Leaf switch is an electric switch with a button (or other moving part) and two strips of metal that make contact when the button is pushed. The circuit is only closed when the button is held down (unless there is a locking mechanism in the button) so these switches are best suited for generating short pulses that trigger an action in the circuit. They are commonly used in everyday appliances like door bells and joystick fire buttons. Leaf switches are silent (unlike microswitches) and durable since there is a minimum amount of moving parts involved. The stroke length needed to trigger the switch is also small so the leafs won't wear down because of cyclic fatigue.


              -----
              |   |     <-- Push button with a spring return mechanism
   ---------------------- 
            | |  /| |
            | |/  | |   
            |_-----_|
        __      V
   ....|  |_________     
   . ..|__|_________  <-- Leafs (strips of metal) make contact when button is pushed
   . . 
   . .
Wires connected to the circuit