Mercury switch
US3976960A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 7, 1974 |
| Grant date | Aug 24, 1976 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 7, 1994 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01H51/285
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An attitude insensitive mercury relay including a hermetically sealed non-magnetic enclosure composed of a header and header cap welded together in a high pressure hydrogen atmosphere, including one or more stationary contacts extending insulatedly into the enclosure and a magnetic diaphragm as armature, in the form of a single planar tight spiral having physically separated turns. In one form of a the device, the interior of the enclosure and the diaphragm may be mercury wettable, excluding only an insulating feedthrough button as provided for a stationary contact, and also excluding a portion of the face of the contact, which is intended to sustain impact by the armature, the mercury wettable portion of that face being indented with respect to the impact area, and the quantity of mercury in the enclosure being sufficient, but only sufficient, to sustain a thin layer of mercury on the mercury wettable surfaces. In other forms the enclosure may be non-metallic, e.g., ceramic, provided with mercury wettable screen surfaces or fabricated of non-mercury wettable material, e.g., magnetic material. Mercury wettability is achieved by plating with electroless nickel, which is more strongl…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.