Abstract: A mount apparatus includes a separate spring contact and wire wrap pin assembly as well as having a sandwich construction to prevent the spring contact and wire wrap pin from being pushed out of their retention positions. In one embodiment, a mount apparatus includes a front cover having a plurality of receptacles, a back cover having a plurality of through holes, and a circuit board assembly sandwiched between the front cover and the back cover. The circuit board assembly includes a board having a plurality of through holes aligned with the receptacles of the front cover and the through holes of the back cover, a plurality of contacts retained in a first set of the through holes of the board of the circuit board assembly, and a plurality of pins retained in a second set of the through holes of the board of the circuit board assembly.

Abstract: A switching apparatus which includes a rubber keypad (32, FIG. 2) with a rubber cap (36) that can be depressed by a person's finger to snap a snap dome (52) that connects contacts (21, 22) of a first switch (70), provides increased tactile feedback to the person's finger. A keycap (42) of rigid material includes a cover (44) lying on top of the rubber cap and also includes a stem (54) that projects down through a hole in the cap, with a lower stem end (60) lying above the snap dome to snap down the dome when a person's finger depresses the cover. The tactile snap feedback is transmitted directly through the rigid material of the stem to the rigid material of the cover, to the person's finger to indicate that the switch has been closed. The cap has a radially outer part (84), and an electrically conductive element (82) is mounted on the outer part to engage contacts (23, 24) of a second switch (80) to close it, before the snap dome is snapped to close the first switch.

Abstract: A back lit keypad device and method for fabricating it are described, which facilitates construction of a low cost, durable, and attractive keypad of the "reverse graphics illumination" type (which is opaque everywhere except for illuminated characters at the tops of the keys). The keypad device includes a shell (30, FIG. 2 ) of opaque rubber having a thin top wall (32), and an insert (42) of light-transmitting rubber molded into the cavity formed within the shell. The thin top wall of the shell has an opening therein forming a character, so light passing up through the insert can pass through the character-forming opening. The keypad device is formed by first forming the shell between first and second molds (94,110, FIG. 4 ), and leaving the formed shell in the first mold. Then a third mold (140, FIG. 5 ) is clamped against the first mold which has the shell (30) therein, and the light-passing insert material (144) is injected into the space between the shell and third mold to form the insert.

Abstract: A colored ceramic glaze is prepared from a raw glaze containing glass frit, clay and one or more ceramic pigments added as an aqueous dispersion. The raw glaze is ball-milled after which it is blended with the aqueous dispersion. The dispersion contains up to 70% of a ceramic pigment, such as zirconium-vanadium yellow, preferably with 1% to 3% of a suspending agent, up to about 1.5% of a thickener, an effective amount, but no more than 1% of a dispersant, and a biocide as needed. The suspending agent preferably is attapulgite clay or a water-swellable smectite clay. The thickener is preferably a xanthan gum and the dispersant is typically an ammonium salt of a medium molecular weight polymethacrylic acid. A stronger, more intense color is achieved by adding the ceramic pigment as a dispersion as opposed to ball-milling it with the glass frit as has been the traditional approach.

Abstract: A switch assembly is provided with a short travel switch (16, FIG. 3) activated by a push button that has a long travel both before and after closing of the short travel switch, and which provides a substantially constant spring rate throughout push button travel, with minimal noticeable disruptions. The switch assembly includes an inner plunger (32) which depresses the short travel switch, and an outer plunger (44) or keystem coupled to the push button. An inner spring device (46) couples the inner plunger to the housing, and an outer spring device (52) couples the two plungers, so the springs act in series. The preloads of the two spring devices are substantially the same, and the inner spring has a lower spring rate than the outer spring. As the keystem is depressed, both springs begin to compress until the inner plunger contacts the short travel switch.

Abstract: A vehicle seat backrest assembly comprises a backrest pan, a rod in front of the pan, and a resilient sponge rubber pad overlying the rod and pan. Adjustable lumbar support means between the resilient pad and pan comprises: a support frame mounted on the rod, a manually operable adjustment lever pivotally connected to the support frame and extending across the frame and out through a slot in the backrest pan, a lumbar support member in the form of a generally rectangular resilient flexible forwardly convex grid having its lower edge connected to the support plate and having its upper edge connected to the lever, whereby raising or lowering of the lever causes a decrease or increase, respectively, in the convexity of the lumbar support member and the overlying pad. Interengageable bosses on the frame and the lever and biasing means maintain the lever in selected positions.