US3497840A - Magnetically operated relay switches - Google Patents

Magnetically operated relay switches Download PDF

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Publication number
US3497840A
US3497840A US790037A US3497840DA US3497840A US 3497840 A US3497840 A US 3497840A US 790037 A US790037 A US 790037A US 3497840D A US3497840D A US 3497840DA US 3497840 A US3497840 A US 3497840A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
armature
contact
relay
coil
pole pieces
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
US790037A
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English (en)
Inventor
Lawrence F Stauder
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.)
Adams and Westlake Co
Original Assignee
Adams and Westlake Co
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
Application filed by Adams and Westlake Co filed Critical Adams and Westlake Co
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3497840A publication Critical patent/US3497840A/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

  • FIGURE 1 is a front view of a typical mercury wetted contact relay incorporating the principles of the present invention
  • FIGURE 2 is a side view of the relay illustrated in FIGURE 1;
  • FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view of the relay of FIGURES l, 2 and 3 and taken on a section between the sides of the relay.
  • FIGURE 1 the invention is shown applied to a mercury wetted contact relay of a nonbridging break-before-make type.
  • the switch is essentially the same as shown in OBrien et al. Patent No. 3,054,873 and reference is made to that patent for details of con struction not specifically referred to herein.
  • 10 designates the glass envelope of the switch.
  • a movable contact or armature 11 is positioned within the switch and is connected to a metallic stem 12 which extends outwardly from one end of the glass envelope as is known to the art.
  • the other end of the glass envelope has a pair of spaced pole pieces 13 and 14 extending through the end of the envelope and into the interior of the envelope to provide contact faces 15 and 16 on opposite sides of the contact end of the armature 11.
  • the pole pieces 13 and 14 are connected to electrical leads while the stem 12 is also connected to an electrical lead in a manner known to the art.
  • the glass envelope carries a body of mercury and the capillary action of the mercury provides a film on the metal of the contact surfaces of the pole pieces and armature.
  • the portions of the pole pieces carrying the contact faces 15 and 16 as well as the armature 11 are sealed Within the glass envelope 10, and the envelope has a permanent gas fill of a suitable gas, such as hydrogen.
  • the relay makes use of a pair of permanent bar magnets 17 and 18 which are positioned and secured alongside the upper ends of the pole pieces 13 and 14 and which are separated from one another by insulation 19.
  • the polarity of these bar magnets is as illustrated by the letters N and S, designating north and south poles, respectively. It should be understood that other forms of permanent magnets may be used for influencing the armature in a manner known to the art.
  • An operating coil 20 surrounds the glass envelope 10 in the manner illustrated.
  • the permanent magnet structure associated with the pole pieces 13 and 14 provides a definite polarity for each of the pole pieces and the contact faces associated therewith, as is designated by the north and south letters N and S, respectively, in the drawings. Then, when electrical current is supplied to the coil, the direction of flux, which depends upon the direction of current, either aids one of the contact faces or the other to move the armature into contact therewith.
  • the position and magnetic strength of the permanent magnets may be so adjusted that the relay is single side stable, bistable, or center stable.
  • a piece of low reluctance material such as in the form of a wire 21, is positioned midway between the pole pieces 13 and 14 and preferably embedded in the end of the glass envelope carrying the pole pieces.
  • This wire 21 extends outside of the glass envelope, as is most clearly seen in FIGURE 3.
  • the wire 21 is spaced midway between the pole pieces and extends perpendicular to a line between the pole pieces. It is positioned relatively close to the operating end of the armature 11.
  • a ceramic element 22 extends between the pole pieces, and between the wire 21 and the contact faces of the pole pieces. This spacing element is at the inner side of the glass envelope and the wire 21 is closely adjacent to this spacing element in its embedded position within the envelope.
  • the wire 21 is formed from a high permeability, low residual magnetic material or low reluctance material such as permalloy, vanadium permendur, soft annealed iron or nickel-iron wire.
  • the magnetic material that is used should have a coefficient of expansion which reasonably matches the coefficient of expansion of the material used for the switch envelope. For this reason, it has been found that under ordinary circumstances it is desirable to have the wire element 21 made of the same material as the pole pieces 13 and 14, such as nickel iron alloy having approximately 52% nickel and 48% iron.
  • the element 21 may take the form of a strip of low reluctance material.
  • Flux paths in the connecting loop defined by strips 23 and 24 as well as the pole pieces and armature are indicated by the arrows in FIGURES 1 and 2 but obviously the direction of the flux will depend upon the direction of the current being sent through the coil 20.
  • a relay of the type illustrated in the drawings When adjusted for bistable operation may require 28 ampere turns for the operation of the relay without the use of the closed loop of the low reluctance material described herein, whereas by using the closed loop defined by the element 21 and connecting strip material 23 and 24, the relay will operate with as little as 3.45 ampere turns of current from coil 20.
  • references Cited a movable armature is positioned between a pair of con- UNITED STATES PATENTS tact elements of pole pieces for selective contact therea with under influence of an electrical coil, the improve- 310481677 8/1962 Henstrom et aL X ment comprising the armature being formed of vanadium permendur materiaL 5 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner 6.

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  • Electromagnets (AREA)
  • Arc-Extinguishing Devices That Are Switches (AREA)
US790037A 1968-07-06 1969-01-09 Magnetically operated relay switches Expired - Lifetime US3497840A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT3824468 1968-07-06

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3497840A true US3497840A (en) 1970-02-24

Family

ID=11246011

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US790037A Expired - Lifetime US3497840A (en) 1968-07-06 1969-01-09 Magnetically operated relay switches

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US3497840A (xx)
BE (1) BE719068A (xx)
CH (1) CH503367A (xx)
DE (1) DE1764867B1 (xx)
FR (1) FR1576827A (xx)
GB (1) GB1200968A (xx)
SE (1) SE356161B (xx)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4164720A (en) * 1977-04-29 1979-08-14 C. P. Clare International N.V. Mercury-wetted reed contact relay

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3048677A (en) * 1961-03-31 1962-08-07 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Switching device

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
BE498493A (xx) * 1949-10-05
DE1046779B (de) * 1956-09-28 1958-12-18 Siemens Ag Gepolter Schutzrohrwechselkontakt

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3048677A (en) * 1961-03-31 1962-08-07 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Switching device

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4164720A (en) * 1977-04-29 1979-08-14 C. P. Clare International N.V. Mercury-wetted reed contact relay

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE719068A (xx) 1969-02-05
FR1576827A (xx) 1969-08-01
GB1200968A (en) 1970-08-05
SE356161B (xx) 1973-05-14
DE1764867B1 (de) 1972-06-08
CH503367A (it) 1971-02-15

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