US3001417A

US3001417A - Switch apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3001417A
Application number: US715302A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert F Becker; Bert L Smiley
Original assignee: Honeywell Inc
Current assignee: Honeywell Inc
Priority date: 1958-02-14
Filing date: 1958-02-14
Publication date: 1961-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1978-09-26

Description

Sept 26, 1961 R. F. BECKER ETAL 3,001,417

SWITCH APPARATUS Filed Feb, 14, 1958 INVENTORS ROBERT F. BECKER BERT L. SMILEY A TTOR/VE Y 3,001,417 SWITCH APPARATUS Robert F. Becker and Bert L. Smiley, Freeport, Ill., assignors to Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 715,302 Claims. (Cl. 74-528) The present invention is directed to a lever actuatingl arrangement, and specifically to a lever lock arrangement for a toggle or similar type switch, wherein at least one definite abrupt axial movement of a biased oscillatory operating lever is required so as to allow its movement from at least one position to another, to thereby guard against accidental movement of the actuating lever toward at least one position.

Lever actuating arrangements wherein a definite axial movement of a biased oscillatory operating lever is required before oscillation of the lever can take place are of course old in the art. Thus, Patent No. 1,012,806 discloses an arrangement wherein the operating handle can be maintained in the neutral position against accidental movement. However, with such an arrangement, a relatively large oscillation or arc of movement of the operating handle is required to operate the switches. This drawback is overcome by the teaching of Patent No. 2,409,022 wherein a plate having an irregular shaped opening is provided and associated with the operating handle and the mounting bushing so as to maintain the biased oscillatory operating lever in at least one position against accidental movement. In this patent, the lever lock arrangement is applied to a toggle switch wherein a relatively small oscillation or arc of movement of the operating handle is required. While Patent No. 2,409,022 overcomes the rather large oscillatory movement required by the teaching of Patent 1,012,806, it has the disadvantage that the switch per se cannot be easily mounted in a mounting panel due to the inclusion of the plate having the irregular shaped opening. A different approach to the problem of mounting is taken by Patent No. 2,723,571 wherein the elements which form a portion of the lever lock arrangement are disposed on the mounting bushing of a toggle switch in such a manner that they can be easily removed. With such an arrangement, the switch per se can be mounted to the panel by a single fastening means. However, to so mount the switch involves the removal of the forementioned elements from the mounting bushing which raises the problem of loose parts. Above and beyond this, the torementioned elements of the lever lock arrangement of Patent No. 2,723,571, as well as the plate of the lever lock arrangement of Patent No. 2,409,022, are so arranged with respect to the remainder of the structure as to be susceptible to damage by an external force such as through the accidental bumping thereof by heavy objects.

The lever lock arrangement, disclosed herein, comprises` a support member or housing including a mounting portion cooperable with a mounting panel and a plate or insert integrally disposed with respect to the mounting portion and having at least two distinct elevations so joined that an abrupt movement of the biased oscillatory operating lever is required to move the lever from at least one position to another. This type of construction allows -for a movement of the operating lever through but a small arc to perform its function. Further, the plate construction eliminates any loose or removable parts and, by its particular association with the mounting portion, practically eliminates the possibility of damage to that portion of the lever look arrangement caused by external lforces such as through the accidental bumping by heavy objects.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide Patented Sept. 26, 1961 a lever lock arrangement in association with support member therefor which can be mounted on a mounting panel by means of a single fastener and wherein the operating lever need be moved through but a relatively small arc to perform its function and wherein the possibility of damage to the lever lock arrangement is minimized;

It is another object of this invention to provide a lever lock arrangement as set forth above which requires the utilization of no loose or removable parts.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the reading of the following specication and appended claims wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a toggle switch incorporating the novel lever lock arrangement;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the arrangement of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a right hand View of the plate or insert of the lever lock arrangement of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a partial View of the arrangement of FIG- URE 1 showing the lever lock arrangement, and specilically showing the operating lever in one extreme position; and

FIGURE S is a View of a modiiied form or insert.

The toggle switch of FIGURES 1 and 2 is of the two pole, double throw variety and includes a support or housing 10 comprised of a base member 11 and cover member 12 appropriately aixed thereto. The cover member 12 includes a mounting portion or bushing 14 which is disposed through an opening 16 of a mounting panel 17. The toggle switch is held in place in the mounting panel 17 by the usual nuts 20, backup washer 21 and positioning washer 22.

Located within the base member `11 on a pivot member 25 is a contact arm 26 havinga plurality of

contacts

27 and 28 associated therewith which are cooperable with

contacts

29 and 30, respectively `alxed to the base member l1. The contact arm 26 is maintained in place by an outwardly biased sleeve 31 slidingly located within the opening of the large portion 32 of an operated lever 33.

Operated lever 33 pivots about pin 34 which is secured in the bushing 14. A plate or insert 4t) including a portion 41 is disposed in the opening 42 of the bushing 14 which portion is appropriately cemented thereto. Insert 40 includes por-tions of varying elevations. Thus, surface 43 can be termed as of high elevation and surface 44 of low elevation. Further, a pair of notches 45a and 45h and a pair of nibs 46a and 46h, more clearly shown in FIGURE 3, are also provided. The integral construction of the ybushing 14 and the insert 40 is such that the possibility of the insert 40 being damaged is minimized, since only a small portion thereof extends outwardly of the bushing 14 and no portion thereof extends beyond the perimeter of bushing 14.

Cooperating with the high surface 43, the low surface 44, the notches` 45a and 45h and the nibs 46a and 46h, of the insert 40 are portions of reduced cross section, in the for-rn of a pair of tangs 50, of an operating handle or lever 53. The lever 33 is disposed through a slot 48, best shown in FIGURE 3, in the insert 40 and passes into opening 54 of the lever 53, thereby being maintained in axial telescoping relationship therewith. A pin 55 is provided near the outer extremity of the lever 33 which cooperates with a washer 56 and spring 57, located in the opening 54, to bias the operating lever `53 inwardly toward the insert 40. The pin 55 is arranged to move in a slot 58 provided near the outer extremity of the opening 54 of the lever 53. A cap 59 is screwed to the outer extremity of the operating lever 53 so as to enclose the outer extremity of the lever 32; and the pin 55,

of the plate At this point it should be noted that the maximum diametrical dimension of the cap 59 is less than the minor diameter of the thread of the nuts and the inside dia-meters of the

washers

21 and 22 thereby facilitating a passing of the nuts 20 and

washers

21 and 22 over the cap 59 as desired, without further `disassembly of the arrangement. Further, the arrangemen-t ydescribed above is easily mounted on the mounting panel 17 by a single fastening means, comprised of the externally threaded bushing and the nuts 20, without encountering loose or removable parts.

To operate the switch from the neutral position, as shown in FIGURE 1, it is only necessary to pull outwardly on the operating lever 53, thereby compressing the spring 57 and causing relative axial movement between the lever 33 and the lever 53, and to oscillate the lever 53 in either direction to `an extreme position.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the operating lever 53 has been moved counter clockwise to an extreme position so that the tangs 50 engage the high surface 43 of the in-V sert 40, thereby causing, referring to FIGURE 1, the mating of the movable contact 28 with the iixed contact 30. lf it should be desired to return the switch to the neutral position, the lever 53 need merely be moved in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 4, whereupon tangs 50, will return to the notches a and 45h. Now should it be desired to cause, again referring to FIG- URE l, closure of

contacts

27 and 29, it is merely necessary to pull outwardly on the operating lever 53 against the bias of the spring 57 and to oscillate the lever 53 in a clockwise direction so that tangs are moved past nibs 46a and 4Gb. A release of the operating lever 53 will result in the -tangs 50 engaging the low surface -44 and the lever 53 being locked in this position until such time as the lever 53 is once more moved outwardly and oscillated in a counter-clockwise direction. Thus it can be seen that toggle switch can be actuated only upon axial movement of the operating lever 53. Further, it will be noted that the operating lever S3 can be returned to its neutral position only from one of its extreme positions without the necessity of an outward movement of the lever 53.

There are, of course, a number of modifications which can be made to the insert 40 so `as to have the operating lever 53 locked in any position, locked in no position but requiring an outward movement to move it to one of the extreme positions, etc. One of these modifications is shown in FIGURE 5. There, an insert is shown having a pair of

surfaces

61 and 62 of low elevation, two sets of

nibs

63 and 64 and a notch 65. With such a construction, the operating lever can be locked in the neutral position or either of the extreme positions while requiring but a small arc of movement of the lever. Further, to move the operating lever from one position to the other always requires an outward movement of the operating lever against the bias of the spring associated therewith. Other modifications are obvious and will not be presented here.

From the above, it will be recognized that a lever lock arrangement has been provided for incorporaton in a device so that mounting of the device by means of a single fastening means is easily accomplished. Further, the particular lever lock arrangement described and shown herein allows for the operation of the device by movement of the operating lever through but a small arc. Also, the lever lock arrangement is characterized by the fact that it requires no loose or removable parts nor any elements, other than the operating lever, which can be accidentally damaged by external forces'.

The scope of the invention in the lever lock arrangement set forth herein should be determined from the following claims in which, we claim:

1. The combination comprising: a switch having a casing including a mounting bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; an insert secured in said bushing, the

outer periphery of said insert being no greater than the outer periphery of said bushing; a first operated lever pivoted in said bushing and including a portion extending through said insert beyond said bushing; and a second operating lever in axial telescoping relationship with the extending portion of said rst lever, said second lever being spring biased toward `and a pointed extremity thereof engaging said insert; the portion of said insert engaged by the extremity of said second lever having at least one high surface and one low surface connected by a surface of abrupt slope as compared to the slope of said high surface and said low surface so that oscillatory movement of said first lever and said second lever about said pivot from at least one position to another requires an abrupt relative axial -movement between said levers.

2. A lever lock arrangement, the combination comprising: a housing including a bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; an insert secured in said bushing, the outer periphery of said insert being no greater than the outer periphery of said bushing; a irst lever pivoted in said bushing and including a portion extending through said insert `and beyond said bushing; and a second lever in axial telescoping relationship with the extending portion of said first lever, said second lever being spring biased toward and a reduced cross sectional extremity thereof engaging said insert; the surface of said insert engaged by the extremity of said second lever having at least two distinct elevations so that oscillatory movement of said first lever and said second lever about said pivot from at least one position to another requires an abrupt relative axial movement between said levers.

3. A lever lock arrangement, the combination comprising: a support member, including a bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; a plate secured in said bushing, the outer periphery of said plate being no greater than the outer periphery of said bushing; a rst lever pivoted in said support member and including a portion extending through said insert and beyond said bushing; and a second lever in axial telescoping relationship with the extending portion of said first lever, said second lever being resiliently biased toward and an extremity thereof engaging said plate; the surface of said plate engaged by the extremity of said second lever having at least two distinct elevations so that oscillatory movement of said iirst lever and said second lever about said pivot from at least one position to another requires an abrupt relative axial movement between said levers.

4. A lever actuating arrangement, the combination comprising: a support member including a tubular mounting portion cooperable with a mounting panel; a plate having a portion disposed and secured within said mounting portion, the outer periphery of said plate being no greater than the outer periphery of said mounting` portion; and a lever oscillatively associated with said member and biased toward and an extremity thereof engaging said plate; the surface of said plate engaged by said lever having at least two distinct elevations so that oscillatory movement of said lever from at least one position to another requires `an abrupt axial movement of said lever.

5. A lever actuating arrangement, the combination comprising: a support member including a tubular mounting portion cooperable with a mounting panel; said mounting portion having means including a portion thereof disposed and secured therein and including a surface of at least two distinct elevations, the outer periphery of said means being no greater than the outer periphery of said mounting portion; and a lever oscillatively supported by said support member and biased toward and an extremity thereof engaging the surface of said means so that oscillatory movement of said lever from at least one position to another requires an abrupt axial movement of said lever.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Lorimer Feb. 13, 1906 Buchanan Dec. 26, 1911 5 Douglas Nov. 26, 1929 Douglas June 6, 1933 Lehmann June 30, 1942 E Wagner et al May 22, 1951 Koenig Nov. 15, 1955 Sparr Apr. 30, 1957 Larkin May 12, 1959 FOREIGN A'ENTS Great Britain Dec. 7, 1955