US3018354A - Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches - Google Patents

Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches Download PDF

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Publication number
US3018354A
US3018354A US848028A US84802859A US3018354A US 3018354 A US3018354 A US 3018354A US 848028 A US848028 A US 848028A US 84802859 A US84802859 A US 84802859A US 3018354 A US3018354 A US 3018354A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
mercury
contact
tin
copper
switches
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US848028A
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Jr Charles E Pollard
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
AT&T Corp
Original Assignee
Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to NL255854D priority Critical patent/NL255854A/xx
Priority to NL126656D priority patent/NL126656C/xx
Application filed by Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc filed Critical Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc
Priority to US848028A priority patent/US3018354A/en
Priority to DEW28451A priority patent/DE1147647B/de
Priority to FR839791A priority patent/FR1274696A/fr
Priority to GB34136/60A priority patent/GB929669A/en
Priority to BE596077A priority patent/BE596077A/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3018354A publication Critical patent/US3018354A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/06—Contacts characterised by the shape or structure of the contact-making surface, e.g. grooved
    • H01H1/08—Contacts characterised by the shape or structure of the contact-making surface, e.g. grooved wetted with mercury

Definitions

  • This invention relates to electric switches and particularly to such switches in which metallic material in liquid form is used as a medium through which circuit contina ty is effected.
  • Switches of the kind under consideration are often called mercury switches because of the common use of this material as the liquid contact medium.
  • a mercury switch may take several forms, there is disclosed for illustrative purposes one of the mercury contact type as in Patents 2,609,464 to J. T. L. Brown and C. E. Pollard, Jr. and"2,868,926 to C. E. Pollard, Jr.
  • This object is attained in accordance with a feature of this invention by using a solution of mercury, copper and tin as the contact medium.
  • the reed switch illustrated comprises an envelope or housing 10, which may be of glass.
  • envelope or housing 10 which may be of glass.
  • spaced pole-piece terminals 11 and 12 of magnetic material are sealed.
  • the facing inner ends of the terminals 11 and 12 are provided with contacts 13 and 14, respectively, which may be of platinum or platinum and nickel.
  • the opposite end 10b of the envelope 10 has a metal tube 20 extending through and sealed therein.
  • a part of the tube within the envelope has a flared or cup-like portion 20a. Contained within this cup portion and designated 21 is a quantity of the mercury-copper-tin solution previously noted. There may be an excess of this solution surrounding the cup.
  • a reed or swinger of magnetic material such as Permalloy, is secured to the cup a as at 15a and has a looped portion 15b within the cup.
  • the reed 15 may atent O 3,018,354 Patented Jan. 23, 1962 ICC be advantageously coated with nickel to improve its mercury wettability.
  • An energizing coil 22 shown schematically in the drawing, surrounds the envelope 10.
  • the liquid contact medium may comprise the mercury, tin and copper in various proportions.
  • suitable nonsticking contacts have been made with 6.0 milligrams of tin and 0.3 milligram of copper in 0.1 cubic centimeter of mercury.
  • the lower limit of copper useful for the intended purpose is not clearly defined, although 0.25 milligram of tin and 0.3 milligram of copper in 0.1 cubic centimeter of mercury attained the desired result.
  • the upper limit for copper appears to be 0.05 percent and that for tin about 0.5 percent by weight.
  • the lower limit for tin appears to be about 0.01 percent by weight.
  • the maximum amount of tin and of copper or less of either or both down to a minimum beyond which the desired effect is not achieved.
  • the minimum of copper may be none at all provided sufficient tin is used.
  • an agent for wetting the con tacts comprising a mercury-tin-copper solution.
  • an agent for wetting the contacts comprising a mercury-tincopper solution.
  • An electric switch having movable circuit controlling elemenrts housed in a sealed insulating envelope, and a pool of mercury-tin-copper solution in said envelope.
  • An electric switch in which circuit continuity is maintained by way of contacts wetted by a liquid contact material comprising tin in an amount up to 0.5 percent by weight and copper in an amount up to 0.05 percent by weight dissolved in mercury.

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  • Contacts (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Switches (AREA)
US848028A 1959-10-22 1959-10-22 Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches Expired - Lifetime US3018354A (en)

Priority Applications (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL255854D NL255854A (en)) 1959-10-22
NL126656D NL126656C (en)) 1959-10-22
US848028A US3018354A (en) 1959-10-22 1959-10-22 Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches
DEW28451A DE1147647B (de) 1959-10-22 1960-08-26 Elektrischer Schalter mit durch eine Quecksilber-Loesung benetzten Kontakten zur Verhinderung des Kontaktklebens
FR839791A FR1274696A (fr) 1959-10-22 1960-09-28 Interrupteur à contacts mouillés non collables
GB34136/60A GB929669A (en) 1959-10-22 1960-10-05 Improvements in or relating to electric switches
BE596077A BE596077A (fr) 1959-10-22 1960-10-17 Dispositifs pour empêcher le collage dans des contacts a mercure.

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US848028A US3018354A (en) 1959-10-22 1959-10-22 Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3018354A true US3018354A (en) 1962-01-23

Family

ID=25302148

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US848028A Expired - Lifetime US3018354A (en) 1959-10-22 1959-10-22 Means for preventing contact sticking in mercury contact switches

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3018354A (en))
BE (1) BE596077A (en))
DE (1) DE1147647B (en))
FR (1) FR1274696A (en))
GB (1) GB929669A (en))
NL (2) NL126656C (en))

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3114811A (en) * 1961-11-16 1963-12-17 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Reduction of sticking of mercury-wetted contacts
US3343110A (en) * 1965-05-28 1967-09-19 Int Standard Electric Corp Adhesive relay
US3356813A (en) * 1965-06-02 1967-12-05 Nippon Electric Co Mercury sealed contact switch
US3431377A (en) * 1967-03-03 1969-03-04 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Mercury contact switch having an alloy contact
US4311769A (en) * 1979-02-21 1982-01-19 Andreev Oleg M Mercury contact
US6979789B1 (en) 2005-03-21 2005-12-27 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Switches having wettable surfaces comprising a material that does not form alloys with a switching fluid, and method of making same
US11309140B2 (en) * 2019-01-04 2022-04-19 Littelfuse, Inc. Contact switch coating

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2319259A (en) * 1941-10-29 1943-05-18 Wilson H A Co Contact
US2732459A (en) * 1953-09-21 1956-01-24 pollard
US2796495A (en) * 1953-12-23 1957-06-18 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact elements

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2547536A (en) * 1951-04-03 Formation of a surface easily

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2319259A (en) * 1941-10-29 1943-05-18 Wilson H A Co Contact
US2732459A (en) * 1953-09-21 1956-01-24 pollard
US2796495A (en) * 1953-12-23 1957-06-18 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact elements

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3114811A (en) * 1961-11-16 1963-12-17 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Reduction of sticking of mercury-wetted contacts
US3343110A (en) * 1965-05-28 1967-09-19 Int Standard Electric Corp Adhesive relay
US3356813A (en) * 1965-06-02 1967-12-05 Nippon Electric Co Mercury sealed contact switch
US3431377A (en) * 1967-03-03 1969-03-04 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Mercury contact switch having an alloy contact
US3491219A (en) * 1967-03-03 1970-01-20 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Mercury switch having at least one contact preformed from an alloy containing nickel,copper and tin
DE1690535B1 (de) * 1967-03-03 1970-12-23 Western Electric Co Quecksilberschalter
US4311769A (en) * 1979-02-21 1982-01-19 Andreev Oleg M Mercury contact
US6979789B1 (en) 2005-03-21 2005-12-27 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Switches having wettable surfaces comprising a material that does not form alloys with a switching fluid, and method of making same
US11309140B2 (en) * 2019-01-04 2022-04-19 Littelfuse, Inc. Contact switch coating
US20220122784A1 (en) * 2019-01-04 2022-04-21 Littelfuse, Inc. Contact switch coating

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE596077A (fr) 1961-02-15
NL126656C (en))
FR1274696A (fr) 1961-10-27
DE1147647B (de) 1963-04-25
NL255854A (en))
GB929669A (en) 1963-06-26

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