US2136612A - Electromagnetic multiswitching apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 15, 1938. A s. DUBUAR ELECTROMAGNETIC MULTISWITCHING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1.1, 1935 mun/T02? A. S. DUBUAR @QKM I ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTROMAGNETIC MULTISWITGHING APPARATUS Arthur S. Dubuar, Millburn, N. J., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation. of New York Application September 11, 1936, Seri'alNo. 100,298

4 Claims. (01. 200-104) This invention relates to electromagnetic the relay showing the relation of the springs to switching apparatus and more particularly to a the common draw-bar and the relation of the relay structure of the multicontact type, that is, a latter to the armature of the magnet. relay which is adapted to control the operation Referring to the construction in detail the magof a plurality of contacts through a single drawnetic structure of the relay is made up of the core bar acted upon by the electromagnetic member 2 mounted upon the end support 21, the exciting of the relay or some element thereof. coil I wound upon said core, and the armature One of the principal features of my invention 3 hinged at the rear to the magnetic block 4 in is the application of the sliding contact princlany suitable manner. The armature is held in its pie to the construction of a multicontact relay normal position of rest, that is, against the backwhich shall be free from contact vibration when stop nut 6 carried by the threaded pin 28 sethe relay operates and when it releases. cured to the front end of the core, by balancing Another object of the invention is the use of a springs 5 tensioned against the studs 1 secured standard contact spring which can be adjusted on either side of the armature.

or non-conducting member of the draw-bar in front portion thereof immediately behind the order to produce any combination of contact threaded pin 28 is attached a U-bracket 8 having closures required by the circuits to be controlled an aperture through the center of its right leg thereover, thereby avoiding the necessity of using to allow for the passage of the threaded stem 9 different kinds of springs toproduce the differconnected to one end of the commutator draw- 20 ent contact combinations required by a variety bar If]. The commutator draw-bar 10, having a of circuit functions. In the manufacture and length adapted to the number of contact springs maintenance of the relay, this is a great advanwhich the relay is designed to carry, is secured tage over the conventional type relay, first beto the armature of the relay by the stem 9 passto make or break in relation to a conducting To the back-face of the armature and on the 15;

cause it permits the production and installation ing through the aperture of bracket 8 and locked 25.

of a single type of spring which can be used on on either side thereof by the nuts 29 and [2, rea number of relays of similar construction adapted spectively, and is slidably secured to the end supto control a plurality of different circuit funcport l3 by bolt l5 which extends through the tions, secondly, because the springs can be assemend support, passes through the elliptical slot i4 30 bled on the relay without the necessity of adin the end of the draw-bar and is secured by nut 3Q justment prior to shipment, and thirdly because H5. The suppo is secured to Clamping the adjustment required by the springs of any bracket 26 by screws 3|. Thus when the magnet relay can easily be made in accordance with the operates and the armature 3 is attracted to the circuit requirements after the relay is installed on core 2, the draw-bar, bein a e to t e ar w the apparatus frame and wired. In other words, ture by bracket 8, will move in the direction of the 35 the relay of my invention may be characterized armature by virtue of its slidable attachment to as a universal relay which is easily adapted to the support l3. When the circuit of the magnet different circuit conditions, is free from the usual is opened and the armature releases, the draw-bar contact troubles experienced with the ordinary Will move in the opposite direction to its position 40 relay, is relatively cheap tomanufacture, and is of rest under the influence of springs 5. 4

easy to install and inexpensive to maintain. The draw-bar I0 is a non-conducting member These and other objects of the invention are transversely slotted to imbed a number of conmore particularly defined in the appended ducting segments II which are sunk into the slots claims, while the construction of the relay and flush with the surface of the draw-bar. The

the mode of its operation can best be understood draw-bar may be slotted on its top surface alone 45;

from the following description taken in connecor on both top and bottom surfaces depending tion with the attached drawing in which: upon the contact spring load which the relay is Fig. 1 shows a perspective front elevation of the designed to carry, the whole of each surface being relay with parts cut away to show the internal smooth and free of irregularities in order to prestructure and arrangement thereof; sent a free sliding surface to the contact springs 50 Fig. 2 is a section of the relay drawn along projecting thereover when the draw-bar moves line 2-4 of Fig. 1 to show the relation between back and forth under the influence of the armathe draw-bar and the contact springs cooperating ture 3.

therewith; while Each conducting segment II, whether located Fig. 3 is a front conventional representation of on the top or the bottom surface of the drawbar, is connected with a lug l! of a wiring terminal [8 by a flexible extension conductor such as 39, 'so that if an electric potential is connected to the terminal [8, the corresponding conducting segment I I is raised to the same potential, which further may be completed into an electric circuit through the spring contact engaging the segment, as more completely described hereinafter.

The contact springs of the relay, indicated by the numerals l9 and I9 are of flexible spring contact metal, substantially L-shaped. The longer or horizontal arm of each spring terminates in a soldering terminal 29 and is provided adjacent thereto with apertures through which mounting screws may be extended for securing the springs to the relay frame as will later be described. The shorter or vertical arm of each spring is oifset and may be bifurcated to form contacts which engage with the surface of the draw-bar as disclosed, or may terminate in a single contact portion.

A pair of springs is provided for each conduc ing segment Ii of the draw-bar, an outer spring [9 and an inner spring IS, the inner spring differing from the outer spring only in that it is smaller and is secured beneath and in vertical alignment with the outer spring. The width of the contact end or" each spring is less than the length of a conducting segment H.

The contact springs l9 and i9 and wiring terminals i8 are assembled in vertical units which may comprise one or two wiring terminals and both an upper and lower pair of contact springs or one pair of contact springs as may be required. The several vertical units are assembled between the end support 2'! and the clamping bracket 26 and are insulated from the support 2?, from the bracket 2'5 and from each other by interposed insulating blocks 23, the support 2?, bracket 25 and blocks 23 being provided with apertures which align with the apertures in the springs l9 and i9 and in the wiring terminals l8. For clamping the entire assembly together screws 24 and 25 are provided which extend through the aligned apertures, and are insulated from the springs and wiring terminals by the insulating sleeves 22.

As can be seen from the figures of the drawing, the contacting tips of the springs rest upon the surfaces of the draw-bar and may be easily adjusted, when the draw-bar is in the normal position, to engage either the conducting segments H or the insulating segments therebetween. When the springs, or any of them, are adjusted to engage the associated conducting seg ments, the equivalent of a normally made contact, in the conventional sense, is effected due to the fact that an electrically conducting path is then established say, for instance, from the terminal i8, lug i'l, conductor 3!), segment ll, spring l9, and terminal 25} of said spring. When the armature 3 is operated and the draw-bar 10 moves to the left relative to the spring contacts which are fixed and stationary, this conducting path is broken because the conducting segment i l of the draw-bar with which the spring is engaged in the normal position, is moved from under the tip of the spring and a contiguous but non-conducting segment is brought into contact with the tip of the spring, thereby giving the equivalent of a relay which, when operated, breaks two of its normally closed contact springs.

On the other hand, the spring may be adjusted quite as easily to engage a non-conducting segment when the draw-bar is in the normal position, in which case the equivalent of a relay with a normally open contact is provided. When the spring is so adjusted and the armature operates and pulls the draw-bar to the left, the conducting segment contiguous with the non-conducting segment with which the spring is engaged is moved under the tip of the spring contact, thereby eifecting a closure between the spring and the adjacent conducting segment and completing an electric path through their respective terminals and the circuit conductors connected thereto.

Similarly, all springs regardless of the number used, although of similar construction (except that the inner springs 19 are of smaller dimension than the outer springs 19) can be assembled at the factory on the relay structure without regard to the contact combinations called for by the plurality of circuits which the relay may have to control. When the relay is mounted on the apparatus frame and wired in accordance with the circuit requirements, the individual springs may then be adjusted either to be normally open by adjusting their contact tips to engage corresponding non-conducting segments of the draw-bar, or to be normally closed by adjusting said tips to engage corresponding conducting segments. When the draw-bar is pulled by the action of the armature, the springs will either open or close the circuits controlled thereover, depending upon the character of their individual adjustment. Thus a relay is provided which readily adapts itself to simple production methods without any special requirements of contact spring construction and permitting the use of one type of contact spring for all circuit combinations.

It is also evident that the relay of my inven tion will operate and release without causing any vibration of the springs. The draw-bar slides back and forth between the contact springs and whatever momentum is acquired by the draw-bar during the act of operating or releasing is not dissipated by any collision with the contact springs themselves but only by the rebound of the armature against the pole face. This rebound is, of course, communicated to the drawbar, but the width of its conducting and nonconducting segments is such that any vibration which results from the dissipation of the momentum will not be suflicient to cause the springs to pass out of contact with the respective segments with which they happen to be engaged.

What is claimed is:

i. In a multicontact switching apparatus, the combination with two end supports, of an electromagnet secured to one of said supports, a drawbar secured to the armature of said electromagnet and slidably secured to the other of said supports, said draw-bar having insulating and conducting segments transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof, a plurality of sets of contact springs for sliding engagement with said segments, a terminal lug for each conducting segment, said sets of contact springs and terminal lugs being assembled into a plurality of units, a plurality of insulating blocks for separating said assembled units, means for clamping said units and blocks between said end supports and flexible conductors extending from said conducting segments to said terminal lugs whereby upon the operation of said electromagnet said draw-bar will be actuated to control a plurality of electrical paths between said springs and said lugs.

2. In an electromagnetic switching device, the combination with an energizing magnet and a non-conducting draw-bar capable of oscillatory movement under the influence of said magnet, said draw-bar being provided with a plurality of transverse conducting segments, of a plurality or contact elements divided into as many groups as there are conducting segments, said groups being disposed in substantially parallel vertical planes With respect to the surface of said draw-bar, the individual contact elements in each group being adapted for contactual engagement with one con ducting segment or the insulating portion of the draw-bar contiguous thereto.

3. In an electromagnetic switching device, a core, an energizing winding on said core, an armature, a draw bar connected to said armature having conducting segments transversely imbedded in one of its surfaces, each of said conducting segments having a wiring lug projecting beyond the edge of said draw-bar, a group of contact springsfor each of said conducting segments supported in planes perpendicular to the surface of said draw-bar, the depending contact portion of each of said contact springs being laterally adjustable to normally engage either said conducting segments or the adjacent non-conducting surface of said draw-bar, a plurality of wiring terminals supported rearwardly in the plane of said draw-bar, each one of said terminals being aligned with the wiring lug of a corresponding conducting segment, and a flexible conductor connecting the wiring lug of a conducting segment and its corresponding wiring terminal.

4. In an electromagnetic switching device, a core, an energizing winding on said core, an armature, a draw-bar connected to said armature having conducting segments transversely imbedded in both of its surfaces, each of said conducting segments having a wiring lug pro jecting beyond the edge of said draw-bar, a plurality of groups of contact springs, each group comprising a plurality of L-shaped springs having their longer arms supported edgewise and parallel to each other in a plane perpendicular to the surfaces of said draw-bar and the ends of their shorter arms being adjustable to normally engage either the conducting segments on the non-conducting surfaces of said draw-bar, a plurality of wiring terminals supported in the plane of each of said groups of springs and flexible conductors connecting said wiring terminals with the Wiring lugs of said segments.

ARTHUR S. DUBUAR.

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