Patent ID: 7973252

Claim:
An ignition switch for a vehicle, comprising: a generally cylindrical body having a first end and a second end; a stem extending from the first end; a base enclosed within the body; and a plurality of terminals electrically connectable from the second end of the body, the plurality of terminals including a BATTERY terminal, a RUN terminal, and a START terminal; wherein the base retains the terminals in a substantially fixed relationship to each other, the base interposes insulating material between each pair of terminals and between each terminal and the body, the stem has an OFF position in which no terminals are electrically connected within the switch, an ON position in which the BATTERY terminal and the RUN terminal are electrically connected within the switch, and a START position in which the BATTERY terminal, the RUN terminal, and the START terminal are electrically connected within the switch, while in the START position, the switch is rotationally biased so that it moves automatically to the ON position if no torque is applied to the stem; and the switch having an overload test voltage drop less than about 75 mV when tested by: energizing the switch with a 28.0 +/−0.5 VDC source between the BATTERY terminal and the body, through 1000 “on”−“off” cycles, applying a 75A resistive load to each switch position through a minimum “on” time of 0.5 seconds and a 10.0 +/−1.0 second “off” time, and after the “on”−“off” cycles, continuing to apply the resistive load and measuring the voltage drop between each pair of terminals that is electrically connected in the OFF, ON, and START switch positions, taking the greatest of these three measurements as the overload test voltage drop.