US2913641A - Regulator relay - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 17,1959 1 L. 'A. Ric-E 2,913,641

` REGULATOR RELAY Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 L. A. RICE REGULATOR RELAY v Nov. 17, 1959 Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 SheetsSheet 2 INVENToR. L man A. Rice.

Nov. 17, 1959 1 .'A. RICE 2,913,541

REGULATOR RELAY Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 5

JNVENToR. Lyman A. Rice H is A/omey L.. A. RICE REGULATOR RELAY Nov. 17, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 18, 11.955

INVENTOR. Lyman A. Rice BY Attorney United States Patent O REGULATOR RELAY Lyman A. Rice, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General VMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Deiaware This invention relates to electrical relays and is more particularly directed to relays of the type which have springbiased armatures and areresponsive to small variations in current or voltage and is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 371,133, led July 29, 1953, now Patent No. 2,840,768.

This invention is particularly adapted to be vused in connection with the current and voltage relays as are employed in a regulator which controls the output of a generator or alternator in a battery charging system of an automotive vehicle. These regulators generally include a base and a cover which is secured to the base and encloses a cut-out relay, a current regulator relay and a voltage regulator relay all of which are mounted on the base which in turn is secured in an accessible location on some portion ot the vehicle. When the regulators of the type herein contemplated are used, it has been found desirable to change the settings of the relays so that the output of the generator may be varied to increase or de crease the battery charging rate to compensate for diurnal and annual variations in conditions under which the vehicle is operated, for instance, it is well known that a higher charging rate is generally desirable in winter and when the vehicle is subjected to a high percentage of night operation and a lower charging rate is desirable for summer operation or ifthe vehicle is operated primarily during daylight.

Heretofore when an adjustment of a regulator was found necessary, it has been the practice to remove the protecting cover in order that the operator could, with suitable tools, alter the tensionv or position of the spring of the relay. Such adjustments are rather unsuccessful, especially when attempted by unskilled mechanics. The settings of the regulator relays are critical and are factory pre-adjusted and unless these adjustments are made by a skilled mechanic using proper tools and test equipment, damage will frequently result to the generator, battery or other components of the electrical system of the vehicle. The purpose of the present invention is to overcome these difficulties by providing la spring tension device for a regulator relay that may be pre-adjusted for average vehicle operation during manufacture, which adjustment may be varied by an unskilled person without difiiculty by using the non-critical adjustment means for altering the current or voltage setting of the regulator without removing the regulators protective cover.

An object of lche present invention is to provide manually operable means for closely adjusting the regulator in an easy manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a Vernier adjustment means for the voltage regulator which extends through an enclosure for the regulator relays and moves a member within the enclosure for controlling the spring tension of the relay.

Further objects and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a pre- ICC rferred embodiment of the present invention vis clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional view of the cover and'side elevational view of the improved tension device used on Va voltage regulator. 4

Figure 2 is an end view taken on line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tension device as used on a voltage regulator.

Figure 4 is a view of a regulator with avportion of the cover and base broken away exposing a modified form of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a view taken along lines 5-5 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the tension device according to the present invention and shown in Figure 4.

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the tension device shown in Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings and to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, a voltage regulator or circuit breaker Vis mounted on a base 21 from Vwhich extend side anges 22 and 23 and end ilanges 24. The end anges 24 terminate in -notched ears 25 adapted to receive suitable securing devices, not shown, for attaching the base to any suitable support. The side liange 22 has suitable spaced `openings to receive terminal plates 26, one for each instrument mounted on the base. One 4of the terminal plates 26', for the voltage regulator, is insulatingly supported from the 4base 21 by insulating strips 27.

The base 21 carriesa magnet assembly 28 that includes a core 30 having a lpole piece 31 and a bracket 32 snpporting a connector 33 to which on'e end of a` winding 34 is attached at 35. 'The connector 33 supports la fixed Contact 36 which cooperates with a movable contact 37 carried by an armature plate 38; The armature plate 38 has an arm 39 extending at right angles from the plane of the plate. The armature plate supports a spring hinge 40 and a plate 41. The armature plate 38, the hinge 40, and the plate 41 are secured together by rivets 42. The spring hinge 40 extends beyond the plate 41 and has two spaced tongues 4.3A that are secured by rivets or by welding to spaced ears or" a' magnet frame 44 disposed adjacent to the magnet assembly. The magnet frame 44 includes an Iarm 45 secured to the base 21 by an extension of the core 3i) which passes through an opening in the base and riveted against the underside of the base 21. The plate 41 is provided with a hook or spring seat 46 supporting one end of a spring 47, the other end of the spring is attached to a spring seat 48 of a movable bracket 50, which moves parallel with `an arm 51 of the magnet frame 44. When assembled as explained, the spring 47 urges the armature in a clockwise direction to maintain the contacts 36 and 37 in closed position with a predetermined force, The spring force by which the contacts 36, 37 are kept in engagement can be varied by the adjustment of spring 47 and thus determine the magnetic force that must be de veloped in the magnet assembly for separating the contacts 36, 37.

Referring to Figure 3 the bracket 50 is stamped from sheet metal and bent to form a U-shaped end to include a base 52 and spaced ears 53 and 54 having aligned apertures 55 and 56 respectively. The aperture 55 is larger thanvthe aperture 56. The ear 53 has an extension 57 which has the hook 48 rigidly attached thereto. The other end of the extension 57 is notched at 58 to provide tines or prongs 61 which straddle an arm 62 of a bracket 65 of sheet metal. v

The bracket has a base portion 66 provided at one end with outwardly extending ears 67 having tapped openings. One of the ears is bent slightly toward the other ear so that the tapped openings are slightly out of axial A 66 and spaced from arm 51-of the magnet frame to permit the tines or prongs 61 to straddle the arm 62 and guide the movable bracket in its up and down movements as viewed in Figure 3. The base 66 of the bracket 65 is secured to the arm 51 in any suitable manner. In the present instance the base is spot welded to the arm 51 as indicated at 70.

In the present instance the bracket 1s located above the movable bracket 50, but it is to be understood the 'bracket 65 could be located below the bracket with the arm extending upwardly. The tapped opening in the ears 67 receive a screwdriver slotted screw 71 in binding relation. The lower end of the screw 71 has a plain cylindrical portion 72 and a reduced extension 73 to profvide a shoulder 74.

The tension of the spring may be varied, to modify the -movement of the armature 38 by the adjusting screw 71.

This is accomplished by having the shoulder 74 rest on the ear 54 so as to move bracket 50 downwardly as the screw is threaded downward, as viewed in Figure 3. Since the threads of the screw 71 have a binding effect with the threads of the tapped openings in ears 67 the screw 71 is held firmly in any adjusted position.

The armature carries the contact 37 for engagement with the contact 36. A tongue 75 is bent upwardly from the bracket 32 to provide a stop for the armature. As is obvious the tongue stop 75 limits the movement of the armature toward the pole piece 31 of the core 30.

In Figuresv 4 to 7 of the drawings another form of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the various portions of the regulator relay may be constructed and arranged as described in the preceding embodiment or the relay may be similar to the relay disclosed in patent application Serial No. 425,085, now PatentV No. 2,842,634, as tiled by Lyman A. Rice on April 23, 1954, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In the Rice application a disclosure of a method and apparatus for adjusting the air gap between contact points 102 and 104 is set forth. In other respects like numerals refer to like parts as described in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, to provide for an adjustment means 106 which will vary the tension of spring 147 as will be hereinafter fully described.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings particularly, the adjustment means 106 includes a single U-shaped bracket 108 that is preferably formed of stamped metal to have a base 110 and a pair of substantially parallel arms 112 and 114. The bracket 108 is adapted to be secured by its base 110 to anV arm 151 of the magnet assembly so Ythat the spring seat 148 along edge 116 of the upper arm 112, is properly disposed relative to the hook or spring seat 146 on plate 141.

The lower arm 114, which is disposed on lbase 118 so that it is substantially parallel and spaced from the regulator base 121, has threaded openings 118 and 120 located adjacent the opposite ends. The upper arm 112 has an opening 122, preferably formed without threads, in alignment with opening 118 in the lower arm 114. The uppper arm 112 also has a slot 124 therein which slot extends from one end 119 of the arm 112 along base 110 for a substantial distance beyond spring seat 148 so that the spring seat 148 will be vertically moved a substantial distance as the end 119 is moved by the bolt 126 which extends through opening 122 and threadedly is engaged in opening 118. The movement of end 119 is occasioned when bolt 126 is threaded into or from opening 11S so that the portion of arm 112 between the base 128 of slot 124 and end 119 is stressed and bent along the longitudinal axis of arm 112. This vertical movement of seat 148 will cause the tension on spring 147, which is hooked between spring seats 146 and 148, to be 2,918,641,V AH.

4 varied to modify the movement of the armature 138 and thus provide a factory setting which is used during manufacture or service adjustments for setting the regulator so that the points 102 and 104 will be closed until the core of the magnet is suiciently excited by current passing therethrough.

Another feature of the present invention includes an external adjustment for the tension spring 147. This is accomplished b-y providing a screw 171 with the long threaded extension 173 which Will extend through the openings 180 in the base 121 and opening 120 in the arm 114 so as to be in contact with arm 112. A lever 181 can be attached to the headed portion of screw 71 in any suitable manner and can be actuated or moved by hand or by a tool from one end to the other end of a slotted opening 182 in the side ange 123 of base 121. When the lever 181 is so moved, the threaded extension 173 will be rotated in the threaded opening 120 and cause the end 174 of the threaded end 173 to move vertically a small distance and bore against the portion of arm 112 which is partly defined by the base 128 of slot 124 and end 175 of bracket 112. As clearly seen in Figure 6, the end 174 of screw 171 engages the arm 112 at apoint that is spaced from base 110. Thus as the end 174 is vertically moved, a stress is applied on the material of arm 112. The arm is stressed along an axis transverse to base 110 and the material of the arm portion between edge 116 and the base 110 is bent so the hook 148 will be caused to move vertically to minutely change the tension on spring 147.

An important feature of the present invention is to provide the screws 71 and 171 with the long extensions 73 and 173 which will extend through openings 80 and of the bases 121 and 21. Levers 81 and 181 can be attached to the extensions 73 and 173 in any suitable manner and can be actuated by a hand or tool from one end to the other in openings ` orvslots 82 and 182 in the side anges 23 and 123. The circuit controller is normally set at the factory to give satisfactory results for normal driving conditions. The normal position of the lever is generally positioned in the mid-position of the slot. During operation of the voltage regulator, the Voltage regulator limits the voltage in a charging circuit to a safe value thereby controlling the rate of the generator in accordance with the requirements of the battery and the current consuming electrical units which are in circuit with the battery. When the battery is partly discharged, the generator output is near maximum, but as the battery comes up to charge and the current requirements of the other electrical units are small, the voltage regulator operates to limit the voltage thereby reducing the generator output. This protects the battery from overcharge and the electrical system from high voltage.

The voltage regulator as shown in Figures l to 3 of the drawings consists of two windings 34 and 75. The voltage or shunt Winding 75 consists of a plurality of turns of tine wire connected so that generator voltage is impressed uponit at all times. The series winding 34 is of fewer turns of heavy wire and carries the generator held current directly to ground when the contacts 36 and 37 are closed.l Y

It is frequently desirable to change the amount of current which is supplied to the storage battery depending upon the amount of day and night driving of an automobile. When it is desired to increase the voltage, say one-half volt, the external adjustment lever is ttu'ned in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3 and'6 until the lever engages the end of the proper slot 82 or 182. This operation increases the tension in springV 47 or 147 and thus increases the generator output voltage. If it is desired to decrease the voltage the lever is turned in a counterclockwise direction until the lever engages the opposite end of the proper slot 82 or 182. This operation decreases the tension of theV armature spring 47 or 147 and thus lowers the generator output voltage. The

f turning of the screw can be accomplished without removing the cover. lffurther adjustment is necessary the cover is removed and lever must be removed from the extension.

The invention possesses certain advantages thatit eliminates removing the cover when itis desired to .increase or decrease one-half Volt; it further eliminates the most common method of adjusting voltage regulator, namely, the method of bending a metal part 4by a separate tool to alter the tension of the springs-47 and A147. The act of bending a metal part with a separate tool to change the tension of the spring 47 or 147 is rather diicult because it may be necessary to repeat the bending operation many times before the desired tension in the spring is obtained. In the present invention very tine Vernier adjustments may be made without difliculty to the tension of the springs to adjust the spring tension on the armature so the regulating action of the regulator can be very accurately adjusted to compensate for various operating conditions to which the vehicle may be subjected.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood-that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

l. An electromagnetic relay that is mounted on a base and enclosed by a cover when said cover is positioned on said base wherein said base has an aperture therein, comprising; a frame supporting a magnetic core and a coil winding for energizing said core, an armature hingedly carried by said frame adapted to be moved by the magnetic attraction of said core, a spring under tension having one end attached to said armature for opposing the movement of said armature by said core and means carried by said frame for varying the tension of said spring, said means including; a longitudinally extending U-shaped channel member attached by its mid-portion to the frame and having a bendable arm and a rigid arm transversely extending from said mid-portion, an anchoring means on said bendable arm for anchoring the other end of said spring, a means operatively associated with each of said arms for stressing a portion of said bendable arm along its longitudinal axis for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm, and means extending through the aperture in the base and operatively associated with said arms for stressing a second portion of said bendable arm along its transverse axis for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm.

2. An electromagnetic relay that is mounted on a base and enclosed by a cover when said cover is positioned on said base wherein said base has an aperture therein, comprising; a frame supporting a magnetic core and a coil winding for energizing said core, an armature hingedly carried by said frame adapted to be moved by the magnetic attraction of said core, a spring under tension having one end attached -to said armature for opposing the movement of said armature by said core and means carried by said frame for varying the tension of said spring, said means including; a longitudinally extending U-shaped channel member attached by its mid-portion to the frame and having a bendable arm and a rigid arm transversely extending from said mid-portion, an anchoring means on said bendable arm for anchoring the other end of said spring, means operatively associated with each of said arms for stressing a portion of said bendable arm along its longitudinal axis for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm, and means extending through said aperture and operatively associated with said arms for stressing a second portion of said bendable arm along its transverse vaxis for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm, whereby the tension on said spring may be varied from the exterior of said regulator.

3. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mounted on a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded by a winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring under tension for urging the armature away from said core, and means having -a portion thereof extending through the aperture in said base for varying the tension of said spring, said means including; a longitudinally extending U-shaped channel member vattached by `its mid-portion to the framefand having a bendable arm and a rigid arm, transversely extending from said mid-portion, an anchoring means on said bendable arm for yanchoring the other end of said spring, means operatively associated with each of said'farms for stressingV a portion of said bendable arm along Iits longitudinal axis for moving-said anchor means relative to said rigid arm over a wide range of movement, and means operatively associated with said arms for stressing a second portion of said bendable arm along an axis transverse to said midportion for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm over a small range of movement.

4. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mounted on a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded by a winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring under tension for urging the armature away from said core, a U-shaped channel member having its mid-portion secured to said frame and providing a pair of spaced arms extending from said mid-portion wherein one of said arms has a spring anchor and is slotted lengthwise so as to be bendable relative to the mid-portion and another arm rigidly formed with said mid-portion, a rst adjustment means threadedly engaging one of said arms and adapted to bear against portions of the other arm for bending said slotted arm along an axis in a plane parallel to said mid-portion for moving said spring anchor and roughly adjusting the tension of said spring, and a second adjustment means threadedly engaging the rigid arm and bearing against said bendable arm, said second adjustment means extending through the aperture in said base and adapted to bend said bendable arm along an axis in a plane perpendicular to said mid-portion for moving said spring anchor and eiecting a Vernier adjustment of the tension of said spring.

5. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mounted on a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded by a winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring under tension for urging the armature away from said core, a U-shaped channel having its mid-portion secured to said frame and providing a pair of spaced arms extending from said mid-portion wherein one of said arms has a spring anchor intermediate its ends and is slotted lengthwise from one end so as to provide a bendable portion on the other end whereby said arm is bendable relative to the mid-portion and to the other arm which is rigidly formed with said mid-portion, a irst adjustment means threadedly engaging one of said arms and adapted to bear against portions of the other arm adjacent said one end for bending said slotted arm along an axis in a plane parallel to said mid-portion for moving said spring anchor and adjusting the tension of said spring, and a second adjustment means threadedly engaging the rigid arm and bearing against the other end of said bendable arm, said second adjustment means extending through the aperture in said base and adapted to stress the bendable portion of said bendable arm along an axis in a plane perpendicular to said mid-portion for moving said spring anchor and effecting a Vernier adjustment of the tension of said spring.

6. In combination with a circuit controller having a movable armature and a spring load thereupon for varying the action of the armature, and adjusting means for said spring load, comprising in combination; a magnet frame mounted on an apertured base; a sheet metal bracket comprising a second base portion extending transversely of the frame and having a channel portion at one end providing a pair of spaced ears extending at angles to the second base portion and substantially in parallelism, said spaced ears having threaded Vapertures 'References Cited in the le of this patent therein and slightly misaligned to provide a binding effect UNITED STATES PATENTS upon a screw threaded 1n both of said apertures, sald bracket having an offset tongue at the other end thereof; 2,273,545 Valkenburg Feb' 17 1942 a spring supporting arm adapted to engage one end of 5 2765849 Lamer-*nf Mar- 17 1942 the spring and having a notched end guided by the oiset 2,296,684 Neun?? Sept- 22 1942 tongue; and an adjusting screw threaded in said ears and 2641665 'Deakm June 9 1953 adapted to be journalled in the other end of the spring v supporting arm and extending through the aperture in FQREIGN PATENTS said rst base rotatable for moving the arm toward and 10 61,541 SWltZerland June 21, 1912 from the bracket along the length of said oset tongue. 299,360 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1929

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