US2591336A

US2591336A - Magnetic and manually operated electric switch

Info

Publication number: US2591336A
Application number: US13271A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence J Bordelon
Original assignee: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp
Current assignee: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp
Priority date: 1948-03-05
Filing date: 1948-03-05
Publication date: 1952-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 1969-04-01

Description

April 1, 1952 L. J. BoRDELoN 2,591,336

MAGNETIC AND MANUALLY OPERATED ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed March 5, 1948 infamy-frm,

:inventor aw/epee J. orde/w? Patented Apr. 1, 1952 MAGNETIC AND MANUALLY OPERATED ELECTRIC SWITCH Lawrence J. Bordelon, San Diego, Calif., assignor to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, San Diego, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application March 5, 1948, Serial No. 13,271

Claims. 1

This invention relates to electric switches and more particularly to electric switches of the electromagnetically operated type.

An object of the present invention resides in providing an improved form of electromagnetically operated electric switch having associated therewith an indicating device which warns that the switch is in operative position.

Another object of this invention lies in the provision of an improved form of electric switch adapted to be manually and automatically operated.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved form of electromagnetically operated electric switch embodying manually operable means for effecting manual control of the switch and with a warning light incorporated in the manually operable means which serves to indicate when the switch has been operated.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an electric switch having sturdy and economical construction and with improved and reliable operating characteristics.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specicaticn and appended drawings wherein is illustrated a preferred form of the invention, and in which:

YFigure 1 is a view of the switchaccording to the present invention, with the greater portion thereof shown in vertical section;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the movable contacts when they have been electromagnetically moved to contacts engaged position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but with the movable contacts shown in contacts engaged position effected by manual movement thereof; and

Figure 4 is an end view of the switch.

Having further reference to the drawings the electric switch A of the present invention comprises a housing IIl which in the preferred embodiment is comprised of three parts; a metallic cylindrical casing I I, a first generally cup-shaped member I2 formed of molded insulating material secured to one end of casing I I, and a second generally cup-shaped member I3, also formed of molded insulation material, which is connected to member I2 at one end thereof, the two insulating members I2 and I3 serving further as contact blocks, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The metallic casing II is provided with an inturned annular mounting flange I4 at one end (Cl. 20G-111) thereof. Through an annular opening dened by the ange I4 there extends the threaded shank portion I5 of a cylindrical, hollow mounting boss I6, the head I1 of which boss is adapted to bear against ange I4. A nut I8 is provided for cooperation with the threaded shank portion I5 to effect the mounting of the electric switch A in any desired location. In mounting the electric switch A, as to a panel 2|, for example, the shank portion I5 will be inserted through an opening 22 provided by the panel 2| and the nut I8 will then be threaded on shank portion I5 until it is brought to bear tightly against the panel surface. This operation will draw ange I4 of casing II tightly against the opposite surface of the panel and the electric switch A will then be securely mounted.

The generally cup-shaped insulating member l2 is disposed adjacent to the free and open ei'd 23 of metallic casing I I. This member I2 comprises a base 24, which removably fits into the open end 23 of casing I I, and an annular wall 25. Studs 26 passing through the wall of casing II and threaded into base 24 of member I2 serve to connect the two members together. The second generally cup-shaped member I3 which completes the housing I0 serves, as shown in the drawings, as a capping or closing member for the housing I0 and comprises a base 21, and an annular wall 23. The annular walls of the two insulating members I2 and I3 are, when in assembled relationship, oppositely directed, and are disposed with their outer ends contiguous. In this position the two insulating members I2 and I3 define, between them, a substantially enclosed contact chamber 3l. The insulating members I2 and I3 are maintained in assembly by studs 32, each of which carries a pair of

nuts

33 and 34 with nut 33 retaining the stud in position. The studs 32 further serve both as terminals and to hold contact members, as will be hereinafter further described; and the nuts 34 act to connect electrical conductors to the studs 32.

Contained within casing II is an energizing coil or solenoid 35, one end of which is fitted upon a magnetic cylindrical boss 36 and bears upon an annular nange 31 provided on the boss 36.

Flange 3l rests against the exterior wall of base 24 of insulating member I2. A magnetic washer 38` is located at the opposite end of coil 35. A ring member 4I and a washer 42 disposed between washer 38 and head I'I of boss I6 maintain the coil 35 in proper location within casing II. Appropriate terminal studs, not shown, are provided on the insulating member I2 to which the conducting member. the leg'46 carries a contact face 52 which serves 'as a stationary contact. ings, two

sets

53 and 54 of stationary contacts 52 circuit wires for effecting energization of the coil 36 may be attached.

A magnetic plunger corev or armature 43 having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough is disposed within the coil 35 and is reciprocally movable therein upon energization and de-energization of the coil 35.

A plurality of generally L-shaped conducting members 45 is provided on the insulating members I2 and I3. Each of the conducting members 45 comprises a leg 46 which extends inwardly through an opening in the wall of the insulating member to lie within the contact chamber 3|, and a leg 41 which is carried in a recess 48 formed in the exterior of the insulating members. Each of the conducting members 45 is held in position within its recess by a stud 5I threaded through exterior leg 41 and into the wall of the insulating member. The stud 5I further serves as a terminal screw for securing a conductor to The interior end of As shown in the draware provided. It is understood, of course, that -as many sets of contacts could be provided as there are circuits which are desired to be controlled by switch A.

Connected to each of the two mounting studs 32 is a contact plate 55 which extends into contact chamber 3| and carries a Contact face 56 at its interior end.

To bridge the

stationary contact sets

53 and 54 and the spaced stationary contacts 56 provided by the Contact plates 55 for making and breaking the circuits therethrough, there are provided

movable contact members

51 and 58, with movable contact member 51 being operative -between

contact sets

53 and 54 for alternate bridging thereof and with contact member 58 being adapted to bridge contacts 56.

Extending the length of switch housing I8 and 'passing' through aligned openings in base 21 of insulating member of contact block I3, base 24 Q of contact block I2, boss 36, armature 43, washers 38 and 42 and boss |6, is an elongate, cylindrical, actuating rod 6I which has one end adapted to project beyond the panel 2| to which the switch A is mounted and the opposite end protruding beyond the base 21 of insulating member I3. The actuating rod 6I at the end adjacent boss I6 is provided with a series of progressively larger cylindrical portions 62, 63 and 64. En-

-larged portion. 64 is exteriorly threaded, and

`14` with one end resting on a seat provided by an annular ledge or portion in bore 68 and the other end biased against aninsulating washer 15 associated with contact 1I yieldably urges contact 1I into engagement with a lamp contact 16 provided on the base of incandescent lamp 66. Lamp 66 is grounded through theengagement of actuating rod 6I with boss I6 mounted in panel 2| to complete an electrical circuit.

-A chamber 11 is formed in boss I6 within which is disposed a pair of washers 18 and 19 with a compression spring 8| disposed therebetween. Washer 18 rests against an annular shoulder provided by enlarged rod portion 63 whereby the bias of spring 8| is exerted to urge actuating rod 6I to the right, as viewed in the drawings, to return it to neutral position whenever the rod should be moved inwardly. A spacer ring 82 mounted on rod 6I is disposed between an annular shoulder provided by enlarged rod portion 62 and the end surface of armature 43 so that movement of the actuating rod 6| into the switch housing will effect longitudinal movement of armature 43. Spacer ring 82 also engages washer 19 whereby with movement of the actuating rod 6| outwardly and away from the housing the ring 82 will move washer 19 to compress spring 8| so that with release of knob 61 spring 8| expands to return the actuating rod 6I to its neu tral position indicated by the full line representation of Figure l.

Provided on actuating rod 6| adjacent the interior end of armature 43 are an insulating washer 83 and an insulating spacer sleeve 84. Also supported by actuating rod 6| is a pair of contact mounting insulation sleeves 85 and 86 with insulating sleeve 85 slidably carrying movable contact 58 and insulating sleeve 86 fxedly supporting movable contact 51. A compression spring 81 disposed upon sleeve 65 engages and biases movable contact 58 against an out-turned flange 88 on sleeve 85. The end of adjacent sleeve 86 provides a seat for the opposite end of spring 81. A nut 9| threaded on the end of actuating rod 6| cooperates with a sleeve 89 to maintain the contact supporting sleeves 85 and 86 on the rod.

In the neutral position of the electric switch, as shown in Figure l, movable contact 58 engages the spaced stationary contacts 56 and movable contact 51 normally lies disposed substantially midway between the stationary contact sets l53 and 54 and will engage one or the other sets dependent upon the direction in which actuating rod 6| is moved.v

A preferred use of electric switch A is as a feathering switch in an airplane to control a propeller thereof, as is fully explained in my co-pending application, Serial No. '178,933, filed October 9, 1947. As described in this copending application multi-engine aircraft embody means which operate to feather a propeller to reduce the drag induced by a wind-milling propeller when the engine with which the propeller is associated fails. It is very necessary that a windmilling propeller be feathered to relieve the load placed on the remaining engine or engines, Engine failure is particularly dangerous when an aircraft is taking oif because it is then thatthe maintenance of the full power output is critical, and on occurrence of'such an engine failure a pilot must act quickly so that the non-functioning propeller will be feathered before the drag effect takes place. Under such circumstances it has happpened that pilots have not correctly ascertained the non-functioning engine and have pushed the feathering button associated with the wrong engine with resultant accidents.

Frequently, the pilot may push the correct feathering button but the elapsed time between the actual failure of the engine and the discernment of that failure is so great as to render the .the feathering of the propellerineffective since the drag of the wind-milling propeller has already placed the aircraft in a dangerous situation. The electric switch A is adapted for use in the system of the aforementioned co-pending application which provides that the loss of engine power will be immediately detected and such loss will be signaled to the pilot and the wind-milling propeller associated with the inoperative engine will be automatically feathered before the propeller drag aifects the operation of the aircraft. The use of electric switch A, by reason of the lamp 6B, will prevent the pilot feathering a propeller associated with a properly functioning engine and immediately acquaints him with the fact that the engine serviced by that particular switch has failed.

The actuating rod 6| is adapted to be moved inwardly into switch housing il both automatically, on energization of coil 35, or manually by applying pressure to the knob 6?. This inward movement will carry movable contact 51 into engagement with stationary contact set 53 which in the system of the aforementioned copending application controls the means for effecting the feathering of a propeller. Thus by virtue of the present electric switch the feathering can be done both automatically and voluntarily for the solenoid coil is automatically energized by a switch which operates on engine failure. Engagement of stationary contact set 53 by movable contact 51 is adapted also to control the circuit, not shown, which provides power to the lamp 66 in the knob El to provide a visual indication that a feathering operation is occurring. After the feathering operation has cccurred the coil 35 is (ie-energized and spring 8i, compressed by the inward movement of actuating rod 6I, will expand and move the acuuating rod 6l in the reverse direction to return it to its neutral position and to disengage the movable contact 51 from stationary contact set 53.

The stationary contact set 54 is adapted to be engaged by movable contact 51 at such time as the actuating rod 6| is manually pulled outwardly from its housing. Contact set 54 as described in the co-pending application, controls the operation of unfeathering the propeller. After the propeller is unieathered the pilot releases the knob 61 and the actuating rod Sl will move toward the housing i l to its neutral position under the bias of springs 8l and 87 compressed by this outward movement of rod 6 l.

The stationary contacts 56 are provided in the system proposed by the co-pending application to control the operation of a second feathering electric switch and to prevent the latters functioning if electric switch A itself occupies feathering position by breaking an electrical circuit thereto.

It is of course understood that the use described for the present switch is merely illustrative as this switch is adapted to be operative to control any variety of devices wherein it is required that both automatic and manual control be had and where it is desired that on operation of the switch a visual indication be provided to denote that fact.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been specifically disclosed, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto as many variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is to be given its broadest possible interpretation within the terms of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an electric switch, an elongate member, movable contact means supported by said elongate member, a plurality of stationary contact means, said elongate member being positioned for longitudinal movement manually in opposite directions from a normal position, movement of said elongate member in either direction from its normal position effecting engagement between said movable contact means and certain of said stationary contact means, an energizing coil, a magnetic core disposed therein, means operatively connecting said elongate member to said magnetic core for automatic movement thereby in one direction from its normal position to a switch operating position upon energization of said energizing coil, resilient means operative on said elongate member and exerting its bias to resist manual and automatic movement thereof and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position both after a manual operation and on deenergization of said coil, and a lamp carried by said elongate member, in circuit with certain of said stationary Contact means, and adapted to light both upon automatic movement of said elongate member in one direction to a switch operating position and upon manual movement of said elongate member in this same one direction.

2. In an electric switch, an elongate member, movable contact means supported by said elongate member, a plurality of stationary contact means, said elongate member being supported for longitudinal movement manually in opposite directions from a normal position, movement of said elongate member in either direction from its normal position effecting cooperation between said movable contact means and stationary contact means, an energizing coil having a passage extending therethrough, a magnetic core slidably tted within said coil and itself having a bore through which said elongate member passes to extend beyond each end of the core, means operatively connecting said elongate member to said magnetic core for automatic movement thereby in one direction from its normal position to a switch operating position upon energization of said energizing coil, resilient means operative on said elongate member and exerting its olas to resist manual and automatic movement thereof and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position both after a manual operation and on deenergization of said coil, and a lamp carried by said elongate member, in circuit with certain of said stationary contact means, and adapted to light both upon manual and automatic movement of said elongate member in one direction to a switch operating position, said lamp and said movable contact means being carried by said elongate member at opposite sides of said core.

3. In an electric switch, an elongate member, movable contact means supported by said elongate member, a plurality of stationary contact means, said elongate member being supported for longitudinal movement manually in opposite directions from a normal position, movement of said elongate member in either direction from its normal position eiecting cooperation between said movable contact means and stationary contact means, an energizing coil having a passage extending therethrough, a magnetic core slidably disposed within said passage and having a bore through which said elongate member ex! tends, means operatively connecting said elongate member to said magnetic core for automatic movement thereby in one direction from its normal position to a switch operating position upon energization of said venergizing coil, resilient means operative on said elongate member and exerting its bias to resist the automatic movement thereof and to resist manual movement in the same direction as the automatic movement, and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position both after a manual operation and on deen-ergization of said coil, a second resilient means for resisting manual movement of said elong-ate member in the other direction and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position, and a lamp carried by said elongate member, in circuit With certain of said stationary contact means, and adapted to light both upon automatic movement and upon manlual movement of said elongate member in the same direction to a switch operating position.

4. In an -electric switch, an elongate member, movable contact means supported by said elongate member, a plurality of stationary Contact means, said elongate member being supported for longitudinal movement manually in opposite directions from a normal position, movement of said elongate member in either direction from its normal position effecting cooperation between said movable contact means and stationary contact means, an energizing coil having a passage extending therethrough, a magnetic core slidably disposed Within said passage, said magnetic core having a bore through which said elongate member passes to extend to each side of the core, means operatively connecting said elongate member to said magnetic core for automatic movement thereby in one direction from its normal position to a switch operating position upon energization of said energizing coil, resilient means operative on said elongate member and exerting its bias to resist automatic movement thereof in said one direction and resist manual movement in the same direction and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position both after a manual operation and on deenergization of said coil, a second resilient means for resisting manual movement of said elongate member in the other direction and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position, a lamp carried by said elongate member, in circuit with certain of said stationary contact means, and adapted to light both upon manual and automatic movement of said elongate member in said one direction to a switch operating position, said movable contact means and said lamp being carried by said elongate member at opposite sides of said core, and a translucent housing means provided on said elongate member for containing said lamp, the housing means adapted to be grasped to effect the manual actuation of said elongate memberin opposite directions from its normal position.

5. In an electric switch, a housing' comprising a cylindrical casing, an insulating structure secured to said casing at one end thereof and havlng a contact chamber, an elongate member, contact means sup-ported by said elongate member for movement within said Contact chamber, a plurality of stationary Contact means mounted on said insulating structure and Within said contact chamber, means for positioning said elongate member for longitudinal movement marl-g ually in opposite directions from a normal position, movement of said elongate member in either direction from its normal position Aeffecting cooperation between said movable contact means and stationary contact means, an energizing coil having a passage extending therethrough, a magnetic core slidably disposed within said passage and itself having a bore, said elongate member adapted to pass through said lbore in said core to extend beyond each end thereof, with a portion extending into said contact chamber to support said movable contact, means operatively connecting said elongate member to said magnetic core for automatic movement thereby in one direction from its normal position to a switch operating position upon energization of said energizing coil, resilient means operative on said elongate member and exerting its bias to `resist automatic movement thereof in said one direction and resist manual movement in the same direction and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position both after a manual operation and on deenergization of said coil, a second resilient means for resistingmanual movement of said elongate member in the other direction and adapted to return said elongate member to its normal position, a lamp carried by said elongate member, in circuit with certain of said stationary contact means, and adapted to light both upon manual and automatic movement of said elongate member in said one direction to a switch operating position, said lamp being carried by the elongate member exteriorly of the housing and on the side of the core opposite that at which the movable contact is carried, said elongate member having a recess in its end within which said lamp is positioned and a longitudinally extending bore running from said recess the length of the elongate member, an electrical conduit disposed in said longitudinally extending bore and electrically conected to said lamp, and a translucent housing provided on said elongate member Within which said lamp extends, said housing adapted to be grasped to effect manual actuation of said elongate member in both directions from its normal position.

LAWRENCE J. BORDELON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i-lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,438,727 Schwagermann Dec. 12, 1922 1,700,890 I-Iodgkins et al. Feb. 5, 1929 1,839,629 Williams Jan. 5, 1932 2,069,382 Morton et al. Feb. 2, 1937 2,234,954 Bergman Mar. 1'8, 1941 2,304,608 Smythe Dec. 8, 1942 2,335,283 Johnson Nov. 30, 1943 2,373,587 Martin-Hurst Apr. l0, 1945v 2,423,387 Johnson July 1, 1947 2,430,189 Schellman Nov. 4, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 677,960 France Mar. 17, 1930