US3452165A

US3452165A - Timer with means for sequential switch operation

Info

Publication number: US3452165A
Application number: US687869A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roger David Rulseh
Original assignee: AMF Inc
Current assignee: AMF Inc; Paragon Electric Co Inc
Priority date: 1967-12-04
Filing date: 1967-12-04
Publication date: 1969-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 1986-06-24

Description

June 24, 1969 R. D. RULSEH 3,452,165

TIMER WITH MEANS FC R SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet of 4 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 R RULSEH 3,452,165

T IMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 FE G. 5 Fl G. 8

7 INVENTOR.

5 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 R. D. RULSEH 3,452,165

TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 INVENTOR. --/2 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 RULSEH 3,452,165

' TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967 Sheet 4 of 4 F I V, A F I G INVENTOR. RQGER D. RULSEH AGENT United States Patent 3,452,165 TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Roger David Rulseh, Two Rivers, Wis., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 687,869 Int. Cl. H01h 7/08, 43/10 US. Cl. 20039 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A timer with means for sequential switch operation in which the timer operating mechanism causes a first switch actuation, and has a rotating threaded member and a resilient member which contacts the threaded member to delay a second switch actuation until the resilient member is deflected off the end of the threaded member by its rotation.

This invention relates generally to timers with multiple switch control capabilities and more particularly to the mechanism thereof to derive sequential and/ or momentary switch actuation.

Timers having a motor driven dial with positionable ON and OFF trips for operating the timer mechanism to actuate selectively a single switch or a plurality of switches in unison during each revolution of the dial is well known in the art. It is also old to provide a timer with duplicate mechanisms each for actuating a separate switch.

However, up to now the available timers or time switches could not provide satisfactory sequential switch actuation with a minimal time delay, nor momentary switch actuation with a single timed or sequential switch actuation. Many and varied timer constructions have been proposed but were found to be costly, cumbersome, subject to malfunction, inaccurate and/or generally inadequate to meet the requirements dictated by proposed embodiments therefor.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a timer capable of providing minimal time delay sequential switch actuation with or without momentary switch actuation which hereinafter will be termed differential switch actuation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing timer which is accurate, not readily subject to malfunction and has means to accurately provide with facility a minimal time delay between sequential switch actuations.

And another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoing timer which is relatively inexpensive, of rugged construction and embodies a minimum of duplication of its mechanism.

The present invention contemplates a timer having motor means, a dial connected for rotation to the motor means and having ON and OFF trips positionable thereon, a snap action operator means movable between two detented positions by said trips, a pair of actuators connected to the operator means and moved in response to 3,452,165 Patented June 24, 1969 ice its movement each for actuating a different switch, the operator means providing a bias to move one of the actuators when the operator means moves from one of its detented positions to the other, and with said motor means providing a restraint acting against the bias and delaying movement of the one actuator for a predetermined period of time.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the detailed description which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein several embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration purposes only and are not to be construed as defining the limits of the invention.

FIGURES 1 and 2 are front and rear elevational views, respectively, of a timer made in accordance with the present invention,

FIGURES 2A, 2B and 2C are fragmentary elevational views illustrating various other positions of the operating mechanism of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 4 and 5 are elevational views, partly in section, taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3 illustrating part of a trigger operating assembly under two different conditions,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of a timer made in accordance with the present invention embodying various modifications of the mechanism of FIG- URE 2,

FIGURES 6A, 6B and 6C are elevational views, similar to FIGURES 2A, 2B and 20, respectively, of the mechanism of FIGURE 6,

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view, similar to FIGURE 3, taken on line 7--7 of FIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of a modification of the delay spring of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG- URE 1, at timer or time switch assembly 10 is provided with a fiat plate mounting panel 11, and a fiat terminal board 12 of a dielectric material which is generally coplanar with the mounting panel 11. The terminal board 12 is connected to the lower portion and projects below the bottom edge of the mounting panel 11.

A dial assembly 14 and a snap action switch operator or trigger assembly 20 are mounted on panel 11 and are substantially the same as the dial assembly 6 and operator assembly 11, respectively, which are fully disclosed in my copending application, S.N. 433,9l6 which was filed Feb. 19, 1965 and issued Jan. 30, 1968 as US. Patent No. 3,366,801. The timer 10 does not include the day omit and photoelectric mechanisms of my earlier application noted above only because such mechanisms form no part of the present invention, and such omissions should not be construed as an implied limitation of the invention.

A motor 13, which has a pair of leads connected to power terminals 19 and 19a mounted on terminal board 12, is mounted on the reverse or rear side of panel 11 (see also FIGURE 2) and is connected by gearing (not shown) to drive a dial assembly 14 which includes positionable trip members 15 and 17. The dial assembly 14 is driven through one complete revolution during each operating time period or cycle of the timer which is determined by the requirements of the system in which the timer is to be used. The trip 15 has a lug 16 for actuating an operator assembly to set the timer 10 to an ON condition once each revolution of dial assembly 14, and the trip 17 has a lug 18 for similarly actuating the assembly 20 but, in this instance, toreset the timer 10 to an OFF condition. Thus, trip 15 will be considered as the ON trip, and trip 17 will be the OFF trip.

Inasmuch as the snap action operator assembly 20 is substantially the same as the operator assembly 11 which is fully shown and described in my earlier patent application as noted above, it will be described only briefly herein. Operator assembly 20 as provided, has a lever 22 mounted on a pivot or axis 21 on the panel 11 and is movable between two positions, considered to be an ON position and an OFF position. The lever 22, which can be manually operated, has a pair of lugs or faces 23 and 24 H which are positioned to be engaged by a lug 16 of the ON trip 15 and a lug 16 of the OFF trip 17, respectively, for automatic timed operation by the rotating dial as sembly 14, and is provided with a finger 25 at its upper end which extends rearwardly through the panel 11.

Referring now also to FIGURE 2, the operator assembly 20 is provided with a two position detent/plate subassembly 26 consisting of a detent slider plate disposed between panel 11 and lever 22, and a pivot plate adjacent the reverse or rear side of the panel 11. The plates of the sub-assembly are interconnected, as will be described, to be rotated in unison after the slider plate has been moved out of a detent position and against a spring bias by rotation of the lever 22 on the pivot 21. The pivot plate of sub-assembly 26 has a rearwardly extending finger 27 adjacent the finger 25 of the lever 22, and a recess or slot 28 in its bottom edge. A pair of offset or scissor

type lever arms

30 and 33 are mounted on pivot 21 and provide upwardly projecting

legs

31 and 34, respectively, and depending

legs

32 and 35, respectively. The

fingers

25 and 27 are disposed between and engaged by the

legs

31 and 34 which are biased toward each other by a tension spring 36 connected at its ends to the ends of the depending

legs

32 and 35.

Thus, movement of lever 22, manually or by one of the trips 15 or 17, displaces finger 25 arcuately around pivot 21 which moves one of the

legs

31 or 34 relative to the other causing the

respective arm

30 or 33 to pivot while the other arm is retained by the finger 27. Pivoting of one of the

arms

30 or 33 moves one of the

legs

32 or 35 away from the other to further tension spring 36, and results in the operator assembly 20 being in a cocked or charged condition. As soon as the slider plate of the detent/ plate sub-assembly 26 is moved out of its detent position, spring 36 causes or biases the other of the

arms

30 or 33 to pivot and move the other of the

legs

31 or 34 into engagement with finger 25. This movement of the other of the

legs

31 or 34 moves finger 27 causing the plate assembly 26 to pivot to its other detent position.

A pair of spaced screw mounted

bushing assemblies

37 and 38 are connected to the terminal board 12 adjacent the bottom of panel 11 for supporting a pair of slider bars 40 and each having a pair of slots for the bushing assemblies and are the switch actuators of the timer 10. Slider bar 40 is disposed between the terminal board 12 and slider bar 50.

An upwardly extending bracket member 41 is connected to slider bar 40 nearer one of its ends (the right side of FIGURE 2) and is provided with a finger 42 which extends forwardly between the depending

legs

32 and 35, and through slot 28, panel 11 and the detent slider plate. Therefore, it should be understood that the finger 42 interconnects the pivot and detent slider plates of subassembly 26 for pivotation in unison, and is moved by movement of the other of the depending

legs

32 or 35 under the bias of the spring 36 after the operator assembly 20 is cocked to shift the slider bar 40 on the

bushings

37 and 38. Slider bar 40 is provided with a V-notch 47 in its bottom edge nearer its other end while slider bar 50 has a similar V-notch 57 which is axially offset and partially overlaps notch 47. The bottom edges of

slider bars

40 and 50 are provided with corresponding elongated

intermediate recesses

45 and 55, respectively, having re spective switch actuator portions or

projections

46 and 56 protruding from opposing ends thereof.

To teach one form of the present invention, the timer 10 is arbitrarily provided with three

switches

80, 85 and 90 which are actuated by movement of the

slider bars

40 and 50. The switches and are of an open type and are mounted on the terminal board 12 adjacent opposite ends of the

recesses

45 and 55 while the switch is mounted on the terminal board adjacent the notched ends of the

slider bars

40 and 50.

The switch 80 is provided a fixed contact 81 connected to a switch terminal 80a which is mounted on the terminal board 12, and spring arm 82 which extends from another switch terminal 82a, also mounted on the terminal board, and has a contact 83 connected thereto. The spring arm 82 biases the contact 83 into engagement with the fixed contact 81 to close switch 80, and is positioned to be engaged by the actuator portion 46 and moved thereby away from fixed contact 81 to open switch 80 in response to movement of the actuator means or slider bar 40, in a direction from right to left as viewed in FIG- URE 2.

The construction of the switch 85 is substantially the same as that of the switch 80 and is provided with a pair of

terminals

86a and 87a mounted on the terminal board 12. Its fixed contact 86 is connected to the terminal 86a while its spring arm 87 extends from the terminal 87a and has a contact 88 connected thereto which it biases into engagement with the fixed contact 86 to close the switch 85. In this instance, the spring contact arm 87 is positioned to be engaged by the actuator portion 56 and moved thereby away from the fixed contact 86 to open the switch 85 in response to movement of the actuator means or slider bar 50, in a direction from left to right as viewed in FIGURE 2.

The switch 90 is of the enclosed snap switch type having an actuating lever 91 and three conductor leads each connected to a

different terminal

92, 93 or 94 which are mounted on the terminal board 12. Therefore, switch 90 is connected as a single pole double throw switch which connects terminal 90 to terminal 93 when it is in one position, and connects terminal 90 to terminal 94 when it is in its other position. The actuator arm 91 of the switch 90 has a formed free end which engages and is retained in one position by one or both of the bottom edges of slider bars 40 and 50, and is released to move to a second position only when

notches

47 and 57 are both aligned with its formed end. All of the switch terminals and the power terminals 19 and 19a, which are mounted on terminal board 12, are provided with threaded members (see FIGURE 1) for connection to conductors when the timer is connected into a system.

The motor or drive means of timer 10, in this instance, includes a second motor 67 which is mounted on the reverse or rear side of panel 11, and has leads which are connected to the power terminals 19 and 19a as are the leads of the dial assembly drive motor 13. The motor 67 has an output shaft 68 which extends rearwardly therefrom to provide an exposed portion which is threaded and terminates in a free or unconnected end.

A second trigger or operator assembly 60 is provided which cooperates with motor 67 for differential or delayed switch actuation. Referring also to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the assembly 60 is provided with a rearwardly extending pivot or axis 61 connected to panel 11. A pair of offset or

scissor type arms

70 and 73, which correspond to

arms

30 and 33 of operator assembly 20, are

provided with slots by which they are mounted on the pivot 61. The

arms

70 and 73 have respective upwardly extending

legs

71 and 74, and respective depending downwardly extending

legs

72 and 75 which are connected at their ends to opposite ends of a tension spring 76.

A plate 62 is mounted intermediate its ends on the pivot 61 and has a pin or finger member 63 which extends forwardly therefrom and between the upwardly extending

legs

71 and 74 of the

scissor type arms

70 and 73, respectively. Therefore, the

arms

70 and 73 and plate 62 will pivotally move in unison on pivot 61. A leaf spring 64 is connected to the plate 62 and has a reduced portion or reed 65 which extends from its upper end and past the threaded output shaft 68 of motor 67. The bottom ends of plate 62 and leaf spring 64 are slotted as indicated at 66.

It should be readily seen that pivotation of the plate 62 will move the leaf spring 64 along a path normal to the shaft 68 of the motor 67 and between two terminal positions (see FIGURES 2 and 2B) each on a side of the shaft 68 opposite from the other end, depending upon the direction of movement and its instantaneous position, thereby driving the reed 65 into and out of edgewise engagement with the exposed threaded portion shaft 68. Initially, one of the

edges

65a or 65b of reed 65 will be moved from one of its terminal positions and into engagement with the shaft 68 adjacent the case of motor 67 as shown in FIGURE 3, and will ride or be moved in the groove of the rotating thread causing the reed 65 to progressively deflect out of its normal plane until it moves off the free end of shaft 68. When the deflected reed 65 is moved out of an engaging position with motor shaft 68 and toward its other terminal position, spring force due to deflection will return the reed to its normal plane. The time differential or delay derived by the assembly 60 is determined by the speed of rotation, length and number of threads per unit measure of length of the exposed portion of the motor shaft 68 that the reed courses from initial engagement to the free shaft end.

A pair of

bracket members

43 and 53, each similar to bracket member 41, are provided to interconnect the assembly 60 with

slider bars

40 and 50, respectively. Bracket member 43 is attached to and extends upwardly from the slider bar 40, and has a finger portion 44 which extends forwardly between the depending

legs

72 and 75 of the

arms

70 and 73, respectively. Bracket member 53, attached to the slider bar 50, is similar to bracket member 43 and has a finger portion 54 which extends forwardly through the end slots 66 of the leaf spring 64 and the plate 62, and then between the depending

legs

72 and 75.

To describe the operation of timer it is assumed to be in its OFF position in FIGURES 1 and 2 with

motors

13 and 67 running. As shown, the switch 80 is open, switch 85 is closed, switch 90 is in its first position and the edge 65a of the reed 65 is in one terminal position adjacent to and spaced from shaft 68. The rotating dial assembly 14 moves the lug 16 of the ON trip into engagement with lug 23 which rotates lever 22 clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1 or oppositely thereto in FIGURE 2, causing the operator assembly to assume a momentary cooked or charged condition as spring 36 becomes further tensioned until the plate sub-assembly 26 moves out of a releasing the detented condition which frees the trigger or operator assembly 20 to rotate under the bias of the further tensioned spring 36 its position shown in FIGURE 2A.

At this time, as shown, spring 36 now has returned to its normal tensioned condition which rotated the arm 33 on the pivot 21 and through bracket member 41 caused the slider bar to move to the right as viewed in FIG- URES 2 and 2A. This movement of the bar 40 permits the spring contact arm 82 to close the switch 80 and simultaneously activates the time delay trigger or operator assembly 60 to assume a cocked or charged position. This is accomplished by the moving bar 40 urging its bracket 43 against the leg 72 which causes the assembly to rotate on the pivot 61 until the edge a of the reed 65 engages the exposed portion of the motor shaft 68, and continues to pivot the arm on the pin 63 to further tension spring 76. Therefore, when assembly 20 moves from one detented position to the other, the slider bar 40 is moved for switch actuation, spring 76 is further tensioned to move the slider bar 50 which is restrained against the bias by engagement of the shaft 68 by reed 65.

The edge 65a is moved by rotation of the shaft 68 in the thread groove progressively deflecting reed 65 out of its normal plane for a time period delay determined by the speed of rotation, length and number of threads of the exposed portion of the rotating motor shaft 68 until edge 65a runs off the end of the motor shaft. The further tensioned spring 76 causes the arm 70, plate 62 and leaf spring 64 to rotate on the pivot 61, which through the bracket member 53 shifts the slider bar 50 in the direction to follow the slider bar 40, and carries the reed 65 across the free end of motor shaft 68 to its other terminal position as shown in FIGURE 2B.

The timer 10 is in its ON position as shown in FIGURE 2B wherein the switch 80 is closed, switch has been opened by the slider bar 50 and its actuator portion 56, switch is still retained in its first position and the reed 65 returned to its normal plane with its edge 65b now adjacent to and spaced from the motor shaft 68. It should be noted that when the timer 10 was in its OFF position, as shown in FIGURE 2, only the notch 47 was aligned with the formed end of the switch lever 91 and now when in its ON position, as shown in FIGURE 2B, only the notch 57 is so aligned.

The differential switch operation or time delay between closing the switch 80 as shown in FIGURE 2A and opening the switch 85 as shown in FIGURE 28 is made available to timer 10 by providing the motor 67 and the assembly 60. To illustrate the versatility of the present invention, another form or momentary switch actuation operation is additionally accomplished when the timer 10 is operated or returned to its OFF position.

With the mechanism of the timer 10 as shown in FIG- URE 2B, the

motors

13 and 67 continue to run, and the dial assembly 14 is continuously driven by motor 13. After a predetermined period or lapse of time following timer operation by the ON trip 15, as determined by the relative positions of trips 15 and 17, the OFF trip 17 will operate the timer 10 by engagement of the lever 23 by the trip lug 18. This lug interengagement rotates lever 22 counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1 and causes the assembly 20 to respond in the same manner, but in the opposite direction, as was previously described.

Accordingly, the assembly 20 assumes its position as shown in FIGURE 2C and shifts the slider bar 40 to its initial position as in FIGURE 2. Repositioning of the slider bar 40 moves its actuating portion 46 against the spring contact arm 82 causing the switch 80 to open, and aligns the notch 47 with the notch 57 and the formed lever end to permit lever 91 to move to its other or alternate position and actuate the switch 90 for disconnecting

terminals

92 and 93, and connecting

terminals

92 and 94. Now, the

switches

80 and 85 are both open and the switch 90 is in its second position. The assembly 60 again is cocked or charged in the same manner, but in the op posite direction, as was previously described and the reed edge 65b now engages the rotating exposed threaded portion of the motor shaft 68.

After the predetermined time delay interval, the reed edge 6517 will run off the free end of the motor shaft 68, and the further tensioned spring 76 will reset the assembly 60 causing the slider bar 50 to follow the slider bar 40. The follow-up movement of the slider bar 50 cams lever 91 to actuate switch 90 to its first position and frees the spring contact arm 87 to close the switch 85 and the mechanism of the timer 10 has returned to 7 its original OFF condition as shown in FIGURE 2. In addition to providing a delay between opening the switch 80 and closing the switch $5, the switch 90 is momentarily operated during the delay period.

The specific operation of the

switches

80, 85 and 90 form no part of the present invention, but is provided merely to illustrate some of the switching operations which are available when the present invention is embodied in a timer.

A timer 11A, as illustrated in part in FIGURES 6, 6A, 6B, 6C and 7, is made in accordance with the present invention and embodies a plurality of modifications of the mechanism of the timer 10. Although the various modifications are all illustrated in a single embodiment, each modification may be used alone or in combination with one or more of the others.

In a timer 11A, the motor 13 is eliminated and the shaft 68 of the motor 67, while not shown, also extends forwardly through the panel 11 and is suitably connected by gearing to drive a dial assembly.

The snap action operator assembly 20 and the time delay operator assembly 60 of timer are combined to provide a single operator assembly 110. To facilitate illustration and description, the lever 22 and plate subassembly 26 are omitted from the pertinent figures of the drawings. A single pivot 111 is provided in place of the

pivots

21 and 61. The pairs of

arms

30 and 33, and 70 and 73 are mounted on pivot 111 as is the pivot plate 62 and a modified leaf spring 112. The bracket members 4-1 and 43 are now connected back to back to the slider bar 40 with the finger ,42 extending forwardly to engage the same mechanism'parts as in the assembly of the timer 10. The finger 44, in this instance, extends rearwardly between depending

legs

72 and 75.

The modified leaf spring 112 is bifurcated at its upper end replacing the reed 65 of spring 64.

Bifurcations

113 and 114 of the spring 112 provide slot defining edges corresponding to

reed edges

65b and 65a, respectively. With spring 112, the bifurcated end initially is deflected out of its normal plane with bifurcation 113 engaging the free end of motor shaft 68. Operation in response to the ON trip 15 causes spring 112 to move the formed slot into alignment with motor shaft 68 permitting the deflected spring end to return to its normal plane and the slot defining edge of the bifurcation 114 to engage the exposed threaded portion of the motor shaft 68. When the slot defining edge of bifurcation -114 is driven off the free end of shaft 68, the bifurcation 114 is moved across and abuts the free motor shaft end until subsequently shifted by operation in response to the OFF trip 17 which results in similar cooperation between motor 67 and spring 112 with the slot defining edge of bifurcation 113 engaging the exposed threaded portion of the shaft 68. FIGURES 6, 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate the various positions of spring 112 relative to motor 68 corresponding to such positions of the spring 64 in FIGURES 2, 2A, 2B and 2C, respectively.

To achieve a time delay or differential switch actuation in only direction of timer operation, one of the

bifurcations

113 or 114 is removed. For illustration purposes, as shown in FIGURE 8, bifurcation 113 is removed and only bifurcation 114 remains.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be ex- ;pressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Various changes may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as the same will now.

be understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim: 1. A timer comprising: motor means; rotatable dial means connected to and driven by said motor means, and including positionable ON and OFF trip means;

a snap action operator means movable between two positions by said trip means;

two actuator means connected to and movable by said operator means, each for actuating at least one switch; and

said operator means when moved to at least one of said two positions providing a bias to move one of said two actuator means, and with said motor means providing a restraint acting against the bias and delaying the movement of said one actuator means for a predetermined period of time.

2. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said movement delaying means comprising:

a motor output shaft rotated by and extending from said motor means thereby providing an exposed portion which is threaded along its exposed length and terminates in a free end;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in response to movement of said operator means, connected to said one of said two actuator means for movement in unison, and having at least one contact edge movable thereby along a path transverse to said shaft and between two terminal positions each on a side of the shaft opposite from the other;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of said two terminal positions to the other, and into engagement with the threaded portion of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from said other of said two terminal positions to said one of said terminal positions; and

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said contact edge to move along the shaft length and off the free end thereof, and said spring member to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by the bias across the free end of said shaft to said one of said two terminal positions.

3. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said motor and movement delaying means comprising:

a drive motor having an output shaft extending therefrom which is connected to and drives said dial means; second motor having a threaded output shaft extending therefrom in a direction opposite to the shaft of said drive motor;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in response to movement of said operator means, connected to said one of said two actuator means for movement in unison, and having at least one contact edge movable thereby along a path transverse to said threaded shaft and between two terminal positions each a side of said threaded shaft opposite from the other;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of said threaded shaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of said two terminal positions to the other, and inter engagement with said threaded shaft when biased to move said contact edge from said other of said two terminal positions to said one of said terminal positions; and

said threaded shaft causing said contact edge when in engagement therewith to move along its length and off its free end, and said spring member to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by the bias across the free end of said threaded shaft to said one of said two terminal positions.

4. The timer in accordance with claim 3, and:

said spring member having a normal plane through which said threaded shaft extends, and a free end which is offset edgewise and provides said contact edge along its edge in the direction away from said offset; and

said spring member being deflected from its normal plane with its free end engaging the free end of said threaded shaft when in said one of said two terminal positions, and in its normal plane with said contact edge adjacent to and spaced from said threaded shaft when in said other of said two terminal positions.

5. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said motor and movement delaying means comprising:

a drive motor having an output shaft extending therefrom in one direction being connected to and driving said dial assembly, and in the opposite direction providing an exposed portion which is threaded along its exposed length and terminates in a free end;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of said two terminal positions to the other, and into engagement with the threaded portion of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from said other of said two terminal position to said one of said terminal positions; and

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said contact edge to move along the shaft length and off the free end thereof and said spring member to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by the bias across the free end of said shaft to said one of said two terminal positions.

6. The timer in accordance with claim 5, and

said spring member having a normal plane through which the exposed threaded portion of said shaft extends, and a free end which is offset edgewise and provides said contact edge along its edge in the direction away from said offset; and

said spring member being deflected from its normal plane with its free end engaging the free end of said shaft when in said one of said two terminal positions, and in its normal plane with said contact edge adjacent to and spaced fro-m said exposed threaded shaft portion when in said other of said two terminal positions.

7. The timer in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

switch actuation by said one actuator means is a momentary actuation accomplished by remaining in its restrained position after the other actuator has moved and by the delayed movement thereof; and

switch actuation by said other actuator means is accomplished by its movement in response to each movement of said operator means from either of its said two positions to the other.

8. The timer in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

switch actuation by said other actuator means is accomplished by its movement in response to each movement of said operator means from either of its said two positions to the other; and

switch actuation by said one actuator means is accomplished by its movement in response to movement of said operator means from one of its said two positions to the other, and by its delayed movement in response to movement of said operator means from the other of said two positions to said one position.

9. The timer in accordance with claim 8, wherein said two actuator means have alignable means for momentary actuation of a third switch which is accomplished by movement of said other actuator means while said one actuator means is restrained from moving, and by delayed movement of said one actuator means.

movement delaying means comprising:

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in response to movement of said operator means along a path transverse to said shaft and between two terminal positions each on a side of the shaft opposite from the other, and connected to said one of said two actuator means for movement in unison;

said spring member having a pair of contact edges each moved into engagement with the exposed threaded portion of said shaft when said spring member is biased from a different one of its two terminal positions;

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said engaging edge to move along the shaft length and off the free end thereof and said spring member to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by the bias across the free end of said shaft to the other of its two terminal positions.

11. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor having a shaft extending therefrom in a direction opposite to said motor output shaft and being connected to and driving said dial means, and another motor providing said motor output shaft;

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposed threaded portion of said shaft of said other motor, and a free end forming a reed smaller in size between its edges than the rest of the spring member; 5

the edges of said reed providing said contact edges of said spring member; and

said reed being disposed in the normal plane of said spring member and a different contact edge being disposed adjacent to and spaced from a different side of said exposed threaded shaft portion in each of the two terminal positions.

12. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposed threaded shaft portion extends, and a free end which is bifurcated and has a slot defined by opposed edges of said bifurcations which provide said contact edges; and

the free end of said spring member being deflected out of the normal plane with a different bifurcation engaging the free shaft end in each of the two terminal positions.

13. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor providing said motor output shaft which extends therefrom, in a direction opposite from the free end thereof, and is connected to and drives said dial means;

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposed threaded portion of said shaft of said other motor, and a free end forming a reed smaller in size between its edges than the rest of the spring member;

the edges of said reed providing said contact edges of said spring member; and

14. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor providing 1 1 said motor output shaft which extends therefrom, in a direction opposite from the free end thereof, and is connected to and drives said dial means; said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposed threaded shaft portion extends, and a free end which is bifurcated and has a slot defined by opposed edges of said bifurcations which provide said contact edges; and the free end of said spring member being deflected out of the normal plane with a different bifurcation engaging the free shaft end in each of the two terminal positions.

'References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Flegel 200-40 Miller. Klein et al. 200-39 Goodhouse 200--39 Flegel 200-39 Harris.

10 ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

H. O. JONES, Assistant Examiner.