Switch means for short-stroke push-button keys

Claim 1

A snap-action, two-position, push-button switch device for bridging adjacent ends of conductors which are disposed on a common surface side of a printed circuit board of insulating material, thereby to complete a switch circuit when said switch device is in one of its two positions, said switch device comprising, in combination: a spring element engaging a portion of said board and formed from a generally flat metallic spring material which is bent at a central portion thereof to provide a resiliently deformable arch-like portion which is normally spaced-apart from said adjacent ends of said conductors corresponding to a first of said two positions, but which is deformable toward said adjacent ends corresponding to the second of said two positions, and which snaps back to its initial arch-like configuration upon the removal of an external deforming force; a conductive bridging element carried by said spring element and which conductively engages said adjacent ends of said conductors when said switch device is in one of its two positions; and, a push-button member movably mounted adjacent said board on said common surface side thereof and engaging one of said spring and conductive bridging elements, said push-button member being translatable by said external force toward said board to deform said spring element.