US 4,358,699 A · Versatile electrical fiber brush and method of making

Abstract

A versatile electrical fiber brush comprising the following components: Firstly a brush body, which is not necessarily equiaxed, non-porous, rigid or all in one piece, made of a matrix material, not necessarily electrically conductive, embedded in which is at least one set of similarly formed fibers, in which there may be embedded other, thinner fibers, and in these fibers still thinner fibers. Secondly, at least one fibrous part which is formed by removing from a part of the brush body most or all of the matrix material plus, as the conditions may make it advisable, some fibrous material. Third, at least one working surface, this being the macroscopic surface of a brush where it makes contact with the object(s) to which electrical connection shall be made. Fourth at least one set of electrically conductive fiber wires which form at least part of the working surface as well as of the fibrous part. The mechanical resilience and compliance of the fibrous parts is controlled by a system of secondary and tertiary fibers, these being generated from the embedment of fibers in fibers in the body of the brush. The electrical properties of the brush are controlled by the fiber wires. By making extremely large numbers of fiber wires of very small diameters to contact the object at the working surface of a brush, quantum-mechanical tunneling is expected to become the predominant mechanism of current conduction, yielding extremely good brush performance, while at same time brush wear is forecast to be very low.

Claims100

Dependent claims

An electrical brush for making electrical connection to at least one object, comprising:

a solid brush body formed of a matrix material having embedded therein at least one set of plural fibers;
at least one fibrous brush part, and in general M fibrous brush parts, extending from said brush body and at least partly formed of at least part of said at least one set of fibers, said fibrous brush part substantially free of matrix material and defining at least one working surface, and in general Q working surfaces, adapted for making electrical contact with at least one object, and in general Z objects, said at least one working surface formed of compositely shaped surfaces of at least some of the fibers forming said at least one fibrous part, including at least one set, and in general Y sets, of electrically conductive fiber wires adapted for making electrical connection to said at least one object at said working surface, said fiber wires having an average crossectional area A, an average exposed length l, an average diameter d=.sqroot.4A/.pi., and a packing density f;
said at least one set of fiber wires extending from secondary fibers of diameter d.sub.s in groups of N.sub.s fiber wires per secondary fiber, and said secondary fibers extending from tertiary fibers of diameter d.sub.t in groups of N.sub.t secondary fibers per tertiary fiber, and these tertiary fibers extending from, and being partially embedded in, said brush body;
wherein at least a selected one of M, Q, Y, N.sub.s, N.sub.t, d.sub.s /d and d.sub.t /d.sub.s >1, the remaining non-selected of M, Q, Y, N.sub.s, N.sub.t, d.sub.s /d and d.sub.t /d.sub.s respectively being .gtoreq.1.

1 more element

An electrical brush for making electrical connection to at least one object, comprising:

a solid brush body formed of a matrix material having embedded therein at least one set of plural fibers;
at least one fibrous brush part, and in general M.gtoreq.1 fibrous brush parts, extending from said brush body and at least partly formed of at least part of said at least one set of fibers, said fibrous brush part substantially free of matrix material and defining at least one working surface, and in general Q.gtoreq.1 working surfaces, adapted for making electrical contact with at least one object, and in general Z.gtoreq.1 objects, said at least one working surface formed of the compositely shaped surfaces of at least some of the fibers forming said at least one fibrous part, including at least one set, in general Y.gtoreq.1 sets, of electrically conductive fiber wires for making electrical connection to said at least one object at said working surface, said fiber wires having an average crossectional area A, an average exposed length l, an average diameter d=.sqroot.4A/.pi., and a packing density f;
said at least one set of fiber wires extending from secondary fibers of diameter d.sub.s in groups of N.sub.s .gtoreq.1 fiber wires per secondary fiber, and said secondary fibers extending from tertiary fibers of diameter d.sub.t in groups of N.sub.t .gtoreq.1 secondary fibers per tertiary fiber, and these tertiary fibers extending from, and being partially embedded in, said brush body;
wherein M, Q, Y, N.sub.s, N.sub.t, d.sub.s, d.sub.t, d and l may be chosen at will;
and
wherein the majority of the fiber wires in said at least one fibrous part have orientation angles between 10.degree. and 170.degree. with respect to the fibers embedded in said matrix material near the center of said brush body in the region closest to said fiber wires in said fibrous part, said orientation angles determined while no working surface of said at least one fibrous part makes mechanical contact with any solid object.

3 more elements

An electrical brush for making electrical connection to at least one object, comprising:

a solid brush body comprising at least one flexible part formed of a matrix material having embedded therein at least one set of plural fibers;
at least one fibrous brush part extending from said flexible part of said brush body and at least partly formed of at least part of said at least one set of fibers, said fibrous brush part substantially free of matrix material and defining at least one working surface adapted for making contact with at least one object;
said fibers including at least one set of electrically conductive fiber wires adapted for making electrical connection to said at least one object at said working surface, said fiber wires having an average cross-sectional area A, an average exposed length l, an average diameter d, where d=.sqroot.4A/.pi., and a packing density f;
said fibrous part at least including secondary fibers of average diameter d.sub.s (d.sub.s >d) embedded in and extending from said matrix material, said fiber wires embedded in and extending from said secondary fibers;
wherein
d/f.sup.2/3 <5 mm, and
d<0.5 mm.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Versatile electrical fiber brush and method of making

Life of this patent

Versatile electrical fiber brush and method of making

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims100