Liquid level responsive switch assembly

Claim 1

A liquid level responsive electrical switch assembly, comprising housing means, first and second chamber means defined by said housing means and effectively separated from each other by wall means carried by said housing means, said first chamber being effective for communicating with liquid within an associated chamber so as to generally have the level of said liquid within said first chamber means indicative of the level of said liquid within said associated chamber, bouyant float means situated within said first chamber means as to be at least partially displaceable by said liquid within said first chamber means, magnet means secured to and carried by said float means at an upper one end thereof, said float means being effective as the level of said liquiD within said first chamber means increases to move upwardly generally in accordance therewith so as to thereby progressively bring said magnet means into closer proximity to said second chamber means, first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means situated generally within said second chamber means, second fixed thermal electrical contact means carried by said housing means and having a contact portion disposed generally within said second chamber means and adapted to be operatively electrically engaged by said first deflectable electrical contact means, said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means being normally effective when said float means and said magnet means is moved downwardly and away from said wall means a predetermined distance to engage with a resilient force of a first magnitude said contact portion of said second fixed contact means and thereby close an electrical circuit therethrough, said magnet means being effective when moved by said float means to a distance with respect to said wall means less than said predetermined distance to create a magnetic field within said second chamber means of a flux density sufficient to overcome said resilient force of said first magnitude and magnetically move said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means away from said second fixed contact means to thereby open said electrical circuit, and manually adjustable adjustment means operatively engaging said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means, said adjustment means being effective to mechanically apply a selectable calibrating force of a second magnitude less than said first magnitude to said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means while permitting said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means to remain in closed electrical circuit engagement with said second fixed electrical contact means in order to thereby reduce the effective resilient force holding said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means in said closed electrical circuit engagement to a relatively lesser third magnitude, said lesser third magnitude enabling said magnet means to magnetically move said first resiliently deflectable electrical contact means to said open electrical circuit condition even when said magnet means is at a distance away from said wall means greater than said predetermined distance.