Switch

Details Switch Switch

2001-10-04

2003-01-07

Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)

Electricity: circuit makers and breakers

Multiple circuit control

Pivoted contact

C200S00100B, C200S01600R, C200S402000, C200S437000, C200S558000, C200S559000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06504116

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch configured such that a movable contact blade is moved through a seesaw motion by a lever operation thereby to close and open the contacts of the switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of switches such as a toggle switch, for example, are in practical use in which switch contacts are turned on and off instantly through a snap action by the on/off operation of a spring-loaded lever. An example of the prior art switch of this type will be described with reference to
FIGS. 10 and 11
.
FIG. 10
is a diagrammatical sectional view illustrating the general construction of the prior art switch. The switch
23
comprises a generally rectangular box
11
having an open top; a neutral contact blade
12
fixed to the internal bottom surface of the box
11
generally in the center thereof; a fixed contact blade
13
fixed to the internal bottom surface of the box
11
adjacent to one end portion (left-hand end as viewed in
FIG. 10
) thereof; a movable contact blade
15
supported for seesaw motion by a neutral contact
12
b
vertically upstanding from one side edge of the neutral contact blade
12
; a movable contact
16
affixed to the undersurface of the movable contact blade
15
adjacent its forward end thereof, the movable contact
16
being adapted to come into electrically and mechanically contact with a fixed contact
14
secured to the fixed contact blade
13
when the switch is turned on and to move away from the fixed contact
14
when the switch is turned off, a frame
17
covering the open top of the rectangular box
11
; a sleeve
18
secured by crimping to the periphery of an opening
17
a
formed through the frame
17
in the center thereof; a lever
19
having a generally spherical one end portion
19
b
housed in the sleeve
18
and having the opposite end portion projecting out through a tapered opening
18
a
formed in the sleeve
18
; a coil spring
21
accommodated in an axially extending housing bore
19
a
formed in the generally spherical one end portion (which will be referred to as inner end portion hereinafter)
19
b
of the lever
19
; and a pushrod (or actuator)
22
having a shaft portion
22
a
housed in the housing or storage bore
19
a
and a tip portion
22
b
, the shaft portion
22
a
being resiliently urged by the coil spring
21
in such a sense as to be extended from the housing bore
19
a
to urge the tip portion
22
b
against the face of the strip-like body
15
c
of the movable contact blade
15
.
The generally spherical inner end portion
19
b
of the lever
19
is greater in diameter than the tapered opening
18
a
in the sleeve
18
so that the lever
19
is prevented from withdrawing from the sleeve
18
. In addition, the generally spherical inner end portion
19
b
of the lever
19
, the tapered opening
18
a
in the sleeve
18
, the coil spring
21
, the pushrod
22
and the movable contact blade
15
are configured so as to cooperate to allow the instantaneous throw-up or throw-down (turning on/off) operation of the lever
19
.
Further, it is to be noted that the neutral contact blade
12
and the fixed contact blade
13
have integral terminals
12
a
and
13
a
, respectively, depending from the respective strip-like bodies, the terminals
12
a
and
13
a
extending out through the bottom wall of the box
11
.
FIG. 11
shows the neutral contact blade
12
, the fixed contact blade
13
and the movable contact blade
15
in a perspective view as removed from the switch shown in FIG.
10
. The neutral contact blade
12
comprises a strip-like body
12
c secured to the bottom surface of the box
11
, a terminal
12
a
depending from the body at one end thereof, and a generally U-shaped (channel-shaped) neutral contact
12
b
upstanding from one longitudinal side edge of the body and having a cutout formed in its upper end in the center thereof to define two protrusions
12
b
1
and
12
b
2
. The fixed contact blade
13
comprises a strip-like body
13
c
secured to the bottom surface of the box
11
, a terminal
13
a
depending from the body at one end thereof, and a fixed contact
14
affixed to the face of the body generally in the center thereof. The movable contact blade
15
comprises a strip-like body
15
c
, a folded portion
15
a
depending from the body at one end thereof, a support portion
15
b
including two opposed pairs of protrusions
15
d
1
and
15
d
2
extending perpendicularly and generally horizontally from the opposite longitudinal side edges of the body generally in the center thereof, and a movable contact
16
affixed to the undersurface of the body adjacent the other end thereof.
The width of the strip-like body
15
c
of the movable contact blade
15
is approximately equal to the length of the cutout portion of the U-shaped neutral contact
12
b
of the neutral contact blade
12
, so that when assembled, the strip-like body
15
c
of the movable contact blade
15
is fitted in the cutout portion of the U-shaped neutral contact
12
b
with the opposite protrusions
12
b
1
and
12
b
2
engaged between the respective pairs of protrusions
15
d
1
and
15
d
2
of the support portion
15
b
, as shown in
FIG. 10
, whereby the movable contact blade
15
is positioned and supported by the neutral contact
12
b
of the neutral contact blade
12
for seesaw motion about the neutral contact.
While the fixed contact
14
and the movable contact
16
are typically formed of silver, they may of course be made of good electrically conductive metal such as gold. It is also to be noted that in this example the frame
17
is secured by crimping to the box
11
and that the neutral contact blade
12
and the fixed contact blade
13
are secured to the box
11
by twisting the root portions of the respective terminals
12
a
and
13
a.
With the switch
23
constructed as described above, it will be apparent that the throw-up and throw-down operation of the lever
19
causes the sliding movement of the tip
22
b
of the pushrod
22
on and along the strip-like body
15
c
of the movable contact blade
15
concomitant with the seesaw motion of the movable contact blade
15
so that the movable contact
16
comes into contact with the fixed contact
14
and goes away from the fixed contact
14
. The operation will be described in more details with reference to FIG.
12
.
FIG. 12
illustrates in diagrammatical sectional views how the movable contact
16
is moved into electrical and mechanical contact with the fixed contact
14
by the operation of the lever
19
. First, as the lever
19
is maneuvered in the direction indicated by an arrow
24
(clockwise as viewed in the drawing) from the switch-off position shown in
FIG. 12A
, the movable contact
16
is maintained to be disconnected from the fixed contact
14
as shown in
FIG. 12B
until the tip
22
b
of the pushrod
22
passes over the neutral contact
12
b
. The instant that the tip
22
b
of the pushrod
22
has passed over the neutral contact
12
b
, the movable contact blade
15
is rapidly moved in a seesawing manner about the neutral contact
12
b
as its fulcrum in the sense to bring the movable contact
16
into contact with the fixed contact
14
under the resilient force of the coil spring
21
and concurrently the lever
19
is rapidly moved (moved by snap action) to the position shown in FIG.
12
C. It is thus to be appreciated that the movable contact
16
and the fixed contact
14
are firmly contacted with each other both electrically and mechanically to turn the switch on.
Conversely, as the lever
19
is maneuvered in the counter-clockwise direction as viewed in the drawing from the switch-on position shown in
FIG. 12C
, the movable contact
16
is maintained to be in contact with the fixed contact
14
until the tip
22
b
of the pushrod
22
passes over the neutral contact
12
b
. The instant that the tip
22
b
of the pushrod
22
has passed over the neutral contact
12
b
, the movable contact blade
15
is rapidly moved in a seesawing manner abo

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