Patent ID: 7439835

Claim:
A rotary selector usable as display console for contact-free on and off switching and for automatic control of a number of different cycles of an electrically operated device, the selector comprising: a rotatable operating element having a rotational axis and magnetic device axially arranged on the operating element; a panel comprising a guide component including a fixable plate and a magnetic rotary field sensor connected to the fixable plate, the operating element being received by the guide component; at least one of the guide component and the operating element having a catch element, and the other having a locking contour, the catch element engaging the locking contour with a force along a plane that is perpendicular to the rotational axis of the operating element and forming multiple defined steps as the operating element rotates with respect to the guide component; and the magnetic device being disposed a distance from the rotary field sensor and being rotatably movable in a defined step-wise manner with respect to the rotary field sensor, the rotation of the magnetic device corresponding to the operation of the rotary field sensor and the distance of the magnetic device from the rotary field sensor remaining the same throughout the rotation of the magnetic device.