Electricity: circuit makers and breakers inventions 11/08

20080289945 - Pressure response membrane: Pressure response devices, systems, and associated methods. The pressure response device includes a flange portion, a central portion, and an angled frustum portion provided between the flange portion and the central portion, with the angled frustum portion configured to activate upon experiencing a predetermined pressure differential. Pressure response systems may... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20080289938 - Reduced material plug-on jaw with symmetrical spring for a circuit breaker: A circuit breaker includes a stationary contact, a plug-on half jaw, and a jaw spring. The plug-on half jaw is electrically coupled to the stationary contact and has a single terminal end for receiving a bus bar. The jaw spring is operatively coupled to the half jaw and has a... Agent: Schneider Electric / Square D Company Legal Dept. - I.p. Group (np)

20080289939 - Method and apparatus for activating a toggle power switch located on a wall or other structure: An actuator mechanism for activating a power switch fixedly attached to a wall is provided. The actuator mechanism includes a remote power switch that is portably locatable on the wall separate from the power switch that is fixedly attached to the wall. The remote power switch is operable to be... Agent: Sawyer Law Group LLP

20080289941 - Rotary input apparatus: There is provided a rotary input apparatus including: a rotating wheel having a detected part; a board provided with a detecting part detecting the detected part rotating along with the rotating wheel; a base having the board disposed on a top thereof and provided with a plurality of guide holes... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20080289940 - Washing machine and control panel assembly thereof: Disclosed is a washing machine, a control panel assembly of which has an improved structure to minimize problems caused by a shaking of a rotary knob and the interference of the rotary knob with other surrounding parts. The control panel assembly of the washing machine includes a control panel; a... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20080289942 - Keypad assembly and portable electronic device with same: A keypad assembly (10) for use in a portable electronic device (8), includes a housing (14) and a key (12). The housing is substantially a flat board, and defines a recess and a hole (143, 145) therein. The key is mounted in the recess and the hole and is defined... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang

20080289943 - Circuit breaker: A movable contacting device in a circuit breaker comprises: a crossbar linked with the opening/closing mechanism and carried so as to pivot cooperatively with the opening/closing mechanism; a movable contact arm engaged, so as to cooperational with the crossbar, with a shaft fitted into a mutually opposing recesses in the... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20080289944 - Touch-sensitive surface activation device for the controls of a vehicle: The invention relates to a touch-sensitive surface (3) activation device (1) for a motorized mechanism used to open and close an opening such as an electric windscreen wiper, comprising a touch-sensitive surface which controls the opening and/or closing of at least one opening. The device comprises means for detecting (9)... Agent: Daly, Crowley, Mofford & Durkee, LLP

20080283378 - Small form-factor keyboard using keys with offset peaks and pitch variations: A small form-factor keyboard or keypad for key structures is provided in which individual key structures have a contact surface on which there is a center reference and a peak. The center reference and the peak or offset, so that an offset distance between the center reference and the peak... Agent: Shemwell Mahamedi LLP

20080283371 - Atv switch actuator and housing design: A switch activator device for ATVs and like vehicles operating in robust environments having a switch housing including an open back side and a front side having a central opening and at least one slots for receiving a switch actuator. At least one switch activator is mounted in the housing... Agent: Bryan Anderson Patent Services

20080283372 - Pedal device with function of adjusting pedal effort: An object of the present invention is to provide a pedal device that makes it possible to adjust the reaction force applied to the driver pressing the pedal to correspond to the driver's driving propensity by adjusting the pre-compression force against the return spring providing the return force to the... Agent: The Rafferty Patent Law Firm

20080283373 - Assembly of a microswitch and of an acoustic resonator: The invention relates to a device consisting of an electromechanical microswitch comprising mobile beam (2). According to the invention, at least part (14) of the beam forms the piezoelectric element of a piezoelectric actuator.... Agent: Stmicroelectronics Inc. C/o Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.

20080283374 - Electromechanical element, driving method of the electromechanical element and electronic equipment provided with the same: An electromechanical element includes a first electrode which is provided on a substrate, and a second electrode and a third electrode which are provided via a gap with respect to the first electrode. The first electrode contacts with the second electrode when an attracting force is applied between the first... Agent: Pearne & Gordon LLP

20080283375 - Key unit with support frame: The object of the present invention is to utilize a reinforcing plate formed out of a hard resin or a metal introduced into a key unit in order to overcome the weak point such that the conventional rubber keypads are too soft and lack shape stability, as a functional design... Agent: Frishauf, Holtz, Goodman & Chick, PC

20080283376 - Electrical switches: An electrical switch may include a housing having a hollow inner cavity. Both mechanical and electrical components may be contained within the inner cavity. The components within inner cavity may be protected from contaminants entering the inner cavity by a seal adjacent to an opening of the housing leading from... Agent: Kolisch Hartwell, P.C.

20080283377 - Haptics cone: A push button assembly has a button retainer having drawer slide guides and a corresponding bezel structure. The button retainer also has a surface perpendicular to a principal translational axis, on which is one of a conical protrusion and a conical indentation is formed. The bezel structure has the other... Agent: Visteon/brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

20080283379 - Coaxial switch with reduced tribo-electric charge accumulation: A contact carrier, a coaxial switch, and a method of forming the contact carrier are disclosed. A contact carrier includes a body formed of an electrically insulative material. The body includes a longitudinally extending shaft portion and a stem portion. At least one conductive layer is formed on the body.... Agent: K&l Gates LLP

20080283380 - Pressure sensitive conductive sheet and panel switch using same: A first resistor layer is formed on the lower surface of a base in film form, and at the same time, a second resistor layer in which particles of different particle diameters are dispersed is formed and layered on the lower surface of the first resistor layer, and thus, a... Agent: Pearne & Gordon LLP

20080283381 - Fixed contract pattern and switch device including the same: Gaps that divide a conductive portion include an I-shaped gap that passes through the center of a fixed contact, and L-shaped gaps that are located on both sides of the I-shaped gap. Longitudinal gap of the L-shaped gaps extend beyond a virtual straight line A-A that passes through the center... Agent: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

20080277251 - Electrical switch apparatus and methods: Particular embodiments of the inventive technology may relate to an electrical switch apparatus, and related methods, that include a conductive contiguity, alone with which two sequential electrical contacts may be induced upon application of force by a user, thereby effecting two or more distinct electrical events. Embodiments of the inventive... Agent: Santangelo Law Offices, P.C.

20080277249 - Circuit breaker with improved lock-off accessory: A circuit breaker comprises a housing containing a trip mechanism, a handle coupled to the trip mechanism and movable between on and off positions, and a lock-off mechanism capable of holding the handle in its off position. The lock-off mechanism includes a base member adapted to be mounted on the... Agent: Schneider Electric / Square D Company Legal Dept. - I.p. Group (np)

20080277250 - Circuit breaker with improved lock-off accessory: A circuit breaker comprises a housing containing a trip mechanism, a handle coupled to the trip mechanism and movable between on and off positions, and a lock-off mechanism capable of holding the handle in its off position. The lock-off mechanism includes a bracket adapted to be mounted on the circuit... Agent: Schneider Electric / Square D Company Legal Dept. - I.p. Group (np)

20080277252 - Mechanical switch: Apparatus including a substrate and a mechanical switch, the mechanical switch located over the substrate, the mechanical switch including: a first electrical contact over the substrate; a support over the substrate, the support including a region moveable relative to the first electrical contact, the moveable region having a second electrical... Agent: Jay M. Brown

20080277253 - Thin key sheet: Mobile phones are in a trend of having thinner configuration due to emphasis on the design. Thus, in order to meet this demand, the present invention aims to thin the key sheet portion as much as possible. The present invention provides a thin key sheet 1 comprising a key top... Agent: Westman Champlin & Kelly, P.A.

20080277254 - Keyboard assembly with adjustable keystroke: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a keyboard structure comprising a bottom plate, a bridging device support board positioned above said bottom plate, and a plurality of keys positioned above said bridging device support board. The key board structure further includes a plurality of bridging devices positioned between said... Agent: Goldstein, Faucett & Prebeg, LLP

20080277256 - Keyswitch structure: The invention discloses a keyswitch, which includes a substrate, a plurality of switches, a keycap, and at least one support. The switches are fixed on the substrate. The keycap thereof defines a bottom surface, which has a plurality of protruding portions, each of which corresponds to one of the switches.... Agent: Morris Manning Martin LLP

20080277255 - Keyswitch with balance member: The invention discloses a keyswitch, which includes a keycap and a balance member. The keycap thereof defines a lower surface, which has at least one mounting portion. The balance member has an axle thereof defines a first end and a second end opposite to the first end. Additionally, the axle... Agent: Morris Manning Martin LLP

20080277257 - Key for keyboard and keyboard using the same: A low-noise cost-effective keyboard includes keys arranged in rows and columns in a housing. Each key has a mounting member affixed to the housing, at least one button, at least one connecting member integrally connected between the mounting member and the at least one button in a manner that a... Agent: Browdy And Neimark, P.l.l.c. 624 Ninth Street, Nw

20080277258 - Mems plate switch and method of manufacture: Systems and methods for forming an electrostatic MEMS plate switch include forming a deformable plate on a first substrate, forming the electrical contacts on a second substrate, and coupling the two substrates using a hermetic seal. The deformable plate may have a flexible shunt bar which has one end coupled... Agent: Jaquelin K. Spong

20080277259 - Capacitive type touch panel: A capacitive type touch panel includes: a transparent substrate; an array of first conductors formed on a surface of the transparent substrate; an array of second conductors formed on the surface of the transparent substrate; a plurality of conductive first bridging lines, each of which interconnects two adjacent ones of... Agent: Shirley L. Church, Esq.

20080271980 - Production method of one body style touch pad and one body style keypad having touch pad produced by that method: The one body style keypad according to the present invention has the advantages that a keypad of ultra-thin dimensions is obtained, a visually high-quality presentation is realized due to the inherent luster of synthetic resin, and the manufacturing costs can be reduced because of low-cost synthetic resin unlike conventional keypads,... Agent: Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.

20080271981 - Electrical switching apparatus, and yoke assembly and spring assembly therefor: A spring assembly is provided for a yoke assembly of an electrical switching apparatus including a housing, separable contacts enclosed by the housing, and an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts. The operating mechanism includes a pole shaft. The yoke assembly is coupled to the pole... Agent: Martin J. Moran Eaton Electrical, Inc.

20080271982 - Electrical switching apparatus having a cradle with combined pivot and over-toggle reversing pin: The present invention provides for an electrical switching apparatus operating mechanism opening assembly wherein the toggle assembly stop/kicker pin has been separated into a kicker pin and a stop pin. By separating the functions of the stop/kicker pin into separate pins, the kicker pin may now be located at the... Agent: Eaton Electrical, Inc. Technology & Quality Center