Canon Patent Application: A better rotary switch

This patent is one of those that sounds like .. why on earth is Canonnews reporting on this.  But it's important.  Really.

This patent highlights one of those things why Canon cameras are more than the sum of their specfications, as Canon here in this patent demonstrates with a more reliable rotary switch arrangement for a camera.

Applying for a patent globally is never a trival, nor inexpensive process, even when you have a legal team such as Canon to do so.  It costs money an alot of it to do a patent of this nature.

This patent is for a switch that is more reliable than current methods;

A conventional electronic apparatus, such as a digital camera, a video camera, and a portable information terminal, has an electronic dial apparatus configured to set an operational mode and a variety of settings. The electronic dial apparatus includes a substrate with a conductive pattern fixed onto an apparatus body, a phase segment having a flat spring shape slidable relative to the conductive pattern as a dial rotates and fixed onto the dial, a plurality of click grooves arranged in a rotating direction, and a sphere engageable these click grooves. As the dial rotates, the sphere is engaged with or disengaged from the plurality of click grooves so as to generate a click feeling in the dial rotating operation. 

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The rotary switch disclosed in JP 2006-250566 arranges fixed signals at a regular interval on a slider and thus may cause a conductive pattern to be peeled off by sliding abrasions. In order to prevent the conductive pattern from peeling off, an insulated sheet may be provided at the end of the conductive pattern, but the dial operating feeling may degrade due to a step of the insulated sheet. In addition, due to a non-contact phase between the fixed signal and the phase segment, the phase segment may temporarily be electrically floating metal and a signal may become unstable and fluctuate. 

US Patent Application 20180278842

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