EP0286388A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electrical control device
Assignee: Gould Electronics Ltd
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Filing: 1988-04-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-04-06
Abstract
Abstract An electrical control device (8) is operable by means of a lever (12) and includes a deformable member (50) which is deformed in response to manual pressure on the lever. The deformable member (50) has an electrically conductive surface portion (52) which is arranged to engage a continuous area or track of resistive material (62) such that as a changing manual pressure is applied to the lever (12) a changing amount of the track is electrically bridged or short circuited by said conductive surface portions (52). The resistive area or track is connected to electrical terminals (64, 66) so as to present a continuously variable electrical resistance across the terminals depending on the manual pressure applied.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas Harold Lecklider
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 17:36
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01L; G01L1/00; G01L1/20; G01D; G01D5/00; G01D5/12; G01D5/14; G01D5/16; G05; G05G; G05G9/00; G05G9/02; G05G9/04; G05G9/047; G05G2009/04703; G05G2009/04722; G05G2009/0474; G05G2009/04744; H; H01; H01H; H01H2239/00; H01H2239/078
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
112 words
An electrical control device (8) including manually operable means responsive to manual pressure including a deformable member (50) having an electrically conductive surface portion (52) characterised in that the conductive surface portion (52) is arranged to engage a continuous area or track of resistive material (62) such that as a changing manual pressure is applied to the manually operable means a changing amount of the track or area (62) is electrically bridged or short circuited by said conductive surface portion (52), the resistive area or track (62) being connected to electrical terminals (64, 66) so as to present a continuously variable electrical resistance across the terminals depending on the manual pressure applied.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
112 words
An electrical control device (8) including manually operable means responsive to manual pressure including a deformable member (50) having an electrically conductive surface portion (52) characterised in that the conductive surface portion (52) is arranged to engage a continuous area or track of resistive material (62) such that as a changing manual pressure is applied to the manually operable means a changing amount of the track or area (62) is electrically bridged or short circuited by said conductive surface portion (52), the resistive area or track (62) being connected to electrical terminals (64, 66) so as to present a continuously variable electrical resistance across the terminals depending on the manual pressure applied.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
57 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 1 having a track of resistive material (62) arranged in spiral form with one electrical terminal (64) connected to the centre of the spiral and one electrical terminal (66) connected to an outer part of the spiral, the deformable member (50) being arranged over the centre of the spiral.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 1 having a continuous area of resistive material in the form of a disk having an electrical terminal connected at the centre of the disk and an electrical terminal connected to its periphery.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 1 having a continuous area of resistive material in the shape of a rectangle (80) having electrical terminals (84, 85) connected to spaced portions of the rectangle.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 1 having a continuous area of resistive material (90) electrically connecting spaced conductive tracks (92, 94) to which the electrical terminals are connected.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 5 in which the area of resistive material (97) is rectangular and the conductive tracks (92, 94) extend along opposite edges of the rectangle.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
An electrical control device as claimed in claim 5 or 6 in which the deformable member (97) is positioned over the centre of the area of resistive material (90).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
44 words
Electrical control apparatus including two electrical control devices (88ʹ) as claimed in any preceding claim arranged adjacent to each other, and a manually operable member (12) which is operable to cause deformation off the deformable member (50, 50ʹ) of either of the control devices.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
55 words
Electrical control apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which the manually operable member (12) is pivotably mounted so that movement of the member (12) in one direction will cause progressive deformation of one of the deformable members (50) and movement in the other direction will cause progressive deformation of the other deformable member (50ʹ).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
Electrical control apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6 in which the areas or tracks of resistive material of the two control devices (8, 8ʹ) are connected together via a sinuous resistive track portion (74; 83) to which an electrical terminal (66ʹ) is connected.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4599496A
Cited
EP0252212A1
Cited
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