Patent Publication Number: US-11387055-B2

Title: Control device capable of providing rotational damping through magnetic force

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a control device for an electrical switch. More particularly, the invention relates to a control device that provides rotational damping by way of a magnetic force. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A switch in an electric circuit is an electrical device that can be used to close the circuit, stop an electric current, or guide the electric current to another circuit. A typical switch includes two contacts that can be brought into contact with and separated from each other repeatedly. When the contacts are in contact, the circuit where the switch is used is closed to allow an electric current to flow through the circuit; when the contacts are not in contact, the circuit is open, so no electric current can flow through the circuit. The switch, therefore, serves to control the circuit. 
     To control and adjust circuit signals more precisely, a switch can be added with a control device that provides rotational damping so that fine-tunable and variable control over the switch can be achieved by operating and adjusting the control device. 
     However, as the control device capable of providing rotational damping is generally integrated into the switch, mounting the switch on the housing or other component of a mechanism may present problems: tolerance stack-up between the circuit board of the switch and the mechanism may lead to positional deviation or misalignment during assembly such that extra working hours are required for putting the aforesaid components together, which makes it impossible to lower production cost or better the quality of the manufacturing process and of the finished product. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to offer a control device that provides magnetic force-based rotational damping, thereby preventing assembly problems associated with positional deviation, reducing the time and cost of manufacture, and enhancing the quality of the finished product as well as the manufacturing process. 
     To achieve the objective stated above, the present invention discloses a control device that provides rotational damping through a magnetic force. The control device is provided at a base, and the base is provided therein with a switch. The control device includes a supporting member, an adjusting member, and two magnetic members. The supporting member is provided at the base. The adjusting member is rotatably provided on the supporting member. The adjusting member has a bottom portion corresponding to the switch. The adjusting member has a head portion outside the base. The two magnetic members are provided on the supporting member and the adjusting member respectively. The two magnetic members generate a magnetic force therebetween and thereby change the rotational damping between the supporting member and the adjusting member. 
     Preferably, the adjusting member includes a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is rotatably provided in the supporting member. 
     Preferably, the supporting member has a guiding portion, the rotating shaft is provided in the guiding portion, and the rotating shaft has a bottom portion corresponding to the switch. 
     Preferably, a first one of the two magnetic members is provided on the supporting member, and a second one of the two magnetic members is provided on the head portion of the adjusting member at a position adjacent to the first magnetic member. 
     Preferably, the head portion of the adjusting member includes a driving member and a cover covering the driving member. 
     The detailed structure or features provided by the present invention will be described in the detailed description of the subsequent implementation. As a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand, the detailed description and the specific embodiments provided herein serve only to expound the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the patent protection sought by the applicant. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  schematically shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  schematically shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The technical contents and features of the present invention are detailed below with reference to some preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention can be applied to switches and electronic products of various forms and specifications. As a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand, the terminology used in this section of the specification includes superordinate terms, whose application fields are subject to no limitations. For example, a term that is used to specify a material or shape refers to but is not limited to the material or shape specified. The same applies to such positional terms as “provided”, “near”, “connected to”, and “adjacent to”. The indefinite article “a” may connote plurality as well as singularity in terms of the quantity of a component. Directional terms such as “upper”, “lower” “inner”, “outer”, “top”, and “bottom” make reference to directions in normal use and serve illustrative purposes only; they are not intended to be restrictive of the scope of the invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a control device  10  capable of providing rotational damping through a magnetic force according to the present invention is provided at the base  12  of an electronic product by way of example. The base  12  can be divided into an upper cover  14  and a lower cover  16 , with a switch  13  provided in the base  12  in advance and located on the lower cover  16 . The upper cover  14  is provided with a positioning portion  18  corresponding in position to the switch  13 , and the positioning portion  18  in this preferred embodiment is an open hole by way of example. 
     The control device  10  includes a supporting member  20 , an adjusting member  22 , and two magnetic members  30 . The supporting member  20  extends through the positioning portion  18  of the base  12 . The supporting member  20  has a guiding portion  24 , and the guiding portion  24  in this preferred embodiment is a through hole penetrating the supporting member  20  by way of example. 
     The adjusting member  22  in this preferred embodiment includes a rotating shaft  23 . The rotating shaft  23  extends through the guiding portion  24  of the supporting member  20  such that the adjusting member  22  is provided on the supporting member  20  in a rotatable manner. The rotating shaft  23  has a bottom portion  25  corresponding to the switch  13 . A washer  29  is provided as an intermediate element between the bottom portion  25  and the supporting member  20 . The adjusting member  22  has ahead portion  26  provided at the top end of the rotating shaft  23  and located outside the upper cover  14  of the base  12 . The head portion  26  includes a driving member  27  joined to the rotating shaft  23  and a cover  28  covering the driving member  27 . The cover  28  may be made of metal or in a way that produces the desired appearance. 
     The two magnetic members  30  are provided on the supporting member  20  and the adjusting member  22  respectively. In this preferred embodiment, the two magnetic members  30  are both permanent magnets by way of example. One of the magnetic members  30  is provided around a top outer peripheral portion of the supporting member  20  while the other magnetic member  30  is provided on the head portion  26  of the adjusting member  22 , or more particularly at a position between the inner periphery of the cover  28  and the driving member  27  and adjacent to the magnetic member  30  on the supporting member  20 , such that the two magnetic members  30  can generate a magnetic force therebetween and, when the adjusting member  22  is rotated with respect to the supporting member  20 , subject the adjusting member  22  to magnetic attraction and hence increased resistance during rotation. 
     As the control device  10  is provided independently at the upper cover  14  of the base  12 , it is feasible to mount the control device  10  directly on the upper cover  14  in advance, without the adjusting member  22  of the control device deviating in position or shifted in place. After that, the upper cover  14  and the lower cover  16  are put together to complete the assembly, allowing the switch  13  to be controlled with the adjusting member  22 . Compared with the prior art, the control device  10  can be made in a shorter time, at a lower cost, and with higher finished product quality as well as higher manufacturing process quality. In addition, the magnetic force between the two magnetic members  30  can increase or change the torsion of the adjusting member  22  while the adjusting member  22  is rotated, thereby rendering the switch  30  into a fine-tunable and variable switch. 
     The two magnetic members  30  may be implemented differently according to practical needs. For example, one of the magnetic members  30  may be made of a material with magnetic permeability, such as iron, while the other magnetic member  30  is a permanent magnet. It is also feasible for the adjusting member  22  to be capable of vertical linear displacement with respect to the supporting member  20  in order to press and thereby trigger the switch  13  directly. 
       FIG. 2  shows the control device  40  capable of providing rotational damping through a magnetic force according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has generally the same elements as the previous embodiment and is different from the previous embodiment in that, although one of the magnetic members  42  is still provided around a top outer peripheral portion of the supporting member  44 , the other magnetic member  42  is provided between a top portion of the driving member  48  of the adjusting member  46  and the cover  50  of the adjusting member  46  and is adjacent to the magnetic member  42  on the supporting member  44 . The two magnetic members  42  are equally capable of generating a magnetic force therebetween and achieving the objective of the invention.