US2951925A

US2951925A - Coaxial switch

Info

Publication number: US2951925A
Application number: US823929A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert F Stewart
Original assignee: GENERAL COMMUNICATION CO
Current assignee: GENERAL COMMUNICATION CO
Priority date: 1959-06-30
Filing date: 1959-06-30
Publication date: 1960-09-06
Anticipated expiration: 1977-09-06

Description

Sept. 6, 1960 R. F. STEWART COAXIAL SWITCH Filed June 50, 1959 United States COAXIAL swrrcn Robert F. Stewart, Wayland, Mass, assignor to General Communication Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 30, 19 59, Ser. No. 823,929 I 8 Claims. c1: 2005-153 It is another object of the invention to provide a coaxial switch that is simple to make andtooperate.

It is anotherobject of the invention to provide a coaxial switch wherein a minimum of electrical discontinuity is introduced between the selected lines.

It is another object of the invention to provide a coaxial switch that is reliable in operation and has a relatively long service life. r

. The novel features of the invention togetherwithfu'r- Patent ther objects and advantages thereof will become apparent from the following detailed description and the drawing' to whichit refers;

In the drawing;

Fig. l is a view' of a' vertical sec 'tio'n of the switch according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a view of part of the switch similar to the way it is shown in Fig. 1 but with the switch actuating element in a different angular position, and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 4 showing a modification of this part of the switch in accordance with the invention.

With reference now to the drawing, it will be observed that the coaxial switch according to the present invention has a body 11 of conductive material wherein two intersecting

passageways

12 and 13 are formed. The first passageway 12 extending from left to right in Fig. 1 is circular in section in the regions where it passes out of the body, and essentially rectangular in section inbetween. Also it will be observed that the left half of this passageway is offset slightly with respect to the right half.

Disposed at the ends of this passageway are a pair of female coaxial connectors having outer shells 14, inner conductors 15 and supports 16 for their inner conductors. The supports have the shape of a washer and are made of an insulating material such as Teflon. Each outer shell is provided with external threads and its associated innerconductor is bored for approximately one-half its length.

Also, it has a series of longitudinal slots in it. In this way the connectors are adapted for use with standard type N fittings, well known to those skilled in the art.

The opposed ends of the inner conductors 15 are each provided with a horizontal slot 18, and to keep the inner conductors from turning so that these slots remain horizontal, positioning pins 19 are provided. The pins 19 are driven into aligned holes in the inner conductors and the supports therefor. Disposed in the slots 18 are

inner conductor elements

21 and 22 formed of strips of resilient material such as Phosphor bronze. The corners of the strips are bevelled in order to make a smoother transim 2,951,925 Patented Sept. 6, 1960' 2 i tion from the round to the rectangular or strip line region and for this same reason, inner conductors 15 are of reduced diameter where they project inwardly beyond the supports. Also they are tapered slightly beginning at a point approximately midway between the supports and their opposed ends. The

elements

21, 22 may be held in place in any convenient manner as by the rivets' 23 shown in Fig. 2. As best shown in Fig. 1, the

elements

21, 22 are long enough so that they overlap one another to a slight degree, but owing to the way in which the two halves of the passageway 12 are offset, there is no tendency for these elements to come together. They are, however, adapted to come in contact with the inner conductor 24 of a standard type N female fitting disposed in one end of the passageway 13, and designated generally by the numeral 25. A spacer ring 26 abuts the inner face of the connector for purposes of electrical connection to the actuating element of the switch 27, as will appear more clearlyhereinafter.

More particularly, the actuating element 27 is seen to have theishape of a portion of a hollow cylinder, that is, a sleeveor-collar with a-substantial portion thereof cut away. It is disposed in the passageway 13 coaxially about the inner conductor 24 at right angles to the inner conducting

elements

21 and 22. At its end remote from the connector 25, the element 27 is mounted in a bearing for rotation about its axis. A controlshaft 28 is rigidly'fastened to this end of the element to position'it. At its other end, the element 27 carries a small radial flange 29. Between the flange and the spacer ring is a spring contact 31, and on the opposite side of the flange bearing against the body. itself is anotherspring contact 32. In addition to providing a good electrical contact or ground for the preload the shaft axially.

The operation of the coaxial switch according tothe invention will best be understood with reference to Figs. 1 ,andi4'. In Fig. 4 the elem'ent 27 is positioned by means of the shaft 28 so as to provide clearance for the lefthand inner conducting element 21 to come in contact with the inner conductor 24. At the same time, the right-hand inner conducting element 22 is held away from the inner conductor 24 by the actuating element 27 and caused to contact raised portion 33 on the switch body. This effectively grounds the inner conducting element 22 at this point. As is apparent, the actuating element also serves as an outer for the conductor 24, which effectively isolates the non-selected arm. Now if the element 27 is rotated, inner conducting element 21 is caused to move away from the conductor 24 as shown in Fig. 4. With further rotation, element 21 is adapted to come in contact with its associated raised portion 33 on the body, while inner conducting element 22 is adapted to come in contact with the conductor 24. As is likewise by now apparent, therefore, the switch condition is determined by the angular position of element 27.

In Fig. 5 there is shown the same interior portion of the switch as Fig. 4 shows except that in Fig. 5 a modified form of actuating element 27 is employed together with a strip-shaped inner conductor 24'. Actuating element 27 is seen to have a cylindrical outer surface with a portion cut away like element 27 but inside it is more nearly rectangular to accommodate the strip-shaped inner conductor. In this way it is possible to make use of a connector for the common arm which is very much the same both mechanically and electrically as that provided for element 27 atthis point, contacts'31, 32 also serve to the selectable arms.

described herein by way of example, but rather it should be deemed to be limited only to the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: V

1. A switch for selectively interconnecting coaxial lines, said switch comprising a conductive body provided with intersecting passageways, means to connect electrically the outer conductors ofsaid coaxial lines to said body, a first and a second resilient inner conductor disposed in spaced relation to one another in a first of said passageways, means to support the remote ends of said first and second inner conductors in cantilever and to connect them electrically to the respective inner conductors of a first and second of said coaxial lines, a third inner conduc tor disposed in the other of said passageways substantially at right angles to said first and second inner conductors, said third inner conductor being adapted to be contacted by said first and second inner conductors, means to connect electrically said third inner conductor to the inner conductor of a third of said coaxial lines, and a hollow actuating'element having/a cylindrical outer surface and being disposed around said third inner conductor, said actuating element being rotatably mounted and having a portion of its surface cut away to provide clearance for a selected one of said firsttand second inner conductors to contact saidthird inner conductor while holding away fromsaid third inner conductor the non-selected one of said first and second inner conductors.

- 2. A switch according to claim 1 wherein the portion of said first'passagewa'y leading from said third inner conductor in one direction is offset slightly with respect to the remaining portion leading from said inner condoctor in the opposite direction. a

3. A switch according to claim 1 wherein said actuatin element is adapted to divide said firstpassageway into two isolated portions, the one containing said first inner conductor, and the other containing said second inner conductor.

4. A switch according to claim 3 wherein said body includes a contactor portion, and the non-selected one of said first and second inner-conductors is urged into contact with said contactor portion by said actuating element.

5. A switch for selectively interconnecting coaxial lines,

said switch comprising a conductive body provided with intersecting passageways, means to connect electrically the outer conductors of said coaxial lines to said body, a first and a second inner conductor formed of strips of resilient material and disposed in spaced relation to one another in the first of said passageways, said first of said passageways having a rectangular sectional shape in the regions surrounding said first and second inner conduc tors, means to support the remote ends of said first and second inner conductors in cantilever and to connect them electrically to the respective inner conductors of a first and second of said coaxial lines, a third inner conductor disposed in the other of said passageways substantially at right angles to said first and second inner conductors, said third inner conductor being adapted to be contacted by said first and second inner conductors, means to connect electrically said third inner conductor to the inner conductor of a third of said coaxial lines, and a hollow actuating elementhaving a cylindrical outer surface and being disposed around said third inner conductor, said actuating element being rotatably mounted and having a portion of its surface cut away to provide clearance for a selected one .of said first and second inner conductors to contact-said third inner conductor while holding away the non-selected one of said first and second inner conductors.

6 A switch according to claim 5 including means to maintain electrical contact between said actuating element and said body on both sides of said first passageway.

7. A switch according to claim 5 wherein said first and second inner conductors have bevelled corners.

8. A switch according to claim 5 wherein said third inner conductor is formed of a strip of relatively rigid material and said actuating element has essentially plane inner surfaces related orthogonally.

References Cited in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,427,940 Ayres Sept. 23, 1947 2,859,311 7 Concelman Nov. 4, 1958