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Push Button: Normally Open Momentary Switch with a Cushioned Contact (De Reamer, GE 1939)
A panel push button that closes a circuit only while you press it. A spring holds the button out, and a metal rim on the end of its rod sits clear of two contacts. Press it and the rim bridges both contacts. A second spring inside the button lets the rod give, so the contacts never take more than that spring's force.
Source: Frank C. De Reamer, US 2,166,803 (General Electric, 1939), Fig. 5. Unknown: the insulating material, the metals and every size. De Reamer gives none of them, so they are linked to unknown heads. The tools are ours. Picture: the patent's Fig. 5.
Advanced
2 days
Instructions
1
1
Mould the housing
Mould the housing
Mould a cup-shaped housing of insulating material, with a boss on each of two opposite sides, a recess in the top of each boss, a groove inside below each boss, and a bead round the top. Unknown: the material, the sizes and the moulding.
Materials for this step:
Unknown Insulating Material1 as requiredTools needed:
Compression Mould
Unknown Dimensions2
2
Make the terminals and contacts
Make the terminals and contacts
Bend two angled metal strips. The upper end of each sits in a boss recess, and the lower end is a solder lug. Fix each upper end to a contact that fits the groove inside the housing, stepped at its bottom end. Unknown: the metal.
Materials for this step:
Unknown Metal1 as requiredTools needed:
Tin Snips
Flat-Nose PliersUnknown Dimensions3
3
Make the sleeve, plate and cover
Make the sleeve, plate and cover
Turn a threaded sleeve and cut its thread. Spin its lower end over onto a metal plate with tangs. Cut a cover of insulating sheet with ears that reach over the bosses and a hole in the middle to guide the rod.
Materials for this step:
Unknown Metal1 as requiredUnknown Insulating Material1 as requiredTools needed:
Metal Lathe
Lathe Tool Set (HSS)
Die StockTin Snips
Vernier CaliperUnknown Dimensions4
4
Make the push button
Make the push button
Make a drawn metal tube closed at the top, and a rod with a head. Put a small coil spring in the top of the tube, then the rod's head. Wedge a washer into the tube under the head. Leave clearance so the rod can swivel a little. Turn the rod's lower end down to a smaller diameter. Unknown: the metal.
Materials for this step:
Unknown Metal1 as required
Compression Spring Set1 springTools needed:
Metal LatheLathe Tool Set (HSS)Vernier CaliperUnknown Dimensions5
5
Assemble
Assemble
Set the terminals in their recesses and the contacts in their grooves. Slide the button into the sleeve, with a coil spring round the rod between the cover and the wedged washer. Pass the rod's end through the cover's hole. Put on it a loose insulating washer with a metal rim round its edge. Hammer the rod's end over into a flange. Lay the cover on the housing, so its ears clamp the terminals, and bend the plate's tangs over the bead.
Materials for this step:
Unknown Insulating Material1 as requiredUnknown Metal1 as requiredCompression Spring Set1 springTools needed:
Bench Vise
Ball Peen HammerFlat-Nose Pliers
Safety Glasses6
6
Mount and wire it
Mount and wire it
Put the sleeve through a hole in the panel and clamp the panel between two nuts on the thread. Solder the bared wire ends to the two lugs.
Materials for this step:
Hex Nut2 pcs
Solder Wire1 as requiredTools needed:
Soldering IronFlat-Nose Pliers7
7
Check it
Check it
At rest, the rim sits against the underside of the cover and the circuit is open. Pressed, the rim meets the stepped ends of both contacts and closes it. The checking is ours: the meter reads open, then closed while pressed.
Tools needed:
MultimeterMaterials
5- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
- 1 springPlaceholder
- 2 pcsPlaceholder
- 1 as requiredPlaceholder
Tools Required
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- 2 vendors sell this, none ship to you yetPlaceholder
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