Improvements in or relating to Electric Switches.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 15th Sept., 1900
QUAILLETTE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Electric Switches.
I, WILLIAM ELY, of 5, Cooke Street, in the City and County of Providence,
in the State of Rhode Island, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:
-
In my invention the contact member, may, at the will of the one operating the
switch, be intercepted in its flight from circuit terminals arranged at one side
of the pivot-axis of said contact member to other circuit terminals arranged at
the opposite side of said pivot-axis or be permitted, at the will of the operator,
to pass without obstruction from the circuit terminals at one side of said pivot-
axis to the other circuit terminals at the opposite side of said pivot-axis. I also
provide for the transfer of the contact member from its intercepted position into
circuit-making contact with the circuit terminals at either side, at the will of the
operator.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan view of an electric switch embodying my invention; Figure 2
is a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line A-A
of Fig. 2 Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line B-B of Fig. 1; Figure 5
is a sectional view taken on line C-C of Fig. 1; Figure 6 is a sectional view
taken on the same line as Fig. 5, showing the actuating member raised into
the position to start the contact member out of contact with the circuit terminals.
Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the same line as Fig. 4, and showing
the stop-device in its working position; Figure 8 is a sectional view, same as
Fig. 4, showing the contact member intercepted midway of its movement;
Figure 9 is a sectional view like Fig. 4, showing the stop catch or pawl in position
to permit the transfer of the contact member without interruption; Figure 10
is a sectional view like Fig. 7 showing the stop pawl locked to allow the transfer
of the contact member without interruption; Figures 11 and 12 are sectional
views, like Fig. 3, showing modified forms of the stepping pawl; Figure 13 is a
side elevation showing a modification of the contact member intercepting device;
Figure 14 is an elevation showing the stopping mechanism of the modification
shewn in Fig. 13; and Figure 15 is a sectional view taken on line D-D of
Fig. 13.
My invention is applicable broadly to any form of double-throw electric
switch. For convenience I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings its
application to an electric switch having the following elements, namely:
A switch base 1 constructed of insulating or non-conducting material,
standards 2, 2, secured on said base, a rotatable shaft 3, journaled in said
standards, and carrying on one side one or more contact members, as 4, arranged
for circuit-making engagement, as desired, either with circuit terminals 5, 6,
arranged at one side of said shaft 3, or with similar circuit terminals 7, 8, at the
opposite side of said shaft, and means for actuating said contact members con-
sisting of a lever, as 9, loosely pivoted upon said shaft for movement without
TDi Q77

page_text: reference to the movement of said shaft, and connected by a spring 10 with a
crank-arm 11 rigidly secured upon said shaft, whereby the contact members
are transferred rapidly from the circuit terminals at one side of said shaft 3 to
the other circuit terminals at the opposite side of said shaft as influenced by
energy primarily stored in said spring 10 for the purpose.
I will now explain the application of my invention to an electric switch of
the above described character.
Between said standards 2, 2, I form recesses or chambers 12 and 13, in which I
place a coil spring 14 and 15, and the catches 16 and 17, each resting upon one
of said springs, and each having sliding movement in said chambers as said
springs are depressed or extended. Each of said catches 16 and 17 are provided
with a shoulder adapted to be engaged by a pawl or rod 18 (Figs. 9 and 10) to
lock said catches out of the path of the crank-arm 11, and when the catches are
in that position the contact member may pass without obstruction from the
circuit terminals at one side of the shaft 3 to the other circuit terminals at the
opposite side of said shaft. When the said pawl or rod 18 is in the position shown
in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 the catches 16 and 17 will be forced by the springs 14
and 15 into the path of the said crank-arm 11, and engage with a notch or
recess 19 in the rear end of the crank-arm 11 and intercept and stop the contact
member 4 in its flight from the circuit terminals at one side of said shaft 3 to
the other circuit terminals at the opposite side of said shaft, and lock it in its
said intercepted position midway between the two opposite circuit terminals.
This insures safety as the contact-member is thus held out of possible undesir
able contact with either of the circuit terminals. A cam-shaped disk 20 is
loosely mounted upon shaft 3 and is secured to the side of the handle 9 and as
the handle is rotated said disk will press against the catch 16 and force it down
into its recess or chamber and compress the coil spring 14 until the pawl or
rod 18 can be slid in to engage with the shoulder on the catch 16 and lock it in
its position out of the path of the crank-arm 11. On the opposite side of the
contact member is arranged another similar crank-arm or disk adapted to operate
in the same way upon the catch 17, and the rod 18 has an arm arranged to lock
said catch 17 in the same way described of catch 16. A crank 21 is pivoted
upon one side of one of the standards 2 and is provided with an extension 22
beyond its pivot. To said extension is secured one end of a spring 23 and the
other end of said spring is secured to a stud 24 on the side of the standard 2.
The said crank 21 is turned toward the standard 2 to withdraw the pawl 18 out
of engagement with the shoulder of the catches, and in the opposite direction
to push said pawl 18 into engagement with said shoulders to lock the catches out
of the path of the crank-arm 11. Said spring 23 controls the movement of the
crank 21 and also serves to hold it in either of its positions.
A spring controlled catch 25 is pivoted upon the side of the standard 2 to
engage with a shoulder or stud 26 on the crank-arm 11 to lock the contact
member 4 in circuit-making contact with the circuit terminals on that side of
the shaft 3, and said catch will also prevent the crank-arm 11 from moving until
the spring 10 has, by the rotation of the actuating lever 9, been drawn out and
sufficient energy stored in said spring when upon moving said actuating lever 9,
further, its inner end 91 will be made to strike against said catch 25 releasing it
from its engagement with said stud or shoulder 26 and allow the spring to react
and transfer the contact-member 4 from the circuit terminals at one side of said
shaft 3 to the other circuit terminals at the opposite side of said shaft.
A similar spring controlled catch 251 pivoted on the opposite side of said
standard acts in the same manner when the contact-member 4 is in circuit making
contact with the circuit terminals on that side of the shaft 3.
The circuit terminals may be arranged as shown in Fig. 2 that is, with
the inner ones close in to the shaft 3, or they may be arranged as shown in
Fig. 13 with the inner ones a distance away from the shaft, or there
may be only one inner circuit terminal secured on the base between the

page_text: standards 2, 2, but the principle and effect of my invention will be exactly the
same in all of these forms, and whenever I have in this specification referred to
sets of circuit terminals, I mean to be understood as including any and all of the
said arrangements of the circuit terminals.
I have now explained my invention as the same is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 10
of the drawings.
In Fig. 11 I have illustrated a modified form embodying the same principle
and producing the same effect. In the form shewn in Fig. 11 I use only one
intercepting catch 27 which operates against two coil springs 28, 29, in the same
way and with the same effect as do the catches 16 and 17 against their respective
springs 14 and 15.
In Fig. 12 I have shown another modified form of the catch which is a single
bar 30 operating against its springs 31, 32 in the same way as do the catches
before described.
In Figs. 13, 14, and 15 I have shown another modified form of my invention
in which the locking catch 33 is placed in the head of the actuating member or
lever 9, instead of in recesses between the standards 2, 2, and is operated to
engage a notch in the outer end of the contact member 4 by means of a pusher 34,
which extends outward through the side of the handle of the actuating lever 9,
thus locking the contact member and the actuating lever together, and a spring
controlled pawl 35 is arranged for sliding movement in the side of the standard 2
to engage with the rear end of the actuating lever 9 to intercept it and the contact
member and lock them in their intercepted position midway between the circuit
terminals 5 and 6 at one side of the shaft 3 and the other circuit terminals 7 and 8
at the opposite side of said shaft.
In all of the hereinbefore described forms of my invention the contact member
can be transferred from the circuit terminals at one side of the shaft to the other
circuit terminals at the opposite side of said shaft with rapid uninterrupted
movement, or, at the will of the one operating the switch, may be intercepted in
its flight and held in its intercepted position. In all said forms except that
illustrated in Figure 13 the contact member may at the will of the one operating
the switch be transferred with rapid movement from its intercepted position into
circuit-making contact with the circuit terminals at either side of the shaft,
by allowing the locking catch or pawl to remain in engagement until the spring 10
is drawn out and sufficient energy has been stored in said spring, when by
withdrawing the pawl and releasing the contact member the latter will, by
the reaction of said spring 10, be transferred with rapid movement into contact
with the desired circuit terminals.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In an electric switch having opposite sets of circuit terminals, the combina-
tion of a contact-member for engagement with the circuit terminals, and means
for causing the transfer of the contact-member from one set of circuit terminals
to the opposite set, and means for intercepting the contact-member in its flight
at the will of the operator, and holding it in its intercepted position.
2. In an electric switch having opposite sets of circuit terminals, the combina-
tion of a contact-member for engagement with the circuit terminals, and means
for causing the rapid transfer of the contact-member from one set of circuit
terminals to the other, with means for intercepting the contact-member in its
passage and automatically locking the same in its intercepted position.
3. In an electric switch having opposite sets of circuit terminals, the combina-
tion of a contact-member for engagement with the circuit terminals, and means
for causing the rapid transfer of the contact-member from one set of circuit
terminals to the other, and a pawl adapted to be thrown, at the will of the
operator of the switch, either to its engaging or disengaged positions, whereby

page_text: the contact-member may be either intercepted at an intermediate position, or
allowed to pass from one set of circuit terminals to the other, without obstruction.
4. In an electric switch having opposite sets of circuit terminals, the combina-
tion of a contact member for engagement with the circuit terminals, an actuating
member and a spring connecting the actuating member and contact member,
and adapted to cause the rapid transfer of the contact-member from one set of
circuit terminals to the opposite set, with means for intercepting the contact
member in its passage from one set of circuit terminals toward the other and
locking the same in its intercepted position out of contact with the said circuit
terminals.
Dated this 24th day of November 1800
WILLIAM ELY.
Wm. P. Thompson & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents.