Compact Push Button Switch With Rotating Tongue Lever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerator-freezer door switches face challenges in size reduction while maintaining a long operation stroke due to the need for a long plunger stroke to bring movable contacts into contact with fixed contacts, especially in double-door configurations.
Innovation Solution
A push button switch design featuring a housing with a base and cover, incorporating a plunger with an operation arm that drives a movable contacting piece with a rotating operation tongue piece to achieve contact with a fixed contact, allowing for a compact size and extended operation stroke.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a long operation stroke is required to bring movable contact into contact with fixed contact, then the detection reliability is improved, but the size of the door switch increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation tongue piece rotates about a fulcrum to convert linear plunger motion into rotational motion, allowing the movable contact to traverse a longer arc distance while keeping the plunger stroke short. This dimensional transformation resolves the contradiction by achieving long contact traversal in a rotational dimension rather than linear dimension.
Solution Approach 2:
The operation tongue piece is designed as a rotating lever with fulcrum, converting the static linear motion requirement into dynamic rotational motion. This allows the system to achieve both short plunger stroke and long effective operation stroke through the rotational movement of the tongue piece.
2Reliability
If multiple components are used to achieve long operation stroke, then the detection function is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable contact piece and operation tongue piece are integrated into a single rotatable component that performs both contact movement and operational leverage functions. This merging eliminates the need for separate components while maintaining the long operation stroke capability, thus reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The operation tongue piece serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a lever to amplify plunger motion, provides rotational movement for the movable contact, and directly connects the plunger to the contact mechanism. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of components needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces the size of the push button switch while maintaining a long operation stroke, enabling detection of multiple door states with fewer components and improved durability, and allows for various detection patterns without increasing the switch's size.
Implementation Method 1
an operation tongue piece (43, 53, 63, 64) disposed on at least one side of the movable contact piece (42, 52, 62) and coupled with the movable contact piece so as to rotate integrally about a fulcrum (41a, 51a, 61a)
Data Source
AI summary
A push button switch includes a housing made up of a base and a cover, a first plunger mounted on the cover so as to be pushed down, a movable contacting piece configured to be driven by a push-down operation on the first plunger, a movable contact provided in the movable contacting piece, and a fixed contact disposed so as to come into and out of contact with the movable contact. Specifically, the movable contacting piece includes a movable contact piece provided with the movable contact, and an operation tongue piece disposed on at least one side of the movable contact piece and coupled with the movable contact piece so as to rotate integrally. The operation tongue piece is operated by the operation body of the first plunger to bring the movable contact into and out of contact with the fixed contact.