Electrical switching relay construction and housing therefor

Claim 2

An electronic switching relay housing, comprising an integral single part housing skeletal structure of insulating material having an interior space, first and second partition walls disposed substantially perpendicular to each other within said housing and dividing the interior of said housing into an armature chamber and first and second spring contact chambers, said housing including a first and second set of spring contact holder slots defined therein extending from the exterior of said housing into respective ones of first and second spring contact chambers, said first partition wall separating said armature chamber from said first and second spring contact chambers and having an actuator guide slot defined therethrough extending from said armature chamber into respective first and second spring contact chambers, said housing having a wall bounding an end of said armature chamber with an armature biasing spring retainer slot defined therein.

Claim 3

An electronic switching relay housing, according to claim 1, wherein said housing includes a shoulder formation on each side of respective first and second spring contact chambers forming spring contact limit surfaces for fixing end positions of respective spring contacts.

Claim 4

An electronic switching relay housing, according to claim 1, including first and second spaced apart pin projections defined in each of said first and second spring contact chambers defining a guide space therebetween aligned with the actuator guide slot defined in said first partition wall.

Claim 5

An electronic switching relay housing, according to claim 1, including an armature disposed in said armature chamber, coil means for energizing said armature, an armature biasing spring disposed in said biasing spring retainer slot and biased against said armature to move it to a return position, an actuator member extending into said actuator guide slot and into respective ones of said first and second spring contact chambers, a set of spring contacts mounted in each of said spring contact chambers including terminal end portions which extend through the contact holder slots, at least one of said spring contacts of said spring contact sets being movable by said actuating member.

Claim 6

An electronic switching relay, comprising an integral single-part housing skeletal structure of insulating material having an interior space, first and second partition walls disposed substantially perpendicular to each other in said housing and dividing the interior of said housing into an armature chamber and first and second spring contact chambers, said housing including first and second sets of spring holder slots defined therein extending from the exterior of said housing into respective ones of said first and second spring contact chambers, respective spring contacts positioned in respective ones of said contact holder slots having exterior portions forming terminals extending to the exterior of said housing and having interior portions with contacts thereon, at least one of said spring contacts being movable relative to the others in order to position it into contact engagement or release from contact engagement therewith, said first partition wall separating said armature chamber from said first and second spring contact chambers having an actuator guide slot defined therethrough extending from said armature chamber to respective ones of said first and second spring contact chambers, an actuator extending through said actuator guide slot, an armature disposed in said armature chamber and engageable with said actuator, electric coil means associated with said armature for moving said armature to move said actuator, said housing having a wall bounding an end of said armature chamber with an armature biasing spring retainer slot, and a retainer spring disposed in said armature biasing spring retainer slot and biased against said armature to move it to a return position.

Claim 7

An electronic switching relay, comprising an integral single-part housing skeletal structure of insulating material having an interior space, first and second partition walls disposed substantially perpendicular to each other in said housing and dividing the interior of said housing into an armature chamber and first and second spring contact chambers, said housing including first and second sets of spring holder slots defined therein extending from the exterior of said housing into respective ones of said first and second spring contact chambers, respective spring contacts positioned in respective ones of said contact holder slots having exterior portions forming terminals extending to the exterior of said housing and having interior portions with contacts thereon, at least one of said spring contacts being movable relative to the others in order to position it into contact engagement or release from contact engagement therewith, said first partition wall separating said armature chamber from said first and second spring contact chambers having an actuator guide slot defined therethrough extending from said armature chamber to respective ones of said first and second spring contact chambers, an actuator extending through said actuator guide slot, an armature disposed in said armature chamber and engageable with said actuator, electric coil means associated with said armature for moving said armature to move said actuator, said housing having a wall bounding an end of said armature chamber with an armature biasing spring retainer slot, and a retainer spring disposed in said armature biasing spring retainer slot and biased against said armature to move it to a return position.

Claim 8

An electronic switching relay, according to claim 5, wherein each set of spring contacts includes an intermediate spring contact and an end spring contact on each side of said intermediate spring contact, said actuating member being movable to move said intermediate contact toward and away from engagement with respective ones on each side thereof, said armature comprising an angle member having one portion engageable with said actuator and an opposite portion movable by said coil means.

Claim 9

An electronic switching relay, according to claim 6, including a shoulder defined in each of said spring contact chambers on each side of the spring contact on each side of the intermediate spring contacts and forming supporting rests against which the exterior spring contacts abut under tension and which defines the desired contact clearance between the intermediate spring contact and ones on each side thereof.