Contact block
OwnerGlenn R. Taylorinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A contact block for an electrical switch includes an insulating housing for a pair of spaced stationary contacts. A movable contact support carrier or stroker carries a bridging member including contacts for engagement with the stationary contacts. Biasing means positioned between the stroker and the housing normally biases the carrier in the direction of a projection carried by the stroker, the stroker being actuated by a linear or rotary operator. Both normally open and normally closec contact blocks are described.
Claims17
A contact block for an electrical switch adapted to be actuated by a linear or rotary operator comprising:
- A. an insulating housing;
- B. a pair of spaced stationary contacts positioned in said housing;
- C. a movable stroker disposed in a channel in the bottom of the housing including a pair of U-shaped members having legs opposed to but spaced from each other and having a projection extending from one side of the stroker through the housing to contact the operator;
- D. a bridging member reversibly mounted on said stroker disposed in the space formed by said U-shaped members and having contacts for engagement with the stationary contacts, said bridging member including a U-shaped central portion;
- E. means positioned between the stroker and a wall of the contact block for biasing the stroker in the direction of the projection whereby, in the case in which the bridging member is located on the same side of the stationary contacts as the projection, the switch is normally open, and in the case in which the bridging member is located on the opposite side of the stationary contacts from the projection, the switch is normally closed by the biasing means.
An assembly comprising an operator having means for connection to at least one contact block and means for actuating the projection on a stroker of the contact block, said contact block comprising:
- A. an insulating housing having a cover;
- B. a pair of spaced stationary contacts positioned in said housing;
- C. a movable stroker disposed in a channel in the bottom of the housing including a pair of U-shaped members having legs opposed to but spaced from each other and having a projection extending from one side of the stroker through the housing to contact the operator;
- D. a bridging member reversibly mounted on said stroker disposed in the space formed by said U-shaped members and having contacts for engagement with the stationary contacts, said bridging member including a U-shaped central portion;
- E. means positioned between the stroker and a wall of the contact block for biasing the stroker in the direction of the projection whereby, in the case in which the bridging member is located on the same side of the stationary contacts as the projection, the assembly provides a switch which is normally open, and in the case in which the bridging member is located on the opposite side of the stationary contacts from the projection, the assembly provides a switch which is normally closed by the biasing means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.