Patent ID: 8022323

Claim:
A switch apparatus comprising: a switch case including a contact housing portion therein and a shaft hole opened to outside at one end thereof; a rod which is axially movable along the shaft hole and rotatably supported and whose outer distal end can abut on and engage with in the axial direction; an elastic member interposed between the switch case and the rod and biasing the rod in the extending and shrinking direction with respect to shaft hole; a fixed contact housed in the contact housing portion and fixed to the switch case, and a movable contact which can reciprocally move between a position touching the fixed contact and a non-touching position; a diaphragm separating the shaft hole from the contact housing portion and being formed of a non-conducting material; a movable base supporting the movable contact and abutting on the diaphragm; a return spring axially biasing the movable base toward the rod to make the movable contact touch the fixed contact or to detach the movable contact from the fixed contact to a non-contact position; and a retention member interposed between the diaphragm and the rod, including an abutting portion for abutting on the rod, and axially movably, but not rotatably supported with respect to the switch case.