Contact for the base portions of low voltage-heavy duty safety fuses

A contact having essentially the configuration of a planar strip angled to one side thereof. In the lengthier non-angled region, the strip is provided with a longitudinal slit and flanged at its end portion. The inwardly located slit end is widened in a circular shape. An omega-shaped compression spring has the ends thereof engaged in recesses arranged in said flanged portion and proximate its ends is provided with outwardly extending lugs in its plane of extension.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a contact for the base or sub-portions of 
LV-heavy duty safety fuses, for the receipt of the blade contacts of the 
latter, which is supported through the utilization of a compression 
spring. In this instance, the term LV-heavy duty fuse is the usual 
designation for low voltage-heavy duty safety fuses. 
2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
In LV-heavy duty safety fuses, the compression spring is usually riveted 
thereto in order to prevent it from tipping sideways away from the 
contact, whose elastic force it should support relative to the knife 
blades of the fuse wire inserts. A riveting of that kind represents a 
relatively difficult operation and, moreover, can influence the elastic 
quality. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to develop a contact 
which, as a whole, may be easily manufactured and which is supported by a 
compression spring secured so as to be reliable during operation without 
the necessity for being riveted thereto. 
The foregoing object is attained in that the contact evidences the 
configuration of a flat strip angled on one side thereof, and which is 
longitudinally slit in the non-angled lenthier region, whereby the strip 
member is flanged at its end along the slit and the inwardly located slit 
end is circularly expanded, and wherein an omega-shaped compression spring 
having its ends engaged into recesses in the flanged region of the strip 
member, incorporates outwardly extending lugs proximate its ends in its 
plane of extension. 
This contact has the advantage that it is unitarily formed, can be easily 
manufactured by means of a stamping process and provides for a good 
resilience without the danger of fatiguing. The circularly-shaped 
expansion at the inwardly located slit end, on the one hand, affords the 
constant spring effect and, on the other hand, permits electrical lead-in 
conductors to be conveyed through the contact. Hereby, safety fuse base or 
sub-portions can be constructed smaller-sized and more variable in their 
construction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The contact 1 constructed in accordance with FIG. 1 of the drawings, 
essentially has the configuration of a flat or planar strip which has one 
end angled at one side thereof to form an L shape and is constituted, for 
example, of copper. The angled region forms the base portion 2 of the 
L-shaped strip. In the non-angled, lengthier leg portion, which is 
represented as being in the plane of the drawing, the contact is 
longitudinally slitted. Along this slit 3, the strip member, for instance 
constituted of copper, is flanged at its edge portion, in essence within 
region 4. These portions lie against the sides of the contact blades of 
LV-heavy duty safety fuses which are to be inserted therein. The inwardly 
located slit end 5 is circularly expanded to form a round aperture so that 
the spring action of the contact supports its arms respectively 
encompassing the slit 3. By means of the circularly-shaped expanded slit 
end 5, on the other side there can be conducted conduits therethrough and 
connected to the base portion 2. This renders possible a space-saving 
construction for the base portions of LV-heavy duty safety fuses. 
An omega-shaped compression spring 6 which, for example, is constituted of 
spring steel, has its ends 7 engaged into recesses 8 provided in the 
flanged region 4 of the strip member. Adjacent its ends 7, the spring 
indicates that in its extended plane it has formed thereon outwardly 
projecting lugs 9. The lug ends lie against the strip member when the 
compression spring 6 tends to rotate about its ends 7 out of the plane of 
the drawing. Thusly, they form lever arms which prevent an outward 
rotation and afford the secure retention to the merely inserted 
compression spring 6. 
When the transition towards the flanged region 4 of the strip member is 
presently constructed as a rounded-off slot 10, this will render easier 
the transition to the region 4 and will avoid special demands on the 
material at this location. 
In FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing, the reference numerals are identical to 
those utilized in FIG. 1. Projecting points or tips on the contact allow 
for the easier insertion of knife blade contacts of LV-heavy duty safety 
fuses which are to be inserted therein. The former are designated by 
reference numeral 11. Contemplated hereby are two contacts 1 arranged on a 
single safety fuse base portion.