Touch switch.

摘要

An optical touch switch arrangement (5) is described, wherein a light transmissive area (20a) of a panel (20) is touched by the finger of an operator in order to change the state of operation of a circuit element, such as a heating element (2). The area (20a) is linked optically to a photosensitive component (28) and the presence or absence of the finger on that area (20a) influences the amount of light falling on the photo-sensitive component (28). This component (28) develops an electrical signal in response to the light which it receives and circuits are provided to respond to the electrical signal by generating an appropriate control signal for the circuit element.