Electric switch and printed circuit board construction with improved terminal connection means

Claim 2

In an electric circuit assembly of the type having a wafer switch on a switch shaft, a printed circuit board, said shaft lying in an imaginary plane generally parallel to said printed circuit board, and means electrically and mechanically connecting said printed circuit board to said wafer switch, the improvement wherein said means includes at least one terminal lug having an intermediate portion projecting outwardly from a face of said wafer switch and generally in a direction parallel to the length direction of said switch shaft.

Claim 3

The improvement of claim 1 wherein said means further includes at least one terminal lug projecting in a substantially straight line from said wafer switch to said printed circuit board.

Claim 4

An electric circuit assembly including a printed circuit board having electric circuit elements thereon and a plurality of apertures therethrough opening to electric contact points on said circuit board and elEctrically connected by printed circuit conductors on said board to said circuit elements, a switch assembly including frame means, a switch stator fixed in relation to said frame means, a switch shaft lying in an imaginary plane parallel to said printed circuit board and substantially bisecting said stator, a switch rotor on said shaft and rotatable therewith, and an array of printed circuit terminal lugs fixed to said stator, each having terminal points projecting through said apertures and in electrical contact with said contact points, said array of printed circuit terminal lugs including at least one terminal lug having a first end portion affixed to said stator, a second end portion including its terminal point located in a plane substantially parallel to and spaced from a face of said stator, and an intermediate portion extending generally in a direction parallel to said shaft.

Claim 5

An electric circuit assembly including a printed circuit board having electric circuit elements thereon and a plurality of apertures therethrough opening to electric contact points on said circuit board and elEctrically connected by printed circuit conductors on said board to said circuit elements, a switch assembly including frame means, a switch stator fixed in relation to said frame means, a switch shaft lying in an imaginary plane parallel to said printed circuit board and substantially bisecting said stator, a switch rotor on said shaft and rotatable therewith, and an array of printed circuit terminal lugs fixed to said stator, each having terminal points projecting through said apertures and in electrical contact with said contact points, said array of printed circuit terminal lugs including at least one terminal lug having a first end portion affixed to said stator, a second end portion including its terminal point located in a plane substantially parallel to and spaced from a face of said stator, and an intermediate portion extending generally in a direction parallel to said shaft.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said first end portion of said terminal lug is connected to said stator at an area of said stator which is further from said printed circuit board than is said imaginary plane.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said array of terminal lugs includes a first set of terminal lugs affixed to said stator at points lying entirely between said imaginary plane and said printed circuit board, each of said first set of terminal lugs being of substantially planar configuration and located closely adjacent the plane of said face of said stator throughout their entire length, and a second set of terminal lugs each of which includes an intermediate portion projecting generally in a direction parallel to said shaft, each said second set of terminal lugs being connected to said stator at areas spaced further from said printed circuit board than any portion of said first set of terminal lugs.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said stator is connected to said frame by a pair of parallel struts the longitudinal axes of which lie in a common plane perpendicular to said imaginary plane and bisecting said stator.

Claim 9

In a wafer switch assembly of the type including a ring-shaped stator mounted in a fixed position upon a switch shaft and having a rotor driven by said switch shaft, the stator having a plurality of circumferentially spaced stator contacts adapted to be engaged by a conductor on said rotor, said stator being mounted upon said switch shaft by mounting means including a pair of struts, the improvement wherein said stator contacts are adapted to be electrically connected to contacts on a single printed circuit board disposed generally parallel to a plane in which said shaft lies by printed circuit terminal lugs affixed to said board and to said stator, at least one of said terminal lugs having an intermediate portion extending from said stator generally in a direction parallel to said switch shaft thereby to avoid contact with any part of said wafer switch other than its associated stator contact.

Claim 10

In a wafer switch assembly of the type including a ring-shaped stator mounted in a fixed position upon a switch shaft and having a rotor driven by said switch shaft, the stator having a plurality of circumferentially spaced stator contacts adapted to be engaged by a conductor on said rotor, said stator being mounted upon said switch shaft by mounting means including a pair of struts, the improvement wherein said stator contacts are adapted to be electrically connected to contacts on a single printed circuit board disposed generally parallel to a plane in which said shaft lies by printed circuit terminal lugs affixed to said board and to said stator, at least one of said terminal lugs having an intermediate portion extending from said stator generally in a direction parallel to said switch shaft thereby to avoid contact with any part of said wafer switch other than its associated stator contact.

Claim 11

In a wafer switch assembly of the type including a ring-shaped stator mounted in fixed position upon a switch shaft and having a rotor driven by said switch shaft, the stator having a plurality of circumferentially spaced stator contacts adapted to be engaged by a conductor on said rotor, said stator being mounted upon said switch shaft by mounting means including a pair of struts, the improvement wherein said stator contacts are adapted to be electrically connected to contacts on a single printed circuit board by printed circuit terminal lugs affixed thereto and to said stator, each of said lugs having terminal points for mechanical and electrical connection to a printed circuit board, the terminal points of some of said printed circuit terminal lugs being spaced further from said stator in the longitudinal direction of said shaft than the terminal points of others of said printed circuit terminal lugs.

Claim 12

In a wafer switch assembly of the type including a ring-shaped stator mounted in fixed position upon a switch shaft and having a rotor driven by said switch shaft, the stator having a plurality of circumferentially spaced stator contacts adapted to be engaged by a conductor on said rotor, said stator being mounted upon said switch shaft by mounting means including a pair of struts, the improvement wherein said stator contacts are adapted to be electrically connected to contacts on a single printed circuit board by printed circuit terminal lugs affixed thereto and to said stator, each of said lugs having terminal points for mechanical and electrical connection to a printed circuit board, the terminal points of some of said printed circuit terminal lugs being spaced further from said stator in the longitudinal direction of said shaft than the terminal points of others of said printed circuit terminal lugs.

Claim 13

The improvement of claim 8 wherein the free ends of said terminal points are mutually coplanar and wherein said terminal points of each Of said printed circuit terminal lugs connected to said stator beneath an imaginary plane containing the longitudinal axis of said shaft and parallel to the plane of said free ends of said terminal points are located closer to said stator than said terminal points of each of said printed circuit terminal lugs affixed to said stator above said imaginary plane.

Claim 14

The improvement of claim 9 wherein each of said printed circuit terminal lugs which are affixed to said stator beneath said imaginary plane are substantially straight and wherein each of the others of said printed circuit terminal lugs are bent with an intermediate portion thereof projecting outwardly from said face of said stator generally in the direction of the length of said shaft.

Claim 15

The improvement of claim 10 wherein said struts are mutually parallel and parallel to said shaft, one of said struts being above said imaginary plane and the other of said struts being located below said imaginary plane.