Limit switch module and cam for use in the same

摘要

A modular housing structure for rotatably positioning a cam on a shaft at a predetermined position relative to a limit switch. The modular housing includes upper and lower halves which are snap-fit together by an arrangement of projections and recesses which interconnect the housing halves, and hold a limit switch and a rotating cam in a fixed position relative to one another. Additionally, each limit switch module of the invention may be snap-fit onto the top or bottom of an adjacent limit switch module such that a number of modules may conveniently and easily be aligned along a single shaft. The cam rotatably received in each module is unitarily formed of a single material, and includes an inner spring collar which is deflected slightly when a shaft is inserted through the cam. The spring collar exerts a restoring force on the shaft sufficient to grip the shaft tightly enough to ensure rotation of the cam with the shaft, but loosely enough to allow manual adjustment of the angular position of the cam relative to the shaft. The inside surface of the spring collar is smooth, thus permitting infinite angular adjustment relative to the shaft.