CA1106882A - Radial lead thermal cut-off device - Google Patents

Radial lead thermal cut-off device

Info

Publication number
CA1106882A
CA1106882A CA336,264A CA336264A CA1106882A CA 1106882 A CA1106882 A CA 1106882A CA 336264 A CA336264 A CA 336264A CA 1106882 A CA1106882 A CA 1106882A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
spring
contact
spring contact
leads
pellet
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA336,264A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
John K. Mcvey
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Illinois Tool Works Inc
Original Assignee
Illinois Tool Works Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Illinois Tool Works Inc filed Critical Illinois Tool Works Inc
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1106882A publication Critical patent/CA1106882A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01HELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H37/00Thermally-actuated switches
    • H01H37/74Switches in which only the opening movement or only the closing movement of a contact is effected by heating or cooling
    • H01H37/76Contact member actuated by melting of fusible material, actuated due to burning of combustible material or due to explosion of explosive material
    • H01H37/764Contact member actuated by melting of fusible material, actuated due to burning of combustible material or due to explosion of explosive material in which contacts are held closed by a thermal pellet
    • H01H37/766Contact member actuated by melting of fusible material, actuated due to burning of combustible material or due to explosion of explosive material in which contacts are held closed by a thermal pellet using a bridging contact
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01HELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H37/00Thermally-actuated switches
    • H01H37/74Switches in which only the opening movement or only the closing movement of a contact is effected by heating or cooling
    • H01H37/76Contact member actuated by melting of fusible material, actuated due to burning of combustible material or due to explosion of explosive material
    • H01H2037/769Contact member actuated by melting of fusible material, actuated due to burning of combustible material or due to explosion of explosive material characterised by the composition of insulating fusible materials, e.g. for use in the thermal pellets

Abstract

Case 3351 RADIAL LEAD THERMAL CUT-OFF DEVICE

Abstract of the Disclosure A radial lead thermal cut-off device for opening an electrical circuit when a predetermined temperature is disclosed. Electrical connection between the radial leads is maintained by thin spring contact which is forced against the terminal heads of the leads of the device.
The spring contact is forced into contact by a disc against the force of a coiled bias spring that engages the center of the spring contact.
The disc is held in place by a temperature-sensing pellet of organic material which melts at a predetermined temperature and which preferably incorporates a multitude of spherical glass beadsfilling that greatly increase its strength. The pellet has a centrally located cavity so that when the organic material of the pellet melts the material fills a volume having a smaller transverse dimension. This allows the disc to move as the compression force of the coiled spring is relieved, which in turn opens the circuit between the contact members as the thin spring contact is forced away from the lead heads by the coiled spring.

Description

Case 3351 68~32 Background of the Invention Axial-lead thermal cut-off devices presently predominate over radial-lead devices. ~his results, at least in part, from design difficulties that exist in manufacturing a reliable, inexpensive radial-lead thermal 5 cut-off device. However, in many circuit applications radial-lead devices are preferable since they take up a smaller area on a printed circuit board.
'rhe design of the present invention provides a simple, reliable, radial-lead thermal cut-off which thereby enables thermal cut-off devices to be incor-porated into applications where size ~f the device is of crucial importance.

10 Summary of the Invention In one broad aspect, the invention comprehends a thermal cut-off device which comprises a housing, a pair of radial 1eads each having a terminal head which extends into the housing, and a relatively thin spring contact which has its outer ends in contact 15 with the terminal heads of the leads and a center portion. A coil-ed bias spring engages the center portion of the spring contact to bias it away from the leads, a force-applying member is in contact with the center portion of the spring contact and a temperature-sensing pellet. The pellet comprises a temperature sensing mater-20 ial which melts at a predetermined temperature to be sensed. Thepellet is positioned between the housing and the force-applying member / the pellet having a shape such that all of the space between the force-applying member and the housing is not occupied by the pellet, so that when the temperature-sensing material me1ts, the 25 bias means will force the spring contact away from the heads of the leads, thereby breaking the e:l ectrical connection there-between .

~?~

., .

Descri tion of the Drawing P - .

'rhe present invention is illustrated by reference to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of the thermal cut-off 5 device of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cro6s-sectional view of the thermal cut-off device of Fig. 1 showing the device before the predetermined sensing temperature has been reached; and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the device of Fig. 1 taken 10 along the lines 2-2 showing the device after the predetermined sensing temperature has been reached.

echnical Description of the Inve~tion l~he thermal cut-off device 10 of the present invention that is sh own in Figure 1, has an outer housing 12 which may be of either a conductive 15 material or an electrically insulating material. A pair of radial leads 14, 16 extend out of the bottom of the housing 12. A cross-sectional ' Yi Case 3351 ~1~6~

view of the thermal device of Fig. 1 taken along the lines 2-2 is shown in Figure 2. ~he radial leads ~4, 16 have enlarged terminal heads 18, 20 théat extend into the housing 12. ~he leads 14, 16 are supported in place by a ceramic insulatorl9, through which the leads 14, 16 pass.
5 ~he bottom of the housing is sealed by appropriate sealing means to prevent the accumulation of moisture in the housing, such as epo~;y or silicone, for example.

Electrical connection between the leads 14, 16 is provided by a thin spring contact 24 which is held in the arcuate position 10 shown in Fig. 2 when the device is assembled. ~he spring contact 24 i9 preferably a bimetallic member which consists of a metal having good spring properties, such as stainless steel, and a metal having good conductive properties, such as copper. ~he copper is employed to supply the current carrying capacity for the device where the stainless steel lS provides good spring characteristics at elevated temperatures. A
coiled bias spring 30 is under compression and engages the center of the spring contact 24 thereby forcing the center of the spring contact 24 up away from the lead heads 18, 20. l~he resulting arcuate shape of the spring member 24 and the positioning of the copper layer 26 on the 20 bottom and the stainless steel layer 28 on the top thus maintains contact pres~ure on the terminal heads 18, 20 to prevent premature opening of the circuit before the predetermined temperature to be sensed is reached.
~' A disc 32, which may be made of either an insulating material 25 or a metal, engages the upper surface of central area 3~ of the spring contact 24 to apply a force on this area. A temperature-sensing pellet 38 Case 3351 ~lQ688Z
,~ .
is positioned between the dlsc 32 and the upper wall of the housing 36, While the pellet 38 may be comprised entirely of an organic material that rrlelts at the predetermined temperature to be sensed, it is preferred that it be comprised of a mixture of an organic material and of a 5 multitude of spherical glass beads, in which the volume of the insulating beads preferably substantially exceeds the volume of the temperature-sensing material. Manufacture of the thermal sensing pellet in this manner eliminates the voids which occur in the pressed organic pellets that are conventionally used in temperature-sensing devices. lhe 10 elimination of these voids greatly increases the strength of the other-wise relatively fragile pellet, thereby irnproving the reliability of thermal cut-off devices. ~he structure of the organic mixture-insulating particle pellet to the present inYention is described in more detail in the co-pendi~ig pa~ent application Serial No. 334,119, filed 15 August 20, 1979, entitled "T31ermal Switch With Organic-Glass Bead Mixture Sensing Pellet", with John McVey and Bruce Luxon as inventors, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. While spherical glass beads are preferred in organic pellet insulating particle mixture, 20 different- shapes and materials may be used. The insulating particles, however, should have a substantially higher melting temperature than the melting temperature of the .~. _ organic material.

~he spring contact 24 ?referably has a silver plated outer 25 surface layer in order to reduce contact resistance. A nickel flash is also preferably plated over the spring contact 24 prior to the silver plating in order to prevent migration of the silver into the copper layer at elevated temperatures.

;r, Case 3351 i~)688Z

lhe term "insulating", as used herein in describing the properties of various components of the described thermal switch, refers to the property of electrical insulation. ~hus, while glass beads are good electrical insulators, they are also relatively good conductors S of heat, and this is an advantage in the manufacture of tl~e pellet 38 since the organic material may be placed above the multitude of insulating particles and allowed to flow down over them by gravity, as described in th~ previously mentioned McVey et al application.

Figure 3 shows the thermal cut-off device of the present invention after the predetermined temperature of the melting point of the organic material 40 has been reached. As shown in Figure 2, the pellet 38 has a cylindrically-shaped cavity 44 which extends part way through the pellet. When the organic material melts the glass beads 42 redistribute 15 themselves as indicated in Figure 3, in which the thermal sensing organic material 40 is in a liquid state. When this occurs the disc 32 moves upwardly due to the reduced transverse dimension of the volume occupied by the organic material between the disc 32 and the upper surface 36 of the housing 12. ~he arcuate-shaped spring contact 24 then 20 moves upwardly, thereby breaking contact with the heads 18, 20 of the leads 14, 16 due to the release of the compressive force of the coiled spring 30.

'` . ' ~;~ '1 . . .

Claims (4)

    The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
  1. Claim 1. A thermal cut-off device comprising a housing, a pair of radial leads each having a terminal head which extends into said housing, a relatively thin spring contact which has its outer ends in contact with the terminal heads of the leads and a center portion.
    a coiled bias spring engaging said center portion of said spring contact to bias it away from said leads, a force-applying member in contact with said center portion of said spring contact and a temperature-sensing pellet comprising a temperature sensing material which melts at a predetermined temperature to be sensed, said pellet being positioned between said housing and said force-applying member, said pellet having a shape such that all of the space between said force-applying member and said housing is not occupied by said pellet, 80 that when said temperature-sensing material melts, said bias means will force said spring contact away from said heads of said leads thereby breaking the electrical connection therebetween.
  2. Claim 2. A thermal cut-off device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said spring contact is a bimetallic member comprised of a spring metal layer having good spring properties and a conductive metal layer having good electrical conductive properties, and said spring layer and said conductive layer are positioned such that the con-tact pressure on said heads of said leads by said spring contact is maintained as the ambient temperature increases toward the predetermined temperature to be sensed.
  3. Claim 3, A thermal cut-off device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said center portion of said spring contact is bowed away from said heads to form an arcuately shaped contact member,
  4. Claim 4. A thermal cut-off device as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said spring contact is a bimetallic member comprised of a spring metal layer having good spring properties and a conductive metal layer having good electrical conductive properties, and said spring layer and said conductive layer are positioned such that the con-tact pressure on said heads of said leads by said spring contact is maintained as the ambient temperature increases toward the predetermined temperature to be sensed.
CA336,264A 1978-10-20 1979-09-25 Radial lead thermal cut-off device Expired CA1106882A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US953,305 1978-10-20
US05/953,305 US4186366A (en) 1978-10-20 1978-10-20 Radial lead thermal cut-off device

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1106882A true CA1106882A (en) 1981-08-11

Family

ID=25493804

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA336,264A Expired CA1106882A (en) 1978-10-20 1979-09-25 Radial lead thermal cut-off device

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US4186366A (en)
JP (1) JPS5557223A (en)
AU (1) AU5181179A (en)
CA (1) CA1106882A (en)
DE (1) DE2941925A1 (en)
FR (1) FR2439469A1 (en)
GB (1) GB2035695A (en)
IT (1) IT1124622B (en)

Families Citing this family (20)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4314229A (en) * 1978-07-21 1982-02-02 Pioneer Electronic Corporation Fader controlling variable resistor
JPS55113226A (en) * 1979-02-23 1980-09-01 Nifco Inc Temperature fuse
JPS5974650U (en) * 1982-11-11 1984-05-21 三王株式会社 temperature fuse
US4472705A (en) * 1983-01-03 1984-09-18 Elmwood Sensors, Inc. Thermostatic switch with thermal override
GB2146843B (en) * 1983-08-06 1987-07-15 Ti Creda Mfg Temperature responsive control devices
FR2583568A1 (en) * 1985-06-14 1986-12-19 Seb Sa THERMAL CIRCUIT BREAKER.
US5070427A (en) * 1990-01-31 1991-12-03 Sparton Corporation Thermal switch for battery protection
DE4404167C2 (en) * 1994-02-10 1995-11-30 Inter Control Koehler Hermann Thermal fuse
US6741159B1 (en) * 2002-05-16 2004-05-25 Robert A. Kuczynski Fail-safe assembly for coacting contacts in a current-carrying system, apparatus or component
US7253548B2 (en) 2003-06-16 2007-08-07 Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Method and apparatus for controlling an electric machine
DE102005014601A1 (en) * 2005-03-31 2006-10-05 Conti Temic Microelectronic Gmbh Electronic module
US8665057B2 (en) * 2005-03-31 2014-03-04 Conti Temic Microelectronic Gmbh Electronic assembly having stressable contact bridge with fuse function
US7932480B2 (en) 2006-04-05 2011-04-26 Mks Instruments, Inc. Multiple heater control system with expandable modular functionality
US20100033295A1 (en) 2008-08-05 2010-02-11 Therm-O-Disc, Incorporated High temperature thermal cutoff device
WO2010133176A1 (en) * 2009-05-21 2010-11-25 Byd Company Limited Current fuse device and battery assembly comprising the same
DE102009053145A1 (en) 2009-11-05 2011-05-12 Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co. Kg Overvoltage protection device, has thermal expandable material arranged within housing such that pole of varistor does not stay in electrically conductive contact with connection elements
CN201780951U (en) * 2010-04-29 2011-03-30 比亚迪股份有限公司 Novel fuse
US9530581B2 (en) * 2011-06-02 2016-12-27 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Changing the state of a switch through the application of power
CN103515041B (en) 2012-06-15 2018-11-27 热敏碟公司 High thermal stability pellet composition and its preparation method and application for hot stopper
WO2017121474A1 (en) * 2016-01-14 2017-07-20 Schurter Ag Mechanically activatable thermal fuse

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2955179A (en) * 1958-09-26 1960-10-04 Filtron Company Inc Control device
US3956725A (en) * 1975-02-10 1976-05-11 Micro Devices Corporation Thermally actuatable electrical switch construction
US4065741A (en) * 1977-03-29 1977-12-27 New Nippon Electric Co., Ltd. Thermal fuse with a fusible temperature sensitive pellet

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU5181179A (en) 1980-04-24
US4186366A (en) 1980-01-29
IT7926622A0 (en) 1979-10-18
JPS5557223A (en) 1980-04-26
GB2035695A (en) 1980-06-18
FR2439469A1 (en) 1980-05-16
IT1124622B (en) 1986-05-07
DE2941925A1 (en) 1980-04-30

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