Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 1

Chapter 5. pushbutton

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Often referred to as a pushbutton switch and sometimes as a momentary switch. In this encyclopedia, a pushbutton is considered separately from a switch, which generally uses a lever-shaped actuator rather than a button, and has at least one pole contact where a pushbutton generally has contacts that are not distinguishable from each other.

Other related components

• switch (See Chapter 6)
• rotary switch (See Chapter 7)

What It Does

A pushbutton contains at least two contacts, which close or open when the button is pressed. Usually a spring restores the button to its original position when external pressure is released. Figure 5-1 shows schematic symbols for pushbuttons. The symbols that share each ...