Appeal No. 2003-2098 Page 15
Application No. 09/833,978
Lockard's invention relates to a technique for incorporating a diode into an
electrical circuit, preferably in a manually actuated switch portion of the circuit. Lockard
discloses a manually actuated switch having a pair of terminals forming switch poles
and a knob which is manually actuated to complete or interrupt an electrical circuit
across the poles. A pair of spaced contacts are embedded in the knob and resiliently
grip therebetween a diode which controls current direction of the completed circuit.
As shown in Figures 2-4 of Lockard, the switch includes a pair of spaced
contacts 8 and 10 (identified in Figure 1). The contact 8 is generally C-shaped and
includes a bottom portion 19 having a pair of depending integral projecting arcuate
portions 20 and 22. The contact 10 is generally of reversed F configuration having a
bottom portion 25 and a depending integral projecting arcuate portion 24. The upper
portion 23 of the contact 10 is generally of reversed C-shaped configuration and
includes an integral projecting cantilever beam 26 which is relatively thin to permit
resilient flexing thereof. The end of the beam portion 26 includes an arcuate depending
portion 28 which is opposed and relatively closely spaced from the bottom portion 19 of
the contact 8. A dielectric knob generally indicated at 30 is secured to the top portions
17 and 23 of the contacts 8 and 10, leaving the bottom portions 19 and 25 and the
beam 26 exposed. The knob 30 is provided with a central projecting axle 32 which
projects out of opposite sides of the knob 30. A leadless diode generally indicated at
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Last modified: November 3, 2007