US2644866A

US2644866A - Pressure responsive mercury switch

Info

Publication number: US2644866A
Application number: US169106A
Authority: US
Inventors: Winifred J Turnupseed; Harley E Turnupseed
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-06-20
Filing date: 1950-06-20
Publication date: 1953-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 1970-07-07

Description

y 7, 1953 w. J. TURNUPSEED. ETAL 2,644,866

PRESSURE BESPONSIVE MERCURY SWITCH Filed June 20, 1950 Winifred J. Tumupseed Harley E. Turnupseed INVENTORS BY flaw...

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Patented July 7, 1953 PRE SSUREIRESPONSIVE MERCURY SWITCH Winifred J L Turnupseed, Porterville, and Harley E. Turnupseed, Tulare, Calif;

Application June20, 1950, Serial No..169,10.6

4'Claims'. (Cl. 200-453) a This invention relates to the class of electrical switches, and particularly to a' time delay switch using a fluid conductor such as mercury for. closing a pair of; electrical contacts to completeanele'ctrical circuit.

An object of this invention is to. provide a switch having a container for. a fluid conductor such as mercury therein, which container is provideo. with a baffle for determining the time necessary for the passage of'the fluid conductor a housing in which a pressure responsive diaphragm I2 is mounted. The diaphragm is controlled by the pressure applied through the confrom one portion of. the switch to another so. as

to control the time between the actuation of. the. switchand the closing. of apair of. electrical con,

tacts locatedth'erein, and, to further control the time between the de-activation of the switch and the time at which the. fluid conductor will pass to a chamber opposed to.. the chamber where the. contacts are in so as to openthe circuits. between the contacts. I

A further object. of. this invention is to provide pressure actuated means for actuating the mercury switch. which. include a. spring pressed roller 28.. Also mounted on the. housing Illby. suitable rivets or bolts 36- is a bracket. 3.2.. towhich.

link mechanism, operatively secured. to a pressure responsive diaphragm and to the container of the. fluid conductor.

Still. further. objects of' the invention reside in. the provision of. a mercury switch. that is.

strong, durable, highly efficient. in operation, simple. in construction and manufacture; flowacting, relatively. easy to, manufacture having the ability to be manufactured in difierent sizes that at given. ranges of, time delay, and which mercury switch is comparatively inexpensive.

These, together. with. various ancillary objects of the invention which will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, are attained by this mercury switch, a preferred. embodiment. of which has been illustrated in. the-accompany ing drawings, by way of example, whereinz.

Figure 1 is a side view with parts being shown in; section of the mercury switch in a. position with the mercury tube. at rest with. the fluid.

conductor in such position as to permit an open circuit. between the contacts in the switch;

Figure 2; is a side elevational view with parts being shown in section to show the invention more clearly, and with the mercury tubein an at rest position with the contacts closed;

Figure 3: is avertical sectional view as taken along line. 3-3 in Figure l Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line4-4' in Figure 1'; and

Figure 5 is. a perspective view of the bafilewhich is. secured in the container for the liquid and which comprises one element of the present invention.

With continuing. reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like. reference numerals designate similar parts. throughout the. various duit I4 operatively connected thereto. .Pivotally connected to the diaphragm is a rod l6 which is threaded as at [8 and which passes through. the housing l0. By means of nut 21! and spring, 22.

the amount of movement-of the diaphragm [2.

relative to the pressure applied through. the conduit M can be adjustably controlled.

By means of a bracket 24 there is pivotally mounted and connected to the diaphragm i=2 an arm 26 which has rotatably mounted. thereon a a substantially L-shapedworker arm 34 is. pivotally attached by a pivot pin 35. arm 34 is riveted or otherwise attached to a clamp like member 36 which encompasses and rigidly holds a container portion 38 of, a. fluid conductor or mercury switch. having. a pair of spaced contacts 40 and.

The clamp 36 consists of. two

portions

44 and 46 which by means, of, bolt 48 and: nut 50: are

7 held together in-an embracing relationship about the container 38. A coiled. spring 52 is terminally secured. to the. arm 26 and to, the bracket 32 and continuously urges the roller 28 into'engagement withv the beveled end 54 of the worker arm 34. Another tension spring 56 is terminally attached to the worker arm 34and to the bracket 32.fo-r. continuously urging the worker armdownwardly and selectively urging the. worker arm 34 into engagementwith the. roller 28.

The. contacts 4-2 and 49' extend through the end wall. 58. which is formed from a suitable in-- sulative material. 7 The, container-38 is. filled witha-suitable fluid-conductor such as mercury (land has a bafile or partition 82 secured therein thus effectively. dividing the container into two compartments. There isprovided an aperture. 64

in the baflie 62 for. effectuating a' passageway for 1 An opening the mercury 60 through. the baflie. 66 in the bafiie is providedior the passage of air to. compensate for the now of. the fiuidconductor. Y

The operation of; this time. delayedaction mercury switch is asfollows:

When the=pressurefrom the pressure" conduit spring 56. as; shown in Figure 2. When the pressure. in=. the conduit. I4 is reduced below this critical point, the diaphragm arm 26 willmovedownward with the rollcrili! engaging the point 54 of' the arm 34. After the roller 28 passes the dead" center of the end 54 of the worker arm 34; the

worker arm 34. changes its. positionvery quicklymovingthe: mercury tube. to the raised position with the heel 12 of the arm 34 in contact with the The. worker 3 stop 14 limiting the upward movement of the point 54 as shown in Figure 1. The contact end of the mercury tube is raised and the mercury passes through the opening 64 at a substantially slow rate thus permitting the circuit between the contacts 4|] and 42 to remain closed for a suitable delay until enough mercury passes into the opposite portion of the container 38 thus opening the circuit.

When pressure in the line 14 again achieves the critical pressure, the pivoted arm 26 moves upwardly and when the pivoted roller passes the dead center line as before the worker arm is actuated so as to return the mercury tube to back its, normal position as shown in Figure 2. The mercurypasses slowly back through the aper-. ture 64 and after a suitable delay closes the circuit between the

contacts

40 and 42.

It is to be understood that this particular type of mercury switch can. be changed to operate many time-given ranges of time-delay, by changing the size of the hole '54, by changing thesize of the baiile 82, by changing the size of the mercury tube 38, by increasing the amount of mercury or by suitably positioning of the contacts .40 and 42.

It is to be further understood that this type of mercury switch can operate through open contacts at high pressure and to close the contacts at low pressure or vice versa.

Since from the foregoing the construction and advantages of this mercury switch are readily apparent and further description is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not intended to limit the invention to the precise embodiment shown and described but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be readily resorted to which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. In a pressure responsive switch assembly having a tiltable container partially filled with mercury, a pair of contacts in said container adapted to be closed by the mercury in one position of the switch, and a bafile wall in said con-- tainer provided with a passageway for producing a delayed operation, a pressure responsive means for tilting said container, comprising a pressure responsive diaphragm, and means for completely tilting the mercury switch when the pressure responsive diaphragm is moved to a predetermined extent, said last named means including a member pivotally mounted on said diaphragm and responsive to the movement of the diaphragm, a roller rotatably secured on said member, a worker arm attached to said container and provided with a pointed end, and means to maintain engagement between said worker arm and said roller for tilting said container completely as soon as the pointed end of the worker arm passes from one side of the roller to the other side during the movement of the diaphragm.

2. For use in a pressure responsive mercury switch assembly having a mercury switch provided with a container partially filled with mer cury and a pair of circuit controlling contacts closed by the mercury when the switch is tilted, a bailie wall in said container provided with a mercury passageway and a vent aperture for delaying the flow of mercury within the container, thereby producing a time delay between invention, what is A a tilting of the container and the closing of the contact, means for tilting said container completely in response to pressure variation exceeding a predetermined value, said means comprising a pressure responsive diaphragm, an arm pivotally connected with said diaphragm and performing a movement proportional to the diaphragm movement, said arm carrying a roller rotatably secured to the same, a housing for the pressure responsive device, a worker arm of substantially L-shape pivotally secured to the housing, said worker arm being rigidly connected to said container, andbeing adapted to engage said roller, means continuously urging said roller into engagement with said worker arm and other means selectively urging said worker arm into engagement with said roller, and means operatively connected to said diaphragm and said housing for adjusting the movement of the diaphragm for controlling the pressure at which said diaphragm is moved to the extent required for the actuation ofsaid mercury switch. a

3. For use with a tilting type switch, a pressure responsive tilting mechanism comprising;

a housing, a pressure responsive diaphragm mounted in said housing, an arm pivotally at tached to said diaphragm, said housing having, a slot therein, said arm extending through said, slot, an upstanding bracket mounted on said.

housing, a working arm mounted for limited pivotal movement on said bracket, means biasing said working arm into one position, a, clamp,

on said arm adapted to support a switch means on said arm, means biasing said first mentioned arm toward said bracket, a roller journaled on said first mentioned arm, a beveled end on said working arm, said roller engaging said beveled,

end to determine the position of said working arm.

4. For use with a tilting type switch, a pressure responsive tilting mechanism comprising;

a housing, a pressure responsive diaphragm mounted in said housing, an arm pivotally attached to said diaphragm, said housing having a slot therein, said arm extending through said, slot, an upstanding bracket mounted on said' housing, a working arm mounted for limited pivotal movement on said bracket, means biasing said working arm into one position, a clamp on said arm adapted to support a switch means on said arm, means biasing said first mentioned arm toward said bracket, a, roller journaled on said first mentioned arm, a beveled end on said 7 working arm, said roller engaging said beveled end to determine the position of said working arm, biasing means yieldingly urging said diaphragm in one direction.

WINIFRED J. TURNUPSEED. HARLEY E. TURNUPSEED.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS