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US 4,399,339 AGranted
Electrical contact
AssigneeCherry Electrical Products Corporation
InventorWilliam F. Storm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect of the invention, a sintered electrical contact having a contacting surface defining a plurality of voids is disclosed. The voids contain a corrosion retarding fluid which passes onto the contacting surface upon being worn down upon repeated engagement with a conductive element.
Claims7
An electrical contact comprising:
- a contacting surface, adapted for repeated engagement with a conductive element and defined by grains of electrically conductive material;
- a plurality of voids defined by said grains;
- and
- a corrosion retarding fluid deposited in at least some of said voids, said fluid maitaining its liquid state for all switching operations of said contact, so that the fluid passes from said voids onto said contacting surface as said contacting surface becomes eroded upon repeated engagement by said conductive element.
1 more element
In a switch having at least two electrically conducting contact elements for making and breaking electrical contact with one another, the improvement of at least one of said contact elements comprising:
- a porous matrix of electrically conducting particles, said porous matrix defining voids and having a contact surface for conductively contacting the other contact element, said particles forming protuberances on said surface;
- and
- a corrosion retarding fluid disposed in at least some of said voids;
- said fluid flowing from voids adjacent to said contact surface for coating the surface with fluid to prevent corrosion of the surface, the protuberances of the surface eroding in response to the making or breaking of conductive contact between the contact elements to open additional voids and to thereby release fluid to maintain the corrosion resistant coating of fluid on the contact surface.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.