Patent ID: 8531257

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a contactor actuatable by a magnetic field, said contactor having at least one first strip and one second strip, each of which is made of a magnetic material and extends along a longitudinal direction, said first strip including a first pad P 1 i having a first contact face F 1 i parallel to said longitudinal direction, said second strip including a second pad P 2 i facing said first pad P 1 i and having a second contact face F 2 i parallel to said longitudinal direction, said first and second pads P 1 i and P 2 i facing each other when an intersection of said second contact face F 2 i and a projection in a transversal direction, perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, of said first contact face F 1 i on said second contact face F 2 i forms an overlap zone Zi, said overlap zone Zi having a surface area Szi greater than zero, at least one of said first and second pads P 1 i , P 2 i being capable of being shifted, in response to a magnetic field, along said transversal direction between a closed position and an open position, wherein, in said closed position, said first and second faces F 1 i and F 2 i are directly in mechanical contact with each other to enable passage of a current, and wherein, in said open position, said first and second faces F 1 i and F 2 i are separated from each other by an air gap so as to be electrically insulated from each other, wherein said at least one first strip and said at least one second strip include pads forming a plurality of pairs of pads P 1 i , P 2 i facing each other, said pairs being disposed consecutively along said longitudinal direction, and wherein each of said at least one first strip and at least one second strip includes at least one bridge Ptji, said at least one bridge mechanically and directly linking two pads Pji, Pj,i+1 that are immediately consecutive along said strip, a cross-section of said bridge Ptji being reduced relative to a cross-section of said pads Pji, Pj,i+1, and a surface area SPtji of a smallest cross-section of said bridge Ptji satisfying a relationship 0<SPtji<2/3Szi, where j is an index identifying said strip and i is an index identifying said pad on said strip.