Texas Instruments Corporation

Glen C Shepherd

Joe W Crawford

Tom L Gottbreht

John Walter Orcutt

Felix Garcia

John T Hancock

Thomas Bileski

Carl N Johnson

Dirk Warriner

Bobby D Blanton

James A Oursler

Charles F Starks

James B Allen

The disclosure relates to a printed wiring board system including a printed wiring board having an electrical conductor on one surface thereof, a pair of apertures extending through the printed wiring board, an electrically conductive jumper extending through the apertures and beyond the surfaces of the printed wiring board surrounding the apertures, the portions of the jumpers extending beyond the electrical conductor carrying surface being positioned along the surface of the board and substantially parallel thereto, solder being disposed over each of the portions of the jumpers extending beyond the conductor carrying surface, the solder extending over the entire region between the portions. The additional solder build up between and around the jumpers substantially increase the current carrying capacity of the jumper and metal trace combination.

System for enhancing current carrying capacity of printed wiring board

Disclosed is a relay for high current equipment, such as, for example, an electric range. The relay provides the interface between the solid state electronics and the high wattage electric heating elements. The relay is comprised of a frame having a non-electrically conductive, flexible substrate, such as a plastic substrate supported at its ends with a shallow V cross section. The substrate has conductive heater elements formed thereon with heater terminals connected to said elements. The plastic substrate has a high coefficient of thermal expansion. A biasing member in contact with the apex of the plastic substrate transmits forces between the substrate and a switch assembly, either creep or snap acting. The upper switch arm preloads or couples a force between the biasing element and the plastic substrate causing a shallow V to be formed in the substrate. When current is applied to the heater terminals and heats the heater element, the substrate expands. This expansion of the plastic substrate is amplified into a larger displacement of the apex of the V due to the geometry of this construction. The motion with amplification of the plastic substrate causes the switch to change from a first state to a second state. When current is removed from the heater elements, the plastic cools and contracts causing the switch to change back to its first state.

Interface relay for high current equipment

An improved technique for the manufacture of capacitive touch switch panel assemblies, utilized to control appliances and the like, provides simplified construction and manufacture. The technique involves the formation of conductive touch pads on one major surface of a dielectric panel and the formation of pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive lead members to the conductive pads on a separate flexible synthetic resin sheet. The synthetic resin is bonded to the opposite major surface of the dielectric panel with each pair of conductive pads on the synthetic resin sheet in registry with a corresponding touch pad on the one major surface of the dielectric panel. The synthetic resin sheet includes a portion having a conductive lead pattern formed thereon which is not bonded to the dielectric panel; this portion serves as a flexible connector for connection of the touch panel to a circuit board or the like. In one embodiment, the conductive lead pattern includes an interconnection pattern for circuit elements such as integrated circuits or display elements mounted on the synthetic resin sheet or the dielectric panel. The conductive lead pattern on the synthetic resin sheet may be a single-layer or a multi-layer pattern and the conductors may be formed from a single material or different materials having predetermined resistive characteristics whereby external resistors to the capacitive touch switches and/or circuit elements may be eliminated from the circuit.

Capacitive touch switch panel

An improved technique for the manufacture of capacitive touch switch panel assemblies, utilized to control appliances and the like, provides simplified construction and manufacture. The technique involves the formation of conductive touch pads on one major surface of a dielectric panel and the formation of pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive lead members to the conductive pads on a separate flexible synthetic resin sheet. The synthetic resin is bonded to the opposite major surface of the dielectric panel with each pair of conductive pads on the synthetic resin sheet in registry with a corresponding touch pad on the one major surface of the dielectric panel. The synthetic resin sheet includes a portion having a conductive lead pattern formed thereon which is not bonded to the dielectric panel; this portion serves as a flexible connector for connection of the touch panel to a circuit board or the like. In one embodiment, the conductive lead pattern includes an interconnection pattern for circuit elements such as integrated circuits or display elements mounted on the synthetic resin sheet or the dielectric panel. The conductive lead pattern on the synthetic resin sheet may be a single-layer or a multi-layer pattern and the conductor may be formed from a single material or different materials having predetermined resistive characteristics whereby external resistors to the capacitive touch switches and/or circuit elements may be eliminated from the circuit.

Method of fabricating capacitive touch switch panel

An electrical switch actuatable upon the occurrence of a preselected level, includes a generally cup shaped, open ended housing which mounts therein a spaced pair of stationary contacts. The housing has two pairs of upwardly extending channels in its side walls, the two channels of the first pair aligned with the stationary contacts and the two channels of the second pair aligned with platform surfaces. An electrically conductive, flexible cruciform element is disposed in the housing with the distal end portions of two legs of the cruciform received respectively in the two channels of the first pair, and the distal end portions of the other two legs of the cruciform received respectively in the two channels of the second pair and resting on the platform surfaces. The stationary contacts may be disposed above or beneath the cruciform element for a normally open or normally closed switch as desired. The stationary contacts may lie in a plane parallel to the plane of the snap acting member or in planes which intersect each other and the plane of the snap acting member. A motion transfer pin extends between the snap acting member and the cruciform element and may be provided with a shoulder to prevent overtravel of the pin.

Condition responsive electrical switch having improved bridging contact

Thermostatic control apparatus comprising a switch, a switch body housing the switch, and an actuator arm extending from the switch body with the arm being movable between the first and second positions for opening and closing the switch. A thermostatic bimetal strip is spaced from the switch body, with one end of the strip being mechanically linked to the actuator arm. A support extends from the body for supporting the other end of the strip. A selectively operable adjustment cam engages the strip between its ends on the face of the strip adjacent the body, this cam being operable for adjusting the thermostatic strip to open and close the switch at various preselected temperatures. A spring biases the strip into engagement with the cam whereby changes in temperature of the strip cause the arm to move between its first and second positions thereby causing the switch to open and close.

Growing community of inventors

Garland, TX, United States of America

Glen C Shepherd