Patent ID: 8134431

Claim:
A steering-column switch comprising: a steering-column switch lever housing, said switch lever housing having a hollow, rotatable actuation element; a switching part completely disposed within said steering-column switch lever housing, said switching part structured for cooperation with said actuation element, said switching part rotationally mounted about a rotational axis to adopt defined switch positions, said switching part having at least one permanent magnet with several south pole sections and several north pole sections, wherein said at least one permanent magnet is at least partly structured as a magnet ring mounted about said rotational axis, said magnet ring consisting essentially of at least two annular ring segments, wherein each annular ring segment is separated from a neighboring annular ring segment by a gap, said gap thereby constituting a neutral position of said switching part having no south or north pole section of said permanent magnet present in detection ranges of said magnetic field sensors; a transmission element connected between said switching part and said actuation element for inducing rotation of said switching part when said actuation element is rotated; and at least two magnetic field sensors disposed in a fixed manner relative to said switching part and completely within said switch lever housing, each magnetic field sensor being associated with one ring segment, said magnetic field sensors having output signals which depend upon whether one of said south pole sections or whether one of said north pole sections of said at least one permanent magnet is in a detection range of a respective one of said at least two magnetic field sensors in accordance with a switch position of said switching part, wherein said output signals thereby define a clearly discernable binary switch code for each switch position.