Battery breaker

Details Battery breaker Battery breaker

2001-08-06

2003-10-14

Vortman, Anatoly (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrothermally or thermally actuated switches

Thermally actuated switches

With bimetallic element

C337S333000, C337S362000, C337S379000, C337S380000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06633222

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery breaker having a structure of bringing or separating a movable contact into contact with or from a fixed contact by the spring action of a movable piece or the warping action of a bimetal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A description will now be given of two kinds of conventional breakers each provided with a movable piece having elasticity and a bimetal with reference to
FIGS. 48
to
50
.
FIG. 48
is a cross-sectional view showing a breaker (a temperature switch), and
FIG. 49
is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the breaker of FIG.
48
.
Reference numeral
5
denotes a housing composed of a mounting base
50
and a cover
51
covering the upper surface of the mounting base
50
. A fixed contact
60
is mounted to the inner bottom surface of one end of the mounting base
50
, and an end of a terminal
61
extending from the housing
5
outwards is connected to the bottom surface of the fixed contact
60
.
A band plate-shaped movable piece
63
having elasticity is mounted to the other end of the mounting base
50
such a way that the tip end of the movable piece protrudes into the housing
5
toward the fixed contact
60
. The movable contact
62
fixed to the tip end of the movable piece
63
is in contact with the fixed contact
60
by the spring action of the movable piece
63
. The movable piece
63
has semicircular-shaped notches
65
,
65
in opposite side portions on the fixed end side, and these notches
65
,
65
are brought into engagement with pins
52
,
52
provided on the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
50
. The movable piece
63
also has a downwardly convex portion
64
such that the tip end of a bimetal
54
which will be described later may be brought into contact with the convex portion when the bimetal is warped to make the snap action. The movable piece
63
further has a terminal
66
as one body at a portion extending from the housing
5
outwards.
The bimetal
54
having an upwardly convex curved surface is placed between the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
50
and the movable piece
63
. In this place, the bimetal is warped at a predetermined working temperature to push up the movable piece
63
by the snap action resulting from warping of the bimetal for separating the movable contact
62
from the fixed contact
60
.
The bimetal
54
is formed by placing a main bimetal
54
a
and an auxiliary bimetal
54
b
having a working temperature different from that of the main bimetal one over the other. The main bimetal
54
a
and the auxiliary bimetal
54
b
have semicircular-shaped notches
56
,
56
,
57
,
57
on the opposite sides of the base ends respectively, and these notches
56
,
57
are brought into engagement with the corresponding pins
52
,
52
.
The mounting base
50
has a projection
53
on the inner bottom surface at a position corresponding to the warping center of the bimetal
54
. The projection
53
is inserted through a central through hole
55
of the auxiliary bimetal
54
b
until the center portion of the main bimetal
54
a
is brought into contact with the projection
53
. The constitution described the above makes it possible to reduce one-sidedly biased distribution of bending stress of the bimetal
54
.
FIG. 50
is a cross-sectional view showing another conventional breaker (a temperature switch).
A housing
7
is composed of a mounting base
70
and a cover
71
covering the upper surface of the mounting base, and a fixed contact
80
is mounted to the inner bottom surface of one end of the mounting base
70
of the housing
7
. An end of a terminal
81
extending from the housing
7
outwards is connected to the bottom surface of the fixed contact
80
.
A band plate-shaped movable piece
83
having elasticity is mounted to the other end of the mounting base
70
such that the tip end of the movable piece protrudes into the housing
7
toward the fixed contact
80
. The movable piece
83
has a through hole in a position close to the fixed end, and a guide pin
74
provided on a convex portion
73
of the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
70
is inserted through this through hole. In
FIG. 50
, there is shown the state of the breaker when a bimetal
72
which will be described later is warped to separate a movable contact
82
fixed to the tip end of the movable piece
83
from the fixed contact
80
by the snap action of the bimetal. However, the movable contact
82
is normally in contact with the fixed contact
80
by the spring action of the movable piece
83
. The movable piece
83
has a downwardly convex portion
84
such that the tip end of the bimetal
72
is brought into contact with the convex portion when the bimetal is warped to make the snap action. The movable piece
83
also has a terminal
85
as one body at a portion extending from the housing
7
outwards.
The bimetal
72
having an upwardly convex curved surface is placed between the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
70
and the movable piece
83
. In this place, the bimetal is warped at a predetermined working temperature to push up the movable piece
83
by the snap action resulting from warping of the bimetal to separate the movable contact
82
from the fixed contact
80
.
The bimetal
72
has a through hole in a position close to the base end, and the guide pin
72
provided on the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
70
is inserted through this through hole. A base end
72
a
serving as the warping center of the bimetal
72
is brought into engagement with the convex portion
73
on the inner bottom surface of the mounting base
70
. Since the bimetal
72
has the warping center located at the base end
72
a
(at the right end of the bimetal in
FIG. 50
) as described the above, a free end (the left end of the. bimetal in
FIG. 50
) of the bimetal
72
is shifted upwards when the bimetal
72
is warped at the predetermined working temperature. Then, the bimetal
72
pushes up the movable contact
82
through the upwardly shifted free end to separate the movable contact
82
from the fixed contact
80
.
The conventional breaker shown in
FIGS. 48 and 49
presents the following problems.
Since there are the needs of forming the notches
65
in the movable piece
63
and the notches
56
,
57
in the bimetals
54
a,
54
b
and also bringing these notches into engagement with the pins
52
,
52
, a large number of assembly processes, the high manufacturing cost and besides, the complicated structure are required, resulting in a limitation to demands for miniaturization of the battery breaker.
Since the notches
56
,
57
of the bimetals
54
a,
54
b
are brought into engagement with the pins
52
,
52
, the operating performance of the bimetal is degraded. Besides, because of the need for the notches
56
,
57
for the bimetal, the warping action of the bimetal easily causes cracks in the bimetal through the notches
56
,
57
.
The conventional breaker shown in
FIG. 50
presents the following problems.
A large number of processes such as formation of the holes in the movable piece
83
and the bimetal
72
and insertion of the guide pin
74
through the holes are required, resulting in an increase in manufacturing cost.
Since the warping center of the bimetal
72
is located at the base end
72
a,
and only the free end of the bimetal
72
is warped, the operating performance of the bimetal is degraded. From the similar reasons, the bimetal needs to be increased in size to allow the bimetal to act as desired, resulting in a limitation to demands for miniaturization of the battery breaker.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery breaker, which may be manufactured to have a smaller size.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery breaker, which requires more simple structure for separating a movable contact from a fixed contact depending on a smaller operating amount of a bimetal.
A battery breaker according to the present inventio

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