CN212570760U - Contact device - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a contact apparatus. The contact device described herein comprises: a housing including a stationary contact and a movable contact; a switching member extending along a longitudinal axis thereof and movably disposed in the housing, the switching member including first and second ramps disposed obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis, respectively, the first and second ramps each adapted to abut against the movable contact; wherein the first and second inclined surfaces are respectively capable of abutting against the movable contact in response to movement of the switching member in a state where the movable contact and the stationary contact are in contact with each other to move the movable contact relative to the stationary contact in contact with the movable contact. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a contact apparatus with high reliability.

Description

Contact device

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of electrical power, and more particularly, to contact devices.

Background

Contact devices are used in control circuits, for example in contactors for switching an electrical circuit. In the existing contact device, the surface of the contact may be polluted or oxidized or vulcanized during the use process, so that the reliability of the contact device is reduced. Especially in low voltage, low current applications, contaminants or sulfides or oxides on the contacts may be less prone to breakdown, which on the one hand may gradually increase the resistance of the contacts and on the other hand may lead to an unstable electrical connection between the contacts.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a contact apparatus capable of being improved, which is capable of automatically cleaning contacts to maintain reliability of the contact apparatus and to improve stability of the contact apparatus.

Disclosure of Invention

Conventional contact devices are not effective in certain situations to remove or break down contaminants, sulfides or oxides, resulting in reduced reliability of the contact device. The present invention provides an improved contact apparatus to address or at least partially address the above or other potential problems.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a contact apparatus is provided. The contact device includes: a housing including a stationary contact and a movable contact; a switching member extending along a longitudinal axis thereof and movably disposed in the housing, the switching member including first and second ramps disposed obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis, respectively, the first and second ramps each adapted to abut against the movable contact; wherein the first and second inclined surfaces are configured to abut against the movable contact in response to movement of the switching member in a state where the movable contact and the stationary contact are in contact with each other, to cause rotational and translational movement of the movable contact with respect to the stationary contact, respectively.

By providing two slopes, the relative sliding of the movable contact and the stationary contact can be made more sufficient to remove contaminants (e.g., adhesion, oxide film, sulfide film) from the surfaces by rubbing against each other. Thereby, a good electrical contact between the contacts is achieved, improving the reliability of the contact device. Moreover, under the use scene of low current and low voltage, the sufficient sliding and friction between the movable contact and the fixed contact can obviously improve the reliability of the contact device.

In some embodiments, a resilient member is further included and configured to abut the movable contact to bias the movable contact toward contact with the stationary contact. Therefore, under the condition that the movable contact and the fixed contact are contacted with each other, the pressure between the movable contact and the fixed contact can be increased, so that the sliding friction force of relative sliding caused by the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface is larger, pollutants can be removed more effectively, and the reliability of the contact equipment is improved.

In some embodiments, in an X-Y-Z orthogonal coordinate system at 90 degrees to each other: the longitudinal axis is parallel to the Y-axis, a normal to the first ramp has a Y-axis component and a Z-axis component, and the first ramp is capable of abutting against the movable contact to rotate the movable contact relative to the stationary contact about the first axis parallel to the X-axis.

With the first ramp, the movable contact can make a rotational movement on the stationary contact about the first axis, which will produce a relative sliding movement between the movable contact and the stationary contact. Thereby, by the rotation movement, contaminants (for example, adhesion, oxide film, sulfide film) on the contact surface can be removed, and the reliability of the apparatus can be improved.

In some embodiments, a normal to the second ramp has a Y-axis component and an X-axis component, and the second ramp is capable of abutting the movable contact to translate the movable contact relative to the stationary contact along a second axis parallel to the X-axis.

With the second ramp, the movable contact can make a translational movement on the stationary contact, which will produce a relative sliding between the movable contact and the stationary contact. Moreover, by setting the inclination direction of the second slope to make the movable contact translate along the second axis with respect to the stationary contact, it is possible to achieve cross sliding on the contact surface, which enables more effective removal of contaminants (e.g., adhesion, oxide film, sulfide film), improving the reliability of the apparatus.

In some embodiments, the first ramp and the second ramp are disposed on the switching member adjacent along the longitudinal axis. Therefore, the two inclined surfaces can continuously cause the relative movement between the movable contact and the fixed contact, and the reliability of the equipment is improved.

In some embodiments, both ends of the elastic member abut against the switching member and the movable contact, respectively. The elastic component is abutted against the movable contact, so that the abutting force between the movable contact and the first inclined plane and the second inclined plane can be improved, and the pressure between the movable contact and the fixed contact can be improved, so that the sliding friction force is increased, and the pollutant removal capacity is improved.

In some embodiments, in an initial state, the movable contact and the stationary contact are disconnected; and the elastic member abuts the movable contact against the first inclined surface. Aiming at normally open contact equipment, the contact can be automatically cleaned by virtue of the first inclined plane and the second inclined plane, so that the reliable electric connection between the movable contact and the fixed contact is ensured, and the reliability of the contact equipment is improved.

In some embodiments, the movable contact comprises a movable arm and a sub-contact fixedly connected to an end of the movable arm; the switching member includes an opening in which a portion of the boom and the elastic member are received. The movable arm and the switching component are coupled together through the openings, so that the structures of the movable arm and the switching component can be simplified, and the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface are favorable for abutting against the movable contact to realize the movement between the movable contact and the fixed contact.

In some embodiments, the boom includes: a first arm portion having a first width at a middle thereof; and a second arm portion having a second width proximate the end of the boom; wherein the second width is greater than the first width and the first and second inclined surfaces are capable of abutting against the first and second arm portions, respectively, to cause rotational and moving movement of the movable contact relative to the stationary contact in contact with the movable contact, respectively. Therefore, the structure of the movable arm can be simplified, and the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface are favorable for abutting against the movable contact so as to realize the movement between the movable contact and the fixed contact.

In some embodiments, an offset portion is further provided in the opening, extending from an inner wall of the opening toward the opening region, and a portion of the first slope is formed on the offset portion. The position of the movable contact may be displaced by a distance with respect to the axial direction of the elastic member by the biasing portion. Therefore, the movable contact has certain translational movement while rotating, namely, the composite movement is realized. This will improve the contaminant removal capability and improve the reliability of the contact device.

It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in more detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference numerals generally represent like parts throughout the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a contact apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view from another perspective of the contact arrangement of fig. 1;

fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the contact device of fig. 1;

fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a contact apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the contact device of fig. 4; and

fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view from another perspective of the contact arrangement of fig. 4.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to several example embodiments. It should be understood that these examples are described only for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and thereby enable the present disclosure, and are not intended to set forth any limitations on the scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure.

As used herein, the term "include" and its variants are to be read as open-ended terms meaning "including, but not limited to. The term "based on" will be read as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below. The definitions of the terms are consistent throughout the specification unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Generally, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, a contact device is provided, which may be a contact device applied in a contactor, and may also be an auxiliary contact device of the contactor.

The contact device comprises a housing 20 and a switching member 10. The housing 20 serves to accommodate the switching member 10, the stationary contact 40, and the movable contact 30. As shown in fig. 1, the stationary contact 40 is fixedly disposed within the housing 20, and the movable contact 30 is coupled with the switching member 10. The switching member 10 may be moved relative to the housing 10 by a driving element (e.g., a driving element of a contactor), and thus, the switching member 10 may push the movable contact 30 to be brought into electrical contact with the stationary contact 40 or to be out of electrical contact with the stationary contact 40.

In order to achieve the relative sliding between the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40, the movable contact 30 is movably provided on the switching member 10. Specifically, the switching member 10 (e.g., a rod-shaped element) extends along a longitudinal axis a thereof, and includes a first slope 101 and a second slope 102, which are obliquely disposed with respect to the longitudinal axis a, respectively. The first and second inclined surfaces 101 and 102 are arranged in sequence along the longitudinal axis a and are respectively intended to abut against the movable contact 30.

Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present disclosure is described taking as an example a normally open contact device for which the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 are disconnected in an initial state. When the state switching is performed, the switching member 10 drives the movable contact 30 to move to contact with the fixed contact 40, and then, during the movement of the switching member 10, the first inclined surface 101 can abut against the movable contact 30 to make the movable contact 30 perform a rotational motion relative to the fixed contact 40; during further movement of the switching member 10, the first inclined surface 101 is out of contact with the movable contact 30 and the second inclined surface 102 can abut against the movable contact 30 to cause a translational movement of the movable contact 30 with respect to the stationary contact 40.

With this arrangement, the first inclined surface 101 and the second inclined surface 102 enable relative sliding of the movable contact and the stationary contact, thereby effectively removing contaminants (e.g., adhesion, oxide film, sulfide film) from the contact surfaces. The contacts can keep good electric contact, and the reliability of the contact equipment is improved. For the use scenes of small current and small voltage, the effect of electric breakdown on pollutants is weaker, and at the moment, the cleanliness and the electric connection performance of the contact surface can be remarkably improved by full sliding and friction between the movable contact and the fixed contact, so that the reliability of contact equipment is improved.

In some embodiments, longitudinal axis A is parallel to the Y-axis and the normal to first ramp 101 has a Y-axis component and a Z-axis component in an X-Y-Z orthogonal coordinate system at 90 degrees to each other, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the first ramp 101 is able to rotate the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40 about a first axis parallel to the X-axis against the movable contact 30.

With the first ramp 101, the movable contact 30 can rotate on the stationary contact 40 about a first axis, which will produce a relative sliding motion between the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40. Thereby, by the rotation movement, contaminants (for example, adhesion, oxide film, sulfide film) on the contact surface can be removed, and the reliability of the apparatus can be improved.

It should be understood that the foregoing arrangement of the first inclined surface 101 is merely exemplary and not limiting. In other embodiments, the normal to the first ramp 101 may have an X-axis component and a Y-axis component, thereby enabling rotation of the first ramp 101 about an axis parallel to the Z-axis. Alternatively, the normal line of the first inclined surface 101 may have an X, Y, Z-axis component, thereby achieving a rotational motion of the movable contact 30 in a three-dimensional space.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 2, the surface of the movable contact 30 for contacting the fixed contact 40 is a flat contact surface, and as long as the first inclined surface 101 makes the flat contact surface form an acute angle with a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis a (e.g., a plane parallel to XZ), the first inclined surface 101 will gradually return to being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis a after the movable contact 30 contacts the fixed contact 40, i.e., the movable contact 30 undergoes rotational movement.

In some embodiments, a normal to the second ramp 102 has a Y-axis component and an X-axis component, and the second ramp 102 is capable of translating the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40 along a second axis parallel to the X-axis against the movable contact 30.

So arranged, the second ramp 102 may cause the movable contact 30 to perform a translational motion on the stationary contact 40, which will further cause a relative sliding motion between the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 to further clean contaminants (e.g., deposits, oxide films, sulfide films) from the contact surfaces.

Moreover, the second slope 102 allows the moving contact 30 to translate with respect to the stationary contact 40 in a direction parallel to the X axis, making it possible to achieve a cross sliding on the contact surface (achieved by a rotation about the X axis and a translation movement along the X axis), which allows a more efficient removal of the contaminants and increases the reliability of the device.

It should be understood that the foregoing arrangement of the second ramp 102 is merely exemplary and not limiting. In other embodiments, the normal to the second ramp 102 may have a Z-axis component and a Y-axis component, thereby enabling the second ramp 102 to translate along an axis parallel to the Z-axis.

In some embodiments, the first and second ramps 101, 102 are disposed adjacent to each other along the longitudinal axis a on the switching member 10. The first slope 101 and the second slope 102 may be formed by removing a portion of the switching member 10, as shown in fig. 1 to 3. The two adjacently disposed inclined surfaces can continuously cause the relative sliding between the movable contact 30 and the fixed contact 40, which is advantageous for improving the reliability of the device.

In some embodiments, both ends of the elastic member 303 abut on the switching member 10 and the movable contact 30, respectively, for example, the elastic member 303 may be received in the opening 104 of the switching member 10. By abutting the movable contact 30 with the elastic member 303, the acting force between the movable contact 30 and the first and second inclined surfaces 101 and 102 and the pressure between the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 can be increased, thereby increasing the sliding friction force and improving the pollutant removing ability.

Alternatively, both ends of the elastic member 303 may abut on the housing 20 and the movable contact 30, respectively, thereby increasing the pressure therebetween when the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 contact each other.

In some embodiments, the resilient member 303 abuts the movable contact 30 against the first inclined surface 101, i.e., during movement of the switching member 10, the first inclined surface 101 will first cause movement of the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40, and then the second inclined surface 102 causes movement of the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40.

It should be understood that the foregoing arrangement of the first and second ramps 101, 102 is merely exemplary and not limiting. In other embodiments, the translational movement of the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40 may be first caused by the second ramp 102, followed by the rotation of the movable contact 30 caused by the first ramp 101.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1-3, the movable contact 30 may include a movable arm 302 and a sub-contact 301 fixedly connected to an end of the movable arm 302. For example, the movable contact 30 includes two sub-contacts 301 respectively provided at both ends of the movable arm 302. To achieve the electrical connection, the stationary contact 40 may include a sub-contact 401 provided corresponding to the sub-contact 301.

In some embodiments, the switch member 10 may be provided with an opening 104, with a portion of the boom 302 being received in the opening 104. The disposition of the movable arm 302 in the opening 104 can simplify the coupling structure of the movable contact 30 and the switching member 10, whereby the switching member 10 can drive the movement of the movable contact 30 with respect to the stationary contact 40 using the first and second slopes 101 and 102.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the boom 302 may include a first arm portion 321 and a second arm portion 322. First arm portion 321 is located in the middle of boom 302 and has a first width; a second arm portion 322 proximate the end of boom 302 and having a second width; and the second width is greater than the first width.

So configured, the first inclined surface 101 can abut against the bottom surface of the second arm portion 322, and the second inclined surface 102 can abut against the step surface between the first arm portion 321 and the second arm portion 322, so that the moving contact 30 is subjected to the rotational and moving movements with respect to the stationary contact 40, respectively, in the case where the moving contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 are in contact.

In some embodiments, an offset 103 may also be disposed in the opening 104. The offset portion 103 extends from the inner wall of the opening 104 toward the opening region, as shown in fig. 2 to 3, the offset portion 103 extends from one side inner wall of the opening 104 toward the other opposite side inner wall, that is, the offset portion 103 extends toward the center line a1 of the opening 104, and a part of the first slope 101 is formed on the offset portion 103.

So arranged, the central axis a2 perpendicular to the plane of extension of the movable contact 30 is biased by the first inclined surface 101 to be offset from the central axis a1, whereby the position of the movable contact 30 can be offset a distance with respect to the central axis a1 (e.g., coaxial with the axis of the elastic member 303). Therefore, the moving contact 30 will perform a certain translational movement along the Z direction while performing a rotational movement, i.e. a combined rotational and translational movement is achieved. This will improve the contaminant removal capability and improve the reliability of the contact device.

While the basic principles of embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with respect to a normally open contact device, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concepts of the first ramp 101 and the second ramp 102 of the present disclosure are also applicable to a normally closed contact device.

Fig. 4-6 show schematic diagrams of contact devices according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which describe embodiments of the present disclosure, taking a normally closed contact device as an example. In which the normally closed contact device shown in fig. 4 is in an opened state (i.e., the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 have been switched from a state of electrical contact to a state of electrical contact removal) in order to reveal the structure of the contact device more clearly.

Since the normally closed contact apparatus shown in fig. 4-6 has structural features or characteristics similar to those of the normally open contact apparatus shown in fig. 1-3, the structural and technical effects described with respect to the normally open contact apparatus of fig. 1-3 are equally applicable to the normally closed contact apparatus described with respect to fig. 4-6.

With the normally closed contact device, the elastic member 303 abuts the movable contact 30 against the stationary contact 40 with the movable contact 30 and the stationary contact 40 electrically contacted. During the movement of the switching member 10 required to switch the state of a normally closed contact device, the second ramp 102 will first cause a translational movement of the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40 and subsequently the movement of the movable contact 30 relative to the stationary contact 40 is caused by the first ramp 101.

Finally, the movement of the switching member 10 further brings the movable contact 30 out of electrical contact with the stationary contact 40 (at this time, the elastic member 303 abuts the movable contact 30 against the first slope 101). Therefore, the pollutant removing capability and reliability of the normally closed contact device are improved.

It is to be understood that the above detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are merely illustrative of or explaining the principles of the present disclosure and are not limiting of the invention. Therefore, any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Also, it is intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A contact device, characterized in that it comprises:

a housing (20) including a stationary contact (40) and a movable contact (30);

-a switching member (10) extending along a longitudinal axis (a) thereof and movably arranged in said housing (20), said switching member (10) comprising a first inclined surface (101) and a second inclined surface (102) respectively arranged obliquely with respect to said longitudinal axis (a), said first inclined surface (101) and said second inclined surface (102) each being adapted to abut against said movable contact (30);

wherein the first slope (101) and the second slope (102) are configured to abut against the movable contact (30), respectively, in response to a movement of the switching member (10) in a state where the movable contact (30) and the stationary contact (40) are in contact with each other to cause rotational movement and translational movement of the movable contact (30) with respect to the stationary contact (40), respectively.

2. The contact device according to claim 1,

further comprising a resilient member (303) configured to abut against the movable contact (30) to bias the movable contact (30) toward contact with the stationary contact (40).

3. Contact arrangement according to claim 1 or 2,

under an X-Y-Z rectangular coordinate system forming 90 degrees with each other: the longitudinal axis (A) is parallel to the Y-axis, the normal to the first inclined surface (101) has a Y-axis component and a Z-axis component, and

the first ramp (101) is capable of abutting against the movable contact (30) to rotate the movable contact (30) relative to the stationary contact (40) about a first axis parallel to the X-axis.

4. The contact device according to claim 3,

a normal to the second slope (102) has a Y-axis component and an X-axis component, and

the second ramp (102) is capable of translating the movable contact (30) relative to the stationary contact (40) along a second axis parallel to the X-axis against the movable contact (30).

5. The contact arrangement according to any of claims 1, 2 and 4,

the first ramp (101) and the second ramp (102) are arranged adjacently along the longitudinal axis (A) on the switching member (10).

6. The contact device according to claim 2,

both ends of the elastic member (303) abut against the switching member (10) and the movable contact (30), respectively.

7. The contact device according to claim 6,

in an initial state, the movable contact (30) and the fixed contact (40) are disconnected; and is

The elastic member (303) abuts the movable contact (30) against the first inclined surface (101).

8. The contact device according to claim 6,

the movable contact (30) comprises a movable arm (302) and a sub-contact (301) fixedly connected to the end part of the movable arm (302);

the switching member (10) includes an opening (104), and the elastic member (303) and a part of the boom (302) are accommodated in the opening (104).

9. The contact device according to claim 8,

the boom (302) includes:

a first arm portion (321) having a first width at a middle portion thereof; and

a second arm portion (322) having a second width proximate an end of the boom (302);

wherein the second width is greater than the first width, and the first and second inclined surfaces (101, 102) are capable of abutting against the first and second arm portions (321, 322), respectively, to impart rotational and translational movement, respectively, to the movable contact (30) relative to the stationary contact (40).

10. The contact device according to claim 8,

the opening (104) is also provided with a bias part (103), the bias part (103) extends from the inner wall of the opening (104) to the opening area, and a part of the first inclined surface (101) is formed on the bias part (103).

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