Appeal No. 2001-2045 Page 4
Application No. 09/360,936
The claimed subject matter
Claim 21, the only independent claim on appeal, reads as follows:
An electrical switch comprising:
a housing;
four fixed contact elements fixed with respect to the housing;
four movable contact elements movable with respect to the housing, each
of the movable contact elements positioned directly opposite from a respective
one of the four fixed contact elements;
an actuating member movable from a neutral position into four actuating
positions, wherein in each one of the four actuating positions the actuating
member actuates a respective one of the four movable contact elements causing
the respective one of the four movable contact elements to contact a respective
one of the four fixed contact elements for enabling a corresponding switching
function;
an auxiliary frame surrounding the actuating member and positioned
within the housing;
a first pair of opposed connecting elements integrally formed on the
actuating member and the auxiliary frame connect the actuating member to the
auxiliary frame, the first pair of opposed connecting elements forming a first pivot
axis; and
a second pair of opposed connecting elements integrally formed on the
auxiliary frame and the housing connect the auxiliary frame to the housing, the
second pair of opposed connecting elements disposed offset by 90/ with respect
to the first pair of opposed connecting elements, the second pair of opposed
connecting elements forming a second pivot axis;
wherein the actuating member moves from the neutral position into one of
the four actuating positions about the first and second pivot axes.
The teachings of Yamamoto
Yamamoto's invention relates to a lever switch device in which a switch can be
activated by pressing an operation lever in the longitudinal direction, or tilting the
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