JPH0758607B2 - relay - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a relay having electrical contacts, and more particularly to a relay having no electromagnetic drive mechanism.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a relay having an electric contact of this kind is generally provided with an electric contact mechanism section implanted on a base and an electromagnetic drive section such as a coil or a magnet for driving the electric contact mechanism section.

For example, a general relay, that is, a relay having a plurality of fixed contacts, a movable contact, a movable contact spring, etc., in which the tip of the movable contact spring is biased to one of the fixed contacts to make contact To do this, electromagnetic waves such as those that energize the coil and magnetize the iron core to attract the armature and operate the contact by the action of the card, or those that open and close the contact by moving the permanent magnet closer or farther, etc. Mainly relays that use power.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The above-described conventional electromagnetic relay requires a coil that requires a large number of windings and an iron core and a yoke that form the magnetic path thereof, and thus the structure of the electromagnetic drive unit that drives the electrical switching contacts becomes complicated. , And the manufacturing process of the electromagnetic drive unit and the like are complicated, so that there is a drawback that it is expensive and it is extremely difficult to reduce the weight.

An object of the present invention is to provide a relay that simplifies the structure of a drive unit that drives such electrical switching contacts, guarantees reliable operation of the electrical switching contacts, and realizes weight reduction and cost reduction. Especially.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The relay of the present invention includes a base made of an insulating material, an electric contact opening / closing unit having a movable contact terminal and two fixed contact terminals fixedly implanted in the base, and one end fixed to the movable contact terminal and A first movable contact spring having a predetermined contact force with respect to one of the two fixed contact terminals. One and second supports, first and second input terminals implanted in the base, one end of which is locked to the first input terminal, and the groove of the first support is used as a guide. And a first shape memory alloy wire arranged at one end thereof, and one end of which is locked to the second input terminal and which guides the groove of the second support body and the first shape memory alloy wire. The first shape memory that is arranged A second shape memory alloy wire that performs expansion and contraction operation opposite to the gold wire is electrically and mechanically connected to ends of the first and second shape memory alloy wires in opposite directions to the input terminals. And a card having an engaging portion for driving the movable contact spring.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are respectively a plan view and a front view of a relay showing an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), in this embodiment, a base 1 made of an insulating material, fixed contact terminals 2 and 3 fixedly implanted in the base 1, a movable contact terminal 4, and a movable contact are used. Terminal 4 is an electric contact opening / closing part having a movable contact spring 5 with one end fixed and the other end arranged between the contacts of fixed contact terminals 2 and 3, and substantially zigzag and symmetrical on both sides of the movable contact spring 5 in the longitudinal direction. Of two sets of supports 7a-7d and 8a on the base 1
~ 8d and a set of input terminals 6a and
6b and two shape memory alloy wires 9 which have their one ends respectively locked to the input terminals 6a and 6b and which are alternately arranged on the supports 7a to 7d and 8a to 8d and which perform expansion and contraction operations opposite to each other.
a, 9b, a card 10 having an engaging portion for electrically and mechanically connecting the other ends of the shape memory alloy wires 9a, 9b to drive the movable contact spring 5, and a cover 11 for covering the base 1. And have.

Next, the relay having such a configuration will be described in more detail. The base 1 has a function of fixing the terminals and the support body in a planted or standing manner. That is, the fixed contact terminals 2 and 3 and the movable contact terminal 4 having the external lead-out terminals implanted in the base 1, and the movable contact terminal 4 are electrically and mechanically engaged and arranged so as to face the fixed contact terminals 2 and 3. The movable contact spring 5 is provided, and these members constitute an electric contact opening / closing section. The base 1 includes a pair of input terminals 6a and 6b that are erected and lead to the outside, and two pairs of support body groups 7a to 7d and 8a to 8d that are erected substantially symmetrically on both sides of the movable contact spring 5. have.
Further, a first shape memory alloy wire 9a stretched through a sliding groove or a rotatable pulley groove provided on the side surface of the support 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d in this order from the input terminal 6a is provided. In addition, the input terminal 6b also has a second shape memory alloy wire 9b which is also stretched over the supports 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d in this order.
The ends of the shape memory alloy wires 9a and 9b are electromechanically engaged with the inside of the card 10 by screws or the like, and are arranged so as to be balanced with appropriate tension. Further, the card 10 has means such as a groove capable of engagingly driving the movable contact spring 5. The cover 11 is open-engaged with the base 1 in order to protect the electric contact opening / closing part and the driving part.

Next, the operation of the relay of this embodiment will be described.

When voltage is applied between input terminals 6a and 6b, shape memory alloy wire
9a and 9b are heated by Joule heat and the alloy wire 9a shrinks,
Further, the alloy wire 9b extends. As a result, the card 10 moves in one direction, so that the movable contact spring 5 contacts the fixed contact terminal 2. Further, when the voltage application to the input terminals 6a and 6b is released, the alloy wire 9a expands and the alloy wire 9b contracts. Therefore,
The movable contact spring 5 returns to the fixed contact terminal 3.

If the shape memory alloy wires 9a and 9b are selected to be alloy wires having a shape memory opposite to the above, a relay having an input / output operation logic opposite to the above operation can be configured.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the relay of the present invention electrically connects two types of shape memory alloy wires that perform contradictory expansion / contraction operations in series as a drive section for driving the electrical contact opening / closing section and combines the expansion / contraction operations thereof. By adopting the drive mechanism,
There is an effect that the structure of the drive unit becomes extremely simple and the electric contact opening / closing unit can be reliably operated.

Further, since the present invention does not use a coil such as an electromagnetic relay or electromagnetic components such as an iron core and an armature, there is an effect that weight reduction and cost reduction can be easily realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are respectively a plan view and a front view of a relay showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... Base, 2, 3 ... Fixed contact terminal, 4 ... Moving contact terminal,
5 ... Movable contact springs, 6a, 6b ... Input terminals, 7a-7d, 8a-8d ...
Support, 9a, 9b ... Shape memory alloy wire, 10 ... Card, 11 ... Cover.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base made of an insulating material, an electric contact opening / closing unit having a movable contact terminal and two fixed contact terminals fixedly implanted in the base, and one end fixed to the movable contact terminal and the two fixed contact terminals. A first movable contact spring having a predetermined contact force with respect to one of the fixed contact terminals. And a second support, first and second input terminals implanted in the base, one end of which is locked to the first input terminal, and the groove of the first support is used as a guide. A first shape memory alloy wire to be arranged, and one end of which is locked to the second input terminal, and which is arranged alongside the first shape memory alloy wire with the groove of the second support as a guide. And the first shape memory alloy wire Are electrically and mechanically coupled to the second shape memory alloy wire performing opposite expansion and contraction, and the ends of the first and second shape memory alloy wires in opposite directions to the input terminals, respectively, and are movable. And a card having an engaging portion for driving a contact spring.