Patent ID: 9704636
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: F16K,H01F

Claim:
1. An apparatus comprising: a ferromagnetic housing defining a housing cavity; an electrically-conductive coil disposed in the housing cavity and defining a coil cavity; a ferromagnetic core piece disposed in the coil cavity; a ferromagnetic pole piece comprising a first face in contact with the core piece and a projection extending from a second face of the pole piece opposite the first face; a flexible element defining an opening, the flexible element having a first face and a second face opposite the first face, where the projection is disposed within the opening and the flexible element is disposed between a portion of the projection and the first face of the pole piece; a ferromagnetic armature coupled to the flexible element, where the flexible element is disposed between at least a portion of the armature and the first face of the pole piece; the first face of the flexible element is in contact with the projection, and the second face of the flexible element is in contact with the armature; and a portion of the second face of the flexible element which is in contact with the armature moves axially during axial movement of the armature, and a portion of the first face of the flexible element which is in contact with the projection is substantially stationary during axial movement of the armature.