This invention relates generally to electrical switches and/or electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical switches of the rotary type and having insulation displacement connectors.
Electrical switches of the rotary type are known in the art and typically comprise a housing in which a plurality of stationary or fixed electrical contacts are located. Each contact is arranged to be connected by respective electrical wires to the external circuitry to be controlled by the switch. Thus, prior art switches also include connector mechanisms, such as screws, pressure-lock connectors, etc., located within the housing and to which the wires are to be connected. Selected one(s) of the fixed contacts are arranged to be electrically engaged by a movable contactor to connect the desired wires together. The movable contactor is frequently mounted on a rotable member or rotor. The rotor typically includes a shaft-like element extending out of the housing and which is arranged to be gripped directly or through use of a knob mounted thereon to effect its rotation to select the desired contacts to be connected together. In order to ensure that the fixed contact(s) which are electrically engaged by the movable contactor remain in good electrical continuity against accidental disconnection, prior art rotary switches frequently include some type of holding (detent) mechanism. One common example of a prior art detent mechanism consists of providing a cam surface extending about the periphery of the rotor to form a plurality of alternating recesses and lobes. A spring biased member, such as a metal spring-finger (which in some cases may be a fixed contact of the switch), is mounted in the housing adjacent the rotor to slide along the rotor's cam surface as the rotor is rotated so that the spring finger enters each successive recess to hold the rotor in any of the desired rotational orientations established thereby. Examples of rotary switches using such detent mechanisms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,813,158 (Hutt) and, 4,045,637 (Mongeau).
While the foregoing rotary switches are generally suitable for their intended purposes, they nevertheless leave something to be desired from the standpoint of simplicity of construction and assembly, ease of connection to external circuitry, and operational effectiveness.