US549237A

US549237A - Gerald w

Info

Publication number: US549237A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1895-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 1912-11-05

Description

G. W. HART. ELECTRIC SWITCH.

No. 54C 2s?. 'Patented N0v.`5,11895.

Cdl

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GERALD IV. HART, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGN OR TO TIIE IIART d; IIEGEMAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming parl-of Letters Patent No. 549,237', dated November 5, 1895. Application filed March 19, 1895. Serial No.542,383. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, GERALD VV'. HART, a citizen of the United States, residing at I-Iartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the class of electrical switches that are more particularly adapted and intended for incandescent circuits and are known as flush switches or cut-outs.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and efiicient means for holding the cap, cover, or flush-plate tightly in place without screws over the wall or holding plate of a switch of this class; but of course the invention is equally applicable to switches of other classes.

To this end the invention resides in a switch or cut-out having a cap or flush-plate for covering and concealing the mechanism and a wall or holding plate, with a spring or other elastic part interposed between the cap or tlush-plate and a shoulder on the operating key or handle spindle of the switch, as more particularlyhereinafter described, an d pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a plan of a flush-switch embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation with parts cut in section to show the interior of the same. Fig. isaplan with the flush-plate and the handle or key removed. Fig. et is an enlarged detail section of the wall-plate, iiushplate, handle or key, and operating-spindle- Fig. 5 is a similar view of a modified arrangement of the invention; and Fig. 6 is a plan of the inside of a flush-plate, illustrating another arrangement of the invention.

In the views, l indicates a base, which is usually made circular in outline, of porcelain or other suitable insulating material. This base supports any desired number of bindingl posts 2, of any common'form, for the attachment of the circuit-wires, with conductingpieces 3 for contact with the movable poles of the switch. The base also supports a rotary spindle 4, which bears the movable poles 5, that, either single or double, as the case may be, make and break contact with the contactpieces connected with the binding-posts as the spindle is rotated by turning the handle or key 6. In the form illustrated in the drawings a single-pole switch of common form is shown; but the interior mechanism or. operating parts of the switch for making and breaking the circuit have no immediate connection with and are not material to the invention.

Arranged around the base is a sheet-metal shell 7, that protects the interior mechanism from dust and dirt, and on the outer edge of this is the wall-plate 8, that is held to the base by screws 9. This wall-plate is usually cast to shape of brass or other similar material and is provided with perforations for the passage of the screws that are employed to hold the switch in place in its socket in the wall of the room or apartment in which it is located, 7o this class of switch usually being set into a wall, so the holding or wall plate is smooth with the wall.

A highly-finished flush or surface plate l0 is provided to cover the mechanism and the wall or holding plate. This flush-plate is usually stamped to shape from sheet metal a little larger than the wall-plate, with its edges turned back and its center depressed or recessed, so the handle or key will not have 8o to project out but slightly beyond the surface of the iiush-plate. After the Wall-plate has been secured in place by screws or other means this flush or surface plate of finished sheet metal, without openings except for the passage of the spindle, is placed over the whole and the handle or key then attached to the spindle by any common means.

In the form of switch illustrated the handle or key for rotating the spindle and mak- 9o ing tense the pole-throwing spring is provided with a shank ll, with a threaded socket that is screwed on the threaded end of the spindle. On the shank of the handle is a loose collar l2, and thrusting against this collar and the inner edge of the handle is a spring or elastic washer 13. This spring or elastic washer thrusts the collar inward, so that when the handle is secured upon the spindle of the switch the collar is forced roo against the face of the flush-plate with a yielding pressure in such manner as to hold the iiush plate in position tightly against the wall or holding plate and yet without interfering with the free rotation of the handle and spindle for operating the switch.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the loose collar and the spring or elastic washer are held in a chamber ll, formed around the spindleperforation through the flush-plate, and this elasticall T-held collar presses against a shoulder 15 on the shank of the handle when the latter is attached to the spindle, so that the flush-plate is held in place close against the wall or holding plate with a similar yielding pressure.

In the form shown in Fig. G the collar 16 is held by spring-arms l?, that are formed integral with the collar and are secured to the inside of the 'flush-plate.

By means of this construction a thin, cheap, and highly-iinished sheet-metal 'flush-plate can be tightly held in place without screws or other visible means of attachment, so as to cover a rough wall-plate and protect the interior from the entrance of dust and dirt. There will be no rattle to the flush-plate and the handle can be turned without restriction. This arrangement does not require any special fitting of the parts and the plate is held tightly in position without necessitating that the handle shall be screwed upon the spindle to just such a predetermined location as would be necessary to hold the plate without this elastic arrangement. The handle, when provided with this arrangement for holding the Hush-plate, does not bind if it tends to screw inward farther than usual, and the plate will not be loose and shake and rattle it the handle does not screw in as far as usual. This invention is particularly advantageous in the construction of gang flush-switches, for in those cases it is almost impossible to so make the parts that the handles shall all screw on the spindles just the same; but with the present invention alarge plate having a number of handles or keys can be securely held, with each handle doing its part in retaining the plate in position. v

I claim as my inventionl. An electric switch having an operating handle spindle supported by the base, with a cover loosely placed over the face of the switch, and an elastic connection between the operating handle spindle and the cover, said elastic connection thrusting the cover with a yielding pressure toward the base and away from the handle, substantially as specified.

2. An electric switch having an operating handle spindle supported by the base, with a cover loosely placed over the face of the switch, and a spring depressed collar between the handle and the cover, said collar thrusting the cover toward the base with a yielding pressure, substantially as specified.

An electric switch having a holding plate provided with means i'or securing the switch in position, ahandle for operating the switch, a iiush plate for covering the holding plate, and an elastic connection between the handle and the flush plate for holding the latter in position against the holding plate, substantially as specified.

4L. An electric switch havingabase bearing aholding plate, a rotary spindle for moving the poles of the switch, a handle for rotating the spindle, and a flush plate for covering the mechanism and the holding plate, a movable collar bearing against a portion of the operating spindle, and a spring for thrusting the movable collar, substantially as speciiied.

. GERALD XV. HART.

VitneSses:

H. R. WVILLIAMs, Scorr H. SMITH.