Patent ID: 7060920

Claim:
A multi-stage click switch comprising: a housing; an operating knob movably mounted on the housing; a plurality of pressing portions provided on the operating knob; a contact circuit member including a plurality of switch contact portions disposed in opposed relation to the plurality of pressing portions, respectively; a rubber switch member provided between the plurality of pressing portions and the contact circuit member; and a plurality of rubber contact portions which are formed on the rubber switch member, and can sequentially close and open the switch contact portions in multi-stage manner in accordance with the movement of the plurality of pressing portions; wherein each of the plurality of rubber contact portions includes a thin wall portion, an outer portion that is pressed by one of the pressing portions, and an inner portion on which is mounted a conductive piece opposed to corresponding one of the plurality of switch contact portions, wherein each of the thin wall portions produce a click feeling by a resilient force, produced by elastic deformation of the rubber contact portion during the movement of the operating knob, at the time of operating the operating knob; and wherein when the operating knob is moved from a first-stage switching operation to a final-stage switching operations; a lower resilient force elastically deforms the thin wall portion of one of the rubber contact portions that are used for the first-stage switching operation, said outer portion of the one of the rubber contact portions is displaced downwardly to a position such that the outer portion is around said inner portion of the one of the rubber contact portions, and the thin wall portion of the one of the rubber contact portions that are used for the first-stage switching operation does not produce a click feeling.