US3477845A - Silver base alloy for making electrical contacts - Google Patents

Silver base alloy for making electrical contacts Download PDF

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Publication number
US3477845A
US3477845A US607081A US3477845DA US3477845A US 3477845 A US3477845 A US 3477845A US 607081 A US607081 A US 607081A US 3477845D A US3477845D A US 3477845DA US 3477845 A US3477845 A US 3477845A
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United States
Prior art keywords
electrical contacts
silver
alloy
making electrical
base alloy
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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
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US607081A
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English (en)
Inventor
Kenneth R Comey Jr
George Durst
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Texas Instruments Inc
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Individual
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Publication date
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22C—ALLOYS
    • C22C32/00—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ
    • C22C32/001—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ with only oxides
    • C22C32/0015—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ with only oxides with only single oxides as main non-metallic constituents
    • C22C32/0021—Matrix based on noble metals, Cu or alloys thereof
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/02—Contacts characterised by the material thereof
    • H01H1/021—Composite material
    • H01H1/023—Composite material having a noble metal as the basic material
    • H01H1/0237—Composite material having a noble metal as the basic material and containing oxides
    • H01H1/02372—Composite material having a noble metal as the basic material and containing oxides containing as major components one or more oxides of the following elements only: Cd, Sn, Zn, In, Bi, Sb or Te
    • H01H1/02374—Composite material having a noble metal as the basic material and containing oxides containing as major components one or more oxides of the following elements only: Cd, Sn, Zn, In, Bi, Sb or Te containing as major component CdO

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an improved silver-cadmium oxide alloy for making electrical contacts and to electrical contacts made therefrom.
  • the invention accordingly comprises the ingredients, combinations of ingredients, the proportions thereof and features of composition, the steps and sequence of steps, and features of operation, which will be exemplified in the product and methods hereinafter described, and the scope of the applicability of which will be indicated in the following claims.
  • FIG. 1 is a view of stock in the form of a rod made of the improved alloy of the invention and showing two blanks as cut from the rod;
  • FIG. 2 is a view of electrical contacts formed by one of the blanks shown in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternate form of the invention.
  • One form of the invention consistsin melting cadmium (Cd) silver (Ag), and ruthenium (Ru) as an additive and then pouring the melt to form an ingot. The ingot is then reduced by rolling, drawing or the like to form a suitable stock, one form of which may be a rod 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
  • the stock is then subjected to heating from one to several hours in an oxygen bearing atmosphere at an elevated temperature, for example 1500" F. Time and temperature are subject to variation but they should be sufiicient to oxidize the cadmium in a reasonable time, taking into account such factors as the thickness of the stock, the melting temperature and the like.
  • the cadmium then takes the form of a multiplicity of cadmium oxide particles dispersed through the matrix of silver containing the ruthenium additive.
  • the ruthenium additive acts in a manner similar to but improved over that of cobalt and effects improved arc erosion characteristics with improved or equal contact resistance. From segments 3 of the stock contacts are formed such as shown at 5 in FIG. 2, for example.
  • the contacts may be formed by a heading machine or other suitable apparatus. In an alternate preferred procedure, the contacts 5 may be formed from the stock 1 prior to the oxidization step so that the oxidization is performed in the contacts 5 themselves.
  • the ingot of alloy is formed into strips 7 which are bonded to layers of fine silver 9 and thereafter the strip is heated in an oxygen bearing atmosphere to internally oxidize layer 7. Thereafter the strip 7 is liquid phase bonded or soldered through soldered layers 11 to a base metal strip 13 formed for example of brass, beryllium copper, Phosphor bronze or the like. Finally individual contact assemblies 15 may be formed from the strip.
  • a preferred formulation of the stock 1 on strip 7 in proportions by weight is approximately 15% cadmium oxide, 0.01% ruthenium, the balance silver.
  • a suitable range for the cadmium oxide component is approximately 1.0%20.0% and for the ruthenium component approximately 0.001 %-0.5%.
  • a contact such as shown at 5 in FIG. 2 made from a workpiece such as 3 of FIG. 1 or as shown at 15 of FIG. 3 exhibits much less arcerosion without substantial increase of contact-resistance, as compared with the alloy of said patent containing a cobalt additive.
  • the silver, cadmium or mercury and ruthenium may contain a degree of impurities such as is found in commercial or reagent grades of these materials.
  • the impurities are not the additives described herein.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Composite Materials (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Contacts (AREA)
  • Conductive Materials (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Alloys Or Alloy Compounds (AREA)
US607081A 1967-01-03 1967-01-03 Silver base alloy for making electrical contacts Expired - Lifetime US3477845A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US60708167A 1967-01-03 1967-01-03

Publications (1)

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US3477845A true US3477845A (en) 1969-11-11

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US607081A Expired - Lifetime US3477845A (en) 1967-01-03 1967-01-03 Silver base alloy for making electrical contacts

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US (1) US3477845A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE1558665A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB1191675A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3540883A (en) * 1968-10-29 1970-11-17 Texas Instruments Inc Method of preparing silver base alloys
US3778257A (en) * 1970-10-21 1973-12-11 Square D Co Light-duty electrical contacts of silver and ruthenium oxide
DE2341731A1 (de) * 1972-08-25 1974-03-07 Square D Co Material fuer elektrische kontakte und verfahren zu seiner herstellung
US3857706A (en) * 1972-08-25 1974-12-31 Square D Co Electrical contact materials and methods of making the same

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5550887Y2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1974-02-22 1980-11-27

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2058857A (en) * 1936-06-30 1936-10-27 Mallory & Co Inc P R Silver base alloy
US2145690A (en) * 1937-09-24 1939-01-31 Mallory & Co Inc P R Electric contact material
US2241262A (en) * 1939-10-26 1941-05-06 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact
US2319259A (en) * 1941-10-29 1943-05-18 Wilson H A Co Contact
US2539298A (en) * 1945-07-28 1951-01-23 Mallory & Co Inc P R Electrical contact of an internally oxidized composition
US2796495A (en) * 1953-12-23 1957-06-18 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact elements

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2058857A (en) * 1936-06-30 1936-10-27 Mallory & Co Inc P R Silver base alloy
US2145690A (en) * 1937-09-24 1939-01-31 Mallory & Co Inc P R Electric contact material
US2241262A (en) * 1939-10-26 1941-05-06 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact
US2319259A (en) * 1941-10-29 1943-05-18 Wilson H A Co Contact
US2539298A (en) * 1945-07-28 1951-01-23 Mallory & Co Inc P R Electrical contact of an internally oxidized composition
US2796495A (en) * 1953-12-23 1957-06-18 Baker & Co Inc Electrical contact elements

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3540883A (en) * 1968-10-29 1970-11-17 Texas Instruments Inc Method of preparing silver base alloys
US3778257A (en) * 1970-10-21 1973-12-11 Square D Co Light-duty electrical contacts of silver and ruthenium oxide
DE2341731A1 (de) * 1972-08-25 1974-03-07 Square D Co Material fuer elektrische kontakte und verfahren zu seiner herstellung
US3857706A (en) * 1972-08-25 1974-12-31 Square D Co Electrical contact materials and methods of making the same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB1191675A (en) 1970-05-13
DE1558665B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1973-09-27
DE1558665C3 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1974-04-25
DE1558665A1 (de) 1972-03-30

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