the swing element 3 also remains unchanged. When the
pushbutton 1 is released, the driver 2 is driven by the elastic element 4 in the same
manner as in the first embodiment to swing to the other swing extreme position and
thus gets reset.
[0060] In the fourth embodiment shown in Fig. 16-Fig. 17, the switch differs from the switch
in the first embodiment in that the driver 2 is pivotally mounted on the pushbutton
1 through a pivot 25 and a contact rib 26 is provided on the lower side of the driver
2. The swing element 3 has a fastening post 38 at one end and a driving lever 39 at
the other end. The elastic element 4 is mounted on the fastening post 38 at one end
to be fixedly connected to the swing element 3 and abuts against the contact rib 26
of the driver 2 at the other end. The driving lever 39 of the swing element 3 is coupled
to the switch bridge 7. The first moving contact 81 and the second moving contact
82 are located on two sides of the switch bridge 7, rather than on the swing element
3. When the pushbutton 1 is pressed, the pushbutton 1 drives the driver 2 to move
downwards. However, the driver 2 does not swing or rotate either. The driver 2 drives
the first contact face 32 and the second contact face 33 of the swing element 3 in
the same manner as depicted in the first embodiment to cause the swing element 3 to
swing to the swing extreme position, so that the driving lever 39 on the swing element
3 drives the switch bridge 7 to cause the first moving contact 81 or second moving
contact 82 on the switch bridge 7 to contact or disconnect from the corresponding
stationary contact. When the pushbutton 1 is released, the elastic element 4 will
push the driver 2 to move upwards. At this time, as the elastic element 4 abuts against
and contacts the contact rib 26 of the driver 2 and the driver 2 is still in the swing
extreme position when the pushbutton 1 is just released, the contact rib 26 is tilted
relative to the end of the elastic element 4. As a result, the elastic element 4 applies
a recovery force on the driver 2 only at one end of the contact rib 26. Furthermore,
since the swing direction of the swing element 3 is the same as that of the driver
2 when the pushbutton 1 is just released (see Fig. 11), the elastic element 4 will
apply a recovery force on the driver 2 at a lower end of the contact rib 26 so that
the driver 2 rotates to the swing extreme position on the other side, thereby completing
resetting. In this embodiment, it is also possible not to arrange the switch bridge
7 but only to configure the moving contact directly on the swing element 3, as in
the first embodiment.
[0061] It should be appreciated that although the switch according to the above embodiments
can connect two paths of circuits and alternative on/off switching operation of these
two paths of circuits can be achieved with the operation of the switch, it is also
possible for the switch to connect only one of the first stationary contact 51 and
the second stationary contact 52 with a path of circuit while the other one of the
first stationary contact 51 and the second stationary contact 52 does not connect
with a circuit. In this manner, each pressing operation of the switch only conducts
or disconnects this one path of circuit. Furthermore, the switch according to the
above embodiments can provide only one moving contact and one stationary contact so
that the switch can only conduct or disconnect a path of circuit by each pressing
operation.
[0062] It should be appreciated that for the ease of depiction, the placing location of
the switch is illustrated in the text based on the drawings. Directions "up, down,
left, right" in the text are all described based on this orientation. Obviously, the
switch can be arranged in various directions as required. The directional depiction
about "up, down, left, right" among features described in the text will change accordingly
with the change of orientation of location of the switch. However, the relative positional
relation between the features will not change.
[0063] The specification of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration,
but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many
modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art
[0064] Therefore, the embodiments are selected and depicted to better illustrate the principles
and practical applications of the present disclosure and to enable others of those
skilled in the art to understand the following content, namely, without departing
from the spirit of the present disclosure, various modifications and variations shall
fall under the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
1. A switch, comprising:
a pushbutton (1);
a driver (2) that can swing relative to the pushbutton (1) to cooperate with the pushbutton
(1);
a swing element (3) that can swing with respect to a first axis and has a first contact
face (32) and a second contact face (33) located on different sides of the first axis;
an elastic element (4) connected between the driver (2) and the swing element (3);
and
a first moving contact (81) and a first stationary contact (51);
wherein the driver (2) has a driving face (22) for pressing one of the first contact
face (32) and the second contact face (33) of the swing element (3), and the driver
(2) is configured to, when the pushbutton (1) is pressed, press one of the first contact
face (32) and the second contact face (33) of the swing element (3) with the driving
face (22) on one side of the first axis to cause the swing element (3) to swing to
a first position, and when the pushbutton (1) is pressed again, press the other one
of the first contact face (32) and the second contact face (33) of the swing element
(3) with the driving face (22) on the other side of the first axis to cause the swing
element (3) to swing to a second position; and in one of the first position and the
second position, the first moving contact (81) contacts the first stationary contact
(51), while in the other one of the first position and the second position, the first
moving contact (81) is disconnected from the first stationary contact (51).
2. The switch according to Claim 1, wherein the driver (2) is configured such that during
the process of pressing the swing element (3) to cause it to swing by the driver (2),
the driver (2) does not swing relative to the pushbutton (1), so that during the process
of pressing the swing element (3) by the driver (2), the position on the first contact
face (32) or the second contact face (33) of the swing element (3) where the swing
element (3) is pressed by the driving face (22) of the driver (2) moves gradually
close to an end of the first contact face (32) and the second contact face (33) adjacent
to each other.
3. The switch according to Claim 2, wherein the driver (2) is configured such that, when
the pushbutton (1) is released, the elastic element (4) drives the driving face (22)
of the driver (2) to swing from one side of the first axis to the other side.
4. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, further comprising a housing in which a
stop (6) is arranged, the stop (6) defining the swing extreme position of the driver
(2).
5. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, wherein there is arranged a stop face (12)
on the pushbutton (1), the stop face (12) defining the swing extreme position of the
driver (2).
6. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, wherein the driving face (22) is a non-planar
face so that during the process of pressing the first contact face (32) or the second
contact face (33) of the swing element (3) by the driving face (22), the position
on the driving face (22) where the driving face (22) contacts the first contact face
(32) or the second contact face (33) varies.
7. The switch according to Claim 6, wherein the driving face (22) is formed in a recess
at one end of the driver (2).
8. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, wherein the swing element (3) comprises
a swing piece (34) on which the first moving contact (81) is located and a driving
arm (35) the longitudinal direction of which is vertical to the swing piece (34),
the first contact face (32) and the second contact face (33) extend along the longitudinal
direction of the driving arm (35) and are distributed symmetrically about the first
axis, and the first contact face (32) and the second contact face (33) are located
between the driver (2) and the first axis.
9. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, further comprising a switch bridge (7)
on which the first moving contact (81) is located, the swing element (3) cooperates
with the switch bridge (7) such that when the swing element (3) swings to the first
position or the second position, it drives the switch bridge (7) to swing to the position
where the first moving contact (81) is in contact with or disconnected from the first
stationary contact (51).
10. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, wherein the extension directions of the
first contact face (32) and the second contact face (33) from the ends of the first
and second contact faces close to each other to the distal ends thereof are tilted
towards one side of the first axis with an angle (A) with respect to the direction
vertical to the main face of the swing piece (34).
11. The switch according to Claim 10, wherein the angle (A) is between 0 degree and 20
degrees.
12. The switch according to Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the driver (2) abuts against the
pushbutton (1) under the action of the elastic element (4), and during the swing process
of the driver (2), the engaging point between the driver (2) and the pushbutton (1)
varies.
13. The switch according to Claim 12, wherein the elastic element (4) is pivotally connected
between the driver (2) and the swing element (3).
14. The switch according to Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the driver (2) is pivotally connected
on the pushbutton (1), and there is arranged a contact rib (26) on the pushbutton
(1), and one end of the elastic element (4) is fixed to the swing element (3), and
the other end of the elastic element (4) abuts against the contact rib (26).
15. The switch according to one of Claims 1-3, further comprising a second moving contact
(82) and a second stationary contact (52), wherein in one of the first position and
the second position of the swing element (3), the first moving contact (81) contacts
the first stationary contact (51) and the second moving contact (82) is disconnected
from the second stationary contact (52), while in the other one of the first position
and the second position, the first moving contact (81) is disconnected from the first
stationary contact (51) and the second moving contact (82) contacts the second stationary
contact (52).