Inertia switching device, acceleration responsive device and method of

Abstract

A seismosensitive element includes a housing formed from an electrically conductive material and having an inclined face formed on the bottom thereof to gradually rise concentrically outwardly substantially from a center of the inner bottom face, and a header fixed to the housing to close its open end and having through-aperture in which an electrically conductive terminal pin is fixed in an insulated relation. A contact is fixed an end of the terminal pin located inside the housing and has a plurality of feather portions disposed concentrically with the terminal pin, the feather portions having a predetermined elasticity. An inertia ball is enclosed in the housing to be located substantially at the center in the housing in a normal position of the element in a stationary state. The inertia ball rolls when subjected to oscillation, so that the inertia ball slides on the feather portions of the contact except for distal ends of the feather portions such that the inertia ball electrically conducts between the contact and the housing and such that the feather portions are elastically deformed, thereby receiving a force causing the same to be pushed against the bottom of the housing. An acceleration responsive switch includes a receptacle including a housing having a conical face, an inertial ball in the receptacle, and an oscillation damping liquid in the receptacle. The oscillation damping liquid has a viscosity such that the inertial ball terminates rotation when it is subjected to an external oscillation to be rotated.