FOOT SWITCH

Abstract

A foot switch includes at least one pedal rotationally mounted for actuating about at least two axes arranged at an angle with respect to each other. A stop device that can stop a movement of the pedal about one of the two axes is provided

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A foot switch, comprising: at least one pedal, which is pivotally mounted for actuation about at least two axes arranged at an angle relative to one another; and a locking device configured to lock movement of the pedal about one of the at least two axes.

15. The foot switch of claim 14, further comprising: a pedal base body pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis; and a pedal pivot body pivotally mounted relative to the pedal base body about an axis perpendicular to the pedal base body, wherein the at least two axes include the horizontal axis and the axis perpendicular to the pedal base body.

16. The foot switch of claim 15, wherein the locking device acts on the pivoting movement of the pedal pivot body relative to the pedal base body.

17. The foot switch of claim 14, wherein the locking device is manually operable.

18. The foot switch of claim 17, wherein the locking device comprises at least one hand lever coupled to at least one locking pin, wherein the locking pin blocks the pivoting movement of the pedal pivot body in a locking position and enables the pivoting movement in a release position.

19. The foot switch of claim 18, wherein the at least one locking pin is retracted in the release position into a locking pin chamber of the pedal pivot body and is extended in the locking position from the locking pin chamber to such an extent that the at least one locking pin acts as a stop relative to the pedal base body.

20. The foot switch of claim 19, wherein the at least one locking pin includes two locking pins arranged in such a way that in the locking position the two locking pins each rest against one side of the pedal base body.

21. The foot switch of claim 14, wherein the locking device is controllable.

22. The foot switch of claim 21, wherein the locking device has an actuator with which a locking element can be moved into a locking position and a release position.

23. The foot switch of claim 22, wherein the locking element is a locking piston.

24. The foot switch of claim 22, wherein the actuator moves the locking element electromagnetically or electromotively.

25. The foot switch of claim 14, wherein the locking device has a sensor arrangement to detect a locking state.

26. The foot switch of claim 25, wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a permanent magnet and a reed switch.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0013] The invention is explained in more detail below using two embodiment examples with the aid of figures, which show as follows:

[0014] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a foot switch according to the invention with a manually operated locking device as a first embodiment example;

[0015] FIG. 2 shows a perspective partial view of the foot switch as shown in FIG. 1 with locked horizontal movement;

[0016] FIG. 3 shows a perspective partial view of the foot switch as shown in FIG. 1 with released horizontal movement in a horizontally operated state;

[0017] FIG. 4 shows a perspective partial section of the foot switch as shown in FIG. 2, showing the sensor elements for signaling the locking state;

[0018] FIG. 5 shows in a schematic diagram a partial section through a foot switch according to the invention for remote-controlled actuation as a second embodiment example with locked horizontal movement; and

[0019] FIG. 6 shows in a schematic diagram a partial section through the foot switch according to FIG. 5 with released horizontal movement in a horizontally actuated state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a foot switch 1 with a housing assembly 2 and a pedal assembly 3 as the first embodiment example. A pedal base body 4 belonging to pedal assembly 3 is mounted in housing assembly 2 in such a way that pedal assembly 3 can be moved (pivoted) in the vertical direction about a horizontal axis of rotation. A pedal pivot body 5 also belonging to pedal assembly 3 is mounted on the pedal base body 4 in such a way that the pedal pivot body 5 can be moved (pivoted) in the horizontal direction about an axis essentially perpendicular to the horizontal axis of rotation of the pedal assembly, to the top side of the pedal base body 4 and to the bottom side of the pedal pivot body 5. In the example shown, a bowl-shaped foot rest 6 is arranged on the pedal pivot body 5, on which a user places his foot to operate the foot switch 1.

[0021] The pedal pivot body 5 and the foot rest 6 together form a pedal of the foot switch 1, which is mounted so that it can move in two independent directions of movement. The foot switch 1 is thus designed as a multi-way pedal switch that can detect movements of an actuating foot in the two independent directions of movement, in the example specifically a pivoting movement about a horizontal pivot axis and a pivoting movement about an essentially vertical pivot axis.

[0022] According to the invention, a locking device 10 is provided with which one of the two movement possibilities of the foot switch 1 can be locked.

[0023] In the first embodiment example, which is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the locking device 10 is designed as a manually operated arrangement. Here the locking device 10 comprises two hand levers 11 pivotally mounted on a common connecting shaft, not visible here, on the pedal pivot body 5. Two locking pins 12 are coupled to the connecting shaft and thus to the hand levers 11. They are arranged in a position of the hand levers 11 in locking pin chambers 13 inside the pedal pivot body 5. In this position, which is shown in FIG. 1, they do not influence the pivoting of the pedal pivot body 5 in relation to the pedal base body 4. This position is therefore also referred to as the release position.

[0024] By actuating the hand levers 11 into a so-called locking position, the locking pins 12 extend from the locking pin chambers 13 and lock the pedal pivot body 5 in a central position relative to the pedal base body 4. Horizontal movement of the pedal pivot body 5 is blocked in this locking position and is thus not possible. The locked position is shown in FIG. 2, which shows pedal assembly 3 from an angle below.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows the pedal assembly 3 in a similar view to FIG. 2. The locking device 10 is shown here again in the release position, in which the hand levers 11 are turned to an upper stop and the locking pins 12 thus rest in the locking pin chambers 13 of the pedal pivot body 5. The locking device 10 is held in this position by one or more resilient elements not shown here, which are attached to the pedal pivoting body 5 or integrally formed therewith and which interact with suitably designed latching contours not shown here.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a further development of the first embodiment example. In this example, a sensor arrangement is provided for detecting and signaling the locking state. For this purpose, a permanent magnet 14 is arranged within one of the locking pins 12 and a reed switch 15 is arranged in the pedal base body 4. The reed switch 15 is actuated depending on the locking state (release position or locked position). The switching state of the reed switch 15 is thus characteristic of the locking state and can be processed as a signal by the controlled device.

[0027] In FIGS. 5 and 6, a part of a foot switch is shown as a second embodiment example. In FIGS. 5 and 6, a pedal base body 4, a pedal pivot body 5 and a locking device 10 can be seen from the foot switch. Similar to the embodiment example in FIGS. 1 to 4, the pedal base body 4 is mounted on a housing assembly not visible here so that it can pivot about a horizontal axis and the pedal pivot body 5 is mounted so that it can pivot to the sides about an axis perpendicular to the pedal base body 4. As in the first embodiment example, the foot switch is thus designed as a multi-way pedal switch.

[0028] The locking device 10 has a locking piston 17, which can be moved to a release position and a locked position by means of an actuator 16. FIG. 5 shows the locked position, in which the lateral pivoting movement of the pedal pivot body 5 is arrested by the locking piston 17 being retracted into a blind-hole-shaped receptacle 18 of the pedal pivot body 5. FIG. 6 shows the arrangement in the release position of the locking piston 17 with pivoted pedal pivot body 5.

[0029] The locking piston 17 can be operated by the actuator 16 in an electromagnetic, electromotive or any other suitable way. The actuation can be triggered manually by a switch not shown here attached to the foot switch, manually by a separate remote-control unit or manually or automatically by remote control from the controlled device. The locking state is signaled by the detection of the actuation signal applied to actuator 16 or by a suitable sensor arrangement detecting the position of the locking piston 17.

[0030] Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail by way of preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited by the examples disclosed, and other variations can be derived from these by the person skilled in the art without leaving the scope of the invention. It is therefore clear that there is a plurality of possible variations. It is also clear that embodiments stated by way of example are only really examples that are not to be seen as limiting the scope, application possibilities or configuration of the invention in any way. In fact, the preceding description and the description of the figures enable the person skilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments in concrete manner, wherein, with the knowledge of the disclosed inventive concept, the person skilled in the art is able to undertake various changes, for example, with regard to the functioning or arrangement of individual elements stated in an exemplary embodiment without leaving the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims and their legal equivalents, such as further explanations in the description.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0031] 1 Foot switch [0032] 2 Housing assembly [0033] 3 Pedal assembly [0034] 4 Pedal base body [0035] 5 Pedal pivot body [0036] 6 Foot rest [0037] 10 Locking device [0038] 11 Hand lever [0039] 12 Locking pin [0040] 13 Locking pin chamber [0041] 14 Permanent magnet [0042] 15 Reed switch [0043] 16 Actuator [0044] 17 Locking piston [0045] 18 Receptacle