EP1135785A1

EP1135785A1 - Time switch with an electric switch mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP1135785A1
Application number: EP00972692A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Manfred Karger
Original assignee: SCHWENK KG THEBEN WERK; Theben Werk Zeitautomatik GmbH
Current assignee: Theben AG
Priority date: 1999-10-09
Filing date: 2000-10-06
Publication date: 2001-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 2020-10-06
Also published as: CZ20011780A3; DE19948707A1; DE50006810D1; KR20010099823A; DE19948707C2; WO2001027953A1; PL196767B1; HK1041978A1; CN1327608A; CN1214424C; CZ297621B6; HK1041978B; PL348038A1; AU1133801A; ATE269585T1; EP1135785B1; ES2220554T3; KR100458898B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a time switch (1) with at least one first and one second elastic spring element (22, 23) that are both provided with at least one switch contact (24, 25). The time switch further comprises a rotation-driven drum controller (3) that is provided with a plurality of adjustable switch elements (11, 12) which displace a switch lever (13) from an inactive initial position to a switching position, thereby triggering a switch operation of the spring elements (22, 23) with their switch contacts (24, 25). When the drum controller (3) continues to rotate, the switch lever (13) abruptly falls back into its initial position, thereby abruptly disrupting the switch contacts (24, 25). In order to effect an abrupt closure of the switch contacts (24, 25), a locking lever (35) is provided between the spring elements (22, 23) which, in a first switch phase and under the effect of a pre-stress, maintains the two spring elements (22, 23) at a certain distance to the switch contacts (24, 25) and which, during a second switch phase, abruptly releases the second spring element (23) so that it can abruptly close the switch contacts (24, 25).

Description

Time switch with electrical switching mechanism

description

The invention relates to a time switch with at least a first and a second elastic spring element, each of which is provided with at least one switching contact, and with a rotatably driven shift drum, which has a plurality of shift elements which can be optionally adjusted into an effective or ineffective shift position with respect to a rotatably mounted shift lever , by means of which the shift lever is rotatably deflected from an inactive starting position into a switching position and brings the first spring element with its switching contact into contact with the switching contact of the second spring element to carry out a switching operation, and the switching lever for further rotation of the shift drum Sudden disconnection of the switching contacts suddenly falls back into its starting position.

A timer of the generic type is known from DE 27 54 212 B1, which has at least one first and one second switch contact, which are arranged on a first and a second, elastic, approximately leaf spring-like spring element. In this time switch, a double switching star which can be driven in one direction of rotation and which has two coaxial, half a tooth part has shift sprockets offset from each other. These shift sprockets are provided with ratchet teeth, each of which actuates one or more spring elements of the switching contacts to perform a switching operation. In order to be able to achieve switching times as precisely as possible without any adjustment work, switching levers are provided between the switching sprockets and the spring elements of the switching contacts to be actuated, each of which engages in one of the switching sprockets of the double switching star by means of a directional locking lug formed on the switching lever. The gear ratchets alternately or successively deflect the shift levers and, after a ratchet tooth of the respective gear sprocket has brushed past the respective directional locking lug of the respective shift lever, suddenly or suddenly return to their starting position, which causes a sudden or sudden shifting process becomes.

The switching times which can be achieved with this known time switch are essentially predetermined by the number of locking teeth present on the switching toothed rings arranged offset from one another. Different switching times can only be achieved with this time switch by exchanging the switching tooth limit. This means that this known timer is precise

Switching times are achievable, since the corresponding shift levers suddenly or suddenly into their starting position fall back and thus the respectively assigned elastic spring element of a switching contact is also operated suddenly. Different switching times, however, cannot be set.

However, in order to be able to set such different switching times for different tasks, time switches have become known, for example from DE 28 13 069 C2, in which a switching drum is used. The shift drum is provided with shifting elements which can be switched from an active position to an ineffective position. In the active position, a switching lever is actuated by the switching elements during the rotation of the shift drum, which in turn activates a microswitch. The number of adjustable switching times is accordingly dependent only on the number of switching elements arranged on the circumference of the shift drum. The greater this number of switching elements, the smaller the switching distances between the individual switching processes can be set. The switch lever is formed in this known timer as a double-armed scanning lever, which is held by a spring against a switching plunger of the microswitch. The switching elements deflect the scanning lever against a spring force from a starting position into a switching position, so that the microswitch is actuated via its switching plunger. If several switching elements are switched to their active position, the scanning lever slides in its active position. long along the circumferential surface of these switching elements during the rotation of the shift drum until one or more switching elements are reached which are switched to an inactive position. At the end of the last active switching element, the scanning lever suddenly falls back into its starting position, so that the microswitch is suddenly opened again during this switching operation or is switched to its starting position. As the shift drum rotates further, the scanning lever with a shift lug again runs against an actively switched shift element and is relatively slowly deflected from its starting position into its shift position. The disadvantage here is that the microswitch is also actuated only extremely slowly with this extremely slow movement of the shift lever, so that its shift position or shift time can only be determined extremely imprecisely.

In order to achieve a sudden switching operation of the actual switch, so-called snap switches have become known (DE 38 25 308 AI), which work according to the Ubertodpunkt principle. These switches are equipped with a rocker switch, which is switched by the shift lever. Since the one switching direction of the shift lever occurs abruptly when the shift lever itself falls back into its starting position, this shift position can be predetermined very precisely. However, when the shift lever hits an actively switched shift element, the point in time at which the shift suddenly seesaw switches from their inactive position to their active position, cannot be determined exactly. Switchgear with such snap switches therefore have adjustment devices with which the exact switching time must be set. Furthermore, the total electrical power is transmitted with such a rocker switch of the snap switch via the bearing of the rocker switch, which leads to the erosion of the bearing itself at higher switching currents. This in turn means that the snap switch with its rocker switch is subject to increased wear. Furthermore, when this snap switch is closed, the switching forces are only extremely small, so that an optimal contact closure of the snap switch cannot be reliably reached.

Accordingly, the invention has for its object a

To improve the time switch of the generic type in such a way that, using elastic spring elements with switch contacts, both variably adjustable switching times and a precise setting option for both switching operations or switching times, i.e. can be reached both when switching on and when switching off the electrical switch.

The object is achieved in that a locking lever is provided which is moved during the closing process by the first spring element actuated by the switching lever in the direction of the second spring element, and in that the locking lever during a first switching phase of the Closing in a locking position by a locking lug is positively engaged with the second spring element and the two spring elements with their switching contacts under tension at a predetermined distance from each other, and that the locking lever during a second switching phase following the first switching phase from its Locked position is deflected by a deflecting element that is operatively connected to the latching lever at least during the second switching phase and suddenly releases the second spring element of the second switching contact for suddenly closing the switching contacts.

The inventive design of the time switch ensures precise switching of the switching contacts for switching a consumer on or off at predetermined times. For this purpose, a latching lever is provided, which is moved in the direction of the second spring element during the closing process by the first spring element actuated by the switching lever. During a first switching phase of this closing movement of the first spring element, the locking lever is in a positive connection with the second spring element via a locking lug, so that the second spring element is held with its switching contact at a predetermined distance from the switching contact of the first spring element. This means that the locking lever is in a locked position during this first switching phase of the closing process and is positively engaged with the second spring element by the locking lug. The two spring elements are held with their switching contacts under pre-tension at the predetermined distance from each other. Upon further rotation of the shift drum, this first shift phase is followed by a rectified second shift phase, in which the latching lever is deflected out of its blocking position by a deflecting element which is connected to the latching lever at least during the second shifting phase. As a result of this deflection, the latching or blocking connection between the latching lug of the latching lever and the second spring element of the second switching contact is abruptly canceled, for example by swiveling out the latching lever for suddenly closing the switching contacts.

That is to say that this latching lever is arranged in such a way that it is in a locked position in the first switching phase, in which the two spring elements are held with their switching contacts by the latching lever under prestress at a predetermined distance from one another. The latching lever engages with the first spring element of the second switching contact. In this first shift phase, the shift lever is deflected extremely slowly by an actively switched shift element of the rotationally driven shift drum due to the extremely low rotation per unit time of the shift drum. As a result of this deflection, the first spring element of the first switching contact is slowly moved by the switching lever in the direction of the second spring element of the second switching contact. The two switching contacts of the first spring element and the second spring derelementes can not come into contact with each other due to the locking lever lying between the spring elements in the locking position. At the end of this first switching phase, both spring elements are under a certain elastic preload. At the beginning of a second switching phase, which immediately follows the first switching phase, the locking lever is deflected from its locked position with increasing adjusting movement of the spring elements. At the end of this second switching phase, the ratchet lever releases the second spring element of the second switching contact, so that the switching contacts close abruptly, the deflection of the latching lever takes place via a deflecting element which, depending on the arrangement and mounting of the latching lever, for example a stationary adjusting pin or also can be a kind of ramp along which or which the locking lever slides during the second switching phase of the closing movement.

As is known, in such time switches, the actual shift lever has a touch finger, which rests on the circumferential surface of the shift drum. The switching elements of such a switching drum deflect this switching lug radially towards the switching drum towards the outside, so that the switching lever carries out a pivoting movement, by means of which the switching process of the spring elements with their switching contacts is effected. The deflection is usually extremely slow, since the switching lug forms a type of ramp with which it is deflected along an actively switched switching element slides outward as the shift drum rotates slowly. Since, as a rule, several shift elements of the shift drum are activated, this active shift position of the shift lever is maintained until the last actively shifted shift element has moved past the shift nose of the shift lever. Immediately after the end edge of the last switching element has passed the switching lug, this switching lug suddenly falls radially inward again, so that the switching lever suddenly falls back into its original position. Due to this sudden falling back, the first spring element of the first switching contact is suddenly released again, so that it moves back into its original position. The locking lever snaps back into the starting position on the second spring element so that a new switching operation can be initiated to close the switching contacts.

Due to the configuration according to the invention, the switching times for switching on and off, ie for closing or separating the switching contacts, can be determined extremely precisely. In particular, there is no need for additional adjustment devices for determining these switching times. Due to the rapid closing and opening of the switch contacts, a considerably lower erosion of the switch contacts themselves is also achieved. In addition, by designing the strength of the spring elements or the elasticity of these spring elements, the switching forces or the contact forces between the switching contacts can be clearly determined in a simple manner, so that an optimal contact closure is always guaranteed.

Through the configuration according to claim 2, the time switch according to the invention can be used for the precise switching of the energy supply from one consumer to a second consumer. For this purpose, a third spring element with a third switching contact is assigned to the first and second spring element, the switching contact of which is in permanent electrical contact with a fourth switching contact arranged on the second spring element until the second spring element is suddenly released by the locking lever during the second switching phase. In order to switch over to the energy flow via the second spring element from the third spring element to the first spring element, the latching lever is provided with a switching finger, by means of which the third spring element with its third switching contact is released at a predetermined distance from the fourth after the sudden release of the second spring element Switch contact of the second spring element is held. After this sudden switching operation, the contact between the first switching contact of the first spring element and the second switching contact of the second spring element is closed, while the contact between the third switching contact of the third spring element and the fourth switching contact of the second spring element is open. According to claim 3, the locking lever for deflecting it from its locked position is provided with a deflection lever which runs against a stop at the beginning of the second switching phase. This configuration ensures extremely simple and inexpensive manufacture of the time switch.

According to claim 4, the arrangement of the stop and also the shape and the arrangement of the deflection lever on the locking lever are coordinated with one another such that the deflection of the shift lever increases disproportionately with increasing switching movement of the spring elements with their switching contacts or the shift drum. This measure also makes it possible to determine the precise switching time considerably more precisely. This means that the speed of the deflecting movement of the locking lever increases steadily with a constant rotational movement of the shift drum towards the end of the second shift phase. Thus, a slight rotary movement of the shift drum at the end of the shift phase causes a large deflection of the locking lever, so that the shift point can be set extremely precisely.

According to claim 5, the bearing axis of the actual shift lever can serve as a stop for the lever of the locking lever. This results in a reduction in the number of components of the time switch and thus an inexpensive manufacture.

According to claim 6, a slide switch can be provided, which from an initial position to a first switching Position can be brought. In this first shift position, the shift lever is permanently fixed in its shift position. When the slide switch is moved from the starting position into its first switching position, the switching lever is thus simultaneously brought into its switching position. The switching contacts of the two spring elements in the time switch according to the invention can thus be brought into permanent contact in the simplest manner. This can be necessary, for example, in the case of time-controlled lighting, if light is required for a longer period than the actual time switch. Furthermore, such a circuit is also necessary in order to be able to briefly test the function of a consumer, for example, without having to change the time setting of the time switch.

According to claim 7, the slide switch is in a second

Switchable position in which the second spring element of the second switching contact is deflected relative to the first spring element of the first switching contact in such a way that the switching contacts are at a predetermined distance from one another even when the first spring element of the first switching contact is switched by the switching lever. This enables a second permanent position of the time switch. This means that the switch contacts are permanently open and a connected consumer can thus be put out of operation permanently. This can be necessary, for example, if a switching operation or a closing of the switching contacts is to be prevented in the long run because of the over the time switch switched end consumer according to the invention must be repaired or exchanged or is not needed for example on vacation.

According to claim 8, the translational switching movement of the slide switch for deflecting the second spring element is transmitted to the second spring element by a lever mechanism. This lever mechanism allows the slide switch to be arranged extremely variably and easily accessible from the outside in the housing of the time switch.

In summary, the inventive design of the time switch provides a time switch in which the switching times, i.e. the disconnection and closing of the switching contacts can be set extremely precisely. In addition, the two spring elements of the first switching contact and the second switching contact can be brought into two permanent switching positions, which enable two permanent switching operations, namely permanent disconnection of the switching contacts and permanent closing of the switching contacts.

The invention is explained in more detail below with the aid of the drawing. It shows:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a timer according to the invention.

2 shows the switching elements of the time switch according to the invention from FIG. 1 in a perspective exploded view; 3 shows the switching elements from FIG. 2 in a partially assembled state in their functional context;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the fully assembled switching elements of the timer according to the invention together with the shift drum.

5 shows the switching elements of the time switch according to the invention in a side view at the beginning of a first switching phase,

6 shows the switching elements from FIG. 5 at the end of the first switching phase or at the beginning of the second switching phase;

7 shows the switching elements from FIGS. 5 and 6 at the end of the second switching phase;

8 shows the switching elements from FIGS. 5 to 6 with switching contacts that are constantly in contact;

Fig. 9, the switching elements of Fig. 8 in the permanently disconnected state of their switching contacts.

10 is a side view of an embodiment of spring elements with a molded locking lever;

11 shows a perspective illustration of an embodiment of the mounting of the latching lever on a spring element; Fig. 12 is a side view of switching elements in their

Starting position with three spring elements which are designed as changeover contacts;

13 shows the switching elements from FIG. 12 in their switched end position.

Fig. 1 shows a timer 1 of the type according to the invention, the housing 2 is shown open. Due to the special shape of the housing 2, such a time switch 1 is provided, for example, for use in electrical control cabinets. A shift drum 3 is rotatably mounted in the housing 2. This shift drum is driven via a plurality of gear wheels 4, 5 and 6 and two worm gears 7 and 8, for example by a synchronous motor 9. Of course, any other suitable motor rotating at constant speed can also be used as the drive. The translation is for example like this. chosen that the shift drum 3 in the direction of arrow 10 in 24 hours or, e.g. in so-called weekly clocks, makes a full rotation of 360 ° in seven days. The shift drum 3 has a variety of on its circumference

Switching elements 11 and 12, which are provided for actuating a shift lever 13. In the present exemplary embodiment, the switching elements 11 and 12 are adjustable in their radial position in relation to the switching drum 3. Thus, the switching elements 11 with their outer surface elements 14 lie radially further outward than the switching elements 12 with their surface elements 15. The switching elements 11 and 12 thus form a stepped circumferential surface of the shift drum 3 in the circumferential direction. This stepped circumferential surface of the shift drum 3 is scanned by the shift lever 13.

The shift lever 13 is rotatably mounted on a pivot axis 16, this pivot axis 16 being arranged parallel to the axis of rotation 17 of the shift drum 3 in the housing 2 of the timer 1. The pivot axis 16 of the shift lever

13 is located radially outside of the shift drum 3. As can also be seen from FIG. 1, the shift lever 13 is designed as a double lever and has a feeler lever section 18 and an actuating section 19 which is substantially diametrically opposite with respect to the pivot axis 16. At its free end, the feeler lever section 18 is provided with a feeler finger 20 which extends transversely to the feeler lever section 18 and, in the starting position of the shift lever 13 shown in FIG. 1, engages in the circumferential recess 21 of the shift drum 3 formed by the shift elements 11 and 12. The touch finger 20 lies on the outer surface of the radially inner switching elements 12.

As can also be seen from FIG. 1, a first spring element 22 and a second spring element 23 are arranged in the housing 2 of the time switch 1, which spring spring has a first switch contact 24 and a second switch contact 25 in the area of the actuating section 19 of the switch lever 13 are provided. These two spring elements 22 and 23 are, as can be clearly seen from FIG. trained like this. The first spring element 22 is arranged with its lower end opposite the switch contact 24 together with a guide plate 26 in a housing receptacle 27. The guide plate 26 is in electrical contact with the spring element 22 which carries the switch contact 24. At a lateral distance from the housing receptacle 27, a second housing receptacle 28 is provided, in which the lower end of the second spring element 23 opposite the second switching contact 25 is received together with a second guide plate 29. The two guide plates 26 and 29 each lead to a connection terminal 30 and 31, to which an electrical consumer can be connected.

In the starting position of the spring elements 22 and 23 shown in FIG. 1, the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are at a distance from one another so that they are not in electrical contact with one another. For this purpose, a stop pin 32 is provided on the housing 2, for example, which prevents the second spring element 23 with its second switching contact 25 from moving towards the first spring element 22 with its first switching contact 24. Approximately in the area of the first switching contact 24, a stop pin 34 is provided on the back 33 of the first spring element 22, which is part of the free end of the actuating section 19 of the switching lever 13.

In the starting position of the shift lever 13 shown in FIG. 1, the arrangement of the stop pin 34 of the Actuating section 19 selected so that a safety distance between the switching contacts 24 and 25 is guaranteed. As can also be seen from FIG. 1, in this starting position of the shift lever 13, the spring element 22 is slightly bent under prestress by the stop pin 34 of the actuating section 19 in the direction of the second spring element 23. This ensures that the first spring element 22 rests on the stop pin 34 without play. At the upper end of the first spring element 22, a locking lever 35 is provided above the first switching contact 24, which is rotatably mounted at the upper end via a corresponding bearing pin 36 in a bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22. In its end region opposite this bearing journal 36, the latching lever 35 has a latching lug 38 which runs transversely to the latching lever 35 and points downward.

At its free end, the locking lever 35 forms a support surface 39 in front of the locking lug 38, with which the locking lever 35 rests on the upper end edge 40 of the second spring element 23 in an unloaded state. To secure this starting position of the locking lever 35, a spring element can be provided, by means of which the locking lever 35 with its bearing surface 39 is pressed against the end edge 40 of the second spring element 23. This spring element for the locking lever 35 is not shown in the drawing for reasons of clarity. As can also be seen from FIG. 1, on the locking lever 35 opposite the locking lug 38 there is provided an upwardly directed deflection lever 41 which extends transversely to the locking lever 35 and which extends from the locking lever 35 to beyond the pivot axis 16 of the switching lever 13. In the starting position shown in FIG. 1, the deflection lever 41 is not in contact with the pivot axis 16. Furthermore, the distance of the latching lug 38 with its stop surface 42 from the bearing journal 36 is selected such that the stop surface 42 does not touch the second spring element 23. Such dimensions of the locking lever 35 are not mandatory, but it is ensured by this configuration that the two spring elements 22 and 23 assume a defined, slightly preloaded initial position, as can be seen from FIG.

Through the components described, namely the shift drum 3 with its scarf elements 11 and 12, the shift lever 13 and the two spring elements 22 and 23 with their two switching contacts 24 and 25 and by the locking lever 35, an abrupt relative movement of the two spring elements 22, 23 and thus the two switching contacts 24 and 25 for closing and opening the switching contacts 24, 25 ensured, as will be explained in more detail below. As a result of this abrupt switching movement, which is essentially brought about by the switching lever 13 and the latching lever 35 in cooperation with the switching elements 11 and 12, depending on the rotation of the switching drum 3, a time-dependent lent precise and electrically correct switching of switch contacts 24 and 25 ensured.

For a manual switching, for example to keep the switching contacts 24, 25 in permanent contact or permanently out of contact, a switching slide 43 is provided, which on the one hand has a link lever 44 of the switching lever 13 and a lever mechanism consisting of the two bellcranks 45 and 46, cooperates.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged view of the individual components belonging to the switching mechanism in an enlarged, perspective exploded view. The respective upper ends of the spring elements 22 and 23 are shown in FIG. 2, in the end region of which the first switching contact 24 on the first spring element 22 and on the other hand the second switching contact 25 on the second spring element 23 are arranged. The distance of the switching contacts 24 and 25 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the distance shown in FIG. 1 in the starting position of the switching lever 13. At the upper end of the first spring element 22, its bearing eye 37 can be seen, which as an integral part of the first spring element 22 a curved spring section is formed. In the axial direction in front of the bearing eye 37, the first spring element 22 has a recess 47, which serves to receive the locking lever 35. As can also be seen from FIG. 2, the bearing pin 36 of the locking lever 35 extends transversely to the locking lever 35 and, as can be seen in particular from FIG. Send insertable into the bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22 with little play. In the area of its end opposite the bearing pin 36, the locking lug 38 of the locking lever 35 can be seen, which projects approximately vertically downward beyond the locking lever 35. L, as already mentioned for FIG. 1, adjoins this locking lug 38, with which the locking lever 35 rests in its starting position on the upper end edge 40 of the second spring element 23 (FIG. 3). The deflection lever 41 of the locking lever 35 is provided approximately above the locking lug 38, which in the present exemplary embodiment is integrally formed on the locking lever 35 at approximately a right angle or at an angle greater than 90 ° to the locking lever 35.

2 also shows the shift lever 13 in a perspective view. The shift lever 13 is provided with a bearing bore 48, via which the shift lever 13 is pivotally mounted on the pivot axis 16. The pivot axis 16 is arranged on the rear wall 49 of the housing 2 of the time switch 1. In this case, the pivot axis 16 can be integrally formed on the rear wall 49 as an integral component or can also be fastened to the rear wall 49 as a separate component. The feeler lever section 18 is provided at its free end with the feeler finger 20 extending transversely to the feeler lever section 18. The operation of this touch finger 20 has already been briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. As can further be seen from FIG. 2, the actuating section 19 of the switching lever 13 lies with the pushing lever section 18 with respect to the position. gerbohrung 48 diametrically opposite and is offset in the axial direction of the axis of rotation 50 of the shift lever 13 by the width of the feeler section 18 to this. The feeler lever section 18 and the actuating section 19 are integrally connected to one another. The offset of the feeler lever section 18 and the actuating section 19 is selected so that the locking lever 35 is axially adjacent to the actuating section 19 in extension to the feeler lever section 18. An extremely small size of this lever arrangement is thereby achieved, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 3. Furthermore, the actuating section 19 is provided toward its free end with a recess 51 on the spring element side, the depth of which is matched to the axial width of the bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22. At the end of the actuating section 19, the stop pin 34 is arranged, which is part of a reinforcing web 52. As can be seen in particular from Fig. 3, the axial length L of the stop pin 34 and the reinforcing web 52 is formed such that they lie together with the front side edges 53 and 54 of the two spring elements 22 and 23 in a common plane. This results in the assembled state of the shift lever 13, the locking lever 35 with its deflection lever 41 and the arrangement of the two spring elements 22 and 23, a compact switching unit, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 3. This switching unit thus forms the automatic part of the lever arrangement of the time switch 1 according to the invention. That is, through these components, the switching lever 13, the locking lever 35 with its deflection lever 41 and its connection and arrangement to the two spring elements 22 and 23 an automatic closing and disconnection of the two switching contacts 24 and 25 depending on the rotational position or on the rotation of the shift drum 3 with its switching elements 11 and 12 is effected.

For the manual switching of the switching contacts 24 and 25 or their spring elements 22 and 23, the switching slide 43, the articulation lever 44 of the switching lever 13 and the two bellcranks 45 and 46 are provided, as already mentioned for FIG. 1. The switching slide 43 has, as can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 and from FIG. 1, an upper guide section 55, with which the switching slide 43 is guided axially displaceably between a guide web 56 of the rear wall 49 of the housing and an upper cover wall 57 of the housing 2 is. In the rear end region of the guide web 56, a locking pin 58 is provided, which, starting from the rear wall 49 of the housing, projects inwards over the guide web 56 to the slide switch 43. The slide switch 43 is provided with a latching tab 59 arranged below its guide section 55, which extends approximately parallel to the guide section 55. In the area of its free front end (the right end in FIG. 1), the latching tab has two upwardly directed latching webs 60 and 61, with which the switch slide 43 can be brought into engagement with the latching pin 58 in the assembled state. Through the two locking bars 60 and 61 and the locking pin 58 in the present exemplary embodiment, a central starting position of the locking slide 43 is fixed, as can be seen in particular from FIGS. 1 and 3.

To actuate the switch slide 43, this has on its guide section 55 an actuation lever 62 which, in the assembled state, projects through the corresponding top opening 57 (FIGS. 1 and 4) of the upper cover wall 57 of the housing 2 of the timer 1 so that it is accessible from the outside. The dimensions of the passage opening 63 are such that the slide switch 43 can be brought from its initial position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 into two switching positions that are located opposite one another, as will be explained further below. This means that the passage opening 63 forms a stop for the actuating lever 62 and thus for the entire slide switch 43 with respect to these two switching positions.

In its switching position adjusted from this starting position in the direction of arrow 64, the guide section 55 is brought into operative connection with the front end 65 of the slide switch 43, so that the switching lever 13 is actuated. For this purpose, the shift lever 13 has on its articulation lever 44 a shift pin 66 running parallel to the axis of rotation 50, through which the articulation lever 44 and thus the entire shift lever 13 is actuated by the front end 65 of the slide switch 43 when adjusting in the direction of the arrow 64. In this switching position, the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are permanently closed. acts, as will be explained in more detail below in relation to FIG. 8.

If, on the other hand, the slide switch 43 is moved in the opposite direction to the arrow 64, it comes into operative connection with the deflecting lever 45. For this purpose, the slide switch 43 in the region of its front end 65 on the underside of its guide section 55 has a switching lug 67 which, when the slide switch 43 moves back, is brought into operative connection with an adjusting lever 68 of the upper deflection lever 45 directed towards the slide slide 43. The bell crank 45 is rotatably mounted on a larger diameter bearing section 69 of the pivot axis 16 and is accordingly provided with a bearing hub 70 with a through hole 71. On the opposite side to the adjusting lever 68, a second lever arm 72 is provided on the bearing hub 70 of the deflection lever 45, which has an elongated hole 73 which extends radially from the bearing hub 70.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the housing rear wall 49 has a further bearing journal 74 approximately below the pivot axis 16 or the bearing section 69, on which the second bell crank 46 with its bearing hub 76, which has a bearing bore 75, is rotatably mounted. The deflecting lever 46 is provided on its bearing hub 76 with a first adjusting lever 77 directed towards the first deflecting lever 45, which has a plug pin 79 which runs parallel to the axis of rotation 78 of the deflecting lever 46 and which is connected to the slot 73 of the lever arm 72 of the first lever 45 is engaged.

On the side opposite the first adjusting lever 77, an actuating lever 80 is arranged on the bearing hub 76 of the second deflecting lever 46, which is an integral part of the deflecting lever 46 and is displaced forward in the axial direction of the axis of rotation 78. In the assembled state, as can be seen from FIG. 3, the actuating lever 80 thus lies approximately in the same vertical plane as the second lever arm 72 and the actuating lever 68 of the first deflecting lever 45. An extremely space-saving construction is also achieved by this configuration.

At the outer end of the actuating lever 80, the latter has an adjusting pin 81 which, when the deflecting lever 46 is pivoted, is used to adjust the second spring element 23 with its second switching contact 25.

Fig. 4 shows the complete switching mechanism of the timer 1 according to the invention in the assembled state in a perspective view. In the shift position shown, the shift drum 3 with its shift elements 11 and 12 is in a rotational position in which the shift elements 12, which are radially inward out of the shift function, are located in the region of the touch finger 20 of the shift lever 13. In this starting position, which corresponds to the starting position from FIG. 1, the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are at a distance from each other, so that no electrical There is a connection between these two components. The first spring element 22 bears on the outside against the stop pin 34 of the shift lever 13 or its actuating section 19. The latching lever 35, which is rotatably mounted in the bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22, lies with its bearing surface 39 on the upper end edge 40 of the second spring element 23. Furthermore, the second spring element 23 bears against the stop pin 34, so that the second spring element 23 cannot be moved toward the first spring element 22. Between the two spring elements 22 and 23, the adjusting pin 81 of the lower bell crank 46 can also be seen. In the switching position shown, this adjusting pin 81 can be at a minimal distance from the inner surface 82 of the second spring element 23, so that the second spring element 23 rests securely in a predefined position on the stop pin 32. Furthermore, it can be seen that the locking lug 38 of the locking lever 35 is also at a distance from the second spring element 23. Thus, in the switching position shown, the relative position of the two spring elements 22 and 23 is defined, on the one hand, by the starting position of the switching lever 13 or its stop pin 34 and by the fixed position, the stop pin 32. In this position, the deflection lever 41 is also at a defined distance from the pivot axis 16 of the shift lever 13, so that the defined starting position of the two spring elements 22 and 23 is not influenced by the latching lever 35. Furthermore, it is also apparent from Fig. 4 that the locking lever 35 with its lever 41 approximately lies in the same vertical plane as the feeler lever section 18 of the shift lever 13. In the axial direction of the axis of rotation 50 of the shift lever 13 behind the feeler lever section 18 and behind the latch lever 35, the actuating section 19 of the shift lever 13 runs, during its reinforcing web 52 together with the stop pin 34 the first spring element 22 engages behind. The arrangement of the two spring elements 22 and 23 as well as the locking lever 35 and the feeler lever section 18 is chosen so that their front boundary surfaces or boundary edges lie at least approximately in a common vertical plane.

In this illustrated starting position, the articulated lever 44 with its switching pin 66, which is arranged approximately at right angles to the feeler lever section 18 and the actuating section 19, is located in the vertical as well as in the horizontal direction in the immediate vicinity of the front end edge 83 of the upper guide section 55 of the slide switch 43. The slide switch 43 stands again with its two locking bars 60 and 61 in positive engagement with the locking pin 58 of the guide bar 56, so that this neutral starting position of the slide switch 43 is defined. This means that in this neutral switching position of the slide switch 43 this does not affect the automatic switching during the rotation of the shift drum 3 in the direction of arrow 10 and thus the switching actuation of the two spring elements 22 and 23 by the shift lever 13 in cooperation with the latch lever 35. by virtue of the neutral position of the slide switch 43 are also the two bellcranks 45 and 46 in a neutral position, in which they can not influence the automatic switching process.

From Fig. 4 it can be clearly seen that the switching mechanism of both the automatic part, consisting of the shift lever 13 and the locking lever 35, and the manual part, consisting of the slide switch 43 and the two bellcranks 45 and 46, an extremely compact and narrow unit forms, so that the timer l has an extremely narrow overall structure.

5, 6 and 7, the individual switching phases for the automatic switching of the two switching contacts 24 and 25 via the spring elements 22 and 23 are shown.

At the beginning of this first switching phase is the

Shift drum 3 with its actively radially outwardly shifting elements 11 in a rotational angular position, in which the front shifting element 11 in the direction of rotation bears directly on the rear against the positioning surface 84 of the touch finger 20 which forms a kind of ramp. In this position, at the beginning of this first switching phase, the switching lever 13 with its feeler lever section 18 and its actuating section 19 is still in its initial position, in which the touch finger 20 still touches the outside of the switch elements 12 in the deactivated switch position. l already mentioned with regard to FIGS. 1 and 4, this initial Position of the shift lever 13 on the spring element 22 under slight prestress on the stop pin 34 of the actuating section 19 of the shift lever 13. At the same time, the second spring element 23 bears against the stop pin 32 under pre-tension, a safe distance between the two switching contacts 24 and 25 being ensured in this position. The latching lever 35 rests with its bearing surface 39 on the upper end edge 40 of the second spring element 23 and is at a predetermined distance from this second spring element 23 with its latching lug 38. Likewise, at least a slight distance is provided in this starting position between the deflection lever 41 of the locking lever 35 and the pivot axis 16 on which the shift lever 13 is mounted.

As can also be seen from FIG. 5, the feeler lever section 18 of the shift lever 13 is recessed in the area of the bearing bore 48 towards the deflecting lever 41, so that during a shift operation the latching lever 35 is supported with its deflecting lever 41 directly on the pivot axis 16 and along it slides. This ensures that the

Switching process is not affected by manufacturing tolerances of the shift lever 13 or its feeler lever section 18 and extremely precise switching times can be set.

From the rotational position shown in FIG. 5, the shift drum 3 now rotates with its shift elements 11 and 12 in the direction of arrow 10 during further operation, so that the shift lever 13 along the foremost active shift element. tes 11 is deflected radially outwards with its feeler finger 20 via its footprint 84 and thus the shift lever 13 rotates about the pivot axis 16 in the direction of arrow 85. Simultaneously with this rotation of the switching lever 13, both the feeler lever section 18 and the actuating section 19 lying opposite it, together with its stop pin 34, likewise rotate in the same direction about the pivot axis 16. This rotation causes the spring element 22 in the direction of arrow 86 to the second Spring element 23 deflected. Since the locking lever 35 is mounted in the bearing eye 37 of the first spring element 22, this also moves with its locking lug 38 in the direction of the arrow 86 toward the upper end of the second spring element 23. The deflection lever 41 of the detent lever 35 also moves in the direction of the arrow 86 until it touches the pivot pin 16 of the shift lever 13 with its front mounting surface 87 on the pivot pin side. Upon further rotation of the shift drum 3 in the direction of the arrow 10, the first spring element 22 is now deflected further in the direction of the arrow 86 by a further deflection of the shift lever 13 and the detent lever 35, which moves with it, by its deflecting lever 41 in the bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22 rotated in the direction of arrow 88, so that the bearing surface 39 of the locking lever 35 slowly lifts off the upper end edge 40 of the second spring element 23. FIG. 6 shows a switching position immediately before the end of the first switching phase, in which the locking lever 35 is just engaged with the second spring element 23 with its locking lug 38. It can be seen from FIG. 6 that this first spring element 22 and the second spring element 23 are held with their upper ends at a predefined distance by the latch lever 35 and the distance between the latch 38 and the bearing eye 37 of the first spring element 22. This distance is dimensioned so large that it is ensured that the two switching contacts 24 and 25 cannot come into electrical contact with one another until the end of the first switching phase. Accordingly, during the entire first switching phase, the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are at least at a distance from one another which is predefined via the locking lever 35 and can be seen in FIG. 6. The rotation of the locking lever 35 in the direction of arrow 88 takes place, as already mentioned above, by sliding the deflection lever 41 along the pivot axis 16 of the shift lever 13, while the first spring element 22 continues via the stop pin 34 of the actuating section 19 of the shift lever 13 in the direction the arrow 86 is deflected. At the same time, this spring element 23 is also moved in the direction of arrow 86 until the end of the first switching phase due to the positive engagement of the locking lug 38 of the locking lever 35 on the spring element 23.

This end of the first movement phase shown in FIG. 6 is followed by a second movement phase, which Ren end is shown in Fig. 7. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the shift drum 3 moves further in the direction of rotation of the arrow 10 until the shift lever 13 or its feeler lever section 18 rests with its touch finger 20 on the outer circumferential surface 89 of the shift elements 11. During the transition from the position of the shift lever 13 shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7, the shift lever 13 rotates further in the direction of arrow 85, as a result of which the spring element 22 continues via the stop pin 34 of the actuating section 19 is moved in the direction of arrow 86. Since the locking lever 35 is also moved in this direction of arrow 86 via the bearing eye 37 of the spring element 22 and thus also its deflection lever 41, which continues to rest against the pivot axis 16 and slides along this upward in the direction of arrow 90, the locking lever becomes 35 further rotated in the direction of arrow 88. Immediately after the position shown in FIG. 6, the catch 38 of the catch lever 35 releases the spring element 23 with its switch contact 25, which is under tension, so that it suddenly moves in the direction of arrow 91 in the closing direction towards the first switch contact 24 and with this is brought into electrical contact. If the shift drum 3 now rotates further in the direction of the arrow 10 until the touch finger 20 again reaches the region of the radially inward shifting elements 12, the touch finger 20 suddenly falls after the last edge 105 of the last radially outward shifting element 11 has passed in his in Fig. 5 shown starting position back. At the same time, the first spring element 22 is released by the stop pin 34, which likewise moves back into the starting position shown in FIG. 5, so that the latching lever 35 also falls back into the starting position shown in FIG. 5. At the same time, the second spring element 23 moves back into its initial position of FIG. 5 and is in contact with the stop pin 32, so that the two switching contacts 24 and 25 due to the sudden engagement of the touch finger 20 and thus the sudden return movement of the entire switching lever 13 against Arrow direction 85 are suddenly separated again.

Because of the lever mechanism described, on the one hand of the switching lever 13 and, on the other hand, of the latching lever 35 with its deflection lever 41, the switching times for closing the switching contacts 24 and 25 and for separating the two switching contacts 24 and 25 can be clearly determined.

Furthermore, due to this special construction, two permanent circuits, namely a permanently closed switching position or also a constantly open switching position of the two spring elements 22, 23 with their switching contacts 24, 25, are possible, as is shown by way of example in FIGS. 8 and 9. Starting from the basic position of FIG. 5, the slide switch 43 is now brought into the position shown in FIG. 8 by means of its actuating lever 62 in the direction of the arrow 92. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the switching pin 66 of the articulation lever 44 arranged in the starting position above the lower footprint 93 of the guide section 55 of the slide switch 43. By shifting the slide switch 43 in the direction of arrow 92, the switch pin 66 together with its articulation lever 44 is now brought out of its position shown in FIG. 5 into the switch position shown in FIG. 8. The entire shift lever 13 rotates together with the articulation lever 44 and the actuating section 19 of the shift lever 13 about the pivot axis 16 in the direction of arrow 85. The stop pin 34 arranged at the end of the actuating section 19 also moves with a horizontal component in the direction of arrow 86 , so that the first spring element 22 is also pressed in this direction of the arrow 86. During this movement, the locking lever 35 executes the same rotary movement in the direction of arrow 88 around the bearing eye 37, as has already been explained for FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. This means that in its end position, as shown in FIG. 8, the locking lever 35 has safely released the upper end of the second spring element 23, so that due to its elastic pretension, the second switching contact 25 makes electrical contact with the first switching contact 24 of the first spring element 22 arrives. Thus, the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are closed. As can also be seen from FIG. 8, in this fixed end position of the shift lever 13 a pivot position is defined which corresponds at least to the final pivot position of the shift lever 13 from FIG. speaks, but for safety's sake takes place a few degrees further in the direction of arrow 85.

In the position shown in FIG. 8, the slide switch 43 is displaced with its actuating lever 62 up to the stop 94 of the through opening 63 of the upper cover wall 57. In this position, the slide switch 43 is secured by the locking bar 60 on the locking pin 58 of the guide bar 56. In this switching position of the switching lever 13 shown in FIG. 8 together with the spring elements 22 and 23 and the associated switching contacts 24 and 25 in permanent contact between these two switching contacts 24 and 25 is achieved regardless of the angular position of the shift drum 3 shown in phantom lines , With this embodiment of the time switch according to the invention, the two switch contacts 24 and 25 can be brought into a permanently switched position.

In order to ensure that the two switching contacts 24 and 25 are always switched off, the two bellcranks 45 and 46 are provided, as can be seen in FIG. 9. 5, the slide switch 43 is now displaced in the direction of arrow 95, so that it engages with its latching web 61 on the latching pin 58 and bears against the second stop 96 of the through opening 63 of the upper cover wall 57. In this position, the slide switch 43 is secured by the locking web 61 on the locking pin 58, as can be seen in FIG. 9. As already described for FIGS. 2 and 3, the switching lug 67 is provided on the lower footprint 93 of the guide section 55 of the slide switch 43. When the slide switch 43 is adjusted in the direction of the arrow 95, this switching lug 67 interacts with the actuating lever 68 of the deflection lever 45 and rotates it around the bearing section 69 of the pivot pin 16 in the direction of rotation of the arrow 97. This actuating movement of the deflection lever 45 simultaneously makes the second deflection lever 46 pivoted in the opposite direction of rotation 98 about its bearing pin 74 due to its mechanical coupling via its plug pin 79 with the elongated hole 73. As a result of this pivoting in the direction of rotation of the arrow 98, the adjusting pin 81 carries out an adjusting movement with a horizontal component in the direction of the arrow 99 at the lower end of the actuating lever 80 of the deflecting lever 46, so that the second spring element 23 is also deflected in this direction. However, the first spring element 22 is not influenced by this adjusting movement, so that the distance between the two switching contacts 24 and 25 in this second switching position of the slide switch 43 and the deflection levers 45 and 46 increases considerably. The actuating movement in the direction of arrow 99 is chosen due to the gear ratios between the slide switch 43 and the two bellcranks 45 and 46 so that the first switch contact 24, even when the first spring element 22 is activated, as shown in FIG. 7, the switch contact 25 is secure can't touch. Due to the configuration of the invention according to FIGS. 8 and 9, two extreme positions or switching positions can be set permanently with the switching mechanism according to the invention. On the one hand, permanent switching with closed switching contacts 24 and 25 can thus be achieved in accordance with the explanations relating to FIG. 8. The same applies with respect to FIG. 9, namely that in a second switching position of the slide switch 43, the contacts 24 and 25 are safely permanently out of contact.

Fig. 10 shows an embodiment with a locking lever 35/1, which is an integral part of the first spring element 22/1. In the upper end region, the first switch contact 24/1 is provided on the first spring element 22/1, which in the illustrated starting position of the spring element 22/1 and the spring element 23/1 is at a predetermined distance from that on the second spring element 23/1 arranged second switching contact 25/1 is arranged. The detent lever 35/1 is integrally formed on the first spring element 22/1 above the first switching contact 24/1 via an approximately annular spring section 100. In the starting position shown, the locking lever 35/1 extends essentially at right angles to the first spring element 22/1 and has a locking lug 38/1 bent downwards at approximately a right angle to the second spring element 23/1. At the upper end of the second spring element 23/1, an electrically insulating stop element 101 is provided, which consists for example of plastic and at the upper end of the second spring element 23/1 can for example be injection molded. The horizontal distance of the locking lug 38/1 to this stop element 101 is chosen to be smaller than the distance between the two switching contacts 24/1 and 25/1, so that when the first spring element 22/1 is deflected in the direction of arrow 102, the two switching contacts 24/1 and 25/1 are held securely at an electrically non-conductive distance from one another when the latch 38/1 is in engagement with the stop element 101. The further function corresponds to the exemplary embodiment of the locking lever 35 described above in relation to FIGS. 5 to 9, the actuation of the first spring element 22/1 likewise taking place by the switching lever 13 or its stop pin 34 at the end of its actuating section 19. To deflect the locking lever 35/1, this also has a deflection lever 41/1, which is integrally formed on the locking lever 35/1. 10, the locking lever 35/1 is deflected after covering a certain distance in the direction of arrow 102 upward in the direction of arrow 103, so that the second spring element 23/1 is also suddenly released during a second switching phase. In order to ensure that the locking lever 35/1 engages with the locking lug 38/1 on the stop element 101 during the return movement against the arrow direction of the arrow 102, the stop element 101 has on its rear side an inclined deflection surface 104 so that the locking lever 35 / 1 can safely return to the starting position shown in FIG. 10. To fix the off Starting position of the second spring element 23/1, the stop pin 32 is also provided, which is fixed in the housing of the time switch, not shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a mounting of the latching lever 35/2 on the first spring element 22/2. The latching lever 35/2 can be formed, for example, from a metallic material or also from a plastic, in the former case according to the exemplary embodiment 10, an electrically insulating stop element is also to be provided on the second spring element (not shown in the drawing). For the pivotable mounting of the locking lever 35/2 on the first spring element 22/2, this first spring element 22/2 has in its upper end region in the region of its two side edges 106 and 107 two bearing slots 108 and 109 through which two on the locking lever 35/2 bearing tabs lio or 111 arranged at an appropriate distance are inserted through them. The two bearing brackets 110 and 111 are bent vertically upwards on the rear side in the present exemplary embodiment, so that the locking lever 35/2 with its bearing edge 112 which extends between the two bearing brackets HO and III lies against the front of the spring element 22/2 and can be deflected upwards around this bearing edge 112. The further configuration of the locking lever 35/2 can be identical to the configuration of the locking lever 35/1 from FIG. 10.

Furthermore, other configurations of the mounting of a locking lever on the first spring element are also conceivable. important The only thing that is important here is that this latching lever, as shown by way of example in FIG. 10 by the vertically upward arrow 103, can be deflected in this direction. To reset the respective locking lever, spring elements (not shown in detail in the drawing) can be provided, which can either be arranged on the locking lever, the spring element or also in the housing of the time switch and act on the respective locking lever against the arrow 103 with a corresponding spring force. The latching lever itself or its connection to the first spring element, as is illustrated in particular by the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 10, can also be designed to be resilient. Furthermore, provision is also made for the latching lever to be displaceably mounted in corresponding guides in the housing in the direction of arrow 102 in FIG. 10, and for the deflection by appropriate design of guide slots in the housing via guide pins arranged on one or both sides of the latching lever and engaging in these guide slots in the manner of a To effect the backdrop. It goes without saying that, as the embodiment of FIG. 10 also shows, that in any case there may be no electrically conductive connection between the first spring element and the second spring element via the locking lever. This can be achieved on the one hand by appropriate selection of the material of the locking lever itself or on the other hand by additional insulation measures on the locking lever or the spring elements. 12 and 13 show an embodiment of a switch contact arrangement which is designed as a so-called changeover contact.

In this circuit arrangement, a first spring element 22/3 and a second spring element 23/3 are provided, which correspond to the spring elements 22 and 23 from the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 9. Accordingly, a first switching contact 24/3 and a second switching contact 25/3 are arranged at the respective upper end of the respective spring element 22/3 or 23/3, which in the starting position shown in FIG. 12 are at a predetermined distance from one another. To produce this predetermined distance, the first spring element 22/3 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5 in the starting position shown there bears against the stop pin 34/3 under prestress, which in turn rests on the outer end of the actuating section 19/3 of the shift lever 13/3 is arranged. The shift lever 13/3 is in turn pivotally mounted about the pivot axis 16. Furthermore, the second spring element 23/3 is held in its initial position shown in FIG. 12 by the stop pin 32, so that it is ensured that the two switching contacts 24/3 and 25/3 are at a predetermined distance from one another which are not in electrical connection. In addition to these two spring elements 22/3 and 23/3, a third spring element 113 with a third switching contact 114 is provided, which is connected to a fourth switching contact 115 of the second spring element mentes 23/3 is in permanent electrical contact. This fourth switching contact 115 is arranged opposite the second switching contact 25/3 on the second spring element 23/3. It is easily conceivable that a further guide plate of the type of the two guide plates 26 and 29 from FIG. 1 is provided for the spring element 113, which in turn is connected to a third connection terminal (not shown in the drawing). The third spring element 113 is pretensioned, so that its switch contact 114 also bears against the fourth switch contact 115 under prestress and accordingly cannot unintentionally stand out from the fourth switch contact 115 in the starting position shown in FIG. 12. To switch the "changeover contact" formed from the three spring elements 22/3, 23/3 and 113 with their four switching contacts 24/3, 25/3 and 114 and 115, a locking lever 35/3 is provided which has a locking lug 38/3 , Which corresponds in its design and function to the locking lug 38 of the shift lever 35 from FIGS. 5 to 7. In the direction of the arrow 102 pointing forward, this locking lug 38/3 is also adjoined by a support surface 39/3 which is arranged at an upward offset.

At a distance from the locking lug 38/3, a vertically downward shift finger 116 is also provided, which in the present exemplary embodiment is designed to be considerably longer in its vertically downward extension than the locking lug 38/3. About above this Shift finger 116 is in turn a deflection lever 41/3, the mode of operation of which also corresponds to the deflection lever 41 of the exemplary embodiment from FIGS. 5 to 7.

Accordingly, the shift lever 13/3 also executes a pivoting movement in the direction of the pivoting arrow 85, provided the shift drum 3 shown in phantom lines with its shifting elements 11 and 12 executes a rotation from the starting position shown in FIG. 12 in the direction of the arrow 10. In this case, the spring element 22/3 is deflected approximately in the direction of the horizontal arrow 102 via the stop pin 34/3 until the locking lug 38/3 is in engagement with the second spring element 23/3. In this position, the switching finger 116 is still a certain distance from the third spring element 113 in the horizontal direction, so that the two switching contacts 114 and 115 remain in constant contact. Furthermore, the locking lug 38/3 is again arranged on the locking lever 35/3 in such a way that the two switching contacts 24/3 and 25/3 are kept at a predetermined distance from one another during this first switching phase. At the end of this first switching phase, the locking lever 35/3 comes into contact with its pivot lever 41/3 with the pivot axis 16 of the switching lever 13/3 and begins to pivot at the beginning of a subsequent second switching phase in the direction of the pivot arrow 88 about its bearing axis. Even in this state, there remains a safety distance between the shift finger 116 and the third spring element 113, so that the the two switching contacts 114 and 115 remain in electrical contact with one another.

When the switching lever 13/3 is pivoted further into the end position shown in FIG. 13 in the direction of the pivoting arrow 85, the second spring element 23/3 with the two switching contacts 25/3 and 115 suddenly snaps out on the locking lug 38/3, since with this actuating movement of the switching lever 13/3, the locking lever 35/3 is further rotated in the direction of the pivot arrow 88, thus causing a corresponding vertical movement of both the locking lug 38/3 and the switching finger 116 approximately in the direction of the vertical arrow 103. As can be seen from FIG. 13, after the second spring element 23/3 has been disengaged, the third spring element 113 bears against the locking lug 38/3 at the lower end of the shift finger 116 and is held by the latter in the holding position shown in FIG. 13. Since the spring element 23/3 suddenly detaches from the locking lug 38/3, the contact between the two switching contacts 114 and 115 is also suddenly opened, while the two switching contacts 25/3 and 24 / 3 are closed suddenly.

Thus, with the switching arrangement according to the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 12 and 13, a switchover from a first consumer to a second consumer is suddenly possible, the first consumer, for example, in electrical contact with a corresponding connection terminal. me stands, which is assigned to the first spring element 22/3 with its switching contact 24/3, while a second consumer is assigned to the third spring element 113 with its switching contact 114. The resetting movement of the spring elements 22/3, 23/3 and 113 from their end position shown in FIG. 13 to their starting position shown in FIG. 12 also takes place suddenly, as already described for FIGS. 5 to 7, by the switching lever 13/3 suddenly falls back into the starting position of FIG. 12 against the arrow direction 85 as soon as it reaches the effective range of the inactive switching elements 12.

Thus, in summary, it can be stated that on the one hand, a precise, automatic switching of the switching contacts 24 and 25 can be set with the time switch according to the invention. The switching contacts 24, 25 are closed abruptly due to the notching of the latching lever 35 on the second spring element 23. The sudden opening of the switching contacts 24, 25 is caused by the sudden "engagement" of the switching lever 13 with its switching lug 20 in the switching elements that are switched to inactive 12 given space of the shift drum 3 reached. The same also applies to the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 10 to 13, with an abrupt switchover of the energy supply from a first consumer to a second consumer and vice versa taking place with respect to the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13. On the other hand, consumers connected to the time switch 1 according to the invention can also be switched on and off permanently in addition to this precise, automatic time switch. A simple slide switch 43, which is easily accessible from the outside, can be used to set these two permanent circuits. It goes without saying that, instead of this slide switch 43, an externally accessible toggle switch can also be used, which is coupled in a corresponding manner to the two deflection levers 45 and 46. Such an arrangement can also be provided accordingly for the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13, as is indicated by the representation of the slide switch 43. As a result, the consumers mentioned in relation to FIGS. 12 and 13 can optionally be continuously supplied with energy when required and also switched off continuously.

Claims

1. Time switch (1) with at least a first and a second elastic spring element (22, 22/1, 22/2, 22/3, 23, 23/1, 23/3), each with at least one switch contact (24 , 24/1, 24/3, 25, 25/1, 25/3) are provided, and with a rotatably driven shift drum (3), each of which, optionally in relation to a rotatably mounted shift lever (13, 13/3) has an effective or ineffective switching position adjustable switching elements (11, 12), by means of which the switching lever (13, 13/3) is rotated from an inactive starting position to a switching position and the first spring element (22, 22/1, 22/2, 22/3) with its switching contact (24, 24/1, 24/3) for performing a switching operation with the switching contact (25, 25/1, 25/3) of the second spring element (23, 23/1, 23 / 3) in contact, and with further rotation of the shift drum (3) the shift lever (13, 13/3) for the sudden disconnection of the switch contacts (24, 24/1, 24/3, 25, 25/1, 25/3 , 114, 115) sc falls back into its initial position in a heap-like manner, characterized in that a latching lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) is provided, which during the closing process is actuated by the first spring element (22 , 22/1, 22/2, 22/3) is moved in the direction of the second spring element (23, 23/1, 23/3), and that the locking lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) during a first switching phase of the closing process in a locking position by a locking lug (38, 38/1, 38/3) with the second spring element (23, 23 / 1, 23/3) is engaged and the two spring elements (22,

22/1, 22/2, 22/3, 23, 23/1, 23/3) with their switching contacts (24, 24/1, 24/3, 25, 25 / l, 25/3) under tension in one holds a predetermined distance from each other, and that the locking lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) during a second switching phase following the first switching phase from its locked position by a with the locking lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3), the deflecting element (16), which is in operative connection, is deflected at least during the second switching phase and the second spring element (23, 23/1, 23/3) of the second switching contact (25, 25/1, 25 / 3) for suddenly closing the switching contacts (24, 24/1, 24/3, 25, 25/1, 25/3).

Time switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second spring elements (22/3, 23/3) are assigned a third spring element (113) with a third switching contact (114), which with its switching contact (114) is provided with a fourth , on the second spring element (23/3) arranged switching contact (115) is in permanent electrical contact until the second spring element (23/3) is suddenly released by the locking lever (35/3) during the second switching phase, and that the locking lever (35/3) is provided with a shift finger (116) through which the third spring element (113) after the sudden release of the second spring element (23/3) with its third switch contact

(114) is held at a predetermined distance from the fourth switching contact (115) of the second spring element (23/3).

3. Timer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the locking lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) for deflection from its locked position with a deflection lever (41, 4l / l, 41/3) which runs against a stop (16) at the beginning of the second switching phase.

4. Timer according to claim 3, characterized in that the arrangement of the stop (16) and the shape and the arrangement of the deflection lever (41, 41/1, 41/3) on the locking lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) are coordinated with one another in such a way that the deflection of the latching lever (35, 35/1, 35/2, 35/3) increases with the switching movement of the spring elements (22, 22/1, 22/2, 22/3 , 23, 23/1, 23/3, 113) with their switching contacts (24, 24/1, 24/3, 25, 25/1, 25/3, 114, 115) increases disproportionately.

5. Timer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the stop for the deflection lever (41, 41/1, 41/3) is formed by the bearing axis (16) of the shift lever (13, 13/3).

6. Time switch according to one of claims 1 to 5, character- ized in that a slide switch (43) is provided, which from an initial position to a first Switch position can be brought in which the shift lever (13, 13/3) is permanently held in its switching position.

7. Timer according to claim 6, characterized in that the slide switch (43) can be brought into a second switching position in which the second spring element (23, 23/3) with its second switching contact (25, 25/3) relative to the first Spring element (22, 22/3) of the first switching contact (24, 24/3) is deflected such that the switching contacts (24, 24/3, 25, 25/3) are also switched by the switching lever (13, 13/3) first spring element (22, 22/3) have a predetermined distance from each other.

8. Timer according to claim 7, characterized in that the transmission of the translational switching movement of the

Switch slide (43) for deflecting the second spring element (23) by a lever mechanism (45, 46) is transmitted to the second spring element (23).