US1878843A - Snap switch - Google Patents

Description

SNAP SWITCH Filed Dec.- 13, 1950 z P n R 61 a I a0 7 INVENTOR MONROE GUETT hi9 atZvr-n :96

ii'jx' IWMHMMXM Patented Sept. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MONROE GUETT, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE ARROW-HART 0; HEGEHAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, 01 HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT SNAP SWITCH Application filed December 13, 1930. Serial No. 502,225.

to occupy more than two positions, it has been usual to space the positions apart 90 or more. In order to actuate such snap switches it has been necessary in many of these switches to move the actuator from a given position past the next position before the snapping of the switch member took place, the actuator then moving back to rest in the new position under the action of the sprin which efiected snapping of the switch mem er.

Therefore it is an object of my invention to provide a satisfactory switch construction having a movable switch member which is adapted to occupy more than two positions, within an are substantially less than 180.

Another. object of my invention is to make a switch of the above type in which three positions of a movable switch member may be established by the manipulation of a lever over an angle of substantially less than 180. Another ob'ect is to provide a lever operated snap switc with an actuator, capable of occupying more than two positions, 1n which.

' the movement of the actuator from a given osition to but not past the next position will be sufiicient to operate the switch. Other objects and advantages will appear as it is described in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a switch embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the opposite side of the switch from that shown in Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the switch with the cover plate removed.

Fig. 4 is a section view of the switch, the

section being taken on the line of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the cover plate and one-half of the switch frame removed.

Fig. 6 is a broken sectional elevation view of the switch, the section being taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a broken sectional elevation view of the switch, the section being taken on the line 77 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the switch gith the section taken on the line 8-8 of ig. 1. V

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of the switch spindle.

Referring to the drawing the switch com prises a laminated switch base 10 made up of a plurality of identically formed fibre lamicontact members 20, 22 which are made of thin sheet metal and held upon the lower corners of the switch base. Two pairs of wire terminals 24, 26, provided with binding screws 27, lie outside of the stationary switch contacts and are riveted to the outer lamination of the switch base, a single rivet serving thereby to hold the contact and wire terminal to the lamination. The laminations of the base are held together by two rivets 28, passing transversely through the laminations intermediate the wire terminals.

The movable parts of the switch are carried by a switch frame which is formed of two dissimilar stamped metallic members 30, 31 which are secured to the base at its top by two screws 33, 34 passing transversely through the ends of the two frame members and the upper corners of the switch base. One of the switch frame members is provided with lugs 36 bent at right angles to the frame and overlying the top corners of the switch base. These lugs are provided with screw threaded apertures for screws 38 to take into for securing a face plate 40 over the switch. This face plate is stamped from sheet metal and is provided with a semi-cylindrical portion 41 adjacent and partially encasing the switch mechanism. A longitudinal slot is provided in this semi-cylindrical portion to permit the movement of a hand lever 44: by which the switch is operated.

Both of the frame members have disclike central portions 46, 47 which are outwardly offset from the ends of the frame members. These disc-like portions are centrally apertured to provide bearings for a switch spindle 4.9 which carries all the movable parts of the switch. The middle portion 50 of this switch spindle is of larger diameter than the portions bearing in the frame, thus preventing sidewise movement of the spindle relative to the frame. Adjacent the ends of the middle portion of the spindle, the spindle is flattened as at 51 and upon one of these flattened sections the manual actuator 44 is secured.

The manual actuator is of stamped sheet metal and is made in disc form at its inner end in the center of which is a slot to receive the flattened portion 51 of the spindle, thus to cause rotation of the spindle with the actuator. The handle portion of the actuator is bent at right angles to the plane of the disc portion at the periphery of the disc, and then is bent at a right angle again into a plane parallel to the disc portion, thus forming an oflset spring engaging portion 55. The projecting portion of the actuator, with which the thumb or finger of the operator actually comes in contact, is twisted 90 to present a flat surface transverse to the plane of motion of the lever. Lying next to the disc portion 54 of the actuator is a sleeve 56 loosely mounted on the switch spindle and having secured to it at one end the switching member 16 which has a lug 58 turned laterally out therefrom in position to lie just under the offset of the manual actuator. Coiled around the sleeve and located between the switching member 16 and the disc portion 54: of the actuator is a coil spring 60 having its ends 61, 62 pressing against the opposite side of the lug 58 and offset 55. Projecting laterally from the switching member 16 in the opposite direction to the lug 58 and on the opposite side of the switch spindle from the lug is a pin 64. This pin slidably engages in an aperture in a cup shaped ratchet member 7 0 which has a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth 72 extending from the periphery of the cup and fitting in a plurality of circumferentially spaced apertures or recesses 74 in the disc-like portion of the frame member 31. This pin connection between the cup member and the switching member 16 causes these two parts to rotate in unison although they are relatively movable axially.

Lying between the cup member 70 and the frame member 31 is a cam disc 76 which is secured for rotation with the switch spindle by a slot receiving a flat spindle portion in a manner like that used to secure the manual actuator to the spindle.

The cam disc 76 has a number of inclined cam faces 78 pressed laterally outward therefrom and which are adapted to engage at certain times with cam faces 79 pressed laterally into the cup shaped member. Thus rotation of the manual actuator 44 causes rotation of the switch spindle 49 and with it the cam disc 7 6. By reason of the enga ement of the cam faces on the cup mem r with the cam faces on the cam disc, the cup member is caused to move away from the switch frame when the manual actuator is rotated. This moves the teeth 72 out of apertures 7 4 in the switch frame. But, while the manual actuator was causing disengagement of the teeth from their apertures, the offset portion 55 of the manual actuator was pressing against one end of and tensioning the spring 60 so that as soon as the teeth come out of the apertures the switching member and cup member are free for movement under the action of the spring, the other end of which, bearing against the lug 58 causes the movement of the switching member 16 with a snap action.

Preferably three cams are raised in the cup member and three on the cam disc, spaced 120 apart, each cam having two circumferentially directed inclined faces which meet at the peak of the cam. The cams on the cup member are smaller than those on the cam disc, the relative size of the cams and their height being regulated during manufacture so that when the manual actuator has rotated from an old position to, but not past, a new position the cam faces will have engaged each other and moved the cup member axially along the spindle a suflicient distance to have moved the teeth out of the apertures. This avoids the necessity of moving the actuator past its new position before the contact snaps to its new position, as was necessary in prior switches.

As the cam faces 79 of the cup member ride off the cam faces 72 of the cam disc, a coil spring 80, wound around the spindle 50 and constantly pressing against the switching member 16 and the cup member 70, forces the cup member toward the frame member 31 causing the teeth 74 of the cup member to engage in the apertures of the frame 31 next adjacent to the ones they had occupied prior to movement of the manual actuator. This arrests the cup member and movable switch contact in a new position.

In the embodiment shown seven apertures are made in the frame and spaced approximately 51 apart so that movement of the switch member is arrested after it has moved approximately 51. Thus I am enabled to get three positions of the switch member in the small compass of the cavity 14 of the switch base.

These positions are shown in Fig. 6. In the two extreme positions (shown dotted) the switch is on and the contact button 17 bridges the contacts 24 or 26; while in the middle position (shown in full lines) the switch is off.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that by varying the height and spacings of the cam faces on the cup member and cam disc and varying the number and spacings of the apertures in the frame member and the number and spacings of the teeth on the cup member the movement required for actuation and the number of positions able to be obtained by the switch may be varied within limits defined only by practicability.

Many other variations and modifications within the scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore I do not limit myself to the specific embodiment shown.

I claim 1. In a lever actuated snap switch, a supporting frame, a spindle carried by said frame, a manually actuable lever movable with said spindle, a switch member, switch actuating spring means connecting said lever and switch member, ratchet means movable with said switch member, and spring means independent of said switch actuating spring means normally urging said ratchet means into engagement with said frame to prevent movement of said switch member, cam means movable with said lever to shift said ratchet means along said spindle for disengaging said ratchet means from said frame.

2. In a snap switch, a frame having a plurality of recesses therein, a switch spindle having mounted thereon a manually actuable member, a switching member, a toothed member, and a cam member, the teeth of said toothed member being adapted to fit in said recesses, said cam spindle and actuating member being movable together, and said cam member being adapted to shift said toothed member axially to disengage said teeth from said recesses and permit movement of said switch member, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

3. In a switch, a frame having a plurality of circumferentially arranged recesses, a manually operable member and a switch spindle, a toothed member and a switch member rotatable together, the teeth of said toothed member fitting into said recesses, a

cam member-rotatable with said spindle to disengage said teeth from said recesses by axial movement of said toothed member While said cam member is being rotated through an are equal to the are between adjacent recesses, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed memher in engagement with said frame.

4. In a switch, a manually operable member, a frame, a spindle, a switch member, a toothed member rotatable with said switch member but movable axially of said spindle, relatively to said switch member, the teeth of said toothed member engaging in a plurality of circumferentially arranged recesses in said frame member normally to hold said switch member against rotation, and means operable by said manually operable member to move said teeth from said recesses and to actuate the switch with a snap motion and a spring independent of said means urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

5. A switch, a frame having a plurality of circumferentially spaced recesses, a switch spindle, a toothed member mounted on said spindle, the teeth of said member fitting into said recesses, a switching member movable with said toothed member, means to withdraw said teeth from said recesses and permit movement of said switching member a distance equal to the spacing of said apertures, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other switchmeans for urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

6. In a snap switch, a switching member, a manual actuator movable in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions to move said switching member, a member having cam faces thereon and movable with said manually operable member, a frame, a toothed member engageable with said frame to hold said switching member in any one of a plurality of fixed positions, and cams on said toothed member engageable with said cam faces to cause lateral movement of said toothed member whereby to disengage it from said frame, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed member inengagement with said frame.

7 In a snap switch, a switching member, a manual actuator movable in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions to move said switching member, a member having cam faces thereon and movable with said manual actuator, a frame, a toothed member engageable with said frame to hold said switching member in any one of a plurality of fixed positions, and cams on said toothed member engageable with said cam faces to cause lateral movement of said toothed member whereby to disengage it from said frame when said manual actuator has moved through an are no greater than the are between adjacent positions of said actuator, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

8. In a snap switch, a switching member,

a manual actuator movable in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions to move said switching member, a member having cam faces thereon and movable with said manual actuator, a frame, a toothed member engageable with said frame to hold said switching member in any one of a plurality of fixed positions, and cams on said toothed member engageable with said cam faces to cause lateral movement of said toothed member whereby to disengage it and said frame, when said manual actuator has moved through a small are, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

9. In a snap switch, a switch spindle, a manually movable member for moving said spindle, a switch member and cam means rotatable about the axis of said spindle, said cam means, spindle and manually movable member being movable together, a toothed member and a frame member having cooper ating recesses and teeth, one of said last mentioned members being stationary and the other being movable axially of said switch spindle by said cam means to disengage said teeth from said recesses and permit movement of said switch member, spring means for actuating said switching member with a snap, and other spring means for urging said toothed member in engagement with said frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

- MONROE GUETT.

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