Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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`,~1 S P E C I F I C A T I O N
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i i; ~IET~iOD FOR ~ETTING T~IE ARMATURE: 8TRC)~E AT A REI~Y"
BACRGROUND OF l'HE_INVENl!ION
The present invention generally relates to a method
~-i for setting the armature stroke at a relay having at
least one contact spring actuatable by an armature which
is secured to a carrier with a fastening section in order
~ to interact with a contact section having a cooperating
;~' 10 contact element firmly anchored in a base member.
A general problem exists in relays of various types.
More specifically, tolerances of the individual elements
often add up due to a layer structure, such that the
contacts do not close in the desired way or a~ least do
not yield the necessary contacting force after assembly.
In order to generate a specific contacting force
;l between a contact spring and a cooperating contact
i~ element, an excess stroke, i.e. a movement of the contact
,l~ springs beyond the first contact with the cooperating
contact element, is required. In order to set this
excess stroke and to generate the desired contacting
j~ force, it is often necessary to additionally adjust the
contact springs by bending after assembly of the relay.
l Such a bending adjustment, however, is not only labor-
,ji 25 intensive, but the bending is also susceptible to error.
In extremely small relaysr this results in added
limitations on the design possi~ilities wherein the
, contact springs must be individually accessible for a
bending adjustment.
3 0 8UMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention
to provide a method for setting the armature stroke which
already enables a final setting of excess stroke during
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the course of assembly without the tolerances of the
~; individual parts deteriorating the result.
In a relay of this type, the present invention
provides a method comprising the steps of: contacting the
at least one contact spring having an interactive
connection with the armature with the cooperating contact
~ element given a position corresponding to a working
i~; position of the armature; positioniny the contacting
section of the at least one contact spring corresponding
to a prescribed excess stroke; and joining the fastening
section of the at least one contact spring to the carrier
in the position corresponding to the excess stroke.
Using the method of the present invention, thus, the
~i contacting force or corresponding excess stroke is
already set during manufacture in the closed condition
of each and every contact; only after this is the contact
spring itself fixed with its fastening section. It is
~i!, thereby assured that the tolerances of the individual
parts no longer influence the position of the completely
assembled contact spring and, thus, that a subsequent
contact adjustment is no longer required.
The method of the present invention may be modified
depending on the structure of a relay system by those
skilled in the art.
As a rule, a metallic terminal element is provided
as a carrier for the contact springs. This metallic
terminal element simultaneously represents the power lead
to the contact spril?gs. In this case, the contact spring
is usually welded to its carrier after the excess stroke
has been set; however, a soldered connection or an
~! equivalent fastening is also possible. Further, the
current passage may be tested at the closed contacts
during the course of manufacture before the contact
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" springs are fastened. Whell deviations of the settings of'
, the excess stroke occur, it is thus possible to readjust
the tools without producing faulty relays.
~ These and other advantages of the present invention
-~ 5 will be described in and will be apparent f'rom the
~'~ detailed description of the presently preferred
;~ embodiments and from the drawings.
BRIEF DE8iCRIPqsIQN OF T~E DRAWINGB
~'~ Figure 1 illustra~es a relay having a rocker
armature that carries a symmetrical contact spring
;~s arrangement.
-s;~, Figure 2 illustrates the relay of Figure 1 taken
~ generally along the lines II-II.
,~ Figure 3 illustrates a base and an armature assembly
~'~ 15 of the relay of Figure 1.
'''s'' Figure 4 illustrates an assembly device for the
'i~ armature assembly of Figure 3.
~,~ Figures 5, 6, and 7 illustrate cross-sectional views
of the base and the armature assembly of the relay of
Figure 1 in various stages of assembly.
Figures 8 and 9 schematically illustrate a cutout
b, blade relay in two different assembly stages.
Figures 10 and 11 illustrate a relay having slide
actuation in two schematically illustratsd stages.
DEI'AILFD DE8CRIPTION OF ~HE PRE8ENTLY
PREFERRED EMBODIMEN~
A relay, as shown in Figures 1-3, has a base 1 on
which a contact arrangement 2 is moveably seated. The
contact arrangement 2 is, in turn, rigidly joined above
the armature 3 approximately parallel thereto. The
permanent magnet 4 has a middle pole lyiny above a
~,;` bearing location of the armature 3 and has two poles at
~;' ~ its two ends that are opposite relative to the middle
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~`! A coil 5 is arranged above the permanent magnet 4
and above the armature 4. The coil 5 carries a winding
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57 on a coil body 50 having two coll flanges 51 and 52
5 and accepting a rod-shaped core 6 in the coil member 2.
A respective pole shoe 7 is connected to each o~ the ends
of the core 6. Each of the pole shoes 7 lS also coupled
to an end of the permanent magnet 4 in the region of a
coil end and forms a pole surface in a downward direction
for the armature 3.
The coil flanges 51 and 52 each respectively have
downwardly extended projections 53 at the four corners
of the system. The extended projections 53 overlap the
base 1 forming a box-like shape. The extended
projections 53 further lie in recesses 18 of the base.
Perpendicular channels 55 into which coil terminal
elements 56 are plugged are also provided in the coil
flanges 51 and 52 or in the extended projections 53. A
closed housing is formed with a cap 8 put in place on the
~-tl 20 base 1 which can then also be sealed in a conventional
manner well known in the art.
The base 1, shown enlarged in Figure 3, is composed
of a base member lO of the base 1. The base member 10
is ~ormed of an insulator and stationary cooperating
contact elements 11, 12, 13, and 14 as well as terminal
elements 15 and 16 on which moveable center contact
elements are anchored. All of the moveable contact
elements are cut from a common plate and are embedded in
the base member 10 with a fastening section parallel to
~;~ 30 the hottom surface of the base l. Respective terminal
pins lla, 12a, 13a, 14a, 15a, and 16a of the embedded
sections are respectively bent off perpendicularly
relative to the underside of the base 1.
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;i The cooperating contact elements 11, 12, 13 and 14
~: themselves lie free at the upper side of the floor in the
trough-shaped base member lo of the base 1, and are
;iY provided with welding profiles llb, 12b, 13b, and 14b.The terminal elements 15 and 16, however, are bent in an
upward direction at opposite sides of the base 1, where
~:i they form two pillow blocks 15b and 16b for the moveable
.; contact arrangement or for the armature based on
;;-~ appropriate anglings and crimpings. A respective rib 17
for increasing the insulating paths is applied between
the stationary cooperating contact elements 11 and 13 or
the contact elements 12 and 14 which respectively lie
~ next to one another.
;.~i!' The moveable contact arrangement 2 has a contact
~;I 15 carrier formed of an insulator in which contact springs
21, 22, 23 and 24 are embedded. The contact springs 21,
22, 23 and 24 selectively cooperate with the stationary
cooperating contact elements 11, 12, 13 and 14 lying
under the contact springs 21, 22, 23 and 24. For forming
~;~ 20 two change-over contacts, the contact springs 21 and 33
are connected as a single piece as illustrated so that
the contact springs 21 and 22 form a center contact
element that is mechanically and electrically connected
to the terminal element 15 in the base via a bearing band
,~ 25 25. Correspondingly, the contact springs 23 and 24 areconnected as a single piece with a bearing band 25 and
are coupled to the terminal element 16. The contact
arrangement 2 is firmly connected to the armature 3 via
two fastening pegs.
To assemble the relay, the moveable contact
j'!~ arrangement 2 is first united with the armature 3 to form
an armature/contact assembly, whereby the fasteniny pegs
27 are anchored in bores of the armature 3 by heat
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forming. The armature/contact assembly is then connected
to the base 1, whereby the contact clearances or the
respective excess contact stroke are set in a defined
way. This shall now be set forth in greater detail with
reference to Figures 3 7.
The bearing bands 25 and 26, which simultaneously
serve as the electrical terminal tabs for the center
contact elements 21,22 or 23,24, respectively, and are
cut from a plate of one piece together with their contact
elements 21,22 and 23,24, respectively, essentially
emerge horizontally out of the insulator carrier 20 of
the contact arrangement. To this end, the carrier 20 has
lateral projections 28 through which the two bearing
bands 25 and 26 emerge in a longitudinal direction of the
armature 3. The bearing bands 15 and 16 are then
vertically bent in an upward direction with a
comparatively small radius. The sections of the bearing
bands 25,26 bent upwardly thus lie in a common plane that
approximately proceeds through a bearing axis of the
armature 3.
After the armature/contact assembly has been
introduced into the base l as shown in Figure 3, the
~l contact clearances or the respective excess stroke are
set to a prescribed value. This preferably ensues with
a device as illustrated in Figure 4 or with a comparable
device. Since the bearing bands 25 and 26 were aligned
~, relative to pillow blocks 15b and 16b of the base member
10, the. armature/contact assembly lies on the
~' appertaining cooperating contact elements 11, 12, 13 and
14 with the contact springs 21, 22, 23 and 2~ or their
contacting sections. The bearing bands 25 and 26 have
their vertical contact sur~aces lying against the pillow
blocks 15b and 16b o~ the terminal elements 15 and 16.
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~;~ The assembly device illustrated in Figure 4 contains
~` a schematically shown measuring instrument 90 which has
two electrically conductive legs 91 and 92 brought to a
` coupling location at an upper side 35 of the armature 3
` 5 ~double arrow 95) until an electrical passage occurs from
the leg 91 over the armature 3 to the leg g2 and is
iden$ified in the measuring instrument so. When due to
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a deformed contact spring, the armature 3 lies askew,
then a certain pressing power is required in order to
; lO produce the electrical passage over the armature 3. The
size of the deformation can be derived from the size of
~; the needed pressing power; when a maximally permitted,
prescribed force is exceeded, the armature system is
discarded as being faulty. When, however, the
armature/contact assembly was found to be adequately
planar based on that described above, a first measuring
step is implemented by the measuring instrument moving
downward by a defined distance, i.e. in a direction
toward the base 1.
;i 20 In this condition, an electrical connection must
~, arise between the four contact springs 21, 22, 23 and 24
i on the one hand and the appertaining cooperating contact
elements 11, 12, 13 and 14 in the base 1 on the other
hand. This is identified by a measurement at the
terminal pins ll, 12a, 13a and 14a. What is assured
,'; based on this testing procedure is that at least one
contact area of the contact springs 21, 22, 23 and 24 is
divided into two arms guaranteeing an adequate excess
stroke. This position with the excess stroke at all
contact springs 21, 22, 23 and 24 is shown in Figure 5.
After this test of the excess stroke, a slide 96
~ that is situated in the measuring instrument 90 is
',!,!,~',i lowered (double arrow direction 97), ais illustrated in
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Figure 7. The armature 3 is restrained by a permanent
magnet 98 that is secured on the slide 96. Taking the
previously produced excess stroke into consideration, the
measuring instrument 90 is now moved up together with the
armature assembly by a distance that corresponds to the
desired contact clearance 29 given a center position of
the armature 3 (double arrow 95). This position is shown
in Figure 6.
The bearing bands 25 and 26 of the armature/contact
assembly now lie at the desired height relative to the
pillow blocks 15b and 16b of the base assembly. In this
position, the bearing bands 25 or 26 are welded to the
adjacent pillow blocks 15b or 16b, respectively. The `~
welding, for example, can ensue as resistance welding or
as laser welding.
,After this, the magnet system of Figures 1 and 2
with the coil 5, the core 6, the pole shoes 7 and the
~lpermanent magnet 4 is slipped onto the base assembly `i
until the desired armature stroke has been achieved. The
coil body is clamped fast on the base member 10 of the
base l or is fixed in some other way. The position of
the pole shoes 7 with respect to the armature 3 is
schematically shown in Figure 7. As a result of the
polarization of the system with the permanent magnet 4,
the armature 3 has one of its ends or one of its pole
surfaces 32 or 33 selectively attracted to the pole shoe
lying opposite thereto.
Correspondingly, the contact spring 24 is upwardly
~`entrained whereas the contact spring 23 lying opposite
the contact spring 24 is pressed onto the cooperating
element lying therebelow. It should thus be noted that
the contact clearance 29 in the center position of Figure
6 does not correspond to the full armature stroke but
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'',.''~,1 only to about half of it, since the respective wing of
;j the armature 3 moves upward into the oblique position up
- to the pole shoe 7 beyond the center position when the
contact is open. However, it is clear to a person
;~ 5 skilled in the art that the contact clearance 29 also
does not exactly correspond to half the armature stroke~
Since given movement of the corresponding armature
wing out of the central position in a downward direction,
ri~ the appertaining contact spring section co-executes only
a part of the armature stroke and then presses against
the cooperating contact element, whereas the armature 3
~, itself executes the described excess stroke in order to
produce the desired contacting force. When adjusting the
device according to Figure 4, a person skilled in the art
~iY ~ 15 can set the clearance 29 without further ado such that
~! . the desired excess stroke is assured.
' rrhe possibility of a contact setting of the
invention is shown in Fi,gures 8 and 9 with reference to
the example of a cutout blade relay. In a simplified
~` 20 illustration, a base member 101 is shown therein that,
as a coil member, carries a winding 102, a core 103 and
angled-off yoke 104. An armature 105 for~s a working air
gap with a slightly rounded-off core pole face 106.
A contact spring 107 is secured to the armature 105.
The contact spring 107 has a fastening section 108 that
is to be secured to the yoke 104, thus simultaneously
serving as a bearing spring for the armature 105. The
free end o~ the contact spring 107 forms a contact
section 109 with a contact piece which forms a male
contact with a cooperating contact element 110. This
cooperating contact element 110 is anchored in the base
member 101 in the standard way. A further cooperating
contact element 111 can be present for forming a change-
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over contact.
For adjustment of the acces~ stroke of the armature
105 in order to acquire the desired contacting, the
arrangement is first selected, as illustrated in Figure
8, such that the armature 105 lies against the pole ~ace
.~.107 and the contact section 109 lies against the
cooperating contac element 110. The fastening section
108 is then shifted on the yoke 104 in the direction of
the arrow 112 while the armature 105 is kept in contact
10with the pole face 106.
A variation of the armature angle relative to the
bearing location at the yoke 104 thereby results as shown
slightly exaggerated in Figure 9. The armature 105
thereby rolls on the pole face 106, whereas the contact
15spring cannot co-execute this excess stroke because it
already has its contacting section 109 lying against the
cooperating element 110. As soon as the desired excess
stroke is achieved, the fastening section 108 is joined
to the yoke 104 at a weld point 113.
20The setting of an excess armature stroke is shown
in Figures 10 and 11 with reference to the example of a
relay having slide actuation of the contact spring. A
winding 202 is arranged on a coil member 201 given this
likewise schematic illustration. A U-shaped yoke 203 is
25also connected to the coil member 201 arranged on a base
member (not shown). In this case, an armature 205 is
arranged inside the coil member 201 such that it forms
, a working air gap with a pole face 206 of the base
member.
til,~ 30A slide 204 that transmits the armature movement
,;~s onto a contact spring 207 is coupled to the free end of
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the armature 205. The contact spring 207 has a fastening
section 208 as well as a contacting section 209 having
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~ a contact piece that cooperates with a cooperating
;~, contact element 210 anchored in the base member. The
~f actuation of the contact spring 207 ensues via the slide
.:' 204 at the free end 211 of the spring so that the
contacting section 209 lies between the fastening section
208 and the actuation section 211. The fastening section
208 is displaceable at a carrier 212 and can be secured
there~o, whereby the carrier 212 is a terminal element
anchored in the base member.
During assembly, the armature 205 is first brought
into its working position at the pole face 206 as shown
in Figure 10, so that the slide 204 assumes its lower
position (in Fig. 10). The contact spring 207 is
'i~ arranged such that, on the one hand, it is in engagement
with the slide 211, and, on the other hand, it has its
contacting section 209 lying against the cooperating
contact element 210. The fasteniny section 208 is then
;1 shifted in the direction of the arrow 213, i.e. parallel
to the actuation direction of the slide 204, until the
desired excess stroke or the desired contacting force is
fll achieved. The ~astening ~ection 208 is then welded to
the carrier 212 in the arrangement shown in Figure 11.
,;~ It should be understood that various changes and
~;;
i modifications to the presently preferred embodiments
l 25 described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the
art. Such changes and modifications may be made without
departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention and without diminishing its attendant
advantages. It is, therefore, intended that such changes
and modifications be covered by the appended claims~
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