Abstract:
A rocker switch ( 10 ) is provided with a mechanical switch unit consisting of a switch housing ( 11 ) made of plastic, a switching element ( 14 ) supported in spring-loaded manner on said switch housing so as to be capable of moving back and forth, and an actuating rocker ( 16 ) connected to the switching element ( 14 ), and also with limit-stop elements ( 48, 49, 51, 52 ) for limiting the actuating angle of the actuating rocker ( 16 ), and with an electrical switch unit. In order to obtain variable actuating angles and overcompression functions, the invention provides that the actuating rocker ( 16 ) is provided with an overcompression element ( 36 ) which in one or both of the actuating directions comes to be operationally connected to an overcompression stop ( 46, 47 ) on the switch housing ( 11 ) before the limit-stop elements ( 51, 52 ) come into operation.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Applicant claims priority from German patent application No. 102006041951.0 filed Aug. 30, 2006. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a rocker switch. In a rocker switch of such a type that is known from DE 101 17 597 C1 the actuating angle in both directions of motion is formed exclusively by the limit-stop elements on the switch housing, on the one hand, and on the actuating rocker, on the other hand. This means that in each direction there is only a single switching function in each 
     given case. 
     The object of the present invention is to configure a rocker switch of such a type with the aid of an overcompression function so as to render it capable of being employed for further switching functions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By virtue of the measures according to the invention, an overcompression function towards the one or other side, or towards both sides, is enabled in straightforward manner in an analog rocker switch. Depending on the configuration of the overcompression stop and/or limit stop, various actuating angles between the initial position and the overcompression stop, and also between the overcompression stop and the limit stop, can be provided in a straightforward manner. These may, in addition, be variable in both directions. 
     In order to obtain variable actuating angles in the direction towards the overcompression point and thereafter, and in order to obtain overcompression functions in the one or other direction or in both directions or even in no direction, the features are provided individually or in combination. Hence by simple replacement, for example of the inner part of the switch housing, an appropriate variability in the actuating angles and in the locations of the overcompression functions is obtained. This variability can be produced in straightforward manner by the molding tool with which the inner part of the switch housing made of plastic is molded—for example, injection-molded—being provided with removable cores which can be employed for the purpose of producing the differing lengths of the domes for the overcompression-function stops and/or of the domes for the limit stops. 
     Further particulars of the invention can be gathered from the following description, in which the invention has been described and elucidated in greater detail on the basis of the exemplary embodiment represented in the drawing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a sectional view of an analog rocker switch with overcompression function, in the neutral position. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 1 , but in an end position after the overcompression position, and showing a modified stop element. 
         FIG. 3  is another sectional view similar to  FIG. 1 , in the end position according to  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A rocker  16  ( FIG. 3 ) has a swivel shaft  31  that carries permanent magnets M that operate Hall-effect sensors S to close electrical circuits; in a known manner (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,459). The rocker has a lug  19  that is pivoted to the left or right (arrows A′ and A″) to pivot the rocker. The rocker carries ram ends  44  ( FIG. 1 ) that abut overcompression stops  46 ,  47  at the end of rocker pivoting. However, even after a ram end  44  abuts a stop such as  46 , the rocker can pivot slightly further by the ram  44  compressing a compression spring  39 , until a limit stop  48  ( FIG. 3 ) on the rocker abuts a stop  51  on a switch housing  11 . 
       FIG. 1  shows an analog rocker switch  10 , which is provided with an overcompression function between its neutral position or initial position ( FIG. 1 ) and its end position(s) in accordance with one or two directions of motion. The rocker switch has a mechanical switch unit which is composed of a switch housing  11  made of plastic, which exhibits an outer part  12  and an inner part  13 , and also a switching element  14  and an actuating rocker  16  firmly connected thereto, which covers the switching element by way of a cap. 
     The outer part  12  of the switch housing  11 , which is approximately rectangular in cross-section, has at its upper end a cover  18  with a recess  17  through which the actuating rocker  16 , which exhibits an actuating lug  19 , projects. The lug projects to such to an extent that an actuation of the actuating rocker  16  in one of two directions according to the double-headed arrow A in each given case is possible as far as the respective limit stop or over the respective maximum actuating-angle displacement. Within a certain height range, the outer part  12  has an inner ring  21 , against which an intermediate bottom  22  of the inner part  13  bears. At its lower end  23  the inner part  13  which has been inserted from the underside of the outer part  12  is firmly connected to the outer part  12  in a manner which is not represented in any detail. A printed circuit board  26  is arranged within the lower part of the inner part  13 , and a further printed circuit board  27  is arranged below the lower end  23  of the inner part  13 , within the outer part  12 , the two printed circuit boards, which are equipped with electrical and electronic components, being electrically connected to one another via a cable  28 . 
     The unit consisting of the switching element  14  and the actuating rocker  16  is retained on the inner part  13  of the switch housing  11  by means of a swivel shaft  31  so as to be capable of swivelling in the directions according to the double-headed arrow A. The swivel shaft  31  is surrounded by a spiral spring  32  which brings about a reset into the neutral position or initial position represented in  FIG. 1  from each displacement of the actuating rocker  16  after the release thereof. 
     On the inside of an approximately semicylindrical casing  33 , which is provided with the actuating lug  19  on the upper side, of the actuating rocker  16  a cage  35  which includes an overcompression function element  36  is fastened to the switching element  14 . 
     The overcompression function element  36  has two rams  37  and  38 , directed diametrically against each other, between which a compression spring  39  is arranged. The compression spring  39  is located in a blind bore  41  pertaining to each of the rams  37 ,  38 , each of the blind bores  41  being less deep than half the length of the optionally biased compression spring  39 . The two rams  37  and  38  are pressed, in a manner biased by the compression spring  39 , by an outer-ring edge  42  facing away from the blind bore  41  against a stop ring  43  in the cage  35 , whereby a conically tapered ram end  44  of the two rams  37  and  38  projects beyond the stop ring  43  constituting the edge of the cage. In the neutral position or initial position both of the actuating rocker  16  or, to be more exact, the switching element  14  and of the two rams  37  and  38  moving in opposite senses in the directions of the double-headed arrow A there is a certain spacing between the two inner ends of the rams  37  and  38 . If the overcompression is to act in one direction only, a single spring-loaded ram is sufficient. 
     According to  FIG. 1 , the inner part  13  of the switch housing  11  is provided with overcompression stops, or domes  46  and  47  projecting perpendicularly—that is to say, parallel to the outer walls of the inner part  13  and also of the outer part  12 —from its intermediate bottom  22 , which are configured in such a manner that they project into the preferentially circular path, according to the double-headed arrow A, of the ram ends  44  of the overcompression function element  36  of the switching element  14  or, to be more exact, of the actuating rocker  16 . The two overcompression stops  46  and  47  may be equal in length, corresponding to  FIG. 1 , so that the actuating angle between the neutral position or initial position of the actuating rocker  16  on the one or other overcompression stop  46 ,  47  is the same. But it is also possible, as represented in  FIG. 2 , to configure the overcompression stop  47 ′ to be, for example, less high than the overcompression stop  46 . This means that the actuating angle from the neutral position or initial position of the actuating rocker  16  as far as the overcompression function in the one direction A′ is smaller than in the other direction A″. It is also possible to arrange an overcompression stop  46  or  47  in the path of motion of the overcompression function element  36  in only one of the two directions according to the double-headed arrow A. 
     In  FIG. 3  the maximum actuating angle in the direction of arrow A′ is represented in a longitudinal section parallel to  FIG. 2 . It follows from this that the one lower free edge  48  of the switching element  14  directly forms a stop end which bears against a stop dome  51  which likewise projects perpendicularly upwards from the intermediate bottom  22 , parallel to the overcompression dome  46 . It is self-evident that in the other direction of motion A″ a lower free edge  49  of the switching element  14  comes to abut a stop  52  of corresponding arrangement. The two stops  51  and  52  may have the same length, but, as represented in  FIG. 3 , they may also have differing lengths, for example in such a manner that stop dome  51  is shorter than stop  52 . This means that the actuating angle of the actuating rocker  16  as far as the limit stop in the one direction A′ is larger than in the other direction A″. 
     The overcompression function of the overcompression function element  36  described above is the following. If the actuating rocker  16  ( FIG. 2 ) with the switching element  14  moves out of the neutral position or initial position represented in  FIG. 1  in direction A′, the ram end  44  of the one ram  37  comes to abut—after, for example, an actuating angle from 10° to 15°—the overcompression dome  46  in question. If the actuating rocker  16  moves further in direction A′, by reason of the compression spring  39  which then comes into action a greater force, having to overcome the spring pressure, has to be expended for the purpose of further motion in direction A′. This higher expenditure of force is necessary until the limit stop  51  according to  FIG. 3  is reached. In this position the compression spring  39  is wholly or partly compressed, in which connection an axial spacing between the inner ends of the two rams  37  and  38  is still present. This spacing is smallest when the actuating angle between the overcompression stop  46  and the limit stop  51  is largest. It is self-evident that the mode of operation that has been described obtains correspondingly in the case of actuation in direction A″; according to the arrangement of  FIG. 2 , the actuating angle between the neutral position or initial position and the attaining of the overcompression stop  47  is larger in that case, so that when the limit stop  52  ( FIG. 3 ) is reached the compression spring  39  is less compressed. 
     In order to enable the variable actuating angles, described above, between the neutral position or initial position and the attaining of the overcompression stop  46 ,  47 , on the one hand, and between the overcompression stops  46 ,  47  and the limit stop  51 ,  52 , on the other hand, in straightforward manner in terms of construction and production technology, the inner part  13  of the switch housing  11 , which is provided with the stops  46  and  47  as well as  51  and  52 , is shaped in accordance with the desired stop lengths in the course of production by means of injection molding. This is obtained by the molding tool or injection-molding tool for producing the inner part  13  of the switch housing  11  being capable of being provided with removable cores which, on the one hand, take account of the differing lengths of the overcompression stops  46  and  47  and/or, on the other hand, the differing lengths of the stops  51  and  52 . In corresponding manner the inner part  13  which is provided for the type of rocker switch  10  is introduced into the outer part  12  of the switch housing  11 . 
     In the rocker switch  10  which has been described, the electrical switching of a component, which is provided in accordance with the direction of motion A′ or A″ of the actuating rocker  16 , is effected, for example, by the swivel shaft  31  being provided with permanent magnets spaced over its periphery, whereas, for example, the printed circuit board  26  is equipped with Hall-effect sensors which react to the angular position of the permanent magnet or permanent magnets.