Many electrical switches are of the type which encounter "overtravel" after the state of the electrical connection of the switch has been altered. In most instances, an actuator is employed to operate the switch. The actuator and its associated components usually go through a "pretravel" before electrical connection is made or the switch state is altered, which sometimes is termed the "operating point". The actuator and/or its associated components then go through an overtravel condition of movement after the operating point. Upon release of the actuator, reverse movement usually takes place and a "release point" occurs when the electrical connection and its associated circuit is transferred back to its original state. This usually occurs sometime during return movement of the actuator.
In some instances, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,960 to James Blair, dated Oct. 18, 1988 a floating operating and release point switch is disclosed. This concept allows the switch to utilize a movement differential to actuate or deactuate a circuit rather than cause actuation or deactuation at respective absolute positions.
Regardless of the precise type of switch of the character described above, a constant problem in manufacturing such switches is maintaining close tolerances required in many applications and compensating for wear during use which, in essence, simply magnifies the tolerance problem. This invention is directed to a new and improved switch actuator which includes features directed to solving these problems.