Patent ID: 6903492

Claim:
An electrical relay comprising: a relay housing enclosing a switching cavity; a first electrical contact in the switching cavity, having a wettable surface; a second electrical contact in the switching cavity spaced from the first electrical contact and having a wettable surface; a first conducting liquid in wetted contact with the first electrical contact; a second conducting liquid in wetted contact with the second electrical contact; a beam having a fixed end attached to the relay housing within the switching cavity and a free end; a wettable switch finger, attached to the free end of the beam and moveable to touch the first and second conducting liquids; and a piezoelectric actuator operable to move the beam in a lateral direction to cause the switching finger to move from a non-deflected position to a first position, where the conducting liquid wets between the first and second contacts and the switch finger and completes an electrical circuit between the first and second contacts, and to a second position where the conducting liquid cannot wet between first and second contacts and the switch finger and the electrical circuit between the first and second contacts is broken.