Patent ID: 7716816

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a switch assembly of a type having pairs of opposed contacts moving together and apart to make and break an electrical circuit under the influence of an electromagnetic actuator, the method comprising: (A) cutting a body from a sheet of conductive and ferromagnetic material; (B) folding the body along a first fold line to form a turnback wherein a first portion of the body overlies a second portion of the body; (C) folding the first portion of the body along a second and a third fold line oriented in a crossing direction with the first fold line such that a contact location on an outer surface of the first portion is flanked by a pair of arc rails which extend substantially perpendicularly to a surface of the contact location on either side of the contact location to a sharpened edge; (D) attaching an electrical contact to the contact location between the arc rails; and (E) tapering each sharpened edge from a first position above a contact face of a stationary contact to a second position closer to the contact face than the first position.