Trailer breakaway switch assembly and pull-pin actuator therefor

Abstract

A breakaway switch assembly for detecting the unintended separation of a pair of connected vehicles or the like, of the type having a housing enclosure which slidably receives a pin-type actuator that operates an internal switch when pulled from the housing upon separation of the connected vehicles etc., incorporates a fully assembled, self-contained switch unit of a commercially known type, rather than a special switch assembly having long, resilient contact-carrying spring arms that must be carefully and tediously mounted in specially designed housings, as was the most prevalent practice heretofore. The self-contained switch unit so utilized preferably has an enclosing outer housing or body which protects the interior switch mechanism, contacts, etc., from the elements and also provides protruding flanges or the like which facilitate easy and fast mounting of the entire unit within the housing. Instead of being disposed between the conventional spring-arm electrical contact carriers, and retained in place thereby, the pull-pin operator is self-retained within a tubular receiver passage extending through the housing wall, preferably by resiliently deformable elastomer members such as O-rings, or by spring arms extending from the side of the pull-pin and integrally made as a part thereof. The O-rings when used are mounted on the pull-pin and must compress to pass over ridges formed in the tubular receiver when the pin is pulled out to actuate the switch unit, thus providing an alternative form of resilient biasing between the pin and the housing.