US1786935A - Electric switch - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 30, 1930. e. A. BURGESS ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed June 20. 1928 w w w 4 m d Patented Dec. 30, 1930 UNiTEo STATE rarer Fries GALUSHA A. B'Ll'BGESS, OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA ELECTRIC SWITCH Application filed June 20, 1928. Serial No. 286,974.

This invention relates to electric switches adapted for carrying aliquid, such as oil, imand while features of the invention may be mersing the contacts, and thereby avoiding applied in the construction of switches of any sparking and the injurious effects consequent type, the invention is expected to be especially thereto.

useful when applied to a wall switch, such Further objects of the invention will ap- 55 as is employed in dwellings for closing the pear hereinafter. circuit through chandeliers or wall lights. The invention consists of the novel part-s Wall switches practically all embody in their and combination of parts to be described construction a spring which holds the switch hereinafter, all of which contribute to proboth in its closed and open position, and such duce an eliicient electric switch. 60 switches are usually of the snap type, that A preferred embodiment of the invention isto say, they are so constructed that by is described in the following specification, moving the. hand controlled part past a cerwhile the broad scope-of the invention is tain point, the spring will then operate'to pointed out in the appended claims.

continue the movement and snap the switch The accompanying drawings illustrate the 65 over to the opposite position. One of the invention. disadvantages of this type of switch is that Figure 1 is a side elevation of an electric it appears to be necessary to provide a spring switch constructed in accordance with the of considerable strength and hence such a provisions of this invention.

switch makes considerable noise when it is Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the in 70 actuated. This noise may awake persons regular line indicated by 22, Figure l. sleeping in an apartment adjoining one in Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figwhich the switch is operated late at night. are 1.

One of the disadvantages of a switch of this 7 Before proceeding to a detailed description type having a strong spring, is that it requires of the switch, it will facilitate the disclosure 75 considerable force to operate the hand conof the invention to state that this switch is trolled member, switch lever or push button constructed in such a way that it is movable and when the spring snaps the switch over, with substantially equal freedom in either a considerable force and 'shock'is imparted direction, that is to say, in the direction to to the fastenings which support the switch in close the switch or to open it. This is preferso the wall; the result of this is that frequently ably accomplished by avoiding the use of a such switches eventually loosen the plaster spring and by constructing the switch in such in their vicinity. a way as' to avoid the employment of the The general object of this invention is to snap principle commonly used in switches provide a switch of very simple construction of this type. Any simple construction can so especially adapted for use as a wall switch be employed for the hand operated member and which will be substantially noiseless in that controls the switch and any suitable its operation; also to provide a switch of this means may be employed for imparting this type which will operate without the use of a movement tothe switch member that actualspring and which'can be operated by theaply closes the switch through the agency of plication of a very slight force to the actuatth o t t ithi th 1 t h; ing lever or push button. According to my invention, it provide a One of the objects of the inventi n i o switch casing and a wall plate. The switch produce a wall switch which can be operated Casing performs th f n ti f' f f Wilt-l1 S0 little fOlCG that it 11606. 1101', be securely arrying the ngvable switch me nbep which fastened to the wall lath, but which can, if dei o t olled by the hand operated part of ir e y be Set in the plaster 0f the the switch. The movable switch member is wall. 7 preferably rotatable and operates when A further object of the invention is to promoved in one directionto open the switch,

vide a switch ofthis type which is especially and in the other direction to close the switch.

A connection is provided from the hand actuated part or parts to this switch member to give it this simple movement, and. all of the parts cooperate in their movements so that they move freely with equal freedom in either direction. Their inertia of restholds the switch as left.

The switch is devoid of any spring or any part performing the function of spring.

I shall now describe a sinmlc embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing the electric switch comprises a rotatably mounted shaft 6 to which is fixed in a suitable manner an electric insulation member-7. Partly surrounding the member 7 is an electric contact 8 which, thus, rotatably mounted. The contact 8 constitutes the segment of a ring and between the ends of said segment protrudes a portion 9 of the member 7, said portion 9 constituting an insulating section having substantially the same radius as he outer face of the contact 8.

The shaft 6 rotates in bearings 10, 11 which, in this instance, are formed in lower and upper heads 12,13, respectively, of a cylindrical container or housing that is indi cated in general by the character 1 1. The heads 12, 13 may be sealed in place so as to make the container 14 oil tight and, if desired, oil, not shown, may be placed in the container.

The shaft 6 projects above the head 13 and is provided on its upper end with an arm 15. Pivoted at 16 to the outer end of the arm is a non-extensible link 17 which in turn is pivoted at 18 to a lever 19. By non-extensible I mean that the link 17 is not aspring. My switch is devoid of a spring between the hand-actuated member and the switch. The fulcrum of the lever 19 is indicated at 20 and is in the form of apin which is supported at its opposite ends in the sides of a substantially U-shapcd. bracket 21. The .nd portions of the bracket 21 are outwardly flared as indicated at 22, so as to receive bet-ween said flared ends the container 141. To the flared ends 22 are welded, or otherwise secured, semi-circular clamping members 23 which fit the periphery of the container The clamping members 23 are provided with ears 2 1 that project beyond the periphery of the container 14; and a bolt 25 passes through the ears 21 for the purpose of holding the clamping members 23 toward one another, thus to securely support the container 11-. v

The lever 19 is operated, in this instance, by a pair of push buttons, an upper button 26 and a lower button 27. The button 26 is secured to the outer end of an arm 28 which is pivoted at 29 to the lever 19 at a point between the pivot 18 and fulcrum 20. The button 27 is secured to an arm 30 which is pivoted at 31 to the lever 19 at a. point below the fulcrum 20. The pivots 29, 31 are approximately equidistant from the fulcrum 20 so that the lever 19 will be swung the same distance in opposite directions by movement of the buttons 26, 27 through like distances. The arm 15, 15 always extends at some angle in relation to the link 17 so as to avoid dead centers, thus making it possible by alternately pushing the buttons 26, 27 to oscillate the shaft 6 and the electric contact 8.

Arranged diametrically opposite one'another and adapted to engage the contact 8, when said contact is in the position shown in Fig. 2, are stationaril-y mounted electric contacts 32, 33 of arcuate shape. \Vhen the contacts 8, .32, 33 are engaged, the switch is on or closed and in this position the button 26 is out and the other button 27 is in. Therefore, for purposes of description, it may be assumed that the button 26 is the off button, and the button 27 the on button. T 0 open the vitch so as to break the electric circuit the button 26 will be depressed, thus rotating the shaft 6 clockwise in Fig. 2 to thereby cause thecontact 8 to rotate out of engagement with the contact 33.

In this instance, the buttons 26, 27 pass through orifices 34, 35 in a plate 36 which plate is adapted to be secured to any suitable support, not shown. The bracket 21 is riveted, or otherwise secured to the plate 36.

The contacts 32, 33 are provided at their upper ends with U-shaped fastening clips 37 which embrace the upper end of the container 14:. Binding posts 38 pass through the clips 37 and throughthe wall of the container 14:, the heads 39 of the binding post screws being inside of the container. The wires of the circuit that is to be controlled by the switch will be secured to the binding posts 38.

Briefly stated, the invention operates as follows: Assuming that the parts are in the circuit closing position, as in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, to turn the switch off, the button 26 will be depressed, thus swinging the upper end of the lever 19 to the left in Fi 1, thereby rotating the shaft 6 clockwise. This causes the contact 8 to rotate out of engagement with the contact 33,thereby interrupting the flow of current between the contacts 32, At the same. time the lower end of the lever 19 is caused to swing to the right in Fig. 1, thus pushing out the button 27.

To then close the switch, the operator will depress the button 27 so as to swing the upper end of the lever 19 to the right in Fig. 1, thereby turning the contact 8 counter-clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 2 so as to engage not only the contact 32 but also the contact thereby enabling electric current to flow bet-ween the contacts 32, 33. When the upper end of the lever 19 is swung to the right, it pushes out the button 26.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention is very simple and positive in action and that I avoid the use of aspring. The contacts 32, 33 are of spring brass and are under a slight tension so as to press against the contact 8.

What I claim is: p

1. In a noiseless electric wall-switch for closing an electric circuit, the combination of a wall-plate, a switch-casing, a movable switch-member for opening and closing the circuit, hand actuated means supported on the wall-plate, and non-extensible means connecting the same with the switchmember to operate it, said parts being freely movable from their position of rest in a direction to close or open the switch and 0per-' ating to hold the switch closed or open by reason of the inertia of rest of the parts in the position in which they are left.

2. A noiseless electric wall-switch having in combination, a wall-plate, a switch-casing having a pair of separated contacts, a movable switch-member carried by the cas ing, cooperating with the contacts to open or close a circuit through the same, hand actuated means supported on the wall-plate, and non-extensible means connecting the last named means with the switch-member, freea 1y movable in a direction to close or open the switch, said parts cooperating to hold the switch closed or open through the inertia of rest of the parts in the position in which they are left.

3. A noiseless electric wall-switch having in combination, a wall-plate, a switch-casing, a pair of separated contacts, a movable switch-member carried by the casing cooperating with the contacts to open or close a circuit through the same, hand actuated means supported on the wall-plate, and nonextensible means connecting the last named means with the switch-member freely movable with equal freedom in the direction to close the switch or to open the switch, said parts cooperating to maintain the switch open or closed through the inertia of rest of the parts in the position in which they are left.

4. A noiseless electric wall-switch for closing anelectric circuit, having in combination, a wall-plate, a switch-casing having a pair of separated contacts, a rotatable switch-member carried by the casing cooperating with the contacts to open or close the circuit, said rotatable switch-member being movable with equal freedom in a direction to close the switch or to open the same, hand actuated means supported on the wall-plate,

non-extensible means, that is to say, means devoid of a spring, connecting the same with the switch-member, said hand actuated means being freely movable with equal freedom in the direction to close the switch or to open the switch, and all of said parts cooperating to hold the switch closed or open through the inertia of rest of the parts in the position in which they are left.

5. A noiseless electric wallswitch for closing an electric circuit, having in combination, a wall-plate, a switch-casing carried by the wall-plate and having a pair of separated contacts, a rotatable switch-member mounted to rotate on an axis substantially parallel with the wall plate, carried by the casing cooperating with the contacts to open or close the circuit, a pivotally supported lever mounted back of the wall plate to swing in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the wallplate, a connection from the lever to the rotatable switch-member to move the same to open or close the circuit, a push-button guided on the wall plate for moving the lever in one direction, another push button guided on the wall-plate to move the lever in the other direction, said partsbeing freely movable with equal freedom in either direction, and cooperating to hold the switch open or closed through the inertia of rest of the parts in the position in which'they are left. u 6. Anelectric switch comprising a rotat ably mount-ed shaft, an arm fixed to said shaft, a link pivotally connected to said arm, a lever pivotally connected to the link, push buttons connected with the lever on opposite sides of the fulcrum of the lever, a segmental electric contact mounted on and insulated from the shaft, and electric contacts mounted at opposite sides of the shaft in position to both engage the first mentioned contact when the shaft is turned in one direction, one of the second mentioned contacts being out of engagement with the first mentioned contact when the shaft is turned through a predetermined number of degrees in the opposite direction.

7. An electric switch comprising a container provided with heads closing its opposite ends, a shafi journaled in said heads and projectin outside of the container, an arm fixed to the projecting end of said shaft, a means to oscillate the arm, a segmental electric contact mounted on and insulated from the shaft within the container, and electric contacts mounted on opposite sides of the 7

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