Electrical Contact Closure

Abstract

An electrical contact closure has at least one electrical conductor, a member having at least one opening therein sealed to the surface of the conductor, the exterior surface of the member being adhesive for removable contact with an adjacent electrical conductor. The electrical conductor has a contact portion or an attachment which protrudes from the surface of the conductor through the aperture in the member to make positive electrical connection with an associated electrical conductor. Such an electrical contact closure may also include an adjacent electrical conductor which has a similar member with at least one opening therein affixed to the surface of the second conductor and the exterior surface of the second member also being adhesive. The members are aligned so that they are removably held together to provide a closure and to provide positive electrical connection between adjacent electrical conductors. Such an electrical contact closure can also advantageously employ a gasket which is bonded to the electrical conductor and positioned within the member aperture.

Description

This invention relates to electrical contact closures and, more particularly, to such closures in which the closure member is sealed at one surface to an electrical conductor and is adhesive at its opposite surface for removable contact with an associated electrical conductor.

Electrical contact closures of the present invention would be particularly desirable in small appliances such as camera flash units, tooth brushes, and radios, which are provided with an electrical conductor including an exposed spring contact attached thereto for electrical contact with an associated electrical conductor such as a battery casing. The electrical conductor with the exposed spring contact is subjected to the effects of atmospheric pollution and battery leakage. Such pollution and leakage corrode the spring contact and cause a high resistance polarization resulting in a loss of power to the device being operated.

The present invention is directed to an electrical contact closure which overcomes the above problems by enclosing the spring contact of the first electrical conductor during its electrical connection with a second electrical conductor such as a battery casing.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new and improved electrical contact closure in which the electrical contact is protected from atmospheric and other corrosive environment during electrical connection between adjacent electrical conductors.

In accordance with one form of my invention, an electrical contact closure comprises at least one electrical conductor, a member having at least one opening therein sealed to the surface of the conductor, the member including an adhesive exterior surface, and an electrical contact extending from the surface of the conductor through the opening in the member.

These and various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an electrical contact closure made in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a modified electrical contact closure made in accordance with my invention; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of another modified electrical contact closure made in accordance with my invention.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing, there is shown generally at 10 an electrical contact closure embodying my invention. Closure 10 has an electrical conductor 11 with a member 12 having an opening 13 therein sealed to one surface of conductor 11. An electrical contact 14 is shown in the form of a disc 15 mounted on a spring 16 affixed to the surface of conductor 11. Contact 14 expands outwardly from the surface of conductor 11 within opening 13 of member 12. An electrical lead 17 is held against the opposite surface of conductor 11 in any suitable manner such as by a weld 18.

A second electrical conductor 19 is shown adjacent to first conductor 11 to better illustrate the present invention. Member 12, which is affixed to one surface of conductor 11, includes an adhesive exterior surface 20. The word "adhesive" is used in its normal sense to include a surface which will adhere to, cling to, or be temporarily fastened to an associated surface such as a surface 21 of the second electrical conductor 19. Within this definition of adhesive is included a surface 20 which includes a permanent magnet or which has a permanent magnet within member 12 whose adhesive or coercive effect is contained in its exterior surface 20.

In the operation of the electrical contact closure 10 in FIG. 1, surface 21 of second electrical conductor 19 in the form of a battery casing is positioned against adhesive surface 20 of member 12 whereupon member 12 adheres to surface 21 of conductor 19. Electrical contact 14 is thereupon in electrical connection with conductor 11 and conductor 19. Contact 14 is depressed within opening 13 of member 12. In this manner, an electrical contact closure is provided which prevents exposure of electrical contact 14 to the atmosphere and prevents any corrosive material such as leakage of electrolyte from conductor 19 from contacting electrical conductor 14.

In FIG. 2 of the drawing there is shown a modified electrical contact closure embodying my invention in which similar parts employ the same reference numerals as in FiG. 1. In this modified electrical conductor closure, a modified member 22 comprises two portions, one of which portions 23 is sealed to conductor 11 and a second portion 24, which is sealed to surface 21 of second electrical conductor 19. These members are aligned on opposite electrical conductors 11 and 19 so that they can be positioned together with opposed adhesive surfaces causing the member parts to adhere, or cling to one another. Member 12, which is shown in FIG. 1, can be employed in two portions for the member of FIG. 2.

However, I have shown a preferred type of member to provide my electrical contact closure in FIG. 2. Such member 22 consists of two portions 23 and 24 which members are commercially available under the name "Velcro," a synthetic material which is available from Velcro Company, Inc., 681 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Portion 23 has on its exposed surface a plurality of eyes 25 to provide one adhesive surface, while portion 24 has a plurality of hooks 26 to provide an associated adhesive surface. When conductor 19 has its member portion 24 pressed against member part 22 of conductor 11, the associated hooks and eyes join adhesively to adhere the member parts together to form a closure around electrical conductor 15 as described above in connection with FiG. 1.

In FIG. 3 of the drawing there is shown another modified electrical conductor closure embodying my invention in which similar parts have similar numbers as in FIGS. 1 and 2 above. It will be noted in this modified version that the preferred member 22 having portions 23 and 24 as shown in FIG. 2 is employed to form the closure in FIG. 3. Within opening 13 of member 22 there is positioned a gasket 27 which can be sealed, if desired, to either conductor but does not have an exterior adhesive surface. When member portions 23 and 24 are pressed together to form a closure, gasket 27 has its exterior surface positioned tightly against both conductors to provide a further protective portion of the closure. Of course, it will be appreciated that other modifications are included within this invention such as providing an adhesive exterior surface for gasket 27 thereby providing a second member affixed to closure 11. Additionally, gasket 27 can be split into two portions, both of which portions can be positioned within member 22. Each portion can also be sealed to an opposite associated electrical conductor. Each portion can also have an exterior adhesive surface thereby forming in such a modified version, two members having associated parts on adjacent electrical conductors.

I discovered unexpectedly that I could provide a new electrical contact closure in which the electrical contact was protected from atmospheric and other corrosive environment during electrical connection between adjacent electrical conductors. I found that such an electrical contact closure could be formed by at least one electrical conductor with a member sealed to the surface of the conductor which member had an adhesive exterior surface and at least one opening therein. The electrical contact extends from the surface of the conductor through the opening in the member.

I found that a wide variety of materials could be employed for the member and its adhesive exterior surface. However, the preferred form of my invention includes a member of Velcro synthetic material which has two adjacent portions, one portion with hooks and the other portion with eyes. Each portion is sealed to an associated electrical conductor after which the two conductors are brought into close proximity by pressing together the opposed adhesive surfaces in the forms of the hooks and eyes of the member portions. The electrical contact extending from the surface of the first conductor is thereby pressed against the second electrical conductor providing electrical connection therebetween. The member provides a protective atmosphere around the electrical contact.

I found that in addition to the second electrical conductor being a battery casing, various other modifications of this invention can include, for example, such a member with a plurality of holes with electrical contacts extending through some or all of these holes to make contact with a second conductor or conductors thereby forming a switching system or other electrical connection. While the invention is described as showing the connection between a first electrical connector in an electrical device such as an electrical appliance and the casing of a battery, such an electrical contact closure could be employed also at the other end of a group of batteries in stacked arrangement, and between adjacent batteries.

An example of an electrical contact closure made in accordance with my invention is set forth below:

EXAMPLE 1

An electrical contact closure is assembled as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing including a member of Velcro synthetic material and a gasket positioned within the member for contact with a second electrical conductor in the form of a battery casing within a portable, battery-operated radio. The battery casing is pressed in the direction of the first electrical conductor so that the respective portions of the member are adhesively joined together. The exterior surface of the gasket fits tightly against the surface of the battery and the electrical contact makes electrical connection between the first electrical conductor and the battery casing.

Three other batteries are then stacked in the usual arrangement with the terminal from the last battery in contact with a conventional clip spring terminal to complete the electrical circuit in the radio. This arrangement provides for suitable operation of the radio while protecting the electrical contact from atmospheric environment and corrosion in the event of any subsequent leakage of electrolyte from any of the batteries.

While other modifications of the invention and variations thereof which may be employed within the scope of this invention have not been described, the invention is intended to include such as may be embraced within the following claims:

Claims

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An electrical contact closure comprising at least one electrical conductor, a member having at least one opening therein sealed to the surface of the conductor, the member including an adhesive exterior surface, a gasket in contact with the surface of the conductor and positioned within the opening in the member, and an electrical contact extending from the surface of the conductor through the opening in the member.

2. An electrical contact closure comprising a pair of electrical conductors, a member portion having at least one opening therein sealed to the surface of each conductor, each member portion including an adhesive exterior surface, a gasket positioned within the opening in one of the member portions, and an electrical contact extending from the surface of one of the conductors through the opening in the member portion.

3. An electrical contact closure as in claim 2, wherein a gasket portion is positioned within the opening of each of the member portions.