DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to switch assemblies and more particularly, relates to a flat switch assembly.

BACKGROUND

Switch assemblies are provided in environments, such as households and offices spaces, to control the operation of electronic/electrical devices present in such environments. The electronic/electrical devices may include but are not limited to, a fan, a lamp, a tube light, an electrical appliance, and the like. An individual may operate the switch assemblies to control the operational state of associated devices. For instance, the individual may operate a switch assembly associated with a fan to switch-ON or switch-OFF the fan.

A switch assembly includes a rocker, also referred to as a seesaw, which may be pressed by the individual to control the operational state of the associated device. In conventional switch assemblies, the rocker is provided such that in either of the operational states, the rocker is in a protruded position. As is known, the switch assemblies are provided on walls at easy-to-access locations. Accordingly, it is often observed that an individual accidentally or inadvertently presses the rocker, thereby causing an unintended change in the operational state of the associated. In certain cases, it may affect the user experience. For instance, consider a case where the user is operating a desktop computer that is directly powered. In such a case, the accidental press of the rocker of the switch assembly may cause the desktop computer to switch off. In such a case, there exists a possibility that the user may lose out on his work.

Therefore, there is a need for an improved switch assembly to prevent unintended or accidental press of the switches.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention and nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

In an embodiment, a switch assembly comprises a seesaw comprising a plurality of protrusions. The assembly further comprises a switch housing comprising a plurality of grooves adapted to accommodate the plurality of protrusions to removably attach the seesaw to the switch housing. The assembly further comprises at least one elastic member disposed between the seesaw and the switch housing, wherein a resilient force of the elastic member supports the seesaw at a predefined position in the assembled state of the switch assembly, wherein in the predefined position, a reference plane RP of the seesaw is at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing. The assembly further comprises a switch portion, wherein an operation of the seesaw causes a toggle between a first operation state and a second operation state of the switch portion.

To further clarify the advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a switch assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 2(a)-(b) illustrate exploded views of the switch assembly, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figures 2(c) illustrates a perspective view of the switch assembly, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2(d) illustrates a perspective view of a component of the switch assembly, according to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 illustrates an enlarged view of a segment of the switch assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 4 illustrates a bottom view of a seesaw of the switch assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Figure 5 illustrates a cross-sectional sectional view of the switch assembly taken along an axis A-A’ of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

The term “some” as used herein is defined as “none, or one, or more than one, or all.” Accordingly, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would all fall under the definition of “some.” The term “some embodiments” may refer to no embodiments or to one embodiment or to several embodiments or to all embodiments. Accordingly, the term “some embodiments” is defined as meaning “no embodiment, or one embodiment, or more than one embodiment, or all embodiments.”

The terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and does not limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the claims or their equivalents.

More specifically, any terms used herein such as but not limited to “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and grammatical variants thereof do NOT specify an exact limitation or restriction and certainly do NOT exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated, and furthermore must NOT be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated with the limiting language “MUST comprise” or “NEEDS TO include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, either way, it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do NOT preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language such as “there NEEDS to be one or more . . . ” or “one or more element is REQUIRED.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skills in the art.

Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements presented in the attached claims. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of illuminating one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the attached claims fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility, and non-obviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms such as but not limited to “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or variants thereof do NOT necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or alternatively in the context of more than one embodiment, or further alternatively in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should NOT be necessarily taken as limiting factors to the attached claims. The attached claims and their legal equivalents can be realized in the context of embodiments other than the ones used as illustrative examples in the description below.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a switch assembly 100, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. The switch assembly 100 may be implemented in environments, such as a household, an office space, a studio, and the like, for controlling operations of one or more electrical devices present in such environments. For instance, the switch assembly 100 may be implemented to switch-On or switch-OFF electrical devices, such as fans, bulbs, electrical appliances, and the like.

In an embodiment, the switch assembly 100 comprises a base component 102, a switch housing 104, and a seesaw 106. The base component 102 and the switch housing 104 are adapted to snap-fit together to form an enclosure or housing for accommodating various components of the switch assembly 100. The seesaw 106 is adapted to switch-ON and switch-OFF an electrical device associated with the switch assembly 100, when an external force is applied on the seesaw 106.

In an example, the seesaw 106 is removably coupled with the switch housing 104. According to an embodiment of the present subject matter, the seesaw 106 and the switch housing 104 are coupled in a manner such that, in either of a switch-ON state or a switch-OFF state of the seesaw 106, a reference plane of the seesaw 106 is at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing 104. In an example and without limitation, the reference plane may be a plane taken along a top surface of the seesaw 106. Owing to this, the protrusion of the seesaw 106 in either of the switch-ON state or the switch-OFF state is averted. As a result, accidental or inadvertent pressing of the seesaw 106 and respective switching-ON or switching-OFF of the associated electrical device is averted.

In an example embodiment, a wiring device may be configured to include the switch assembly 100, as disclosed herein. In said example embodiment, a reference plane of the seesaw 106 may be at least partially parallel to a surface “S” of a switch plate 108 of the wiring device. Herein the switch plate 108 may be coupled to the switch assembly 100.

Constructional and operational details of the switch assembly 100 are explained in detail in the subsequent sections of the description.

Figure 2(a) illustrates a partially exploded view of the switch assembly 100, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. As mentioned above, the seesaw 106 is removably coupled to the switch housing 104. To that end, in an embodiment, the switch housing 104 includes a plurality of grooves 200. For the sake of brevity, only one groove 200 is shown in Figure 2(a). In an example, the switch housing 104 may include two grooves, similar to the groove 200, positioned opposite to each other.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the seesaw 106 includes a plurality of protrusions 202. For the sake of brevity, only one protrusion 202 is shown in Figure 2(a). In an example, the seesaw 106 may include two protrusions, similar to the protrusion 202, positioned opposite to each other. In an embodiment, the protrusion 202 is adapted to fit into the groove 200 of the switch housing 104, in an assembled state of the switch assembly 100. In said embodiment, the protrusion 202 snap-fits into the groove 200 in a manner such that the seesaw 106 is centrally hinged with the switch housing 104. Owing to such an arrangement, a seesaw operation of the seesaw 106 is facilitated, when an external force is applied onto the seesaw 106. In an alternate embodiment, as shown in Figure 2(d), the seesaw 106 may comprise two distinct plates, 106-1 and 106-2, such that each of the plates 106-1 and 106-2 are hinged at only one end. In an example, the plate 106-1 may be operated, for example, pushed down, separately from the plate 106-2. Also, one plate may be used to switch-ON the associated electrical device, whereas the other plate may be used for switching-OFF the associated electrical device.

Furthermore, in an embodiment, the switch assembly 100 comprises at least one elastic member 204. In an example, as depicted in Figure 2(a), the elastic member 204 may be a leaf spring. In another example, as depicted in Figure 2(b), the elastic member 204 may be a torsional spring. Figure 2(b) depicts an alternate embodiment where the switch assembly 100 may include elastic members 204-1 and 204-2. Herein, the elastic members 204-1 and 204-2 are torsional springs. As may be understood, the switch assembly 100 may include helical springs or coil springs as elastic members 204.

In an embodiment, as depicted in Figure 2(c), the elastic member 204 may include a supporter 206 fixed to the switch housing 104. Furthermore, the elastic member 204 may include an extension 208 extending outwards from the supporter 206 in a plane view. Herein, one or more ends (E) of the extension 208, or in other words, the one or more ends (E) of the elastic member 204 are in contact with a bottom surface (BS) of the seesaw 106. In another example embodiment, the elastic member 204 may be fixed or coupled to the seesaw 106.

In an embodiment, the elastic member 204 is disposed on the switch housing 104 in a manner such that each of the one or more ends (E) of the elastic member 204 makes contact with the bottom surface “BS” of the seesaw 106. In an alternative embodiment where the elastic member 204 is coupled to the seesaw 106, one or more ends of the elastic member 204 may contact a surface of the switch housing 104. In an example, in an assembled state of the switch assembly 100, a resilient force of the elastic member 204 supports the seesaw 106 in a predefined position. In the predefined position a reference plane “RP” of the seesaw 106 is at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing 104. An enlarged view of the predefined position is shown in Figure 3. Referring to figures 2(a), 2(b), 2(c), and 3, in the predefined position, the protrusion 202 is accommodated in the groove 200 and the ends (E) of the elastic members 204 are in contact with the bottom surface “BS” the seesaw 106. Furthermore, a resilient force develops in the elastic members 204 that are in contact with the bottom surface “BS” of the seesaw 106. In the alternative embodiment, the resilient force develops due to contact with the switch housing 104. This resilient force exerted by the elastic members 204 also causes the seesaw 106 to return to the predefined position after removal of the force exerted by the user. In an example, the elastic member (204) is configured to exert the resilient force onto at least one of the bottom surface (BS) of the seesaw (106) and the surface of the switch housing (104) for maintaining the seesaw (106) at the predefined position, in the assembled state of the switch assembly (100).

As may be gathered from above, in the assembled state of the switch assembly 100, the seesaw is centrally hinged to the switch housing 104 and is supported in the predefined position. Due to the central hinge, the seesaw operation of the seesaw 106 is facilitated. In conjunction to the aforesaid, the elastic member 204 provides the necessary resilient or restoring force to the seesaw 106 to maintain the seesaw 106 in the predefined position. Thus, during the seesaw operation of the seesaw 106, the elastic member 204 facilitates the seesaw 106 to return to the predetermined position.

Figure 4 illustrates a bottom view of the seesaw 106, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. As depicted, the seesaw 106 comprises actuating regions 400-1 and 400-2 on a bottom surface 402. The actuating regions 400-1 and 400-2, in one example, are adapted to provide contact between the seesaw 106 and a switch portion, for example, a switch portion 500 as shown in figure 5, of the switch assembly 100. Accordingly, during seesaw operation of the seesaw 106, the switch portion 500 of the switch assembly 100 is toggled between switch-ON and switch-OFF states. In an embodiment, the actuating regions 400-1 and 400-2 may be in the form of depressions in the bottom surface 402. In another embodiment, the actuating regions 400-1 and 400-2 may be in the form of protrusions, protruding outwardly from the bottom surface 402.

Figure 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the switch assembly 100, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. The cross-sectional view is taken along axis A-A’ of the switch assembly 100, as shown in figure 1. In an embodiment, when an external force is applied on the seesaw 106, the seesaw 106 may toggle a switching state of a switch portion 500 of the switch assembly 100. To achieve this, when the external force is applied, the seesaw 106 presses a switch rocker 502, which in turn causes a toggle of the switching state of the switch portion 500. As an example, when an individual presses the seesaw 106 and if the switch portion 500 is in a switch-ON state, the switch portion 500 is toggled to switch-OFF state, and vice-versa. Upon the release of the external force, the seesaw 106 returns to the predefined position. In the predefined position, a reference plane of the seesaw 106 remains at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing 104.

As may be gathered from above, in the switch assembly 100 described herein, the seesaw 106 is coupled to the switch housing 104 in a manner such that a reference plane of the seesaw 106 remains at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing 104 and therefore, the seesaw 106 does not remain protruded during or after operation. As the seesaw 106 of the switch assembly 100 does not remain protruded in either of the operational states, accidental pressing of the seesaw and in turn, accidental switching of the operational state of an associated device is averted.
While specific language has been used to describe the present subject matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.
,CLAIMS:1. A switch assembly (100) comprising:
a seesaw (106) comprising a plurality of protrusions (202);
a switch housing (104) comprising a plurality of grooves (200) adapted to accommodate the plurality of protrusions (202) to removably attach the seesaw (106) to the switch housing (104);
at least one elastic member (204) disposed between the seesaw (106) and the switch housing (104), wherein a resilient force of the elastic member (204) supports the seesaw (106) at a predefined position in an assembled state of the switch assembly (100), wherein in the predefined position, a reference plane (RP) of the seesaw (106) is at least partially parallel to a surface of the switch housing (104); and
a switch portion (500), wherein an operation of the seesaw (106) causes a toggle between a first operation state and a second operation state of the switch portion (500).

2. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seesaw (106) comprises at least one actuating region adapted to be operably connected with the switch portion (500) of the switch assembly (100).

3. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seesaw (106) comprises two plates such that each plate is hinged at only one end, and wherein the two plates are configured to operate separately.

4. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more ends of the elastic member (204) are configured to make contact with one of:
- a bottom surface (BS) of the seesaw (106), when the elastic member (204) is coupled to a surface of the switch housing (104); and
- a surface of the switch housing (104), when the elastic member (204) is coupled to a surface of the seesaw (106).

5. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elastic member (204) is configured to exert the resilient force onto at least one of the bottom surface (BS) of the seesaw (106) and the surface of the switch housing (104) for maintaining the seesaw (106) at the predefined position, in the assembled state of the switch assembly (100).

6. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switch assembly (100) comprises a plurality of elastic members (204-1 and 204-2).

7. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one elastic member (204) is a leaf spring.

8. The switch assembly (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the at least one elastic member comprises:
at least one supporter (206) fixed to the switch housing (104); and
one or more extensions (208) extending outwards from the supporter in a plane view, wherein one or more ends (E) of the one or more extensions (208) are in contact with a bottom surface (BS) of the seesaw (106).

9. A wiring device comprising the switch assembly (100) as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the reference plane (RP) of the seesaw (106) is at least partially parallel to a surface (S) of a switch plate (108) coupled to the switch assembly (100).