claim as our invention is: 1. A variable resistor having a rotatable contactor assembly driven by a control sliaft, and b.aving a housing comprising a staniped metal shell providing back and side walls: characterized by the provision Of SDaced le-. portions on the housing comprising integral extensions of the side walls projecting a distance beyond oiie peripheral portion of the back- wall in a direction laterally with respect to the control shaft, said leg portions having bearing surfaces on their outer end portions facing away from the control shaft axis and lying in a common plane substantially parallel to the,shaft axis to enga.-e one side of 2,740,026 4 a panel upon which the resistor is to be mounted to position the resistor on -said panel with the axis of its shaft substantially parallel to the panel and spaced a definite distance therefrom. 5 2. The variable resistor of claim 1 further characterized by the provision of detent means on the outer ends of said leg portions, integral therewith and projecting froin said bearing surfaces thereof, and adapted to pass thf(jugh holes in a panot upon which the resistor is mount10 ed fbf ehgagenidnt with the other side of the panel tn, thereby securely but detachably hold the resistor on the @andl; 3. The varabie tesistot of claim I furitier chatactet" ized by the provision of a front wall on the housir@g sLb15 stantiall@ p@ial]61 fo thi@ bacl, wall therc@of tihd s@ijaced therefrom; and by the provision of s]@,,lced coaxial b-,at@ ings on said front and back walls in which the control shaft is journalled and held with its axis substantially pa.-allel to a panel upon which the resistor is mounted. 20 4. In a variable resistor: a housin,- comprising a flat front wall of insulative material and a stamped meta! shell secured to the front wall and providing a substa-.-itially flat back wall and a substantially U-shaped side wall inte-,ral with the back wall and e,-,tendin- between 25 the froilt and back- walls to hold the same spaced apart, said housing bein@, partially open at its side remcte from the bight of the U-shaped side wall and said front wall having a hole therethrough; a coiitrol shaftprojecting throu.-h and rotatable in said hol,- in the front 3( wall; integral opposite leg portions provided by said Ushap-,d side wall and projecting laterally from the housing in a direction crosswise of the control shaft, a-,id beyond the back wall of the housi-@ig; bearin@ slirfaces on the outet ends of said leg portions lying in a co.,n85 mon plane substantially parallel to b,,it facing awqy from the axis of the control shaft; and spring detept fin-ers on said leg portions formed as reduced extensions Of the outer ends of the le- portions, said fingers extending from and beyond said bearing surfaces to project 40 through holes in a panel upon which the resis'lor is to be mounted with said s@Lrfac-.9 agaiiist one face thereof, said detent fingers being enga.-cable N@,iLh tbe edges of the holes through which they pass to hold the resistor on the panel with its open side slib4 -, stantially closed by the panel and with @ts control. shaft parallel to the panel. 5. The variable resistor of claim 4 further characterized by the provision of terminals secured to the froiit ,vall of the housing and extending along the inner face ', 0 thereof substantially parallel to and between said leg portions of the hotising side wall, said terininals pr,,Djecti-@i.- out through the open side of the housiiig and beyond the common pl-e,-ne of @,ai@i beati@@i@- si-irfaces @o pr4z,ject througli holes in the mounting panel,. 55 6. The variable resistor of claim 5 ftirther choracterized by the provision of another terminal sec-ared to th-@ front wall of the housing aiid projectin.- laterally the,-efrem in the same direction as said first designated term-inals in spaced substant'lally prrallel relition thereto, 6n said other terminal having its outer end portio-,i ove,;Iyin.- the exterior surface of the f-ront wall and al,,o extending beyojid the plane of said bearing surfacos to project through a hole in the panel, 7. The variable resistor of claini 4 ftirther chpyacter65 ized by the facf that the front ,itall of the hous',iig tends all the way to the plai3e of said bearin@_, @iur'a@-es and has a-.i edge portion thereon lying in said p!E,,ne and which coacts with said bearing suri'aces to properly space the control shaft of tl-ic resistor from a p,@n-,l -,,,-o,-i 70 which the resistor is molinted and to I-,nd stability lo the resistor wheii mounted on said panel. 8. The variable resistor o!7 4 f-@jrf'@@ler ized by the provision of another leg portion -,n @he housin-. extending froni the back wall of the slaml)eci 75 i I r-etal shell substantially parallel to and in tile same

2,740,026 direcdon as the leg portions provided by the housing side walls, said other leg portion having a shoulder thereon facing away from the control shaft axis and lying in the common plane of said bearing surfaces to likewise engage said face of the panel upon which the 5 resistor is mounted, and said other leg portion also having a tongue extending beyond said shoulder for entry into a hole in the mounting panel. 9. As an article of manufacture, a housing section for a variable resistor comprising: a sheet metal stamp- lo ing having a flat back wall, the p.-rimeter of which defines a lower edge and an inverted U having its bight opposite said lower edge, said stamping having a side wall extending perpendicularly from that portion of the perimeter of the flat back wall which defines the legs i5 a.nd bight of the inverted U, so that said side wall also defines substantially an inverted U, said side wall having its leg portions extended downwardly below the lower edge of the back wall with the bottom edges of said leg portions substantially normal to the straight portions 20 of the side walls and providing bearing surfaces facing f3l away from the bight of the U; and reduced spring detent fmgers integral with and projecting down from said side wall extensions below the bearing surfaces provided by the bottom edges thereof. 10. The housing section of claim 9 further characterized by the provision of a supportin.- leg inte.-ral with the back wall and extending dowiiwardly from its lower edge, said leg having a shoulder thereon lying in the plane of the bottom edges of the side wall extensions and having a tongue thereon extending below said shoulder, I 1. The housing section of claim 9 ftirther characterized by the provision of mounting ears inte.-ral with the side wall and extendin-, laterally outwardly from the mar.-inal edges thereof remote from the back wall. Refereiiecs Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,196 Da Costa -------------- Sept. 12, 1933 2,096,319 Churchill -------------- Oct. 19, 1937

Unite3,d States Patent 2@740,026 P a t 6 n t e d M a r . 2 7 , 1 9 5 6 2,740,,OZ6 COMBINED HOUSING A-ND MOUNflNG FOR, VARIABLE RESISTORS AND SIMILAR RADIO AND - TEL, EVISION CONTROLS Wilbert H. Budd, Robert- A. Stackhouse, and Hilbert L. Slough, Elkhart, Ind., assignors to Chica-.o Teleplione Supply Corporation, Elkhart, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application February 3, 1954, Serial No. 407,992 11 Claims. (C). 201-48) This invention relates to variable resistors and similar controls iiseci in radio and television receivers and refers niore particularly to ,i control of this type especially adapted for use with printed circuitry. The advevit of printed eireiiitry and its iiiereasinc, adoption by the ridio and television industry has necessitated the development of new ways of mountiilg and attaching the controls and other circliit comporients upon their s,,ipporting panels. This inventign is directed to this general purpose and has as its object to provide a simple self-aligning, selfholdin- Piounting means integral with the housing of the coiitrol and by which the control may be quickly and c-,isily z-,vappfd into position on a mounting pa@iel and@ hold there during the soldering 6f the printed leads to the teriiiinals of the control. More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a variable r-,sistor having a housing so desi-ned and cotistruc,,Cd that it not only ciieloses the operating lnst,;i.iinentalit@@es of the control but also serves to fii rmly mount the control upon a panel with the coiitrol shaft substantially parallel to the paxiel and spaced a definite d-'tstalice from the p,,inel. I?'iitli the above and other objects in view, which will appear as tli,-- -d-scri@tion proceeds, this invention resides i-ti the novel construction, cornbinatioii and arrangement of farts substanti,,11'@y as liereinafter described and more ,p 4- rlicularly defined by the appended claims, it being -@i.ricl@-rstood that such changes iii the precise ernbodiment of hereindiscio@ed invention niay be made is come @,vittaiii the scope of the claims. "he accompariyin- drowin-s illtistrate two coinpl--teCi",I-.iples o, th@- physical embodiments of the invention cc,,,,strLicted accordivg to the best niodes so far devised I-)@ th, practic2,1 application of the pri@iciples thereof, ,-.-@id i@i wbich: Figjire I is a longitudinil sectional view through a cc)nl,rol enit)odyin,a this invent@'@oii, illtistratina the same motinted upon a prinled circuit panel; Fig-o@re 2 i@,,, -a bottom view of the panel with the control tlicreabove shovvn in dotted@ lines; Fi@,,tire '21 is a iront ,,4ew of the control on a snialter scale; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the stamped metal cover or shell wliicb forms pirt of the control housing; a,,icl a stamped metal shell or cover 10, mounts a rotatable contactor assembly 11. This assembly comprises a dtive arin 12 of insulating material, a stamped metal stop plate 13 and a contactor, 14 The insulated' drive arm 12 and the metal stop plate'13 are fitted; in overlying r,[ationship, onto a non-circular end portion 15, of the shaft aild are secured in this@ position by having part of the shaft staked over the plate 13 as at 16, The contactor 14, as is customary, is mounted on the io drive arm@ 1-2 and@ has spring contact fingers 17@ bearing against the resistance elemeiit and other spring contact fiiigers 18@ bearing upon a collector ring 19, The collector rin- 19 is mounted on the inner face of the base 6 concen@ricq,lly to the control shafi' and the arcuate re15 sistance elemeiit and has: a termiial 20 extending o-utwardlv therefrom and secured: to the base with its outer end@ portion overlying the outer face tliereof and' project ing dowriwardly beyond the lower edge 21 of the base. The termina!@ 22@ for the ends o,@ the resistance ele20 n,,ent are s@@ctired to the base in the customary manner with parts ther,-o'L in, good electrical contact with the resistai-ice element, and like the terminal 20 have their erid portions projecting straight, down beyond the bottoni -dg@- 21 of the base@. Attention is directed to the fact 25 'Lhat the eiid termin-,ils@ 22 are o@i the- inner face of the base@ andi thtis lie stibstantially entirely within the housiiig af the control. 'fhe control hotising, which as indicated, is formed jointly by the. base 6 and@ the stamped metal@ cover 10, 30 is of novel shape@ aiid, desii.,n. Instead of the customary cyliiidricai formatioii which heretofore has characterized con!xols o.(' this type, it is of inverted U shape. Thus, the perimeter of the froi.,t@ wall of the housin.@ which is defijicd by the base@ 6 in addition to its- flat@ bottom edge 35 21 has opposite parallel side ed.6es 23 perpendicular to@ the bottor@i edge 2'- aiid extending upwardly therefrom to merge with a semi-circul@Lr top edge 24@ The stamped@ m-,tal cover 10 has a flat end, wall 25 which provides t'@ic rear of the bousing and a side@ wall 40 26, the front f.,i@irgir@al ed.-e of wtii,-h is coimected@ to the. base 6 in the clistoniai,y manner by ears 27 extending 'orwardly from 'Lhe side wall to be recei@red in notches in tlie edge of the base atid clinched over the front face thereof. 45 The cover conforms ih shape to the base so@ that its: side wall has an u_Dper semicvlindrical portion merging ,vith. straiglt flat parallel downwardly extending portions which may be said to provide supporting legs. The bottom edges, 28 of these stipportiag@legs lie in the plane of the bottom 50 edge 21 of the base and@ coact with the bottom@ edge of the base to provide a firm footing for the entire control and by which it stands upon a panel 29 with the terminals 20 and 22 projecting through appropriately located holes- in the panel. 55 Spring detent fin@-ers 30 projecting down. from the bottom edges 28 of the legs provided by the housing side walls are adapted to pass through appropriately located and shaped slots or holes 31 in the panel' and to engage over t'@ie edges of these holes or slots and thus hol(i the; 60 control on the panel solidly er@ough to permit the solderF;,,, ure 5 is q. persnect;ve view of the complete coning of the terminals to their respective leads printed on trol sl@iow;nl- the sar@ic froni the froii" and illustratina a the undei-side of the panel. It is, of course, to be under;n th,- specific const.-uction thereot. stoo d that the locations of the holes 31 and particularly ttie Rei'i @rring now i)arti-.ularly to the accornpaiiying drrtwspa cing therebe,ween is such that the spr-ing fingers 30 ti@ e iil,.meraf 5 desi,-natzs geiierally a var;able re65 mus t be sprl-lng toether during their insertion into the sisto i, of the type liaving a ilf,,t base 6 of insulatin.a mahole s so that the wedging action of the inclined portions teri,, il, the iti@ier stirfice of wliich bis an arcii.-te res;st30' ol tiie spring fingers bearing against the adjacent edges ,iiice , eleriie@it 7 thereon cor-centric to i hole 8 in thr of the holes 31 will be available to draw the control down A .o@iti@oi sti-@i@4t 9 tbrou,ah and is journalled onto the panel. In order for the fingers to have the propi,i this 70 er resiliency, the flat end wall 25 of the cover terminates Tlae inner end of the shaft, which is located inside, the a distance upwardly from the@ lower ends of the@ side. walls liou3ing of tiie control formed jointly by the bage 6 and as best shown in Figure 4@

3 Added @gidit-y is given the mounting by a center leg 32 ek' dnded dbwii ftom the I(jwer edge of the fear wall and inclined slightly rearwardly, This center leg has a tongue 33 flanked by a pair of panel en.-aging shoiilders 34, the latter lying in the comnion mounting plane so that the tong.ue may project dowr@ through a hole in the panel. @ii the peritianont secureinent of the control to the panel this tdiigiib j@ is prefetabl@ sbider,@d to a gt6und lead or ibet6ty Piovided with a soldered eiildrkeindjit overlying th@ adj@cent iiffdersidd of the paii@l; As wili 6e i@a@i@ly ap@oient the distance @eiw6eii the inounting. plane defined bv the b6itom edgie 21 of the base 4nd, the shoulders 28 and 34, fiom tho axis of the coiitrol shaft determines the location of the shaft with resp@ect to the pan6l, and as will also be rea.dily appar6ni this @ dlistance depends upon the de'si-,n of the 6quipment in which the control is to be used. @ The limits of rotation of the rotatable contact assembly are defined in the customary manner by cooperating stop lugs 36 and 37 on the stop plate 13 and end wall 25, respectively. As pointed out hereinbefore, the control shaft is jotirnalled in the,hole 8 in the base which provides the j'ront wall of the housing. The shaft is also supported against side thrust by a 1)ilot pin 38 projecting from the end 39 of the shaft and jolirnalled in a hole 40 in the end wall 25 of the cover. The rearward end thrust imparted to the rotatable contactor assembly by its @spring contact fingers is carried by the end wall 25 to which it is transferred by the end 39 of the shaft. lf desired, the resistor may be combined with a switch indicated generally by the numeral 41 and which is mounted upon the rear wall 25 in the customary manner. So located the switch terminals 42 may extend straight down through the panel 29 to be soldered to their respective printed leads. Actuation of the switch mechanism is accomplished in the usual manner during part of the rotatio,a of the control shaft by the coaction of a lug (not sliown) on the drive arm 13 and an acttiating unit or cam 43 projecting forwardly from the switch mechanism into the resistor housing through a hole 44 in its rear wall 25. For situations where the control is to be mounted on the back of a panel or other support through -,Nhich the shaft 9 passes, oppositely directed mounting ears 45 are formed integrally with the side wall of the cover as best shown in Figure 4. These ears may be secured to the back of the panel. That embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 5 is identical with that described except that a ground plate 46 is provided. This ground plate overlies the front of the base and is held in place by the ears 27 which are clinched thereover. The ground plate may have a bearing 47 extruded rearwardly therefrom to project into the shaft hole in the base which in this instance is slightly larger. Mounting 6ars 48 simflar to the ears 45 are also formed on the ground plate to extend in opposite directions therefrom@ From the fore-,Oing desrription taken in connection wilh tile accompanying dranvings it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention achieves a desirable simplification in the moiinting of slich circuft components as variable resistors and that it adapts such components admirably well to use with printed circuitry. What we