US3102179A - Liquid contact switch - Google Patents

Liquid contact switch Download PDF

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Publication number
US3102179A
US3102179A US748061A US74806158A US3102179A US 3102179 A US3102179 A US 3102179A US 748061 A US748061 A US 748061A US 74806158 A US74806158 A US 74806158A US 3102179 A US3102179 A US 3102179A
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Prior art keywords
chamber
gas
mercury
switching
serving
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Expired - Lifetime
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US748061A
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English (en)
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Hermeyer Robert
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Individual
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Individual
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H61/00—Electrothermal relays
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H29/00—Switches having at least one liquid contact
    • H01H29/28—Switches having at least one liquid contact with level of surface of contact liquid displaced by fluid pressure

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an arrangement for switching on, off or over in electrotechnical apparatus, preferably in such as used in high frequency communication technique.
  • switches in the immediate vicinity of the components, e.g. electric circuits, to be attested by the switching process so as to avoid conductor extension leading to undue and uncontrollable coupling within the wiring and also to prevent the use of additional resistors and reactances.
  • control knobs used to perform switching must be readily accessible and in substantially every case, disposed on a front panel of the apparatus.
  • Hydraulic equipments are a particular form of mechanical arrangements for remote control. Such an equipment for actuating electrical components which perform switching is disclosed in the German Patent No. 816,431.
  • a switching device which allows for switching operation at any place remote from the control knob and which is free 3-,lll-2,l79 Patented Aug. 27, 1963 "ice from the above mentioned disadvantages of the conventional arrangements. More particularly, such a device should comprise a single lightweight unit, which can be manufactured easily and economically and be employed in any fixed installation as well as under vehicle service conditions, i.e. where relatively high speeds are involved.
  • the object of the invention is to provide a device for switching on, off or over in electrotechnical apparatus, preferably such as used in high frequency communication technique, the electrically conductive parts of said device consisting of a metal which is liquid at the operating temperature and lies in an insulating walled chamber under the influence of a controllable gas pressure that causes said metal to be displaced in such a manner that a conductive connection between the leads passed through said insulating walls is selectively established or interrupted.
  • control of gas pressure is ensured,- according to the invention, by means of an electric heater which causes the temperature of the gas enclosed in a gastight chamber to vary. If said heater is connected to a heating current source via connecting leads and a remote switch, it causes the gas filling within the chamber to warm up so that pressure increases.
  • the electrical energy supplied for warming up the gas is fully utilised, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by providing a wir-eor strip-shaped heater and accommodating the same within the chamber in such a manner that it is wholly surrounded by gas.
  • a'reflecting coating such as a gold layer, can be deposited on portions of the inner walls of the chamber, at least on such portions where the heater radiates.
  • the use of a reflecting coating has the advantage that heat is thus concentrated for the major part on the gas mass enclosed, so that efficiency of the device is increased. Moreover, the portions of the insulating body outside the reflecting coating are prevented from being heated up through heater radiation, with the result that response velocity of the arrangement is increased while heat lag and inertia in resuming the initial condition are reduced.
  • thermal lag switches for regulating room temperatures are already known, which function like mercury or liquid thermometers and respond to the temperature of the surroundings. These devices are also provided with contact means which close or re-open, for example owing to the displacement or extension of a mercury column in response to the room temperature. Said contact means are used however to switch on and off the heating of the room where the thermal lag switch is placed. On the other hand, such arrangements have not been used heretofore to switch in, ofl or over in electrotechnical apparatus.
  • the heater comprising an electrical stripor wire-shaped conductor is bent in U-shape and placed in such a manner that the relatively long limbs of the U lie on both sides of the axis of the substantially cylindrical chamber.
  • a tube which is narrow as compared with the width of the chamber and is partly filled with mercury.
  • two contact means are inserted through the wall of the narrow tube at a distance from each other which is slightly smaller than the length of the mercury column.
  • the tube containing the mercury column is provided at the end thereof remote from the first mentioned chamber containing the gas to be heated with a second, smaller, gas-filled chamber whose volume is calculated so small on account of the gas pressure appliedwhich is preferably higher than the atmospheric pressure-that the resilience constant given by the gas elasticity in said second chamber and determinative for displacements of the mercury column is sufficiently high to prevent any surface. positioned so as to make contact with theterminal 9 3 undesirable contact making resulting from vibrations, e.g. in vehicles, without, however, unduly increasing response sensitivity with respect to heat power and response time.
  • Thread-shaped stoppers are suitably introduced into the ends of the tube containing the mercury column so as to prevent mercury from flowing out and entering the chambers.
  • said stopper may comprise a glass thread.
  • said stopper may comprise a metal wire, preferably platinum wire, which serves simultaneously as a terminal.
  • a particularly simple and economical construction of the arrangement according to the invention involves an insulating body made of glass. Said arrangement can then be manufactured according to the technique known for thermometers. It can be so designed as to be held in any place without any particular supporting means, only'by its connecting wires and be soldered with said wires as a component in a circuit wiring.
  • the filling gas may be nitrogen or an inert gas, in order to avoid oxidation.
  • the invention relates also to a circuit comprising a' plurality of devices of the aforedescribed type, wherein the heaters of the various devices to be actuated simultaneously are parallelor series-connected.
  • a circuit comprising a' plurality of devices of the aforedescribed type, wherein the heaters of the various devices to be actuated simultaneously are parallelor series-connected.
  • Such'a circuit may also be so designed that the device according to the invention is located in the vicinity of the circuit to be switched by means of the mercury contact, but at any desired distance from the switch closing its heating circuit.
  • FIG. 1 is a preferred form of embodiment of a device according to the invention, shown in cross-section;
  • FIG. 2 is a modification of the device of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is an end view of the device of FIG. 2.
  • FIG 1 there is illustrated a device according to the invention in a magnified scale. Although the drawing has not been accurately dimensioned, itwill be noted that a practical embodiment manufactured for testing purpose was about ten times smaller than the illustration of FIG. 1.
  • the reference 1 denotes an elongated cylindrical glass body having a chamber 2 at one end thereof. From said chamber there extends in the upward direction a tube which is substantially narrower than the chamber itself.
  • the chamber 2 is filled with a gas which may be nitrogen and is under normal atmospheric pressure or preferably higher. pressure.
  • Within the chamber 2 there is arranged a U-shaped electrical conductor 4 comprising a resistance wire. The ends of said conductor are connected to the lead-in wires 5 and 6 which are tightly sealed in known manner in the glass body.
  • the reference 7 denotes the reflecting coating applied to the inner surface of the chamber 2. Said coating may be produced e.g. by spreading burnished gold and annealing the same at 600 C. for obtaining a reflector
  • the mercury column 8 within the tube 3 is but not yet with the upper terminal 10, as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the upper end of the tube 3 is widened into a second chamber of small volume 12.
  • the gas filling said second chamber may be the same as in the first chamber 2.
  • the filling pressure determines the degree of elasticity of the spring means constituted by said chamher and said filling gas. In turn, the degree of elasticity determines the amount of shock resistance, i.e. the
  • a switching device having a lished by causing a heating current to flow through the heater 4. This results in the filling gas contained in the chamber 2 being heated up without any substantial rise of temperature at the outer walls of the insulating body 1, since the reflecting coating 7 prevents heat from radiating. outwardly.
  • the gas pressure in the chamber 2 is increased so that the mercury column overcomes the gas pressure in the chamber '12 and is forced'upward to establish contact between the terminals '9 land 10'.
  • a glass thread 1-1 connected at the lower end thereof to the glass body 1, has its upper end slightly projecting into thelower end of the tube 3 in such a manner as to prevent mercury from flowing olf while providing for the flowing up of the gas from the chamber 2.
  • the terminal wire 10 serves at the same time as a stopper limiting the upper position of the mercury surface.
  • FIGURE 2 illustrates an arrangement comprising a switching device according to the invention,.whe rein however the gold reflector 7 on the inner side of the, chamber 2 has been omitted.
  • the purpose of the gold reflector 7 of FIGURE 1 was to avoid warming up of the chamber walls resulting in switching delays.
  • the same effect is now achieved in the arrangement of FIGURE 2 by surrounding the portion of the device containing the chamber 2 by a good heat conductor body closely in contact with said portion.
  • said body forms a heat sink comprising a clamping coller 22 which serves at the same time to support the tubular body of the switching device.
  • a remote control switch comprising a housing of insulating material, a first and a second chamber insaid housing, said first chamber havinga greater volume than said second chamber, a quantity of gas in each of said chambers, said gas being filled at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, a substantially straight, narrow capillary bore communicating with said chambers, an electric heating device in said first chamber, [at least two electrical contacts extending into said bore, a switching mercury column for the contacts in said bore normally positioned in suspended state and serving as a bridge for the contacts, gas pressure of the second chamber serving as a cushion for the mercury and serving rapidly to 're turn the mercury to its normal position after the heating reflected metal layer on the inner wall of said first chamher to increase the switching speed by reflecting the radiated energy from said heating device onto said gas.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Thermally Actuated Switches (AREA)
  • Constitution Of High-Frequency Heating (AREA)
  • Control Of Motors That Do Not Use Commutators (AREA)
US748061A 1957-08-09 1958-07-11 Liquid contact switch Expired - Lifetime US3102179A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE1957T0013981 DE1114893C2 (de) 1957-08-09 1957-08-09 Schalter mit je einem gasgefuellten Hohlraum an den Enden eines fluessiges Metall enthaltenden Rohres

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3102179A true US3102179A (en) 1963-08-27

Family

ID=7547502

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US748061A Expired - Lifetime US3102179A (en) 1957-08-09 1958-07-11 Liquid contact switch

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US3102179A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
BE (1) BE570153A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CH (1) CH363397A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE1114893C2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB840207A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
LU (1) LU36323A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
NL (1) NL230347A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3176101A (en) * 1959-03-20 1965-03-30 Telefunken Ag Liquid contact switch with auxiliary heating means
US3329787A (en) * 1965-08-02 1967-07-04 Napor Corp Temperature and level sensor with heater and heat transfer means
DE2728238A1 (de) * 1976-07-01 1978-01-05 Ibm Gasbetaetigter schalter
JP3050526B2 (ja) 1995-12-13 2000-06-12 韓國電子通信研究院 ラッチ（ｌａｔｃｈｉｎｇ）型熱駆動マイクロリレー素子
CN109585188A (zh) * 2018-12-29 2019-04-05 韦明肯 一种温差气控开关设计

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3249722A (en) * 1963-09-24 1966-05-03 Jr John E Lindberg Electrical relay employing liquid metal in a capillary tube that is wet by the liquid metal

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2046578A (en) * 1935-05-03 1936-07-07 Vapor Car Heating Co Inc Thermostat
US2106756A (en) * 1935-10-03 1938-02-01 John A Obermaier Liquid level change detector
US2178487A (en) * 1936-12-12 1939-10-31 Menozzi Giuseppe Device for signaling the presence of illuminating gas in inhabited premises
US2329614A (en) * 1942-07-08 1943-09-14 Honeywell Regulator Co Timing device
US2621268A (en) * 1949-07-04 1952-12-09 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Connecting device of the liquid manometer type
US2644058A (en) * 1951-02-09 1953-06-30 Loosli Hermann Heat-controlled liquid switch

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE316352C (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) *
DE300482C (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) *
DE339953C (de) * 1920-05-18 1921-08-22 Ottomar Kasperowski Selbsttaetiger, elektrischer Daemmerungs-Lichtschalter
DE627105C (de) * 1934-03-09 1936-03-09 Ver Eisenbahn Signalwerke G M Quecksilberschalter, insbesondere fuer UEberwegsignale im Eisenbahnsicherunggswesen
BE478928A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1943-12-06
CH248942A (de) * 1943-12-16 1947-05-31 Ebbesen Grue Olav Quecksilberkontaktröhre.
DE828567C (de) * 1948-12-14 1952-01-17 Siemens Ag Gasdurchlaessiger Koerper, insbesondere fuer Ausgleichsdrosseln von Quecksilberschaltrohren bei Thermoblinkern o. dgl.
US2596825A (en) * 1949-02-17 1952-05-13 Vapor Heating Corp Mercury column thermostatic switch

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2046578A (en) * 1935-05-03 1936-07-07 Vapor Car Heating Co Inc Thermostat
US2106756A (en) * 1935-10-03 1938-02-01 John A Obermaier Liquid level change detector
US2178487A (en) * 1936-12-12 1939-10-31 Menozzi Giuseppe Device for signaling the presence of illuminating gas in inhabited premises
US2329614A (en) * 1942-07-08 1943-09-14 Honeywell Regulator Co Timing device
US2621268A (en) * 1949-07-04 1952-12-09 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Connecting device of the liquid manometer type
US2644058A (en) * 1951-02-09 1953-06-30 Loosli Hermann Heat-controlled liquid switch

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3176101A (en) * 1959-03-20 1965-03-30 Telefunken Ag Liquid contact switch with auxiliary heating means
US3329787A (en) * 1965-08-02 1967-07-04 Napor Corp Temperature and level sensor with heater and heat transfer means
DE2728238A1 (de) * 1976-07-01 1978-01-05 Ibm Gasbetaetigter schalter
JP3050526B2 (ja) 1995-12-13 2000-06-12 韓國電子通信研究院 ラッチ（ｌａｔｃｈｉｎｇ）型熱駆動マイクロリレー素子
CN109585188A (zh) * 2018-12-29 2019-04-05 韦明肯 一种温差气控开关设计

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE570153A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE1114893B (de) 1961-10-12
DE1114893C2 (de) 1974-02-14
GB840207A (en) 1960-07-06
NL230347A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
LU36323A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CH363397A (de) 1962-07-31

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