| 摘要 |
1,073,593. Springs. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Inc. Dec. 18, 1963 [Jan. 2, 1963], No. 50054/63. Heading F2S. [Also in Division H2] A snap-acting spring, which can be manufactured by simple punching and stamping operations, comprises a flat sheeet 1 of resilient material which includes a generally U-shaped slot 9 and two oppositely-curved, generally J-shaped, slots 13 which embrace the ends of the sides 4 of the slot 9, the arrangement providing a central tongue 7, one end 8 of which is free to move and the other end being connected by two fork-forming legs 17 and a pair of parallel side arms 19 to one end, and also by a central finger 21 to the other end, of the sheet 1. The sheet 1 is rendered snap-acting by deforming it along a line 29 to direct the arms 19 either upwardly or downwardly to place the arms 19 and the finger 21 in tension and the legs 17 and side arms 3 in compression. The tongue 7 may be provided with an operating ball 27 near the end of the finger 21 and with an electrical contact 25 adjacent its free end. In a modification, Fig. 5, not shown, the side arms 3 and the long legs 16 of the J-shaped slots are omitted. The springs according to Figs. 1, 5 (not shown), are monostable, i.e. they have only one position of inherent instability. The spring of Fig. 1 can be made bi-stable by substituting a crimp, Fig. 8, not shown, for the bend 29. The crimping and the bending 29 can be omitted. In a snap-acting switch. Fig. 4, not shown, of the automatic reset type, the force urging the tongue (7) to return to the initial position, Fig. 3, not shown, can be increased by bending the finger (21) upward at (70), Fig. 9, not shown. When a spring sheet of the kind wherein the side arms 3 are omitted, Fig. 5, not shown, is incorporated in a switch unit, the sides (3<SP>1</SP>) of the switch casing. Fig. 6, not shown, perform the function of the arms 3. The perimeter of the sheet need not be rectangular. |
