Method of making mercury containing reed switches
US4630359A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 24, 1985 |
| Grant date | Dec 23, 1986 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 24, 2005 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49105
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to mercury containing reed switches and to methods of preparing switch blades for use in such switches. Heretofore such reed switches have been doped with mercury after the reed switch blades have been mounted in the envelope, the mercury migrating to the contact area of the switch blades, made of a mercury-wettable material, after sealing. The present invention avoids the expense and complexity of this procedure by improving the control of mercury dosing to enable improved performance of such reed switches in low power applications, for example in automatic test equipment, process control equipment and data processing terminals. This is achieved by doubly plating the switch blade tips with mercury-wettable metal, forming a mercury amalgam on the contact area of the switch blades prior to insertion of the blades in the glass envelope, by a process which employs a minimum amount of mercury sufficient for good switch function, subsequently sealing the switch blades into the glass envelope, and conditioning the switch blades in the finished switch.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.