Patent ID: 6822175
Filing Date: 2004-11-23
Classification: H01H

Abstract:
A switch device comprising:first and second cavities; a passage extending between the first and second cavities; a conductive liquid located in the passage and movable in the passage; an actuating liquid enclosed in each of the first and second cavities and covering inner surfaces of the first and second cavities, the actuating liquid being either an insulator or having low conductivity; and an actuating gas enclosed in each of the first and second cavities and existing as a bubble in each of the first and second cavities, the actuating gas being either an insulator or having low conductivity, wherein, in response to heating of the first cavity, part of the actuating liquid in the first cavity vaporizes and the actuating gas bubble in the first cavity expands, which causes part of the actuating liquid to be expelled out of the first cavity and the conductive liquid to move in the communicating passage such that an electrical path that includes the conductive liquid changes from one of a connected and a disconnected state to the other of the connected state and the disconnected state, and wherein the first cavity includes a constriction element shaped to constrain the expansion of the actuating gas bubble in the first cavity.