US1231732A - Electric switch. - Google Patents

Description

E. A. HALBLEI B.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION HLED JUNE 20.1914.

1923 1 732 Patented July 3 191?,

Hrmvmitm a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELEC- TRIO COMPANYZDF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. HALBLEIB, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in .Electric Switches, of which the following is a specification. a

This invention relates particularly to electric switches for handling comparatively small currents, with which a snap-contact and break are unnecessary.

One object of the invention is to produce a switch, of simple and compact construction,

which shall be reliable in operation and not subject to derangement of its parts. An other object of the invention is to produce a switch ofthe flush type, in which a num-' ber of circuits may be opened and closed at will by the simple operation of sliding buttons from one position to another upon the front or cover-plate of the switch. A third object of the invention is to produce a switch particularly adapted for three-wire electriclighting systems, in which engagement may be made simultaneously, by a single movable contact-member, with three fixed contactmembers, and in which a firm contact between all of the members will always beinsured;

To the foregoing ends Iemploy, among other features of construction, a manuallyoperable switch-member which is provided with a recess in which is mounted a springpre'ssed movable contact-member, and this manually-operable switch-member is movable laterally so as to cause the movable contact-member to ride over one or more of the fixed contact-members and thus move into or out of position to engage all of the fixed 3 is a front-elevation of the switchcasin and the fixed contacts, the cover-plate and t e parts carried thereby having been removed; and

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Application filed June 20, 19m.

Patented July 3, 1917.

Serial No. 846,337. I

Fig. 4: is a section on the line 44 in receive the screws by which the switch is fastened to a wall, dash-board or other support.

The cover-plate is provided with a series of short transverse slots 9 for the reception of the movable switch-members. Each of these switch-members comprises an outer manually-operable part or button 10, and an inner part 11 in the form of a socket-member. The parts 10 and 11 are shown as constructed of metal, and are-connected by a neck 12, integral with the part 10, which passes through and is riveted within the end of the socket-member 11. The neck is of such size as to move freely within the corresponding slot 9, while the button and the socket-member slide freely upon the inner and outer surfaces of the plate. In all positidns of the button the slot is covered and closed by the button, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to prevent the ingress of foreign substances to the switch-casing.

The movable contact-member is mounted partly within the socket-member 11, and is illustrated as a ball 13 of any suitable metal. This ball is seated loosely in a shouldered bushing 14 of insulating material, the bushing fitting loosely in the socket-member and being pressed outwardly by a spring 15 inclosed in the socket-member.

Three fixed contact-members, 16, 3.7 and 18, cooperate with each movable contactmember,these fixed contact-members being fixed in place, upon a body 21 of insulating material, by means of screw-threaded shanks 19 and nuts 22. The shanks and nuts CO11- stitute also bind-ingposts to connect the contact-members with the conductors of the circuits controlled thereby.

As shown particularly in Figs. 3 and i, the

adjacent portions of the fixed contact-mam hers are beveled toward each other so as to form a recess 20 in which the movable contact-member 13 may rest when in closed-cirout of the recess 20 upon thchighest part of the member 16, and then engages the outwardly-beveled surface thereon, and this engagement causes the movable switch-memher to remain in open-circuit position, owing to the pressure of the member 13 against the inclined surface due to the action of the spring 15.

The use of a spherical movable contactmember not only affords, in a convenient and inexpensive manner, a conductor having sliding-members of the the necessary convex surface to cooperate with the fixed contact-members, but it also provides for durability, owing to the fact that at each movement of the switch the ball may rotate more or less, thusbringing fresh parts of its surface into action and preventing excessive wear at any one point. The insulating bushing 14 not only provides the necessary insulation between the member 13 and the other parts of the switch, but it also has the advantage that in case the surface of the ball becomes roughened or provided with protuberances, as sometimes may occur through arcing in the switch, this does not prevent the movable contact-member from having the necessary yielding movement within the socket-member, as might occur in case of a direct metallic contact and close fit between the contact-member and the socketmember.

A valuable feature of the switch herein describedvresides in the fact that no electrical connections are formed between the movable contact-member or bolt 13, and the parts by which it is actuated and supported. Where such electrical connections are made, as in previously proposed switches, they depend either upon the uncertain contact between the movable member and its supporting-devices, or upon transmission through the spring, and there are well known objections to both of these efiects. This arrangement also renders it unnecessary to insulate the switch from each other, or from the plate upon which they are mounted and guided, and permits the construction of all of these parts of metal.

While I have shown a switch having three movable members 0;, buttons it. will be unrs. V 3, An

derstood that any convenient number may be employed, and that the invention is not, in general, limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 1. An electric switch having, in combination, a plurality of fixed contact-members, a slotted plate located in front of said contactmembers, a manually-operable member movable transversely in. a slot in said plate and having a socket opening toward said contact-members, a movable contact-member mounted in said socket and having a convex surface adapted to engage the fixed contactmembers simultaneously, in one position of the manually-operable member, and to ride over one of the fixed contact-members when the manually-operable member is moved to another position, and a spring in said socket cotiperating with the movable contact-member and acting to'hold it in engagement with the fixed I contact-members.

' 2. An electric switch having, in combination, a plurality of fixed contact-members located in a group and providing a recess between their adjacent portions; a spherical contact-member of such size that it may seat in said recess and engage the fixed contact-' members simultaneously; a manually-operable member movable transversely with respect to the fixed contact-members and having a socket opening toward said members, the spherical contact-member being mounted in said socket; and a spring in the socket cooperating with the spherical contact-member to force it toward the fixed contact-memtion, a plurality of fixed contact-members located in a group andproviding a recess between their adjacent portions; a spherical electric switch having, in combinav contact-memberof such size that it may seat in said recess and engage the fixed contactmembers simultaneously; a manually-operable member movable transversely with respect to the fixed contact-members and havmg a socket opening toward said members,

the spherical contact-member being mounted in said socket; a spring in the socket; and a bushing, of non-metallic material, slidingly mounted in the socket and interposed between the spring and the contact-member,

.the bushing having a seat for the contactmember whereby thelatter is centralized in the socket and separated from the. walls of the socket.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB;

Witnesses:

Famrnnr F, Dorsey, D Gunner,

Images