High speed push button switch

Claim 2

A normally open, momentary, double make, push button contact sWitch for making momentary contact connections upon depression of a manually operative member of said switch, comprising, in combination: a switch housing; at least two spaced contact blades mounted in said housing; a movable contact translatable in said housing along a path and capable of momentarily connecting said contact blades during translation of at least a portion of said path; guide means positioned in said housing for guiding said movable contact on said path; means in said housing for normally retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position; a manually operative member mounted for positional change in said housing; means responsive to positional change of said manually operative member from a non-operated position for disengaging said means for retaining said movable contact in a first no make nontranslating position; and means in said housing for driving said movable contact on said guide means along said path into momentary electrical connection with said contact blades whenever said means for retaining is disengaged from said movable contact by said means responsive to positional change.

Claim 3

The switch of claim 1 wherein said contact blades include a portion for electrical connection with said movable contact along a fixed distance of said path during translation of said movable contact to thereby control the period of contact of said movable contact with said blades.

Claim 4

The switch of claim 1 including means positioned in said housing for displacing said contact blades to a position for non-engagement with said movable contact.

Claim 5

The switch of claim 3 wherein said means for displacing is driven in said housing by engaging said means responsive to positional change of said manually operative member from a non-operated position.

Claim 6

The switch of claim 1 wherein said guide means and said manually operative member comprise an integral component of said switch.

Claim 7

The switch of claim 1 wherein said means for retaining comprises at least one displaceable cam surface mounted in said housing, said cam surface normally engaging and retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position when said manually operative member is in a non-operated position.

Claim 8

The switch of claim 6 wherein said manually operative member drives and displaces said displaceable cam surface when said manually operative member is translated to an operated position thereby disengaging said movable contact from said means for retaining.

Claim 9

The switch of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said movable contact includes biasing means positioned in said housing to continuously bias said contact against said means for retaining, said biasing means, upon disengagement of said means for retaining, subsequently driving said movably contact along said guide member into momentary electrical connection with said contact blades.

Claim 10

A normally open, momentary, double make, push button contact switch for making momentary contact connections upon depression of a manually operative member of said switch, comprising, in combination: a housing with a longitudinal axis and having a push button end and an opposite end; first and second spaced contact blades mounted in said housing substantially parallel to each other and to said longitudinal axis; a movable contact translatable in said housing in a path along the direction of said longitudinal axis and engageable with at least a portion of said contact blades along at least a portion of said path during translation in at least one direction along said path; a guide member positioned in said housing for guiding said movable contact on said path for connecting said contact blades during translation, said guide member extending substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis; means in said housing for normally retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position; a manually operative member mountEd for positional change with respect to said housing for disengaging said means for retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position whenever said manually operative member is moved to a first operating position; and means in said housing for driving said movable contact on said guide member along said path to momentarily engage said contact blades whenever said means for retaining is disengaged from said movable contact by positional change of said manually operative member to thereby momentarily complete a circuit.

Claim 11

A normally open, momentary, double make, push button contact switch for making momentary contact connections upon depression of a manually operative member of said switch, comprising, in combination: a housing with a longitudinal axis and having a push button end and an opposite end; first and second spaced contact blades mounted in said housing substantially parallel to each other and to said longitudinal axis; a movable contact translatable in said housing in a path along the direction of said longitudinal axis and engageable with at least a portion of said contact blades along at least a portion of said path during translation in at least one direction along said path; a guide member positioned in said housing for guiding said movable contact on said path for connecting said contact blades during translation, said guide member extending substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis; means in said housing for normally retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position; a manually operative member mountEd for positional change with respect to said housing for disengaging said means for retaining said movable contact in a first no make, non-translating position whenever said manually operative member is moved to a first operating position; and means in said housing for driving said movable contact on said guide member along said path to momentarily engage said contact blades whenever said means for retaining is disengaged from said movable contact by positional change of said manually operative member to thereby momentarily complete a circuit.

Claim 12

The switch of claim 9 including means in said housing for displacing at least one of said contact blades to a position for non-engagement with said movable contact.

Claim 13

The switch of claim 10 including means in said housing for displacing said contact blades comprising a contact blade biasing cam driven on said guide member in response to positional change of said manually operative member from a non-operated position.

Claim 14

The switch of claim 9 wherein said guide member and said manually operative member are mounted for coincident movement substantially parallel to said axis, and including restoring biasing means continuously biasing said guide member and said manually operative member toward a non-operated position of said switch.

Claim 15

The switch of claim 9 wherein said guide means is a rod and wherein said movable contact is a disc member slidably mounted on said rod within said housing.

Claim 16

The switch of claim 9 wherein said contact blades include a flexible run within said housing, substantially parallel to said axis, said run being normally biased toward a position for engagement with said movable contact, and including means in said housing for displacing at least one of said runs to a position for non-engagement with said movable contact.

Claim 17

The switch of claim 14 wherein said means for displacing is driven along said guide member by said manually operating member between an engaging position with said blade and a non-engaging position with said blade.

Claim 18

The switch of claim 9 wherein said guide means is a rod and said movable contact is a disc member slidably mounted on said rod, said rod being biased to a non-operated position, said rod being translatable in said housing parallel to said axis in the opposite direction of said biasing by positional change of said manually operative member from a non-operated position.

Claim 19

The switch of claim 9 wherein said guide means comprises a translatable rod parallel to said axis and wherein said movable contact is an annular disc member slidably mounted on said rod and translatable parallel to said axis, said rod including a disc blocking member for engagement by said disc, and said means for driving said contact including disc biasing means in said housing for constantly biasing said disc toward engagement with said blocking member.

Claim 20

The switch of claim 9 wherein means for retaining said movable contact includes at least one displaceable cam surface in said housing for engaging said movable contact whenever said manually operative member is in a non-operated position, said manually operative member including means for disengaging said displaceable cam surface upon positional change of said manually operative member from a non-operated position to release said movable contact.

Claim 21

A normally open, momentary, double make, push button contact switch for making momentary contact connections upon depression of a manually operative member of said switch, comprising, in combination: a housing having a longitudinal axis, a push button end and an opposite end; a translatable push button at said push button end mounted for positional change in said housing including a longitudinal rod extending parallel with said axis and translatable within said housing; first biasing means in said housing for biasing said rod and button to a non-depressed position; at least two contact blades mounted in said housing parallel to said axis and spaced From said rod; a disc member mounted on said rod for translation in a direction parallel to said axis from a position of non-engagement with said contact blades to a position of momentary engagement with said blades during translation; disc member biasing means positioned in said housing for biasing said disc member toward engagement with said blades; stop means positioned in said housing for normally retaining said disc member from engagement with said blades; and means responsive to positional change of said push button from a non-operated position for disengaging said stop means and permitting said disc member to be translated along said rod into momentary engagement with said blades.

Claim 22

A normally open, momentary, double make, push button contact switch for making momentary contact connections upon depression of a manually operative member of said switch, comprising, in combination: a housing having a longitudinal axis, a push button end and an opposite end; a translatable push button at said push button end mounted for positional change in said housing including a longitudinal rod extending parallel with said axis and translatable within said housing; first biasing means in said housing for biasing said rod and button to a non-depressed position; at least two contact blades mounted in said housing parallel to said axis and spaced From said rod; a disc member mounted on said rod for translation in a direction parallel to said axis from a position of non-engagement with said contact blades to a position of momentary engagement with said blades during translation; disc member biasing means positioned in said housing for biasing said disc member toward engagement with said blades; stop means positioned in said housing for normally retaining said disc member from engagement with said blades; and means responsive to positional change of said push button from a non-operated position for disengaging said stop means and permitting said disc member to be translated along said rod into momentary engagement with said blades.

Claim 23

The switch of claim 19 including a cam block mounted on said rod, said cam block being engageable with said blades to displace said blades from a position in the path for engagement with said disc member whenever said push button is returned from a depressed position to a non-depressed position.

Claim 24

The switch of claim 20 wherein said blades have a first run parallel to said axis, said cam block being engageable with said blades along said run, and wherein said means responsive to positional change of said push button from a non-operated position for disengaging said stop means is operative to disengage said stop means upon disengagement of said cam block with said blades.

Claim 25

The switch of claim 19 including lip means in said housing for maintaining said blades in a fixed path for engagement with said disc member.

Claim 26

The switch of claim 19 wherein said blades include a portion for engagement with said disc member along a fixed distance during translation of said disc member parallel to said axis.

Claim 27

The switch of claim 23 wherein the fixed distance of said portion is chosen to control the period of contact of said disc member with said blades.

Claim 28

The switch of claim 19 wherein said disc member biasing means is chosen to control the period of contact of said disc member with said blades.

Claim 29

The switch of claim 19 wherein said disc member is freely mounted on said rod to make momentary engagement with said blades during longitudinal translation of said disc along said rod.

Claim 30

A normally open, momentary, double make contact switch for making momentary contact connections, comprising, in combination: a guide member; a movable contact translatable in a path along said guide member; means for translating said movable contact along said guide member; at least two contact blades mounted adjacent said guide member in said path for electrical connection between said blades through said movable contact during translation of said movable contact along said guide member; means for normally retaining said movable contact in a non-translated position on said guide member and rendering said means for translating ineffective to translate said contact; and means for disengaging said means for retaining said movable contact and render said means for translating effective thereby permitting said movable contact to translate in said path along said guide member to make momentary connection with said blades during translation.

Claim 31

A normally open, momentary, double make contact switch for making momentary contact connections, comprising, in combination: a guide member; a movable contact translatable in a path along said guide member; means for translating said movable contact along said guide member; at least two contact blades mounted adjacent said guide member in said path for electrical connection between said blades through said movable contact during translation of said movable contact along said guide member; means for normally retaining said movable contact in a non-translated position on said guide member and rendering said means for translating ineffective to translate said contact; and means for disengaging said means for retaining said movable contact and render said means for translating effective thereby permitting said movable contact to translate in said path along said guide member to make momentary connection with said blades during translation.