Development and Design of Constant-Force Compression Spring Electrical Contacts

Abstract

This research focused on the development of modified configurations of compliant constant-force mechanisms (CCFMs) for use as constant-force compression spring electrical contacts (CFCSECs). These new configurations promise to create new possibilities in the design of electrical contacts (ECs), possibilities in lowering required manufacturing tolerances, reduction of system sensitivity to variations introduced during usage, increased system robustness in applications where movement and/or vibrations exist and will also go a long way in overcoming the challenges encountered in the implementation of the current traditional CCFMs in ECs. The successful development of CFCSECs that meets all of the requirements of an EC will lay a ground work for further exploration and introduction of CFCSECs into industry applications. These new configurations have successfully eliminated all pin joints and have replaced them with short flexural pivots, and where these short flexural pivots exist, they only serve to mimic the local hinges. The results show that CFCSECs demonstrated substantially constant output force over the range of its input displacement.