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RE: MIDI Mitigator Pedal for sale on ebay



Title: RE: MIDI Mitigator Pedal for sale on ebay
At 1:58 PM -0500 11/22/04, Bill Edmondson wrote:

Can you elaborate on the rubber bumper idea? I've have a similar
experience with the footswitches.

Most foot switches actually consist of two parts: 1) the switch itself, which is normally small, fairly delicate, and attached to the circuit board, and 2) a switch covering or actuator that is the physical element a user presses on with his/her foot.

The mechanical behavior of the cover or actuator and its physcial relationship to the electronic switch are both important. In many switches the actuator has a little finger-like nub that presses the moveable center portion of the switch. In the case of the Mitigator, if memory serves, there is a small disk that (probably) presses on the circuit-board-mounted switch, and this in turn is pressed by center portion of the rubber switch covering when the foot presses down on it. The rubber switch covering is fairly thick and stiff. It is possible to press on it without fully activating the switch beneath. This might happen, for instance, if your foot  comes down at a slight angle. By attaching what Bill calls a "bumper" to the rubber switch covering, and by  being sure that this extra piece is centered on the underlying switch, it is possible to get a more "positive" mechanical response to foot pressure.

Think of it like this: You are using a tiny hand-held device such as a calculator or a cell phone, but you have big fat finger tips that don't always activate the tiny buttons properly. So you use a pencil or stylus to press the buttons, increasing accuracy and positive contact. The "bumper" piece serves the function of the stylus, focusing the foot pressure at a smaller point.
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Richard Zvonar, PhD      
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