Accelerator switch assembly

Claim 1

In a battery-powered mobile vehicle having a traction motor and a pivotal accelerator lever for controlling the speed of the motor, the improvement which comprises the provision of an accelerator switch assembly adapted to be connected to the accelerator lever, said switch assembly comprising: a. a box-like housing having an opening in the front wall thereof; b. an elongated rotatable tubular control shaft in said housing having a forward portion which extends outwardly through said front wall opening; c. a floating potentiometer having a housing and a rotatable shaft extending into the center bore at the inward end of said tubular control shaft, whereby said potentiometer is floatingly mounted on said control shaft; d. limit stop means for limiting movement in the rotational direction of the potentiometer housing relative to the switch-assembly housing; e. set screw means for adjustably fixing the angular position of said potentiometer shaft relative to said control shaft; f. first and second cams adjustably mounted on the exterior surface of said control shaft between its inward end and the front wall of said housing; g. first and second cam-follower rollers engaging respectively the cam surfaces of said first and second cams; h. first and second switches mounted in said switch assembly housing; i. lever means connecting said first and second switches respectively to said first and second cam-follower rollers; and j. an accelerator lever mounted on and secured to the outward end of said control shaft and adapted to be moved pivotally for moving said control and potentiometer shafts angularly, thereby to change the setting of said potentiometer and to actuate said first and/or second switches.