Patent ID: 7357539
Filing Date: 2008-04-15
Classification: B60Q

Abstract:
1. A pressure responsive control system comprising: a push pad having a pressure responsive surface that is adapted to be depressed when a pushing force is applied to said push pad, said push pad having an optical transmission path along which an optical signal is transmitted; a plurality of loads to be selectively operated in response to the magnitude of a pushing force applied to said push pad and a corresponding depression of said pressure responsive surface thereof so as to create an obstruction in the optical transmission path and thereby interrupt at least some of the optical signal which is transmitted along said optical transmission path, the intensity of said optical signal decreasing with an increase in the pushing force applied to the pressure responsive surface of said push pad; and load control circuitry connected to said plurality of loads and responsive to an interruption of said optical signal transmitted along said optical transmission path of said push pad created by said obstruction for controlling the operation of individual ones of said plurality of loads in a manner that is directly proportional to the magnitude of said pushing force and inversely proportional to the intensity of said optical signal.