Patent ID: 7119456

Claim:
A switch system for use with an operator-activated control and an electrical device, the operator-activated control being one of a plurality of control types, comprising: an electro-mechanical switch device having an activation signal portion and an identification element and being operably coupled to the operator-activated control, the activation signal portion and the identification element for providing an activation signal and an identification signal, respectively, the identification signal being indicative of a switch device type associated with the electro-mechanical switch device, the switch device type corresponding to the control type of the operator-activated control, wherein said identification element includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of resistive elements and capacitive elements, and; a switch module electrically coupled to said electro-mechanical switch device, including to said identification element, and to the electrical device, said switch module for receiving said activation signal and said identification signal and for providing an electronic control message to the electrical device, wherein engagement of the operator-activated control causes said electro-mechanical switch to send said activation signal to said switch module, said switch module generating said electronic control message as a function of said identification signal in response to receiving said activation signal, and said switch module sends said electronic control message to the electrical device for controlling its operation.