Pushbutton switch assembly having floating type bridging contact and lost motion actuator

Claim 1

A pushbutton switch structure comprising at least two contact blocks stacked in end-to-end surface abutment and on a longitudinal axis, each contact block having stationary and movable contacts, each block also having movable contact operating means including a guided reciprocable plunger, the plunger having an extension member in end-to-end abutment with the plunger of an adjacent block, manual means adjacent to one block and operatively connected to the plunger thereof, a bridging movable contact carrier unit extending laterally of the direction of movement of the plunger, a support guide for supporting the bridging movable contact carrier unit, said carrier unit and the support guide having aligned aperture means, the extension member extending through the aligned aperture means, the plunger having an outturned shoulder on the side of the carrier unit opposite the support guide, first biasing means between the carrier unit and the contact block for retaining the movable contact normally closed with the upper set of contacts, second biasing means between the outturned shoulder and the carrier unit for holding the plunger in a fully retracted position, the first biasing means having a greater force than the second biasing means, the extension having a first outturned surface facing the direction of movement of the plunger when opening the contacts, and the carrier unit having a second complementary outturned surface facing and spaced from the first outturned surface to effect delayed movement of the carrier unit when the plunger is actuated.