Patent ID: 7394037

Claim:
A rotary electric switch comprising a base having a rotary actuator mounted thereon, the base including a pair of substantially parallel, spaced apart substrate layers, each said layer having a first surface which faces the other substrate layer and a second surface which faces away from the other substrate layer, the first surface of each layer having an electrically conducting contact provided thereon, spacing means being provided to maintain the contacts spaced apart and hence electrically isolated from each other, and at least one of said substrate layers being deformable towards said other substrate layer so as to effect an electrical connection between said contacts on the two layers, and the rotary actuator including a projection which engages against the second surface of said deformable substrate layer so as to press it towards the other layer in the immediate vicinity of the projection, whereby rotation of the rotary actuator moves the projection relative to the substrates and hence varies the point of electrical connection between the contacts, first surface of one of said substrate layers having a pair of contacts in the form of concentric, radially spaced substantially arcuate tracks which are centered on the axis of rotation of the rotary actuator, each of said pair of tracks comprising a substantially arcuate portion having a plurality of radial tabs extending therefrom, the tabs on each track extending towards but terminating short of the tabs on the other track of the pair, the projection of the rotary actuator being positioned so as to press the deformable substrate towards the other substrate in the region between the arcuate portions so that the electrical connections are effected by the tabs.