Liquid contact tilt inertial switch with movable metallic conductive means responsive to acceleration and deceleration forces

Claim 1

An accident detecting switch for a vehicle comprising: an electrically conductive ball; a normally vertical dielectric casing having an upper chamber and a lower reservoir joined by a restricted passageway, said upper chamber including said movable spherical contact member; a first electrical contact having an aperture at the bottom thereof communicating with the passageway; a second electrical contact; said first and second electrical contacts being disposed in said upper chamber in a spaced relationship; a magnet to attract said ball to said aperture to block said passageway and to maintain said ball separated from said second electrical contact; said ball being movable against the action of said magnet into contact with said first and second electrical contacts when an applied acceleration in any direction within a given plane exceeds a predetermined magnitude; a third electrical contact disposed in said upper chamber; and an electrically conductive fluid disposed in said lower reservoir, said fluid being adapted to flow into said upper chamber and into contact with said second and third electrical contacts upon the upset of said dielectric casing with said passageway opened.