Patent · US Expired

Electrical contact having a particulate surface

US5527591A · kind A · utility

34Cited by
3References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 2, 1994
Grant dateJun 18, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 2, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T428/24917
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention comprises an electrical contact having solid homogenous conductive particles on the contact surface. The particles are of greater hardness than that of the contact material to deform the contact material and cause breakage or fracture of the oxide or other contaminating layer, or to penetrate the contaminating layer. The particles are applied to the contact surface by a technique which results in the particles being intimately bonded to the contact surface, usually as a layer of particles. A preferable technique for such particle application is hypervelocity oxygen fuel spraying (HVOF) or plasma spraying, by which the particles are embedded on the contact surfaces to provide a substantially permanent interparticle bond between the applied particles and the contact material.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.