US2800546A

US2800546A - Miniature switch

Info

Publication number: US2800546A
Application number: US463110A
Authority: US
Inventors: Reitler Paul
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-10-19
Filing date: 1954-10-19
Publication date: 1957-07-23
Anticipated expiration: 1974-07-23

Description

P. REITLER July 23, 1957 MINIATURE SWITCH 2 Sheets-Shea*l 1 Filed Oct. 19, 1954 /NVENTOR ,PAUL RE/ T 5R ATTO NEV July 23, 1957 P. REITLER 2,800,546

MINIATURE SWITCH Filed Oct. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i I /gi e 1| 5, 52 53 /Nl/E/VTO PAUL PE/TLER BV A TTORNEV Laagste Q@ Patented July 23, 1957 nur..

MHNEATURE SWETCH laul Reider, Kew Gardens, N. Y.

Application ctober 19, 1954, Serial No. 463,110

4 Claims. (Cl. Zilli-67) This invention relates to switching devices of the socalled miniature and subminiature type.

The object of the present invention is the provision of a switch mechanism of the above mentioned type which is simple and rugged in construction, cheap to manufacture and capable of effecting a great number of switching operations in a positive manner.

A novel feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a casing of insulating molded material constructed of two co-operating sections forming a housing for the switch mechanism, the sections having inter-fitting portions for readily locating wire terminals and other cooperating parts of the switch mechanism in proper relation to each other in addition to means serving for securing the two sections together, following the assembly of the switch mechanism in the housing.

Another novel feature resides in the use of one of the switch wire terminals for pivotally mounting a conductor member and a contact carrying conductor member movable in position for successively engaging contacts carried by two other wire terminals of the switch, depending upon the movement of the contact carrying conductor member as effected by the operation of means in the forni of a plunger member litted for sliding movement in one of the sections of the switch housing in co-operation with a cornpression spring compressed by the operation of the plunger member from normal to operated position.

Another novel feature of the invention resides in the pivoting of the conductor members in a manner to cause the tensioning of a spring upon the operation of the plunger member so as to cause the engagement of the contact carrying conductor member with a stationary contact at one end of the other wire terminal for normally establishing an electrical connection with a snap action, the engaged contact pressure therebetween being dependent upon the normal tension of the spring in both operating directions of the contact carrying conductor member.

Another novel feature resides in securing one end of the tension spring to one of the conductor members and to adjustable means in the housing, such means serving for hunting the switching movement of the conductor members toward their normal position effected by the action of the tension spring independently of the continued operation of the plunger member.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and by the claims appended thereto, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is an assembly view of the switching device of the invention shown in perspective,

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the plunger member in normal position and one of the contacts carried by the movable conductor member in engaged relation with the contact of one of the terminals,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is another vertical longitudinal section showing the plunger member and the conductor members actuated thereby in the operated position with the contact carrying conductor member in engagement with the contact of the second wire terminal,

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modification of the switching device of the invention showing the two sections in assembled relation, t

Fig. 7 is a front view of one of the housing sections showing the operating parts in normal position, and

Fig. 8 is a top view of a detail of the switch mechanism showing a modification of the spring tensioned by the pivotal movement ,of the conductor members for a1- ternatively engaging the contact carrying conductor member with the wire terminals with a snap action.

The switching device of the present invention, as shown in Fig. l, consists of a housing formed of two sections 1t) and 11 constructed, for example, of phenol plastic material. The section 10, which forms the cover portion of the housing, is provided with a relatively thick wall portion 12 having a cylindrical opening or bore 14 serving as a guiding element for a plunger member 13 provided for operating the switch mechanism in a manner which will be hereinafter described in detail, the plunger member being provided with a head portion so as to prevent such plunger from sliding out of the housing.

The sections and 11 are formed With substantially V-shaped registering

portions

15 and 16 at their ends for receiving the

pins

17 and 18 serving for holding the two sections in assembled relation to each other following the assembly of the switch mechanism, while the section 11 which forms the base of the housing is provided with two openings OP for receiving screws not shown serving for securing the switch to any desired operating machine part of a machine with which it may be used.

Wire terminals as 19, 20 and 2l, and a metallic bushing 22 are embedded in the molded insulating material forming the base or mounting section 11 and are thereby anchored in proper spaced relation to each other, while a bore 23 serves for housing and readily locating a compression spring 24 in coaxial alignment relative to plunger 13. The compression spring 24 is normally compressed between a conductor member 25 and the bottom of bore Z3 to serve for holding such conductor in normal nonoperated position, as shown in Fig. 2, against the T shaped head of a screw threaded stud 29 engaging the bushing 22, the other end of conductor member 25 being provided With a rectangularly shaped slot 26, best seen in Fig. 3, engaged by a similarly shaped end portion 27 of wire terminal 19, forming shoulder portions on the sides of the protruding lug 27 against which the conductor member 25 abuts to serve as a pivot for the latter.

The free end of conductor member 25, as best seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, is formed with two prong portions eX- tending lengthwise to the opposite side of the screw threaded stud 29 and are bent upwardly for engaging notches 31, formed in the prongs of a fork shaped conductor member 3) to serve as a pivot between this fork shaped conductor member and the conductor member 2S, in addition to maintaining these two members against sideway movement at this point. A tension spring 28 has one end hooked to the T-shaped screw threaded stud 29 and its other end to the forked shaped conductor member 30 a small distance from its free end, as shown, and like the conductor member 25, as above mentioned, is slotted longitudinally in a manner to permit the free movement of this conductor member on each side of spring 28 from the non-operated position, shown in Fig. 2, to the operated position shown in Fig. 4.

The fork shaped conductor member 3), at its free end, is provided on each side thereof with contact pieces 32 Vand 33 for vengaging the contacts 34 and 3S, respectively,

carried by wire terminals and 21, upon the operation of plunger 13 for pivoting the

conductor members

25 and 30 and consequently compressing the compression spring 24. Accordingl to this construction it is to be noted that the tension spring 28, which is hooked'to screw threaded stud 29 and to the conductor member 30, is tensioned to its maximum when-the conductor members and 30 are moved Vin a substantially straight line or coaxial alignment by the operation of plunger member 13 which alignment occurs when the

contacts

32 and 33 arepositioned at equal spaced relation or distance from their respective

co-operating contact pieces

34 and 35 carried by the

wire terminals

20 and 21.

Under the above mentioned condition the movement of plunger 13, to its operated position against the 'resistance of compression spring 24, is effective to move the pivotal or hinged point of

conductor members

25 and 30, passed their so-called dead -line center which causes the tension spring 2S Vto impart a continued pivotal movement to the conductor member for engaging the

contacts

33 and 35, as shown in Fig. 4, in a quick or snap action independently of the movement of plunger 13. The plunger 13 is returned to the non-operated position upon its release eiected by the compression spring 24, which, in turn, causes the pivotal movement Yof

conductor members

25 and 30 towards their normal nonoperated position and thereby reengaging the normally closed

contacts

32 and 34 under the tension of spring 28 when the conductor member 25, as shown in Fig. 2, reengages the T-shaped head of screw threaded stud 29 serving as an adjustable stop for limiting the angle formed by the conductor members and the pressure between the

contacts

32 and 34, and the switch is now ready for a succeeding operation.

In the switch construction of the present invention, an important feature is the provision of the tension spring 28 for returning the

conductor members

25 and 30 to normal, which spring may be tensioned so as to obtain any pressure contact value desired between the contacts 32-34 and 33-35, as the case may be, in the operated and non-operated positions, which applicant has found practically impossible to obtain by the use of ordinary leaf spring as practised in miniature switches now in use.

Another important feature is in the making of the

conductor members

25 and 30 as far as practical of equal length between their pivotal points and the center of the contacts 32 and 33and of making such conductor members of any desired rigidity to assure long life in operation and to avoid chatter in the closing of the contacts, while the use of pure copper in the manufacture of these operating parts has been found to considerably increase the current conducting characteristic of the switch thus constructed and possess good machinability resulting in maximum economy.

In the modication of the switch mechanism shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the housing is formed of two vertical cornplemental

lengthwise sections

40 and 41, secured in assembled relation to each other, as by

eyelets

42 and 43, through which screws-not shownmay be inserted for securing the switch to the machine part with which it may be used.

Each section is formed with registering cavities for slidably receiving the plunger member 44, the pin 45 and the

Wire terminals

46, 47 and 48, each of these terminals being provided with notches, as 49, registering with similarly shaped portions in the

sections

40 and 41 for positively holding and readily locating the wire terminals 47 and 48 in spaced relation to wire terminal 46 and thereby the

contact pieces

51 and 52 relative to

contacts

53 and 54 carried by the wire terminals 47 and 48.

In this modification, as shown in Fig. 8, the tension spring 56 is constructed in the form of a corrugated piano wire laying in plane perpendicular to the conductor members and 55 so as to permit a minimum width between the prongs of

conductor members

50 and 55, the maximum Width of which, in actual construction for practical reasons, do not exceed 'yle of an inch, while the transverse distance of the housing assembled does not exceed 1A of an inch maximum.

In the operation of the switch shown in Figs. 6 and 7, like that of the switch mechanism shown in Fig. l, the operation of plunger 44 a few thousandths of an inch from normal position is etective to move the conductor member 50 from the position shown in Fig. 7, passed the line of maximum tension of spring 56 to a point in abutment against the wall portion, as 59, of the

casing sections

40 and 41, assembled, such movement being effective to tension the spring 56 to a maximum to cause the pivotal movement of conductor member 55 independently of the operation of the plunger 44 occurring when the pivotal point of

conductor members

50 and 55 has been moved and passed beyond the so-called dead center, the

conductor members

50 and 55 being afterward returned to normal position by the then compressed spring 60, such return movement occurring following the release of plunger 44, and the switch is now ready for a succeeding operation.

What I claim is:

l. A switch mechanism comprising a base, two forked shaped conductor members or' substantially equal length hinged to each other in end to end relation, a support embedded in said base for hinging the other end of one of said conductorr members, said support extending through said base to form a wire terminal, contacts carried by the other of said conductor members at the free end thereof, a pair of wire terminals embedded in said base and extending from both sides thereof, contacts carried by said terminals disposed for successive engagement by the contacts carried by said other conductor member, a stud in said base disposed between the prongs of said forked shaped conductor members, a spring tensioned betweeny said stud and the contacts carried by said other conductor member for normally holding the latter in engaged position with the contact carried by one of said wire terminals in said pair, a plunger member operable'for actuating said hinged conductor members to another position to a point passed their dead center alignment longitudinally to cause the contacts carried by said other conductor member to engage the contact of the other wire terminal in said pair with a snap action under the tension of said spring, a compression spring disposed in coaxial relation to and compressed by the operation of said plunger'member for returning said hinged conductor members to normal upon the release of said plunger member to cause the contacts carried by said other conductor member to reengage the rst mentioned terminal with a snap action effected by said tension spring.

2. In a switching device of the miniature type, a base of molded insulating material, two forked shaped conductor members of equal length hinged to eachother at one of their ends, a terminal embedded into said base having one of its ends forming a support for pivoting one of said conductor members at its other end, contacts carried by the other of said hinged conductor members at the free end thereof, an adjustable stud in said base disposed between the prongs of said forked shaped conductor members adjacent their pivotal point, a pair of Wire terminals embedded in said base having contacts disposed for engagement with the contacts carried by said other conductor member, a spring positioned between the prongs formed by said forked conductor members and normally tensioned Vbetween said stud and said contacts carrying conductor member, said stud having means forming a stop element for controlling the pivotal movement of said hinged conductor members and the pressure between said contact carrying conductor member and one of said terminals in said pair under the ,tension of said spring, a plunger member operable for actuating said singed conductor members to cause said contacts carrying conductor member to engage the other of said Wire terminals with a snap action under the tension of said spring, a compression spring disposed in coaxial relation to said plunger member and compressed by the movement of the latter for actuating said hinged conductor members for reengaging said contact carrying conductor member with the rst mentioned wire terminal with a snap action effected under the tension of the rst mentioned spring upon the release of said plunger member and means formed in said base forming a guide element for said compression spring.

3. In a switching device of the miniature type, a mounting, a pair of wire terminals fitted in said mounting having contacts disposed in superposed spaced relation to each other, another wire terminal fitted in said mounting having one of its ends forming a hinge element, a conductor member having one end hinged to said element and its free end terminating in the form of a fork, a stud member fitted in said mounting in position between the prongs of said forked conductor member, another conductor member'having a forked end pivotally engaging the fork shaped end of the Iirst mentioned conductor member and having contacts at its free end for alternatively engaging the contacts carried by the Wire terminals in saidpair, a tension spring disposed between the prongs of said conductor members having one end hooked to said stud and its other end to said contacts carrying conductor member adjacent the free end thereof, said spring being tensioned to normally cause the engagement of one of the contacts carried by the last mentioned forked conductor member with the contact of one wire terminal in said pair, a plunger for actuating said conductor members against the tension of said spring to cause the engagement of said contact carrying conductor member with the contact of the other wire terminal in said pair, a compression spring, guiding means for said compression spring formed in said mounting in coaxial alignment with said plunger and compressed by the movement of the latter for returning said pivoted conductor members to normal to cause the reengagement of the contacts carrying conductor member with the first mentioned wire terminal with a snap action effected by said tension spring, and stop means formed with said stud engaged by the conductor member hinged to said wire terminal for stopping the movement of both of said conductor members in normal non-operated position.

4. A switching device of the miniature type comprising a mounting, a Wire terminal embedded into said mounting and having one of its ends forming a hinge element, a pair of forked shaped conductor members of equal length hinged to each other, one of said members having its opposite end pivoted to the hinge element of said wire terminal and the other of said conductor members having contacts at the free end thereof, a pair of wire terminals embedded into said mounting having contacts disposed for successive engagement by the contacts at the free end of the last mentioned conductor member, a bushing embedded in said mounting, a T shaped screw threaded stud engaging said bushing and forming a stop element, a tension spring having its ends hooked to the last mentioned conductor member and to said T shaped stud between the prongs of said hinged conductor members and normally tensioned for holding said hinged conductor members pivoted against said stop element in position to form an obtuse angle to cause a contact of the contacts carrying conductor member to engage the contact of one of said wire terminals with a pressure depending upon the adjusted position of said T shaped stud and the action of said tension spring, a plunger member for actuating said hinged conductor members for reversing the angle formation thereof to cause the other contact of the contacts carrying conductor member to engage the contact of the other wire terminal with a snap action, a compression spring disposed in coaxial relation to said plunger member and compressed by the operation of the latter for returning said hinged conductor members to normal position for reengaging the first mentioned terminal with a snap action eiected by said tension spring upon the release of said plunger member, and means formed in said mounting for holding said compression spring in said relation.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,326,874 Meuer Aug. 17, 1943 2,486,033 Kaminky Oct. 25, 1949 2,518,255 Roeser Aug. 8, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 598,487 Germany June 11, 1934 484,966 Canada July 15, 1952