US3268701A - Clad electrical contacts - Google Patents
Clad electrical contacts Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US3268701A US3268701A US361821A US36182164A US3268701A US 3268701 A US3268701 A US 3268701A US 361821 A US361821 A US 361821A US 36182164 A US36182164 A US 36182164A US 3268701 A US3268701 A US 3268701A
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- contact
- electrical contacts
- blade
- clad
- bonded
- 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
Links
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 33
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 14
- DMFGNRRURHSENX-UHFFFAOYSA-N beryllium copper Chemical compound [Be].[Cu] DMFGNRRURHSENX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 5
- BASFCYQUMIYNBI-UHFFFAOYSA-N platinum Chemical compound [Pt] BASFCYQUMIYNBI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 238000003466 welding Methods 0.000 description 4
- 229910045601 alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- 239000000956 alloy Substances 0.000 description 3
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- BQCADISMDOOEFD-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silver Chemical compound [Ag] BQCADISMDOOEFD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000005219 brazing Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910052697 platinum Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 229910052709 silver Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000004332 silver Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910000906 Bronze Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 101100114416 Neurospora crassa (strain ATCC 24698 / 74-OR23-1A / CBS 708.71 / DSM 1257 / FGSC 987) con-10 gene Proteins 0.000 description 1
- 206010043458 Thirst Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 239000010953 base metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005452 bending Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010974 bronze Substances 0.000 description 1
- 150000001768 cations Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- PCHJSUWPFVWCPO-UHFFFAOYSA-N gold Chemical compound [Au] PCHJSUWPFVWCPO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052737 gold Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010931 gold Substances 0.000 description 1
- MOFOBJHOKRNACT-UHFFFAOYSA-N nickel silver Chemical compound [Ni].[Ag] MOFOBJHOKRNACT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000010956 nickel silver Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005096 rolling process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910000679 solder Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000010561 standard procedure Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01B—CABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
- H01B1/00—Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors
- H01B1/02—Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors mainly consisting of metals or alloys
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
- H01H11/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of electric switches
- H01H11/04—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of electric switches of switch contacts
Definitions
- Electrical contacts are generally made by mechanically connecting, welding, or brazing a contact button of low resistance onto a spring member which is usually beryllium-copper, phosphorus-bronze, nickel-silver, or similar material.
- the contact button is generally copper, gold, silver, platinum, alloys of these, or other low resistance materials.
- These buttons are generally mechanically connected to the spring material by riveting or staking, or are welded to the spring material by discharge welding of some sort, or are brazed to spring material by use of a soft or hard solder. These processes involve hand labor and are tedious and expensive. It is often diflicult to make a good connection between the contact button and the spring member particularly when staking, riveting, or welding. 1
- the present invention provides means and methods to utilizing bonded contact materials which are attached to the spring material in strip form as inlays or overlays.
- the contact is then stamped or in some fashion formed from the clad strip material, thus producing a spring member with a contact already attached.
- the clad materials used are metallurgically bonded to the spring, consequently do not have the disadvantages of mechanically bonded or welded items.
- a principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved type of electrical contact in a spring member combination.
- Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contacts.
- Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contacts in spring member combinations by using bonded contact material.
- Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved means and methods for making electrical contacts which eliminate the riveting, staking, welding or brazing the contact buttons on the base metal strip.
- Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved contact means wherein the resistance material is bonded to and inlaid in the base strip.
- Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contact means wherein the contact materials is overlaid and bonded onto the base strip.
- FIGURE 1 is a side view of the prior art, partly in section.
- FIGURE 2 is another side view of the prior art, partly in section.
- FIGURE 3 is another side view of the prior art, partly in section.
- FIGURE 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention.
- FIGURE 5 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention.
- FIGURE 6 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention.
- FIGURE 7 is a plan view of FIGURE 4 of the inventron.
- FIGURE 3 shows a contact material A2 welded in conventional manner onto a blade B2. Attaching contacts as in the manner of FIGURES 1' through 3- requires producing a' contact in a separate operation and attaching them I in a separate operation.
- FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 show three possible methods according to the present invention of utilizing inlaid spring material to produce contacts similar to those attached in secondary operations.
- FIGURE 7 shows a plan view of FIGURE 4.
- the first step of this invention is to produce clad beryllium-copper or equivalent by some method known in the art, as for instance, the method of bonding secondary materials to beryllium-copper as embodied in my copending application, Serial No. 367,878 entitled: Methods of Bonding Secondary Materials to Beryllium-Copper, filed May 15, 1964, or methods such as that of Sidney Siege] in Patent No. 2,767,467, granted October 23, 1956 or as shown in Patent No. 2,860,409 by Boessenkool, Easton, Durst, and Siegel, or produced by methods as in Patent No. 2,834,102 by Pflumm and Rogers or similar and other methods known to the trade.
- This material is then fabricated using a standard method such as stamping, press-forming, force slide forming, etc., to produce a blade member with the clad portion formed up by dimpling, bending, or rolling or some such similar operation so as to effectively raise the clad portion above the plane of the blade itself and thereby produce an object usable in the fashion of the prior art as shown in FIGURES 1 through 3.
- FIGURE 4 specifically shows contact material 1 raised on one surface to produce a finger contact on blade 2 which may be of beryllium-copper or other material.
- a solid sheet of material 2 is first clad with the contact material 1 by any of the methods mentioned in the above which provide bonded on inlaid material 1 on the sheet 2.
- the sheet is then formed in the area of the contact material to project the contact material above the blade of the base sheet. This may be done with a stamping die which dimples or forms a V-cross section in the area of the contact material or the sheet may be rolled through a forming device.
- the sheet is then stamped to form the individual contact blades 10, 11, 12, and so forth and is preferably perforated along the lines C-C so that the blade may be easily snapped ofl? the sheet 2.
- the contact materials may be copper, silver, platinum or any material that may be bonded onto the blade.
- Mounting holes 13, 14 and so forth are preferably stamped in the sheet at the same time that the blade members are stamped out.
- FIGURE 5 specifically shows bonded contact materials 3, 4, on blade 5 rolled over to produce a double contact usable in either direction as previously made per FIG- URE 2.
- FIGURE 6 shows another arrangement or contact materials 6, 6', 7, 7' on blade 8.
- the end of blade 8 is first clad, then split and formed to the desired shape.
- This invention also eliminates the necessity of attaehsaid base strip in either direction to form multiple ing contacts as secondary and tertiary operations. It is contact points, therefore possible to produce a blade member with a contacit ⁇ I at a redttged cost.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Manufacture Of Switches (AREA)
- Contacts (AREA)
Description
g- 23, 1966 J. c. LA PLANTE ETAL 3,268,701
CLAD ELECTRICAL CONTACTS Filed April 22, 1964 FIG 2 PRIOR ART FIG 3 Fl G 4 Q WM o 3,268,701 P Patented August'23, 1966 3,268,701 CLAD ELECTRICAL CONTACTS Jerry C. La Plante, Bayside, N.Y., and Gilbert J. Landry, West Caldwell, N.J., assignors to Alloys Unlimited Inc., Long Island City,-N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 22, 1064, Ser. No. 361,821 1 Claim. (Cl. 200-166) This invention relates to means and methods of making electrical contacts.
Electrical contacts are generally made by mechanically connecting, welding, or brazing a contact button of low resistance onto a spring member which is usually beryllium-copper, phosphorus-bronze, nickel-silver, or similar material. The contact button is generally copper, gold, silver, platinum, alloys of these, or other low resistance materials. These buttons are generally mechanically connected to the spring material by riveting or staking, or are welded to the spring material by discharge welding of some sort, or are brazed to spring material by use of a soft or hard solder. These processes involve hand labor and are tedious and expensive. It is often diflicult to make a good connection between the contact button and the spring member particularly when staking, riveting, or welding. 1
The present invention provides means and methods to utilizing bonded contact materials which are attached to the spring material in strip form as inlays or overlays. The contact is then stamped or in some fashion formed from the clad strip material, thus producing a spring member with a contact already attached. The clad materials used are metallurgically bonded to the spring, consequently do not have the disadvantages of mechanically bonded or welded items.
Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved type of electrical contact in a spring member combination.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contacts.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contacts in spring member combinations by using bonded contact material.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved means and methods for making electrical contacts which eliminate the riveting, staking, welding or brazing the contact buttons on the base metal strip.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved contact means wherein the resistance material is bonded to and inlaid in the base strip.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved electrical contact means wherein the contact materials is overlaid and bonded onto the base strip.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings of which:
FIGURE 1 is a side view of the prior art, partly in section.
FIGURE 2 is another side view of the prior art, partly in section.
FIGURE 3 is another side view of the prior art, partly in section.
FIGURE 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 5 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 6 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 7 is a plan view of FIGURE 4 of the inventron.
"sides of the'blade B1.
FIGURE 3 shows a contact material A2 welded in conventional manner onto a blade B2. Attaching contacts as in the manner of FIGURES 1' through 3- requires producing a' contact in a separate operation and attaching them I in a separate operation.
FIGURES 4, 5, and 6, show three possible methods according to the present invention of utilizing inlaid spring material to produce contacts similar to those attached in secondary operations.
FIGURE 7 shows a plan view of FIGURE 4.
The first step of this invention is to produce clad beryllium-copper or equivalent by some method known in the art, as for instance, the method of bonding secondary materials to beryllium-copper as embodied in my copending application, Serial No. 367,878 entitled: Methods of Bonding Secondary Materials to Beryllium-Copper, filed May 15, 1964, or methods such as that of Sidney Siege] in Patent No. 2,767,467, granted October 23, 1956 or as shown in Patent No. 2,860,409 by Boessenkool, Easton, Durst, and Siegel, or produced by methods as in Patent No. 2,834,102 by Pflumm and Rogers or similar and other methods known to the trade.
This material is then fabricated using a standard method such as stamping, press-forming, force slide forming, etc., to produce a blade member with the clad portion formed up by dimpling, bending, or rolling or some such similar operation so as to effectively raise the clad portion above the plane of the blade itself and thereby produce an object usable in the fashion of the prior art as shown in FIGURES 1 through 3.
FIGURE 4 specifically shows contact material 1 raised on one surface to produce a finger contact on blade 2 which may be of beryllium-copper or other material.
In making the contacts according to this method, a solid sheet of material 2 is first clad with the contact material 1 by any of the methods mentioned in the above which provide bonded on inlaid material 1 on the sheet 2.
The sheet is then formed in the area of the contact material to project the contact material above the blade of the base sheet. This may be done with a stamping die which dimples or forms a V-cross section in the area of the contact material or the sheet may be rolled through a forming device.
The sheet is then stamped to form the individual contact blades 10, 11, 12, and so forth and is preferably perforated along the lines C-C so that the blade may be easily snapped ofl? the sheet 2. The contact materials may be copper, silver, platinum or any material that may be bonded onto the blade.
Mounting holes 13, 14 and so forth are preferably stamped in the sheet at the same time that the blade members are stamped out.
[FIGURE 5 specifically shows bonded contact materials 3, 4, on blade 5 rolled over to produce a double contact usable in either direction as previously made per FIG- URE 2.
FIGURE 6 shows another arrangement or contact materials 6, 6', 7, 7' on blade 8. In this embodiment the end of blade 8 is first clad, then split and formed to the desired shape.
By use of clad material produced, as for example, by the previously listed methods, either a metallurgical or a soundly soldered bond is guaranteed between the contact material and the blade material as opposed to a mechanical or welded bond as produced by the prior art.
3 4 This invention also eliminates the necessity of attaehsaid base strip in either direction to form multiple ing contacts as secondary and tertiary operations. It is contact points, therefore possible to produce a blade member with a contacit}I at a redttged cost. be d b h h d References Cited by theExaminer any mo i cations may ma e y t ose'w o esire 5 to practice the invention without departing from the scope UNITED STATES PATENTS thereof which is defined by the following claim. 2,458,552 Blatmel' 29 155'55 W l i 2,754,393 7/ 1956 Clair 200166 An electrical contact comprising, 3,034,202 5/ 1962 Graves 200166 X a base strip composed of the alloy firom the group con- 10 sisting of berylliumacopper, phosphorusabonze, and ROBERT SCHAE'FER, U Exammert KATHLEEN H. CLAiF-FY, ROBERT s. MACON,
a strip of contact material inlaid 1n and bonded to said Examiners base adjacent one edge thereof, said edge being split,
said contact surface being raised out of the plane of 15 JONES Assistant Exammer'
Priority Applications (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US361821A US3268701A (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1964-04-22 | Clad electrical contacts |
| DE19651489625 DE1489625A1 (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1965-04-03 | Process for the production of electrical contact material |
| NL6504717A NL6504717A (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1965-04-13 | |
| FR14072A FR1430772A (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1965-04-21 | Method of making electrical contact elements |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US361821A US3268701A (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1964-04-22 | Clad electrical contacts |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| US3268701A true US3268701A (en) | 1966-08-23 |
Family
ID=23423571
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US361821A Expired - Lifetime US3268701A (en) | 1964-04-22 | 1964-04-22 | Clad electrical contacts |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US3268701A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE1489625A1 (en) |
| NL (1) | NL6504717A (en) |
Cited By (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3457383A (en) * | 1966-09-29 | 1969-07-22 | Gen Electric | Low power toggle switch mechanism |
| US3571546A (en) * | 1968-12-19 | 1971-03-23 | Texas Instruments Inc | Contact member |
| US3987264A (en) * | 1973-05-25 | 1976-10-19 | North American Specialties Corporation | Method, apparatus and product relating to electrical contact |
| US4180715A (en) * | 1978-05-05 | 1979-12-25 | Westinghouse Air Brake Company | Vital movable electricl contact arrangement |
| US4826462A (en) * | 1988-08-19 | 1989-05-02 | Champion Spark Plug Company | Method for manufacturing a spark plug electrode |
| US4980245A (en) * | 1989-09-08 | 1990-12-25 | Precision Concepts, Inc. | Multi-element metallic composite article |
| US5166481A (en) * | 1990-09-17 | 1992-11-24 | Emerson Electric Co. | Timing mechanism with improved electrical contacts |
| US5416969A (en) * | 1992-05-11 | 1995-05-23 | Alps Electric Co., Ltd. | Sliding contact producing method |
| US7972710B2 (en) | 2006-08-31 | 2011-07-05 | Antaya Technologies Corporation | Clad aluminum connector |
Families Citing this family (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE3018810A1 (en) * | 1980-05-16 | 1981-11-26 | Preh, Elektrofeinmechanische Werke, Jakob Preh, Nachf. Gmbh & Co, 8740 Bad Neustadt | PUSH BUTTON SWITCH |
| DE4020821C2 (en) * | 1990-06-29 | 2001-08-02 | Teves Gmbh Alfred | Electrical switch |
| DE19511877A1 (en) * | 1995-03-31 | 1996-10-02 | Eaton Controls Gmbh | Contact unit, especially for electrical switches |
Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2458552A (en) * | 1943-12-20 | 1949-01-11 | Bell Telephone Labor Inc | Method of making electrical contacting elements |
| US2754393A (en) * | 1952-02-14 | 1956-07-10 | Koldweld Corp | Electrical contact and method of making same |
| US3034202A (en) * | 1957-01-23 | 1962-05-15 | Gibson Electric Company | Contact for forge welding methods |
-
1964
- 1964-04-22 US US361821A patent/US3268701A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1965
- 1965-04-03 DE DE19651489625 patent/DE1489625A1/en active Pending
- 1965-04-13 NL NL6504717A patent/NL6504717A/xx unknown
Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2458552A (en) * | 1943-12-20 | 1949-01-11 | Bell Telephone Labor Inc | Method of making electrical contacting elements |
| US2754393A (en) * | 1952-02-14 | 1956-07-10 | Koldweld Corp | Electrical contact and method of making same |
| US3034202A (en) * | 1957-01-23 | 1962-05-15 | Gibson Electric Company | Contact for forge welding methods |
Cited By (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3457383A (en) * | 1966-09-29 | 1969-07-22 | Gen Electric | Low power toggle switch mechanism |
| US3571546A (en) * | 1968-12-19 | 1971-03-23 | Texas Instruments Inc | Contact member |
| US3987264A (en) * | 1973-05-25 | 1976-10-19 | North American Specialties Corporation | Method, apparatus and product relating to electrical contact |
| US4180715A (en) * | 1978-05-05 | 1979-12-25 | Westinghouse Air Brake Company | Vital movable electricl contact arrangement |
| US4826462A (en) * | 1988-08-19 | 1989-05-02 | Champion Spark Plug Company | Method for manufacturing a spark plug electrode |
| US4980245A (en) * | 1989-09-08 | 1990-12-25 | Precision Concepts, Inc. | Multi-element metallic composite article |
| US5166481A (en) * | 1990-09-17 | 1992-11-24 | Emerson Electric Co. | Timing mechanism with improved electrical contacts |
| US5416969A (en) * | 1992-05-11 | 1995-05-23 | Alps Electric Co., Ltd. | Sliding contact producing method |
| US7972710B2 (en) | 2006-08-31 | 2011-07-05 | Antaya Technologies Corporation | Clad aluminum connector |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| DE1489625A1 (en) | 1969-08-14 |
| NL6504717A (en) | 1965-10-25 |
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