US937098A - Mercury-contact relay. - Google Patents

Description

G. F. A. SGHULDT & E'. H. NICHOLSONL MERCURY CONTACT RELAY.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.12, 1908.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

...ToI all ,whom it may concern;

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i be a full, clear, and exact il@ invention, such as will enable others skilled tally at 14. The upper ends of the necks in the art to which it appertains to make and 13 terminate in heads 13, each of which, as use the same. p shown, has four radial perorations 13.

Our invention has for its object to pro- The perforations 13b open i.1to`grooves 1F, vide an improved mercury contact relay, which in turn lead to small mercury wells lu,

15 and to this end the invention consists ofthe formed in theend portionsl of the bar 11. novel devices and combinations of'devices By reference to Figs. l and et, ity will be hereinafter' described and defined in the noted that the perforations 13" lie in a plane claims. slightly below the upper portion of the wells i The improved relay was especially de- 16, this being` done for an important pur- 20. signed for use in connection with railway pose which will hereinafter appeal'.

vsignaling systems, but is, nevertheless, capa- An approximately vertical tunnel plate 17 ble ofgeneral use wherever a relay of this is secured to the end of the section 14D of the general 'character may be found serviceable. mercury tube 14, and extends entirely across,

In the accompanying drawings which and from top to bottom of the raised end illustrate the invention, like characters indiportion ot the envelop or inner casing 7, so cate like parts throughout the several views.l aste cut olf a. small compartment T from Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is j the main body portion of the said envelop. a vertical section taken through the im- Also by reference to Fig. 1, .it will be noted vproved relay, approximately on the line m1 l that the tube section 14" leads lfrom the exw1 of Fig. 2; ig. 2 shows the improved rel treme lower portion or bottom of this c0111-,

lay in end elevation, some parts being broken j partlnent- 7a. away and some parts being sectioned; Fig. y A transversely extended approximate U 3 is a plan View showing the internal mechshaped or forked bearing 18, is secured to anism of the relay removed from working ythe intermediate portion of the bar 11, and a position; and Fig. 4 is a section taken on the l Wire l5) is attached at one end to one of thev irregular line :r4 m4 of Fig. 3. l prongs of this bearing. The other end of the The outer shell, or keys proper of the re'- l wire 19 is attached to a small lever 20 lthat lay, is shown as made up of a base plate 1, l is pivoted to' the other prong of the said a curved top plate 2, and a heavy wall l bearing 18, and is subject to an adjusting 3, the said parts being rigidly but detachl Screw v21, by means ot which, the tension on ably connected by bol ts 4. To the top plate the said wire v1!) may be varied.

i 2, a .pair of magnets 5arc secured, the saule .1X/'contact supporting lever 22 is intel'- as shownLhaving depending headed cores (i 'l mediately connected to the intermediate porthat project downward through suitable tion otl thoavirc 1t), so that the said wire seats-in the said plate 2. Y f alli/)rds a tule'rum for the said lever. At one The working parts of the relay are con-v side otits fulcrum, the lever provided tained within an air-tight inner shell in the l with a transversely extended armature form of a glass envelop 7, which as shown, l plate t 23, that underlies the cores (S, and is supported from the top plate 2 of the case l hence, is subject, to the `said magnets or 59 by a pair ofV stirrups 8 and 9. As\shown, i magnetic coils At a point near its armathin layers of cement 10 are interposed be- I ture', thev lever 22, as lshown, is provided tween the stirrups 8 and 9 and the glass enwith a small threaded finger 24, on which velop 7, so that the latteris firmly secured is an adjustable weight 25, by adjustments in position by the two stirrups, .and spaced of which latter, the counterpoise of the lever s apart from the outer casing. may be varied.

lImprovements in Mercury-Contact Relays;

TED entres PATENT cierren.

LES'F. A. BQHULDT AND FRANK H. NIGFHOESGMQF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

Specification of Letters Patent. Implication filed October 12, 1908.

93"?,098. Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

semi no. 457,298.

l as porcelain, wood fiber or vulcanized rub- Be it known that' we, CHARLES F. A. ber, is secured withiinland to the bottom of SCHULDT and FRANK H. NICHOLSON, citizens ofthe United States, residing at St. Paul, in the'county of Ramsey and State of Minne- Sota, have invented certain new and useful Near its ends, the bar 11 has vertical perforations that receive portions of the cement 12, and contain the 11p-turned necks 13 of a mercury tube 14, which latter is seatedin the body of cement 12, and

and we do hereby declare l turned at- 141, and then is the following to description of the extended horizon- A base bar 11 of insulating material, such To each end of the lever 22 is secured a the glass envelop 7, by a body oi cement 12.

at one end, is upcontact'holder preferably in the form of a sheet of mica 26, but which may be of other insulatingr material. Each contact holder 26 carries two pairs ot inverted U shaped contacts Q7, having depending Contact points QS preferably of platinum, that are arranged to engage each in the mercury Z, contained in mercury cups 16. One end o1"- the lever 22 is shown as guided by a split post 29 secured on bar l1.

There is nothing novel in the manner in which. the relay herein disclosed is Wired, and hence, for the purposes olf this case, it will be sucient to note that binding posts 30 on the top plate2 of the case, are connected by Wires 31, that extend through sealed passages in the envelop 7, to contact points 32 located one. in each mercury containing Well 16.

i etere the inner casingor transparent envelop 7 is hermetically sealed, all of the partscontained therein, must, ot course, be properly adjusted. Also thc required amount ot mercury must be introduced into the said envelop. rlfhe amount o mercury introduced into the envelop should be sutilv cient 'to lill the tube 14, its necks 13 and heads 13a, up to the altitude otl the perfora- 'tions i3", so that 'this mercury Will run into and ll thc `Wells lf3 Without overflowing latter. ln shipment the mercury may run. where it will, and when desired` it may be properly collected, first by standing the entire device on its left hand end, directions being taken in respect to Fig. 1. 'lliis will cause all the loose mercury to be collected on the funnel plate 17, hence directed 'into the compartment 7a. Then.y when the device is properlyv arighted, or set, as shown by Fig. 1, the mercury will run down through the tube section lei-b and 14a into the tube ld, and from thence through the necks 13 and pertorations 13b into the mercury Wells 16.

The relay as is evident, is thoroughly prot d from the clelnents, such as rain, suonv anni dirt, and `furthermore the delicate parts thereof, are protected so they cannot possib"y be tan'ipered with. This latter feature resell. is ot' the very greatest importance` especially in railway signaling apparatus, wherein reliability under all conditions, is the first re p1irementu rlfhe transparent envelop enables inspection at all times of the i, internal mechanism ot' the relay, and this I feature, as is obvious, is highly important.

Preferably, the air-tight envelop adorded by the inner glass casing 7 before it is sealed, has the air pumped therefrom, so that the operative parts of the relay are not closed or contained in a vacuum. This prevents oxidation of the contact points of the l relay.

7What We claim is:

1. ln an electrical relay, the combination with a glass envelop and magnetically actu-y ated contacts therein, including, a lever, and a magnet entirely outside of said envelop operative on said contact lever.

2, ln an electrical relay, *l

me combination with a glass envelop and magnetically actuated contacts therein, including a lever, of a shell mclosmg said envelop and a magnet supported by said shell with its core entirely outside of said envelop, and Which magnet is operative on said contact lever, substantially as described. v

3.111 an electrical relay an air-tight envelop, mercury Wells contained therein, movable contacts coti}' eiat-ingl with s. i l wells, and means for collecting mercury contained Within said envelop and for directing the same into said wells, substantially as described.

4. ln an electrical relay, the combination with an air-tight envelop, ot a tunnel plate and a mercury tube within'said envelop, said tube having passages leading to and terminatingv in open mercury containing wells, movable contacts Within said envelop cooperating With said Wells, and a magnet for actuatingr said contacts, the said funnel plate and mercury tube being arranged to collect all the mercury contained in said envelop, when the latter is turned on one end, and to direct the mercury into said wells when the said envelop is subsequently arigrhted or set in normal position.

5. ln an electrical relay, the combination with awire and a support for the ends thereot', of a contact lever secured to the intermediate portion of the said Wire, the said wire serving a yieldingr tulcrum for the said lever.

In testimony whereof we aftix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

(lll llilltl F. A. SClvl'UliDT. FRANK ll. NlCl'lOliSON.

lVitncsst-s:

Il. D. Klmoiui, Amor. J. Swanson'.

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