US3639866A

US3639866A - Constant actuating force arrangement for a relay and a relay-adder combination

Info

Publication number: US3639866A
Application number: US79904A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hugh Kane
Original assignee: Honeywell Inc
Current assignee: Honeywell Inc
Priority date: 1970-10-12
Filing date: 1970-10-12
Publication date: 1972-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 1989-02-01

Abstract

A relay and a relay-adder combination incorporating a constant force actuating arrangement allowing for the use of the same coil in both configurations whereby a reaction force which is encountered in the actuation of the relay per se is bypassed in the actuation of the relay-adder combination and is replaced by the force which is encountered in the actuation of the adder and which is equal to the reaction force.

Description

United States Patent 51 3,639,866

Kane Feb. 1, 1972 [54] CONSTANT ACTUATING FORCE l l References Cit d 'ifili'llfifi' cifnhillfi AND A R 0 3,290,628 12/1966 McGary ..335/l32 [72] Inventor: Hugh Kane, Freeport, lll. 3,548,349 2/1969 Fujita ..335/l32 [73] Assignee: Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, Minn. primary Examine, Haro|d Broome [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1970 AttorneyLamont B. Koontz and Philip]. Zrimsek [2]] Appl. No.: 79,904 [5 ABSTRACT A relay and a relay-adder combination incorporating a constant force actuating arrangement allowing for the use of the [52] U.S.Cl ..335/132 Same coil in both configurations whereby a reaction force [Sl] hit. Cl. ..H01h 67/02 which is encountered in h actuation of the relay per Se is [58} Field of Search /1 196, 197 bypassed in the actuation of the relay-adder combination and is replaced by the force which is encountered in the actuation of the adder and which is equal to the reaction force.

S Qlaims, 3 Drawing Figures mimznrm 11972 3639666 SHEEI 1. [1F 2 l N VEN TOR. HUGH KANE PATENTED rsa 11972 3,639,866

SHEEI 2 0F 2 I N VEN TOR. HUGH KANE CONSTANT ACTUATING FORCE ARRANGEMENT FOR A RELAY AND A RELAY-ADDER COMBINATION The present invention is directed to a constant actuating force arrangement for a relay and a relay-adder combination wherein a common coil can be utilized, as the actuating forces required in both configurations are substantially identical due to a reaction force that is encountered in the actuation of the relay per se being bypassed and replaced in the relay-adder combination by a substantially equal force encountered in the actuation of the adder.

In the relay art it has been recognized to be desirable that the magnetic system of a relay per se always sees the same load which must be overcome in causing the actuating movement of the poles of the relay regardless of the condition and combination ofthe various poles, that is, normally open or normally closed. Where such a constant actuating force arrangement is incorporated in a relay, it follows the same magnetic system can be utilized with the various conditions and combinations of the poles and in practice this has meant the same coil can be utilized. An example of such a constant actuating force arrangement is contained in the Rosing et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,536.

While the same coil can be utilized in a relay of the type just considered without regard to the condition and combination of the poles of the relay, it has not been possible heretofore to use the same coil in a relay and in a relay-adder combination. Thus, in the conventional approach, the magnetic system sees" a first load when only driving the relay which must be overcome in causing the actuating movement of the poles of the relay and a second load" when driving the relay-adder combination which must be overcome in causing the actuating movement of the poles of the relay and the poles of the adder. Consequently and as a practical matter, in the conventional approach, different coils are required for the relay and the relay-adder combination.

With my invention as disclosed herein, it is possible to encounter the same loads and hence it is possible to utilize the same coil with a relay and a relay-adder combination. In the preferred embodiment, this is accomplished by introducing a reaction force in the relay which must be overcome in the actuation of the relay which force is bypassed in the relay-adder combination and replaced by a substantially equal force encountered in the actuation of the adder. More specifically, the relay includes bias means comprised ofa normally interengaging protrusion and resilient member, one each associated with a stationary and a moving portion of the relay. Upon actuation of the relay, the protrusion and the resilient member engage thereby giving rise to a reaction force which of course adds to the normal load" as seen by the magnetic system of the relay. The bias means are so arranged as to be bypassed in the relay-adder combination whereby the protrusion and the resilient member do not engage and of course the reaction force does not arise. However, in the relay-adder combination, the reaction force is replaced by the force required to actuate the adder which latter force is by design substantially equal to the reaction force. Consequently, the magnetic system sees" the same load with the relay as it does with the relay-adder combination. It follows that the same coil can be used with each.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a constant actuating force arrangement for a relay and a relayadder combination which allows for the utilization of the same coil in each whereby a reaction force encountered in the actuation of the relay is bypassed in the actuation of the relayadder combination and replaced by a substantially equal force encountered in the actuation of the adder.

This and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and appended claims taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled relay-adder combination in which the invention hereoffinds application;

FIG. 2 is a perspective explosion view on a somewhat larger scale of the disassembled relay and adder of FlG. 1 showing the elements ofthe invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on a somewhat larger scale of the relay-adder combination of FIG. 1 along lines 3-3 thereof in which the details of the invention are shown.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a multipole relay l0 and a multipole adder 12 are shown.

The relay 10 includes a support or base 14, having a cavity 144 in which a magnetic E-frame 16 is appropriately secured and about the center leg of which a tubular coil 18 is disposed. Straddling and pivotally associated with the lower portions of the base 14 are a pair of bifurcated

split housings

20 and 22, the upper portions 20a and 22a, respectively, of which overlay the cavity 14a of the base 14. The

housings

20 and 22 support a plurality of terminal members 24 each of which include a fixed contact portion 24a and further support coil terminals 26. Interior spring extensions 26a of the coil terminals 26 are arranged to appropriately electrically engage butt terminals, not shown, located on the top surface of the coil 18 and also serve to maintain the coil in proper position in the cavity 14a of the base 14.

Disposed between the

housings

20 and 22 and arranged for association and relative inward and outward reciprocal movemerit therewith and with the base 14 in an assembly comprised of an armature 28, a bias plate 30 and a bifurcated moving contact carrier 32. A plurality of spring biased, U-shaped moving contact bridging bars 34 are supported by the moving contact carrier 32 and the extremities are arranged for association with a respective pair of fixed contact portions 24a to provide the switching function. The armature28 and the moving contact carrier 32 are suitably joined together by means of a keyed connection and an associated flat spring member 36 with the bias plate 30 resiliently disposed therebetween for limited relative reciprocal movement therewith as will become apparent below.

The bridging bars 34 each can be selectively positioned so as to provide normally open or normally closed contact orientation with the respective pair of fixed contact portions 24a as desired. The manner of positioning the bridging bars 34 can be akin to that disclosed in my copending application, Ser. No. 61,190, filed Aug. 5, 1970 and assigned to the present assignee, although any one of a number of forms of positioning to provide the desired pole orientation such as are well known in the art can be utilized. Further, it will be appreciated that each of the bridging bars 34 is arranged to require a constant actuating force whether in the normally open or normally closed position. Constructions utilized to provide such a constant actuating force are well known in the art, one form being contained in the aforementioned Rosing et al. Patent.

In the assembled condition, the bias plate 30 is seated on

posts

14b and 14c of the base 14 and overlaid by the portions 20a and 22a of the

housings

20 and 22, respectively, so as to be maintained as a prisoner therebetween. Further in the assembled condition, the leg portions 32a of the moving contact carrier 32 are guided in slots 14d of the base 14 and between

opposite guide surfaces

20b and 22b of the

housings

20 and 22, respectively, so as to allow for reciprocal movements of the assembly of the carrier and the associated armature 28 toward and away from the magnetic frame 16 upon energization and deenergization of the coil 18.

The adder 12 includes a support or base 38 on which a pair of

split housings

40 and 42 are guided and slidably disposed. The

housings

40 and 42 support a plurality of terminal members 44 each of which include a fixed contact portion 44a. Disposed between the

housings

40 and 42 and arranged for association and relative inward and outward reciprocal movement therewith and with the base 38 is a moving contact carrier 46. A plurality of spring biased, U-shaped bridging bats 48 are supported by the moving contact carrier 46 and the extremities are arranged for association with a respective pair of fixed contact portions 44a to provide the switching function.

As was the case with the bridging bars 34 of-the relay l0. bridging bars 48 can be selectively positioned to provide nor mally open or normally Closed contact orientation as desired and each of the bridging bars 48 is arranged to require a constant actuating force whether in the normally open or normally closed position.

In the assembled condition the moving contact carrier 46 is guided between

opposite guide surfaces

40a and 42a of the

housings

40 and 42, respectively, so as to allow for reciprocal movements ofthe carrier.

The adder 12 is arranged to be secured to the relay 10 with the relay in the assembled condition shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and the adder in the condition shown in FIG. 2. Thus screw fasteners 50 which are located in openings 38a of the base 38 pass through in

line openings

20c and 22c of the

housings

20 and 22, respectively, and are appropriately maintained in place as will become apparent below. Also, the moving contact carrier 46 of the adder 12 is secured to the moving con tact carrier 32 of the relay 10 at the same time as the screw fasteners 50 are secured as above set forth by means of spring clip 54 associated with the moving contact carrier 46 snapping over the stepped protrusion 32b of the moving contact carrier 32.

With the relay l and adder 12 secured together as just set forth and with the

housings

40 and 42 of the adder, assembled so as to provide guidance for the moving contact carrier 46, inward reciprocal movement of the armature 28 and the moving contact carrier 32 of the relay with the consequent inward reciprocal movement of the moving contact carrier 46 of the adder 14 from the at rest position" shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 takes place upon energization of coil 18. Such movement results in relative movement of the moving contact carrier 32 with the bias plate 30 and the generation of a return force caused by spring means, not shown, disposed between the moving contact carrier 32 and the bias plate being compressed. Consequently, outward reciprocal movement upon deenergization of coil 18 is provided by the return force. Such reciprocal movements of course cause a change in the condition of the poles formed of the respective sets of fixed contact portions 24a and bridging bars 34 of the relay l0 and fixed contact portions 444 and bridging bars 48 of the adder 12.

The foregoing general description is merely to set a framework for the invention and as such forms no real part of it. The inventive concept is set forth below with attention particularly directed to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Disposed on either side of the moving contact carrier 32 of the relay 10 are protrusions 320 which are arranged to be slidably accepted in cavities in the housings and 22, one of which is shown at 20d, when in the assembled condition. y

Cavity 20d and the corresponding cavity in the housing 22 each have a U-shaped bracket 56 appropriately secured in the upper extremity thereof. Brackets 56 each include a threaded opening 56a in the upper arm thereofin line with

openings

20c and 220 in the

housings

20 and 22, respectively. The brackets 56 also each include a through opening 56b in the lower arm thereof in line with the aforementioned openings. Further located in each of the cavity 20d and the corresponding cavity in the housing 22 is a shouldered pin 58, the lower extremity being slidably disposed in cutouts of the

housings

20 and 22 as at 20c. Coil spring 60 is disposed about the shouldered pin 58 and bias lever 62 is also disposed about the shouldered pin against the shoulder thereof so as to provide a resilient member.

As shown in FIG. 3, the adder is secured to the relay by means of the screw fasteners 50 which extend through the

openings

20c and 220 and into threaded openings 56a so as to engage the upper extremities of shouldered pins 58 causing an inward positioning thereof with a consequent compression of coil springs 60 and an inward positioning of the levers 62, This results in the levers 62 being spaced from the protrusions 32c of the moving contact carrier 32 to such an extent that engagement therebetween can not take place even upon complete inward reciprocal movement of the moving contact carrier 32 brought about as a result of the energization of coil 18. In this condition, the screw fasteners 50 have in effect bypassed the bias means comprised of the protrusions 32c of the moving contact carrier 32 and the resilient member in the form of bias levers 62. Thus, the load which is seen in the actuation of the relay-adder combination is a summation of the contact actuating forces encountered in the changing of the contact orientation of the bridging bars 34 and the bridging bars 48 with respect to the fixed contact portions 24a and 440, respectively, plus the return force provided by the compression of the spring. means, not shown, which is disposed between the moving contact carrier 32 and the bias plate 30.

Still referring to FIG. 3, assume now that adder 12 is no longer associated with the relay 10. In this condition, each of the shouldered pins 58 is normally maintained in its outward position by coil spring 60 with the shouldered pins engaging bottom surfaces 560 of bracket 56. With the shouldered pins 58 so located, the levers 62 are positioned so that during actuation of the relay l0 engagement between the levers and protrusions 32b of the moving contact carrier 32 takes place. Thus upon energization of coil 18 and inward reciprocal movement of the moving contact carrier 32, the protrusions 32b move the levers 62 inwardly against the bias provided by coil springs 60 to provide a reaction force. The coil springs 60 are so chosen that the reaction force they provide is substantially equal to that of the contact actuating force encountered in thechanging of the contact orientation of the bridging bars 48 of the adder 12. Thus in the actuation of the relay per se, the load which is seen is a summation of the contact actuating force encountered in the changing of the contact orientation of the bridging bars 34 with respect to the fixed contact portions 24a plus the return force provided by the compression of the spring means, not shown, disposed between the moving contact carrier 32 and the bias plate 30 to provide a return force plus the reaction force provided by the compression ofcoil springs 60.

It will be appreciated that because of the invention as just described, the load" as seen by the magnetic system of the relay is the same in the actuation of the relay-adder combination as in the actuation of the relay per se. it follows that a common coil can be utilized in both configurations.

While a single preferred embodiment has been disclosed, other forms of the elements such as the bias means to provide the reaction force and the means to bypass such reaction force are possible. Therefore, the scope of my invention should be determined from the following claims.

Iclaim:

l. A constant actuating force arrangement for a relay and a relay-adder combination comprising: a relay housing including fixed contacts; a magnetic frame and a coil supported by said housing; a moving contact carrier-armature assembly arranged to be guided for actuating and deactuating movement by said housing under the influence of said frame and said coil so as to change the condition of the relay switch poles formed by the corresponding fixed and moving contacts; bias means associated with said housing and said assembly whereby actuating movement of said assembly normally results in a reaction force being provided by said bias means which opposes the actuating movement; an adder housing including fixed contacts for association with said relay housing; a moving contact carrier arranged to be guided for actuating and deactuating movement by said adder housing and arranged to be associated with said assembly so as to be moved therewith to change the condition of the adder switch poles formed by the corresponding fixed and moving contacts; and bypass means for utilization when the adder is associated with the relay and positionable with respect to said bias means so that the reaction force does not arise, the reaction force provided by said bias means being chosen to equal the additional actuating force necessary to provide the actuating movement foi said moving contact carrier of the adder.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said bias means comprises a protrusion associated with one of said relay housing and said assembly and a resilient member associated with the other whereby said protrusion normally engages said resilient member upon actuating movement to provide the reaction force.

lever.

5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein the bypass means comprises screw fasteners provided in said adder housing which fasteners are arranged to secure said relay housing and said adder housing together and are further arranged to engage and position said spring loaded lever so as to preclude the normal engagement with said protrusion from taking place.

Claims

1. A constant actuating force arrangement for a relay and a relay-adder combination comprising: a relay housing including fixed contacts; a magnetic frame and a coil supported by said housing; a moving contact carrier-armature assembly arranged to be guided for actuating and deactuating movement by said housing under the influence of said frame and said coil so as to change the condition of the relay switch poles formed by the corresponding fixed and moving contacts; bias means associated with said housing and said assembly whereby actuating movement of said assembly normally results in a reaction force being provided by said bias means which opposes the actuating movement; an adder housing including fixed contacts for association with said relay housing; a moving contact carrier arranged to be guided for actuating and deactuating movement by said adder housing and arranged to be associated with said assembly so as to be moved therewith to change the condition of the adder switch poles formed by the corresponding fixed and moving contacts; and bypass means for utilization when the adder is associated with the relay and positionable with respect to said bias means so that the reaction force does not arise, the reaction force provided by said bias means being chosen to equal the additional actuating force necessary to provide the actuating movement for said moving contact carrier of the adder.

3. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein said bypass means is associated with said adder housing such that with the adder associated with the relay said bypass means positions one of said protrusion and said resilient member so as to preclude the normal engagement therebetween from taking place.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein said protrusion is associated with said assembly and said resilient member is associated with said relay housing and comprises a spring-loaded lever.