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:
Jan. 03, 1995
Filed:
Sep. 20, 1993
Daniel R Reneau, Madison, WI (US);
Hamlin, Inc., Lake Mills, WI (US);
Abstract
A housing has a vertical subframe in which is mounted one or more reed switches. A magnet is mounted to a carriage which is mounted about the reed switch by a two-degree-of-freedom joint. The carriage forms a cup with a base aperture which surrounds the subframe. The aperture defines a semi-spherical surface which rides on a semi-spherical surface at the base of the subframe. A shell is fixed to the housing and the inside surface of the shell has a semi-spherical surface concentric with the semi-spherical surfaces defined by the annulus of the aperture and the semi-spherical base of the subframe. The carriage has semi-spherical surface portions which engage the shell interior and is thereby constrained to rotate about the point of concentricity common to the shell, the carriage, the annular aperture, and the semi-spherical base of the subframe. The carriage is biased to an upright position by springs which extend between the base of the housing and an upper lip of the carriage. When the shock sensor experiences an acceleration in any direction perpendicular to the axis defined by the central reed switch, the magnet acts as an acceleration sensing mass and reacts to the acceleration, causing tilting of the carriage which moves the magnet into a position that causes the reed switch to close.