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US 4,670,729 AGranted
Electrical fuse
AssigneeLittelfuse, Inc.
InventorSeibang Oh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automotive blade-type fuse has an enlarged transparent extraction flange. The flange is configured as a thin-wall structure having a cavity therein running substantially its entire length. The fuse terminal blades are captively secured in a housing to extend from the bottom thereof and have narrow extensions at the outer edges of the blades which extend upwardly into the flange cavity. A fuse link extends between the blade extensions within the cavity and at a stand-off distance from the interior walls of the cavity. The fuse housing is preferably of identical half-shell construction having lengthwise-running centering ribs and associated mating recesses to facilitate assembly.
Claims21
An electrical fuse comprising:
- an electrically insulating fuse housing including a main body portion having closely spaced generally parallel confronting major front and rear body walls and a flange portion at the top margins of said main body portion and extending generally upward therefrom, said flange portion including major front and rear flange walls, at least one of said major front and rear walls being disposed outwardly offset from its corresponding front or rear body wall, said flange portion having a cavity therein defined by interior wall surfaces of said flange portion;
- a pair of conducting fuse terminals configured as generally strap-shaped blades disposed parallel and coplanarly so as to have parallel confronting proximal blade edges and mounted within said housing parallel to said front and rear body walls with said blades extending from a bottom portion of said housing, the upper ends of said blades having relatively narrow upward extensions only at the outer margins thereof which narrow extensions are located at the opposite ends of said cavity;
- and
- an elongated meltable fuse element in said cavity extending between and affixed to said narrow blade extension of said terminal blades and spaced away from said interior wall surfaces, the distance between the inner surfaces of said front and rear flange walls exceeding the maximum distance between the exterior surfaces of said front and rear body walls, at least a portion of said flange portion being sufficiently transparent to allow visual inspection of said fuse element.
1 more element
An electrical fuse comprising:
- an electrically insulating fuse housing having closely spaced generally parallel confronting major front and rear body walls;
- a pair of conducting fuse terminals configured as generally strap-shaped blades disposed parallel and coplanarly so as to have parallel confronting proximal blade edges and mounted within said housing parallel to said front and rear body walls with said blades extending from a bottom portion of said housing, the upper ends of said blades having relatively narrow upward extensions only at the outer margins thereof;
- and
- an elongated meltable fuse element extending between and affixed to said narrow blade extensions of said terminal blades.
1 more element
An electrical fuse comprising:
- an electrically insulating housing having closely spaced generally parallel spaced confronting front and rear body walls;
- a pair of adjacent parallel conducting fuse terminals secured within said housing parallel to said front and rear housing walls so that lower ends of said terminals extend from a bottom portion of said housing, said terminals being configured as generally strap-shaped blades disposed parallel and coplanarly so as to have parallel confronting proximal blade edges and parallel distal blade edges, said upper ends of said fuse terminal blades being configured with narrow upward extensions extending from said distal edges;
- and an elongated fuse element having two ends, each end being affixed to a different one of said extension portions.
An electrical fuse comprising:
- an electrically insulating housing including a main body portion having a size to fit within the maximum permitted space requirement of a set of housing and blade size specifications, said main body portion having closely spaced generally parallel confronting major front and rear body walls and a flange portion at the top of said main body portion to be located beyond the space to be occupied by a body portion having said maximum permitted size specification, said flange portion including major front and rear flange walls, at least one of said major flange walls being disposed offset outward of the corresponding front or rear body wall, said flange portion having a cavity therein formed by interior wall surfaces of said flange portion;
- a pair of parallel conducting fuse terminals mounted within said housing parallel to said front and rear body walls so that lower ends of said terminals extend from a bottom portion of said main body portion and so that upper ends of said terminals extend into said cavity;
- and
- a fuse element extending between the upper ends of said fuse terminals so as to be supported within said cavity and spaced from said interior wall surfaces of said flange portion.
1 more element
In an electrical device having a pair of spaced parallel confronting coplanar strap-shaped terminal blades connected to an electric circuit element extending between confronting ends of said blades and a rigid insulating housing enclosing said terminal blades, the improvement comprising:
- a pair of housing shells configured to enclose said blades and having engaging confronting inner surfaces when pressed together around said terminal blades, the inner confronting surfaces of said shells being configured to lie generally in a plane coextensive with or parallel to the plane of said terminal blades;
- shell interlocking means for fixing the relative positions of said shells;
- other confronting inner surfaces of said shells providing a pair of parallel blade-receiving channels which confiningly surround said terminal blades when said confronting shell inner surfaces are in contact;
- and
- anchoring means for securing each said blade against movement along its associated channel.
2 more elements
In an electrical device having a pair of terminals located in a given plane and connected to an electric circuit element extending therebetween, the improvement comprising:
- a pair of housing shells configured to enclose said electric circuit element and having engaging confronting surfaces when pressed together around said circuit element, the inner confronting surfaces of said shells being configured to lie generally in a plane coextensive with or parallel to said given plane;
- and shell interlocking means for fixing the relative positions of said shells, said interlocking means includes a rib projecting inwardly from the inner surface of each shell, and a rib-receiving recess adapted to receive the rib projecting from the other shell, each rib and the associated rib-receiving recess having complimentary tapered longitudinal sides and ends which interfit and guide said shells into proper longitudinal and lateral alignment when said shells are pressed together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.