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US3098130A - Electric switches - Google Patents

Electric switches Download PDF

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Publication number
US3098130A
US3098130A US820417A US82041759A US3098130A US 3098130 A US3098130 A US 3098130A US 820417 A US820417 A US 820417A US 82041759 A US82041759 A US 82041759A US 3098130 A US3098130 A US 3098130A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
contact
fixed contacts
contacts
spaced
spaced fixed
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US820417A
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English (en)
Inventor
Clavel Jean
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ELECTRO COMMUTATION L
L'ELECTRO-COMMUTATION
Original Assignee
ELECTRO COMMUTATION L
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ELECTRO COMMUTATION L filed Critical ELECTRO COMMUTATION L
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3098130A publication Critical patent/US3098130A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H19/00—Switches operated by an operating part which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof and which is acted upon directly by a solid body external to the switch, e.g. by a hand
    • H01H19/54—Switches operated by an operating part which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof and which is acted upon directly by a solid body external to the switch, e.g. by a hand the operating part having at least five or an unspecified number of operative positions
    • H01H19/56—Angularly-movable actuating part carrying contacts, e.g. drum switch
    • H01H19/566—Angularly-movable actuating part carrying contacts, e.g. drum switch in which the contact making surfaces are inclined, i.e. not perpendicular, to the axial or radial direction
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/12—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage
    • H01H1/36—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage by sliding

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to electric switches for effecting one or several simultaneous electric connections, each by means of a conducting bridge having a plane contact surface which is mounted for sliding movement and can be moved at the same time on to rectilinear or circular tracks assembled on a fixed insulating support, one of these tracks being electrically continuous over plural switch positions, the other being electrically discontinuous and constituted by a sequence of conducting contacts successively insulated from one another.
  • the discontinuous track of any one of the switching sections is constituted by a seqence of contacts having each a certain surface which is suitable for contact and sliding, these contacts being arranged in rectilinear or circular sequence on a fixed insulating support, and separated by distances which intersect the sliding plane along the whole of its width and which the movable contact must pass over to move from one fixed contact to another.
  • this distance depends essentially on certain electrical characteristics which must be fulfilled by the switch and depends especially on the dielectric strength, on the insulation resist ance and on the electrostatic capacity. In the case of apparatus of small size, the use of which becomes more and more widespread, this distance may assume, owing to the above mentioned characteristics, a large relative value in relation to other dimensions, for example in relation to those of the contact cross section, and if the movable contact rocks when passing over this distance, it may produce a rapid deterioration of the contact surfaces. It is even possible that the electrical conditions which have just been mentioned cannot be reconciled with the mechanical conditions of sliding movement and hence a solution becomes practically impossible.
  • the invention uses for the discontinuous tracks suitably shaped contacts which are disposed in a sawtooth or inclined manner such that whilst ensuring a suitable spacing between neighbouring contacts, this track provides for the movable contact sliding and continuity characteristics which are very good. Besides the advantages arising out of such an arrangement may be added the further advantages of a particularly effective self-cleaning action, the sliding parts are less subject to wear, smaller dimensions. and lower cost of production.
  • FIGURE 1 is a plan View of the switch from the contact surfaces side
  • FIGURE 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, taken along line I1- II of FIGURE 1,
  • FIGURE 3 shows a sectional view along line III-III in FIGURE 1 showing the movable contact applied against the fixed contacts
  • FIGURE 4 is a plan view of part of the switch of FIG- URE 1 on a larger scale
  • FIGURE 5 is a plan view of part of a switch in which the contacts are arranged in a rectilinear fashion.
  • the contact 1 constituting the continuous track in that section and the series of contacts 2 constituting the discontinuous track are concentrically assembly on the fixed insulating support 3 by any suitable means.
  • the contacts 2 which are preferably cut out of a thin strip of suitable metal are disposed edgewise in the insulating support 3, in such a manner that the contact surfaces constituted by their upper faces effect the desired concentric distribution in the same plane, parallel to the supporting faces 3, as the contact surface of the continuous track.
  • the lower ends of the contacts 1 and 2, which project below the lower face of the support 3 are socket-shaped and to these can be secured, eg by soldering the electrical conductors to be connected to the switch.
  • FIGURE 1 shows clearly the arrangement of the contacts which is a characteristic feature of the invention and which has been briefly defined above as a sawtooth or inclined arrangement.
  • the greatest dimension of each of the contact faces 2 is inclined relative to the radius R1 which passes through its geometrical centre in such a manner that between two neighbouring contacts the successive ends of said faces each meet at points spaced away from the other (either going beyond these points or not going beyond them), the radius R2 which passes at an equal distance from the two geometrical centres. It is then easily seen that the plane contact surface of the movable contact 4 will always meet a continuous plane for sliding.
  • the movable contact 4 comprises a rigid conducting bridge member having a flat contact surface which is urged by means of the pressure spring 5 on the one hand against the faces of the contacts 2 and on the other hand against the contact 1 and is rotated in one direction or the other by rotation of the driving member 6, itself receiving its motion from the shaft 7.
  • the conducting bridge member 4 is freely mounted with respect to the driving member 6.
  • the invention has been illustrated as applied to a rotary switch, it may also be applied to rectilinearly sliding switches as shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 5.
  • the three continuous tracks 1 become rectilinear, the centres of the contacts 2 are uniformly distributed along a line parallel to the rectilinear tracks 1 and the radiuses R1 and R2 are replaced by perpendiculars r1 and r2 to this line.
  • a sliding contact rotaryv electric switch having at least one switch section consisting of an insulating support carrying a series of spaced fixed contacts having flat elongated rectangular contact surfaces arranged on a circular path and a common fixed contact having a fiat contact surface with all of the contact surfaces being arranged in the same plane, and a rigid conducting bridge member having a continuous fiat contact surface disposed in said plane and mounted for sliding movement over the flat contact surfaces of said fixed contacts and rotatable about the centre of the circular path on which are located the spaced fixed contacts, whereby any of the series of spaced fixed contacts can be selectively and individually connected to the common fixed contact by the continuous fiat contact surface of said conducting bridge member and spring means urging the flat contact surface of said bridge member into engagement with the fiat contact surface of said fixed contacts, said spaced fixed contacts being disposed to minimize capacitance therebetween with the longest dimensions of their rectangular contact surfaces oblique relative to the radius which extends from the centre of rotation of the bridge member and which is located equidistantly from the geometric centres of two adjacent contacts
  • a sliding contact electric switch having at least one switch section consisting of a series of spaced fixed contacts and a common fixed contact and a rigid conducting bridge member arranged to contact at the same time the common fixed contact and one of the series of spaced fixed contacts and mounted for sliding movement over said contacts whereby any one of the series of spaced fixed contacts can be selectively and individually connected to the common fixed contact and each of said spaced fixed contacts having a flat contact surface of elongated rectangular cross-section for contact by a fiat continuous contact surface on the bridge member, wherein the fixed contacts are mounted in an insulating support member and their fiat contacts surfaces are disposed in the same plane and in the sliding plane of the fiat continuous contact surface of the bridge member, said spaced fixed contacts being disposed to minimize capacitance therebetween with their longest dimension inclined relative to that perpendicular to the line joining the geometric centres of two adjacent spaced fixed contacts which is equidistant from said centres and with the neighbouring ends of said adjacent contacts meeting said perpendicular but spaced apart by a distance which is large in relation to the
  • a switch as claimed in claim 1 in the form of a rotary switch wherein the spaced fixed contacts are arranged on a circular or part-circular path traversed by the bridge member and the perpendicular constitutes a radius of said path, said radius extending from the centre about which said bridge member rotates.
  • a switch as claimed in claim 1 in the form of a rectilinear sliding switch wherein the geometric centres of the spaced fixed contacts are in alignment and the bridge member travels along a straight path.
  • a switch as claimed in claim 1 in which said spring means bears on said bridge member at a point between said series of spaced contacts and said common fixed contacts substantially equidistantfrom both.
  • a sliding contact electric switch having at least one switch section consisting of an insulating support carrying a series of spaced fixed contacts having elongated flat rectangular contact surfaces arranged on a straight path and a common fixed contact having a fiat contact surface with all of the contact surfaces being arranged in the same plane, a rigid conducting bridge member having a continuous flat contact surface disposed in said plane and freely mounted for sliding movement over the flat contact surfaces of said fixed contacts, and spring means urging the fiat contact surface of said bridge member into engagement with the flat contact surface of said fixed contacts, whereby any of the series of spaced fixed contacts can be selectively and individually connected to the commonfixed contact through the continuous fiat contact surface of said bridge member, said spaced fixed contacts being disposed to minimize capacitance therebetween with the longest dimensions of their rectangular contact surfaces oblique relative to the perpendicular line joining the geometric centres of'two adjacent spaced fixed contacts which is equidistant from said centres with the neighbouring ends of said adjacent spaced fixed contacts being spaced apart by a distance which is large in relation to the contact cross
  • a sliding contact rotary electric switch having at least one switch section consisting of an insulating support carrying a series of spaced fixed contacts having elongated fiat rectangular contact surfaces arranged on a circular path and a common fixed contact having a flat contact surface with all of the contact surfaces being arranged in the same plane, a rigid conducting bridge member having a continuous fiat contact surface disposed in said plane and freely mounted on a driving member for sliding movement over the flat contact surfaces of said fixed contacts, spring means urging the continuous fiat contact surface of said bridge member into engagement with the flat contact surfaces of said fixed contacts and said driving member being rotatable about the centre of the circular path on which are located the spaced fixed contacts, whereby any of the series of spaced fixed contacts can be selectively and individually connected to the common fixed contact through the continuous fiat contact surface of said bridge member, said spaced fixed contacts being disposed to minimize capacitance therebet-ween with the longest dimension of their rectangular contact surfaces oblique relative to the radius which extends from the centre of rotation of the bridge member and which is located equi

Landscapes

  • Rotary Switch, Piano Key Switch, And Lever Switch (AREA)
  • Push-Button Switches (AREA)
US820417A 1958-06-19 1959-06-15 Electric switches Expired - Lifetime US3098130A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR768371 1958-06-19

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3098130A true US3098130A (en) 1963-07-16

Family

ID=8706788

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US820417A Expired - Lifetime US3098130A (en) 1958-06-19 1959-06-15 Electric switches

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US3098130A (de)
CH (1) CH361606A (de)
DE (1) DE1213515B (de)
FR (1) FR1199719A (de)
GB (1) GB907886A (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3856999A (en) * 1974-01-03 1974-12-24 Third Nat Bank Of Springfield Rotary electrical switch with bridging contactor
US4038504A (en) * 1975-11-19 1977-07-26 A.C. Nielsen Company Rotary, printed circuit wafer switch and method for adjusting
US4410773A (en) * 1981-10-09 1983-10-18 Porsa Systems Corp. Multipole data switch
US4473726A (en) * 1982-09-27 1984-09-25 Porta Systems Corp. Contact pin and mounting construction for multipole data switch
US8653347B1 (en) 2012-08-10 2014-02-18 Gary Wayne Lewis Headjoint crown assembly with extension unit

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1338082A (en) * 1970-05-16 1973-11-21 Lucas Industries Ltd Electrical switches
FR2611079A1 (fr) * 1987-02-12 1988-08-19 Neiman Sa Commutateur a contact frottant

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US733610A (en) * 1902-10-03 1903-07-14 Gen Electric Rheostat.
DE399282C (de) * 1924-08-02 Oerlikon Maschf Elektrische Kontaktvorrichtung
DE571635C (de) * 1928-10-17 1933-03-03 Werner Otto Grob- und Feinstufenschalter, insbesondere fuer die Spannungsreglung bei Roentgenapparaten
GB552793A (en) * 1942-02-07 1943-04-23 Walter West Improvements in or relating to regulating switches
US2794080A (en) * 1955-02-16 1957-05-28 Bbc Brown Boveri & Cie Rotary multi-contact switch
US2805291A (en) * 1955-05-20 1957-09-03 Oak Mfg Co Electric switch
US2899676A (en) * 1957-12-09 1959-08-11 Printed circuit translators
US2928916A (en) * 1959-04-08 1960-03-15 Lionel Corp Stepping switch

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1718633U (de) * 1900-01-01
BE456358A (de) * 1943-04-28
DE1741696U (de) * 1956-08-13 1957-03-21 Siemens Ag Drehschalter mit mehreren kontaktsaetzen.

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE399282C (de) * 1924-08-02 Oerlikon Maschf Elektrische Kontaktvorrichtung
US733610A (en) * 1902-10-03 1903-07-14 Gen Electric Rheostat.
DE571635C (de) * 1928-10-17 1933-03-03 Werner Otto Grob- und Feinstufenschalter, insbesondere fuer die Spannungsreglung bei Roentgenapparaten
GB552793A (en) * 1942-02-07 1943-04-23 Walter West Improvements in or relating to regulating switches
US2794080A (en) * 1955-02-16 1957-05-28 Bbc Brown Boveri & Cie Rotary multi-contact switch
US2805291A (en) * 1955-05-20 1957-09-03 Oak Mfg Co Electric switch
US2899676A (en) * 1957-12-09 1959-08-11 Printed circuit translators
US2928916A (en) * 1959-04-08 1960-03-15 Lionel Corp Stepping switch

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3856999A (en) * 1974-01-03 1974-12-24 Third Nat Bank Of Springfield Rotary electrical switch with bridging contactor
US4038504A (en) * 1975-11-19 1977-07-26 A.C. Nielsen Company Rotary, printed circuit wafer switch and method for adjusting
US4410773A (en) * 1981-10-09 1983-10-18 Porsa Systems Corp. Multipole data switch
US4473726A (en) * 1982-09-27 1984-09-25 Porta Systems Corp. Contact pin and mounting construction for multipole data switch
US8653347B1 (en) 2012-08-10 2014-02-18 Gary Wayne Lewis Headjoint crown assembly with extension unit

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE1213515B (de) 1966-03-31
FR1199719A (fr) 1959-12-16
GB907886A (en) 1962-10-10
CH361606A (fr) 1962-04-30

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