US3060274A - Code relay selector - Google Patents

Description

1962 H. v. ALEXANDERSSON 3,

CODE RELAY SELECTOR Filed Dec. '19, 1957 4 SheetsSheet l Fig. I

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CODE RELAY SELECTOR Filed Dec. 19, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 flrroRA/Ers Oct. 23, 1962 H. V. ALI IXANDERSSON CODERELAY SELECTOR Filed Dec. 19, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 23, 1962 Filed Dec. 19, 1957 H. v. ALEXANDERSSON 3,060,274

CODE RELAY SELECTOR 4 SheetsSheet 4 Fig. 4

8) AW cwwd/ United States Patent Ofifice 3,060,274 Patented Oct. 23., 1962 spasms CUBE RELAY ELECTOR Harald Valdemar Aiexandersson, Lidingo, Sweden, as-

signor to Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, Stockholm, wetien, a corporation of Sweden lFiied Dec. 19, 1957, Ser. No. 763,991 @iairns priority, application Sweden Dec. 29, 1956 4 Claims. (Cl. 179-2754) The selectors used in telephone equipment can, considering the fundamental performance of the contacts, be divided into two groups; namely selectors with sliding contacts and selectors with push contacts. The last mentioned group of selectors are usually regarded as the better type but have been difficult and expensive to manufacture and install in small spaces. The most popular of the push contact selectors is the cross bar switch, in which relays are placed along two rectangular co-ordinates. The size of these selector switches is mainly determined by the space requirement of the relay magnets. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a selector, which embodies the good contact properties and operating velocity of the cross bar switch, but which may be manufactured at a relatively low cost and can be installed in a relatively small space.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a selector having a number of connecting relays, mounted in a row upon a mounting plate and each provided with a number of spring sets arranged in parallel, the spring set to be actuated by the armature of a relay, being selected by a code system consisting of a number of movable code bars running along the relays and being controlled by a number of code magnets.

The present invention is mainly characterized by providing each spring set of these connecting relays with a rocking arrangement to control the adjustment of the code system and which in dependence hereof can be related to the code system in such a way that the rocking arrangement of the armature of the connecting relay is disengaged from the code system and is set to adjust its spring set. The code system will in this way be completely disengaged so that it can be used for adjustment of other spring sets.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show an example of a selector according to the invention. FIG. 1 shows a front view of the whole selector, FIG. 2 a section through the selector and FIG. 3 a perspective view of a detail of the selector. FIG. 4 shows a detail of a modified selector.

The selector is supported upon a mounting plate 1 upon which ten connecting relays 2 with associated armatures 3 are fixed. For each such relay 2 there is a multiple 4, which is fixed on the plate 1 by a U-shaped plate girder 5 that is coextensive with the plate 1. Each multiple consists of a number of wire spring sets situated close to each other, seventeen such wire spring sets being shown for purposes of illustration. One such wire spring set is shown in FIG. 2 to include twelve stacked wire springs 6 and a lifting bar 7, which actuates these twelve springs. The rear terminal portions of the wire springs are fixed in insulating plates 8 while the front portions thereof can usually make contact with a corresponding number of bars in a fixed bar stand 9. These twelve bars extend across the multiple in parallel relationship. An L-shaped rocking lever 10 is mounted upon a pivot shaft 11 beneath each lifting bar 7 of the selector, and are retained in a rest position by individual springs 12. and a rocking iron strip 13 running along the selector.

Movable code bars 14 running along the selector are mounted upon the U-shaped girder 5. These bars consist of thin steel tapes, which at the upper edge are provided with teeth or grooves according to a code system for each connecting relay 2, so that the grooves in all the code bars in front of a selected lifting bar coincide in a certain determined position of the code bars relative to each other. These code bars have two different positions, a rest position and a working position and are controlled by code magnets 15, the number of which are equal to the number of bars. Control of the bars is effected by individually connecting the bars to magnets 15 by means of extensions 31 so that magnetization of each magnet displaces the respective control bar. Such control of the bars is well known in the art (see for instance Patent 2,317,469). In the shown embodiment there are six code magnets each controlling a bar, of which only four are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The capacity of the code system, i.e. the number of the setting positions for the bars, is equal to 2 where n is the number of bars.

The selector operates in the following way:

First a certain combination of code magnets 15 is actuated, and the corresponding bars are moved to their working positions. Then the rocking iron strip 13 is turned by means of magnets 16 placed on the ends of the strip. The springs 12 pressing against the rocking levers 10, urge the upper horizontal arms thereof against the upper edge of the bars 14, and as they are received within the grooves of the code bars, the lower perpendicular arms of the rocking levers are brought forward and somewhat over an edge of the armature 3 as shown by the second arm 10 from left in FIG. 3. As the code bars are shaped in the same way for each connecting relay with associated multiple, a corresponding rocking lever within each multiple will be so displaced. If now an armature 3, e.g. the second from the right in FIG. 3, is attracted, the rocking lever actuated within the corresponding multiple is lifted but no other. The rocking lever in its turn lifts the associated lifting bar 7 and the contact springs 6 controlled by this lifting bar. At this time the rocking lever is disengaged from the code bars as shown by the second rocking lever from the right in FIG. 3, and as soon as the rocking iron strip 13 returns to its initial position, all the corresponding rocking levers are lifted from the code bars which rocking levers then go back and return to their rest positions, when the code magnets 15 are demagnetized. Only the actuated rocking lever and its movable contact spring remain in an active position, until the corresponding armature is released.

The code bar slots can be brought into register beneath any selected other lever 10 in the manner described and such lever can then be moved as explained for the second lever from the right.

The code system can now be used again to select a new wire spring set of another connecting relay in the same way as described. This can also be done, even if a rocking lever is restored in an active position at the first actuating connecting relay, as this rocking lever is disengaged from the code bars. In each multiple with seventeen parallel wire groups of twelve vertical springs, and with each wire group being used for connection of twelve incoming interconnecting lines, it is possible to obtain sixteen twelve-line outgoing wire groups.

Instead of only one spring set being actuated by a connecting relay, two spring sets can, of course, be actuated by the same relay, if so-called group selection in the multiple is to be applied. In such a case the code system is divided in two groups, one group including four code magnets, which select the individual spring set and one group comprising two code magnets, which select the spring group set. Six incoming lines are then, for instance, connected in parallel, on one hand, to six upper contact springs in the first wire spring set and, on the other hand, to six lower contact springs in the second spring set. If now, for instance, six incoming lines are to be connected to six lower outgoing lines in any of the fifteen remaining spring sets within the same multiple, the code bars will be adjusted in such a way that at the operation of the corresponding connecting relay, the second rocking lever is lifted up and actuating its contact spring set, and the code bars are adjusted so that a further rocking lever is operated and actuates one of the remaining fifteen contact spring sets. In this way a set of incoming lines (six lines) can thus be connected to any of twice fifteen outgoing Wire groups (each having six wires). Thus the multiple gets thirty, six-line output groups. In a similar way each multiple can be divided for instance in three or four groups. In the preceding case the multiple will contain three times fourteen, fourline output Wire groups and in the latter case four times thirteen, three-line outgoing groups. The suggested code relay selector can thus work in a similar way as a cross bar switch.

The code relay selector can also be constructed in such a way that the spring sets are actuated, when the connecting relays are released. By this operation certain advantages appear from a constructive view. Upon closing, a relay armature can cause all rocking levers as sociated with the relay to control the adjustment of the code system. Thereby the rocking levers selected by the code system come in such a position that at the release of the armature they are actuated by the armature and engage the associated spring sets. Moreover the relay armatures can be constructed so that in a released position they disengage all non-actuated rocking levers from the code system for use in the next selecting movement.

An example of the foregoing construction is shown in FIG. 4. Instead of the knife-edge relay used according to FIG. 2 a connecting relay 20 of a flat armature type is provided. The selector is constructed in the manner shown in FIG. 1 by a number of such connecting relays situated close to each other. The relay armature 21 includes an angularly related leg 22, which in the released position of the armature according to FIG. 4 presses against all rocking levers controlled by the relay 20 so that they do not rest against the code system bars 23. When a relay is energized and its armature 21 is actuated, all associated rocking levers 26 are turned and make contact with the code system by the springs 24. The selected rocking levers continue into the grooves in the bars 23 of the code system. When the relay becomes de-energized, these rocking levers are lifted up by the spring 25 through the leg 22 in a similar way as described in connection to FIG. 2. The rocking arrangements, which do not engage within the grooves of the code bars, are turned by the leg 22 so that they return to the position shown in FIG. 4-. The code system will in this way be disengaged.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A code relay selector comprising, in combination, a plurality of aligned connecting relays mounted upon a mounting plate, a plurality of parallel wire spring sets associated with each of said relays, a plurality of code bars movable relative to each other and extending alongside said connecting relays, code magnets and controlling the movement of each one of said code bars relative to the others, a rocking lever associated with each one of said wire spring sets, means controlling the state of energization of said connecting relays, said relays in one state of energization acting upon said rocking levers to rotate the same toward said code bars, placement of said bars in predetermined alignment relative to each other moving said associated rocking levers into engagement with said code bars, changing said connecting relays to the other state of energization lifting said rocking levers from said code bars to actuate each of said associated wire spring sets.

2. A code relay selector comprising, in combination, a plurality of aligned connecting relays mounted upon a mounting plate, a plurality of parallel wire. spring sets associated with each of said relays, a plurality of code bars movable relative toeach other and extending alongside said connecting relays, code magnets for controlling the movement of each one of said code bars relative to the others, a rocking lever associated with each one of said Wire spring sets, energization of said connecting relays acting upon said rocking levers to rotate said rocking levers toward said code bars, predetermined relative alignment of said code bars causing movement of said associated rocking levers into engagement with said code bars, and de-energization of said connecting relays lifting said rocking levers from said code bars to actuate each said associated wire spring set.

3. A code relay selector as set forth in claim 2, wherein said rocking levers of each said connecting relay are normally urged toward an initial position out of engage ment with said code bars.

4. A code relay selector as set forth in claim 2, further comprising an armature means associated with each connecting relay for returning the respective spring set to an initial position in response to reenergization of the respective connecting relay.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,842,621 Lundkvist et a1 July 8, 1958

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