A switch assembly and method of operation comprises a housing having top and bottom ends spaced about a longitudinal axis and a selectively movable knob coupled to a plunger arrangement having a shaft that extends from inside the housing to couple to the knob. The switch assembly also comprises a printed circuit board having at least one wiper for engaging a contact extending from the plunger arrangement. A step shaft projects from the shaft of the plunger arrangement such that when a maintained mode of operation is desired by the switch assembly, the step shaft engages a retaining assembly formed by a portion of the housing, and when a momentary mode of operation is desired by the switch assembly the step shaft is positioned such that is free from engaging the retaining assembly.

A switch device includes a circuit board, a coil structure, a lower cover, an upper cover, an elastic part, and a sliding part. The circuit board gas a through hole running through the circuit board. The coil structure is disposed on the circuit board and surrounds the through hole. The lower cover us located over the coil structure. The upper cover is disposed on the lower cover. The lower cover and the upper cover form an accommodating space. The elastic part is located in the accommodating space. The sliding part passes through an opening of the upper cover and is configured to slide relative to the lower cover along a direction. The sliding body is configured to drive the sliding part to pass through the through hole along the direction to generate a switch signal corresponding to an inductance variance of the coil structure.