US1680117A - Fused switch - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 7, 1928'.

FUSED SWITCH Filed Aug. 5. 1920 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 7, 1928.

JOSEPH SACHS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

FUSED SWITCH. I

Application filed August 5, 1920. Serial no. 401,474.

One object of the'invention is to provide an improved arrangement of parts and improved details of construction which make possible the production of a fused switch which is not only strong and reliable but is also inexpensive and compact. -This object is attained primarily by locating the fuse and switch portions of the device in off-set relation to each other on the base and by providing a fiat conducting member carried by the baseand extending transverse ly from one fuse contact to one switch contact, the said member having a portion extending outward substantially at right angles to the front face of the base so as to form the said switch contact.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved form of switch blade which is simple and inexpensive and which provides a particularly; firm electrical engagement with the stationary switch contacts.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan of an enclosed fused switch incorporating the invention and showing the cover of the switch casing open;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a section of Fig. 1 on line III-III;

Fig. 4 a section thereof on line and Fig. 5 a plan of a three-wire enclosed fused switch with fused lugs in place.

The invention is particularly applicable to a fused switch enclosed in a casing an provided with an external operating handle. The enclosing switch casing 1 may be assumed to he made of metal as usual and with the usual knockouts in the walls throu h which the incoming circuit wires enter an the outgoing wires leave it. It is provided with a hinged cover 2 and the usual means for locking and sealing it and there is no limitation as to the style, character or material of the casing. ,It contains a base 3 of insulating material, preferably formed in one piece as shown and secured to the back or bottom of the casing by screws 4, or in any other suitable way. The base carries a switch blade and a pair of fuse contacts for each leg of the circuit, there being one or moreblades and one or more pairs of fuse contacts according to the number of legs in the circuit as will be understood. I have shown fuse contacts 10 and 11 adapted for receiving a screw plug fuse but I do not necessarily so limit myself.

Foreach leg of the circuit there are two wire attaching terminals 'on the base these being located respectively adjacent opposite edges of the base as for instance the upper and lower edges. The two terminals are represented at 8 and 14 respectively. Connected with the terminal 8 is a blade contact 7 which consists of a fiat metal strip bent I to a right angle with its foot secured to the base by a screw '7, or in any other suitable way, and provided with a screw which constitutes the aforesaid terminal l 8. The terminals 8, 8 may be regarded as being service wire terminals and preferablyone of them 1s placed at the extreme corner of the base so that its upstanding portion, constitutmg the blade contact is very close to the side of base. The hinge-post 6 for each switch blade is formed by the perforated. upturned end of a conductor member 9, whlch member extends transversely from the blade to its associated fuse contact with which it preferably directly engages. When tlie fuse contacts are adapted for. a screw p u sai transverse member 9 may be connected to one or the other of them asfor instance to the shell 10. The hinge-posts 6 are placed in line with their respective blade contacts 7 one of them preferably bein close to the side of the base in line with t e right'hand 6. blade contact, so that one of the switch blades is thus located' close to and almost coincident with the lane of the edge of the base. ,,.The switch b ade at the op osite side of the base may, if desired, be ocated in .the' same relation to its adjacent edge of the base, but no greater economy of space is thereby obtained and therefore I prefer the arrangement shown wherein the switch blades are each to the right of their wire connectors and fuses. The metal shell 10 of the fuse plug socket is threaded in the usual way to receive a screw plug fuse and provided with an inturned base flange for contact with the conductor member 9 and is firmly clamped to 11, the head of which forms the center contact for the fuse. Such contact screw is electrically separated from the shell and the conductor member 9 by menas of an fuse 15 as are the contacts 10 and 11 the that member by the screw insulating Washer 12, and is secured to orpath of'connection across the base from a terminal on one side to the corresponding terminal on the other, thus consists of two parts whose respective mid-base ends, the

hinge-post and the adjacent fuse contact,

are laterally staggered or offset.

v The apparatus can obviously be traversed by the circuit in either direction, and on the assumption that the circuit enters at the top in these drawings, the contacts 7 may be regarded as the entrance ends of the switch blades and the hinge-posts 6 their exit ends, and the entrance contact of each pair of fuse contacts is thus located at the side of the exit end of its switch-blade and the exit contact connected with the conductor member 13, is therefore offset from the line of the switch blade. The fuse contacts may be so located either at the right or the left of the blade end, or inthe case of a two-wire circuit, both fuse holders can be placed between the'two blade ends. .In either case this laterally offset position of the socket results in an economy in the dimension of the base between its incoming and outgoing sides as will be obvious by a comparison with the usual form of fuse'plug switches in which the switch blades and fuses are mounted in the same line. In such switches the fuse contacts, particularly if in the form of fuse plug sockets, must be considerably separated from theblade hinges so that the fuses therein will not obstruct the full opening movement of the blades. But'by placing the fuse contacts in the lateral positions above described they may be very close to the hinges without interfering with the blade movement and may in fact be so close to the hinges as not to involve any increase in the transverse dimension of the base or casing as compared with prior practice. At the same time the longitudinal or. vertical dimension of the base is considerably shortened as already pointed out, with the consequence that the enclosing casing may also be smaller as will now be apparent.

In order that each switch blade 5 may effectively engage the corresponding two fiat switch contacts 6 and 7, I preferably construct each said blade of two separate metallic strips 16, 16 which have their end por tions spaced apart so as to engage the outer sides of the respective contacts. The said strips preferably contact with each other at their central portions, the spacing apart of the said end portions being obtained by offsetting the end vportions of one or both of the said strips. As the result of the offsetting a depression is formed in one or both of the said strips between the said offset end portions. The end portions of the strips engaging the rupture contact 7 are free for adjustment toward and from each other, the said end portions being thus able to relatively adapt themselves so as to firmly engage the contact. For operating each switch blade there is provided an operating member 17 which preferably comprises a body of insulating material secured to the switch blade at the central portion thereof. At the right hand side of Fig. 5 the operating member is broken away to show the switch blade more clearly. Preferably this operating member is located in the said depression at one side of the blade,- but I do not necessarily so limit myself. A rivet 18 is provided which serves to hold the two parts of the blade together and which also serves to secure the operating member 17 in place.

A fused switch embodying the invention is particularly adapted to be used with an enclosing casing such as the casing 1 already described. lVhen such a casing is provided the side walls thereof may serve as a means for supporting an operating spindle 19 for movin the switch blades 5, 5. As shown, the spindle 19 has pivot sections 20 and 21 in alignment with the pivotal axes of the switch blades. These pivot sections are mounted in suitable bearing apertures in the side walls of the casing. The spindle 19 is formed with a manually operable handle22 located outside of the casing. Inside of the casing the spindle is provided with a crank section 23 suitably connected with the switch operating members 17, each of which is provided with a slot 24 for receiving the said crank section. It will be obvious that by turning the handle 22 the switch blades may be moved so as to be disengaged from and reengaged with the switch contacts 7, 7.

Claims:

1. A fused switch comprisin in combination, a base of insulating materiah'two separate wire attaching terminals respectively adjacent opposite edges of the base and accessible from the front thereof, a pair of fuse contacts on the front of the base comprising an outer screw shell and a center contact, the -said contacts being adapted to receive a screw plug fuse and one of them being directly connected with one wire terminal, a flat conducting member directly engaging at one end with the other fuse contact and extending transversely of the base in a direction approximately parallel to the aforesaid opposite edges thereof, the said member at the other end having a portion III extending outward at right angles to the front face of the base and perpendicular to the aforesaid opposite edges thereof so as to form a switch contact, a second switch contact on the base in alignment with the first said switch contact, the

and connected thereto, and a movable switch blade pivoted to one of the switch contacts and adapted to engage the other switch contact.

2. A fused switch comprising in combination, a base of insulating material, two separate wire attaching terminals respectively adjacent opposite edges of the base and accessible fromthe front thereof, a pair of fuse contacts on the front of the base comprising an outer screw shell and a center contact, the said contacts being adapted to receive a screw plug fuse and the center'contact being directly connected with one wire terminal, a flat conducting member directl engaging at one end with the screw she contact and extending transversely of the base in a direction approximately parallel to the aforesaid opposite edges thereof, the said member being located in a groove at the front of the base and having at the other end a portion extending outward at right angles to the front face of the base and perpendicular to the aforesaid opposite edges thereof so as to form a switch contact, a second switch contact on the base in alignment with 1 tact, the said second contact being adjacent engaging the first said switch conand connected to the remaining wire terminal, and a movable switch blade pivoted to the first said switch contact and adapted to engage the other switch contact.

3. fused switch comprising in combination, a base of insulating material, two separate wire attaching terminals respectively adjacent opposite edges of the base and accessible from the front thereof, a pair of fuse contacts on the front of the base comprisin an outer screw shell and a center contact, the said contacts being adapted to receive a screw plug fuse andione of them being directly connected with one wire termmal, a flat conducting member directly at one end with the otherfuse contact and extending transversely of the base ina direction approximately parallel to the aforesaid opposite ed es thereof, the said member at the other en having a portion extending outward at right angles to the front face of the base and perpendicular to the aforesaid opposite edges so as to form a switch contact, a second switch contact on the base in alignment with the first said switch contact, the said second contact being adjacent and connected to the remaining wire terminal, a movable switch blade ivotcd to one of the switch contacts and a apted to engage the other switch consaid second contact being adjacent the remaining w1re terminal tact, the said blade comprising two se )arate metallic strips contacting with each ot 1er at their central portions and having their end portions spaced apart so as to engage opposite sides of the respective contacts, and an operating member for the blade comprising a body of insulating material secured to the blade.

4. A fused switch comprising in combination, a base of insulating material, two separate wire attaching terminals respectively adjacent opposite edges of the base and accessible from the front thereof, a pair of fuse contacts of which the first is adjacent and directly connected with one wire terminal, a switch contact adjacent and directly connected with the other wire terminal and extending outward at right angles to the front face of the base, a switch blade movable into and out of engagement with the said switch contact, thesaid fuse contacts and the said switch contact and blade being located at the front of the base and transversely offset from each other so as to form in conjunction with a fuse and with the corresponding wire terminals two overlapping current paths in planes substantially perpendicular to the aforesaid opposite edges of the base, a flat transverse conducting member directly carried by the base and extending directly from one to the other of the said current paths to connect them in series, the said member at one end directly engaging the second fuse contact and at the other end having an inte al portion extending outward at right ang es to the front face of the base so as to form a second switch contact which is also engaged bg the switch blade, and a hinge connection etween the last said contact and the switch blade.

5. An enclosed fused switch comprising a casing, a base therein, sets of service an load wire terminals placed respectively alpng opposite sides of the base, hinged switch blades having blade contacts connected with one set of terminals-and fuses connected to the other set, the blades and fuses being placed alongside of each other in each leg of the-circuit so as to overlap, and conductor stripsbetween the overlapping ends of said blades and fuses having up-turned ends constituting hinge-posts.

6. In an electric switch, the combination being free for adjustment toward and from each otherto firmly engage the opposite sides of the said contact, and an operating member for the blade connected thereto.

7. In an electric switch, the combination of a base, two spaced aligned contacts on the base each comprising a flat metallic conductor extending outward at right angles to the base, a switch blade comprising two separate metallic strips having their end portions spaced apart so as to engage opposite sides of the respective contacts, the said strips being hinged to one con tact and being movable into and outof engagement with the other contact and the end portions of the strips engaging the last said contact being free for adjustment toward and from each other to firmly engage the opposite sides of the said contact, and an operating member for the blade connected to the strips at the central portions thereof and between the said contact engaging portions,

8. In an electric switch, the combination 'of a base, two spaced aligned contacts on the base each comprising a flat metallic conductor extending outward at right angles to the base, a switch blade comprising two s'eparate metallic strips contacting with each other at their central portions and having their end portions spaced apart so as to engage opposite sides of the respective contacts, the said strips being hinged to one contact and being movable into and out of engagement with the other contact and the end portions of the strips engaging the last said contacts being free for movement toward and from each other to firmly engage the opposite sides of the said contact, and an operating member for the blade connected to the strips at the central portions thereof and between the said contact engaging portions.

9. In an electric switch, the combination of a base, two spaced aligned contacts on the base each comprising a flat metallic conductor extending outward at right angles to the base, a switch blade hinged to one contact and adapted to engage the other contact, the said blade comprising two separate metallic strips contacting with each other at their central portions and having their end portions spaced apart so as to engage opposite sides of the respective contacts, and an operating member for the blade comprising a body of insulating material secured to the blade at the central portion thereof in the depression between the said contact engaging portions of one of the blade strips.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

JOSEPH SACHS.

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