Patent ID: 6255612
Filing Date: 2001-07-03
Classification: H02B

Abstract:
A control element that is intended for fastening to a front panel having at least one circular opening with a diameter d.sub.0 and a thickness t constant in the vicinity of the at least one circular opening,the control element comprisinga housing which includesa front,a back andan essentially cylindrical section located in between the front and the back, having a diameter d.sub.T, andwhereind.sub.T is slightly less than d.sub.0,the housing has, at the front, a collar projecting laterally beyond and radially away from the cylindrical section and having a support surface making an angle of substantially 90.degree. with the cylindrical section and is intended for supporting the front panel,the cylindrical section includesa groove, having a width b, in a plane perpendicular to an axis of the cylinder, such that, for a distance a from a middle of the groove to the support surface, measured parallel to the axis of the cylinder, t-b/2<a<t+b/2,a ring which comprises an elastically deformable material and whose external diameter is greater than d.sub.0, the ring being dimensioned and arranged in the groove in such a way that, when inserted in the front panel, the control element is fixed in the at least one circular opening by virtue of the ring being pressed against a first lateral surface of the groove by a lower edge of the at least one circular opening, andwherein,in a longitudinal section through a plane passing through the axis of the cylinder, the groove includesa second lateral surface facing away from the first lateral surface anda transition surface contiguously connecting the first and second lateral surfacesthe second lateral surface is substantially at right angles to the axis of the cylinder, andthe first lateral surface makes an angle of 40.degree. to 80.degree. with the axis of the cylinder and is inclined so that a width of the groove decreases with increasing depth.