Electrical – Wiring an On-Off-On-Off pushbutton

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I am new to electricity & electronics, and I'm interested in using this "On-Off-On-Off" pushbutton in a project. I want to just make sure that I understand how its intended to be wired:

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In that diagram above, it looks like I'm supposed to wire the middle pin to power/PWR. It also looks like I'm supposed to wire both the left and right pins to other (independent) "left" and "right" circuits, and eventually wire them both back to ground/GND.

If that's correct, then I believe what will happen is:

  1. I push the button for the 1st time, and it will route power from the middle pin to the left-most pin (thus providing power to whatever circuit that leads to).
  2. Then I push the button a 2nd time, and the switch turns off (no power to either left- or right-circuits).
  3. I push the button for the 3rd time, and it will route power from the middle pin to the right-most pin (thus providing power to whatever circuit that leads to).
  4. Finally, I push the button a 4th time, and again the switch turns off (no power to either left- or right-circuits).
  5. This pattern repeats indefinitely

Is my understanding of the wiring and behavior here correct, or am I way off base?

Best Answer

The linked page explains it fairly clearly:

DESCRIPTION

Push once to turn one side on, push again to turn off, push again to turn the other side on, one last push and its off again! It's basically a push-button toggle switch that connects and disconnects the middle pin from either of the two side switches with every click. This clicky switch makes a great power switch or mode toggler. We like this switch because it's breadboard friendly and more fun than a power switch. Can reliably handle up to 500mA and up to 12VDC.

Your understanding of the sequence is correct but we can summarise it in tabular form:

Sequence table

        C    C  (where C is common pin)
Push    A    B  (where A and B are the other two contacts)
0       0    0
1       1    0
2       0    0
3       0    1
0       0    0
1       1    0 ...

This is a really satisfying switch.

I can't think of too many useful applications for this.

Note that by connecting A and B together you can make a simple press to toggle switch.

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