Upon hearing the popular Sugababes track “Push the Button” recently, and not being able to get the tune out of my head afterwards, led me to start thinking about buttons in general. A button can be used to fasten clothing, start something or used in language to describe how someone has evoked an emotion, usually irritation or anger. But that’s not all, in engineering a push button serves an important task.
Push-button engineering is a term used to describe an electrical switch mechanism, which controls a machine or process. Buttons are usually made from plastic or metal and there are different types depending on the intended use, such as dual push, miniature push, push to break, and push to make, to name but a few. More often than not buttons are used to turn something on or off, but others are designed to be reset switches. In the commercial workplace buttons are associated with colours, so red is to stop a process, and green means start or go. In the home we have all used a push button. Calculators, our cars, (push button) telephones and many kitchen appliances are all engineered using this technology.
Buttons can be mechanically linked, so when pushing one it can instigate a release operation in another. In my busy engineering world solving problems for clients, I for one would, at times, like to engage my own panic button, and certainly wish I had a reset and turbo boost button to press as and when required.
