The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 31, 1988
Filed:
Jul. 13, 1987
Arthur J Saunders, Bucks, GB;
Raymond D Rochester, Bedford, GB;
Harvey Hubbell, Ltd., , GB;
Abstract
In an electric switch of the kind comprising a rectilinearly movable contact carrier (31), contacts (33) of which cooperate with fixed contacts (10A-17A,20A-25A) of a housing (19) defining spaces containing the fixed and moving contacts, which spaces are vented to atmosphere, the moving contact carrier (31) is provided with barriers or partitions (40) that cooperate with corresponding barriers or partitions (41,42) of the switch housing to subdivide the contact containing spaces in a labyrinthine manner. As the moving contact carrier (31) moves from the closed to open contact position, the respective barriers or partitions (40-42) of the contact carrier and the housing move relatively in a direction towards one another. This serves to minimize the risk of ionized gases passing between contact containing spaces of the housing (19) upon opening of the switch contacts.