US2900466A - Electric switch with miniature toggle mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 18, 1959 G. B. BENANDER ET AL 2,900,466

ELECTRIC SWITCH WITH MINIATURE TOGGLEJ MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 29, 1957 729/ Af/amgy I Aug. 18, .1959 G. B. BENANDER ET AL 2,900,466

' ELECTRIC SWITCH WITH MINIATURE TOGGLE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 29, 1957 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fire/#0: 620/ e 5 fic/ra/rden 14/ 6/ M Jeb/r. M of m 726/? A/fdf/rg ELECTRIC swrrc wITH MINIATURE TOGGLE MECHANISM George B. Benauder and Luther M. Sheldon, Oaklawn,

R.I., assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 29, 1957, Serial No. 699,614

6 Claims. (Cl. 200-67) 'The present invention relates to electric toggle switches and particularly to such switches with a miniature toggle mechanism that will provide space for pressure-lock terminals of the type taught in the Benander Patent No. 2,705,785, which is assigned to the same assignee as is the present invention.

- In the wiring device industry there is what is known :as the interchangeable line of devices which are mounted in a single mounting strap. For instance, a single strap might support a single outlet, a toggle switch and a pilot light. Many other combinations of these three devices may also be used. In all cases the interchangeable devices are of minimum size so that the mounting strap carrying the three devices can be installed in a single electrical boxwith suflicient room for accommodating the many lead wires that would be attached to the devices.

In recent years pressure-lock terminals have been substituted for the standard screw terminals in many wiring devices. The present invention represents a miniaturization of the toggle mechanism of an electric toggle switch so that pressure-lock terminals can be accommodated within a switch housing for use in the interchangeable line.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an electric switch with a miniature toggle mechanism of narrow dimensions so that pressure-lock terminals may be combined within the switch housing.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electric switch with a simplified toggle mechanism whereby a coil spring is used to join the trigger and flapper of the switch.

The switch of the present invention has a hollow housing of insulating material with a manually-operable trigger pivotally mounted by means of trunnions on the opposite side walls of the housing. The lower end of the trigger has a downwardly-extending pin with a small slot formed in the bottom portion to receive the upper end of a movable flapper that is to be operated by the trigger. This flapper is of thin insulating material formed in the shape of a heart with an upper extension fitted into the slot of the trigger. A coil spring is slipped over the upper extension and is telescoped over the lower end of the trigger to form a flexible connection between the trigger and flapper. Side abutments are included on the lower pin of the trigger to serve as stop means that will hold the spring in compression and give this toggle mechanism a snap action. The bottom wall of the housing has a narrow concave track extending lengthwise of the housing so that the pointed bottom end of the flapper may be supported and guided therein. A pair of spring contact blades are arranged at one end of the housing to be on opposite sides of the track. The insulating flapper carries a bridging contact in the form of a rivet or eyelet that connects the spring contact blades when the flapper is forced between the blades as the trigger moves to one of its extreme positions.

1 Our invention will be. better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an electric toggle switch embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the switch of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional, elevational view through the longitudinal center of the switch showing the trigger in the Off position.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional, elevational view similar to that of Figure 3 with the trigger shifted to the On position and showing in dotted lines the approximate position of the trigger beforethe flapper begins its flight into the closed circuit position.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the recessed base which forms the major portion of the switch housing for enclosing the toggle mechanism.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional, elevational view of the switch housing of this invention taken on the line 66 of Figure 5 to show the manner of supporting the pressure-lock terminals.

Referring in detail to the drawing and in particular to the exploded view of Figure 2, the switch housing comprises a recessed base 10 that is generally rectangular in plan view. This base has side walls 11, end walls 12, bottom wall 13 and an open top wall 14. This top wall 14 is closed by a removable cover member 15 that fits snugly into the interior of the base and rests on the su porting posts 16 formed on the interior of the end walls 12.. The cover plate 15 includes a raised collar 17 on its top surface. The collar encircles an opening 18 in the cover for receiving a manually-operable trigger 19 therethrough. The trigger 19 has a pair of trunnions 20 that rest on the partitions 21 formed on the interior of the side walls 11 of the base. These trunnions 20 are confined in a pair of complementary notches 22 cut in the side of the cover plate 15 as is clearly seen in Figure 1. A metal mounting strap 25 is. fastened over the cover and to the end walls 12 of the base to hold the switch housing intact, as will be well understood by those skilled in this art.

The pressure-lock terminals will now be discussed to lay the groundwork for the thesis that there is very little space available in the switch housing for the toggle mechanism. The space factor is a crucial one which emphasizes the importance of the miniature toggle mechanism disclosed and claimed herein. Looking first at the plan view of the base 10 of Figure 5, it should be understood that the base is divided into three chambers by a parallel pair of longitudinally extending partitions 27. The chamber 28 between the partitions 27 is provided for accommodating the toggle mechanism which will be described in detail hereinafter. The remaining two chambers 29 and 30 extend along the sides of the base for accommodating the spring contact blades 31 and the pressure-lock terminals 32 as best seen in Figure 2. Two separate contact blades 31 are shown, and each blade has a contact ing tip 33 at one end and a terminal plate 34 at the opposite end. The end posts 16 of the base are T-shaped in plan view, each post cooperating with a vertical slot 35 in the side walls 11 for receiving the terminal plates 34 of the contact blades.

Lead wires must be connected to the terminal plates 34 of the contact blades 31 before the switch can be used to control an electric circuit. This is accomplished by means of the pressure-lock terminals 32 previously mentioned. Each such terminal has a spring locking tongue 36 that is seated on the bottom wall 13 of the base. The free end of the locking tongue 36 overlies a wire-receiving opening 37 in the base while the opposite end is formed at a re-i entrant angle as at 38 and is braced against the projec- 4. A toggle switch comprising a hollow housing having three compartments extending lengthwise of the housing, the two outside compartments each containing the terminal end of a spring contact blade and a pressurelock terminal means including a spring locking tongue for attaching a bare conductor to the contact terminal, the said contact blades extending in a parallel manner into the central compartment to form the fixed contacts of the switch, and a snap acting toggle mechanism arranged in the central compartment and including an insulating flapper of thin plate construction with a pointed lower end that is supported in and guided by a narrow groove in the bottom wall of the housing, the flapper carrying a bridging contact that extends therethrough for engaging both of the contact blades when the flapper is forced therebetween.

5. A toggle switch as recited in claim 4 wherein the narrow groove in the bottom wall of the central compartment of the housing is a deep well with a longitudinally concave track on which the flapper is supported, the flapper being of heart shape with the pointed end bearing on the track for sliding movement.

6. A toggle switch as recited in claim 5 wherein the flapper has an upper extension with a close-fitting coil spring thereover, the said toggle mechanism comprising the flapper, the coil spring and a pivoted trigger, the lower end of the trigger having a narrow slot receiving the upper end of the flapper extension, one end of the coil spring being enlarged and telescoped over the lower end of the trigger to establish a flexible connection between the flapper and trigger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,977,078 Meuer Oct. 16, 1934 2,276,673 Schellenger Mar. 17, 1942 2,795,677 Slater June 11, 1957 2,818,479 Volk Dec. 31, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,776 Great Britain Jan. 14, 1904 of 1903 545,567 Great Britain June 2, 1942 582,208 Germany Aug. 10, 1953

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