Automatic contact welding in wire spring relay manufacture

Welding of precious metal contacts to the new wire spring relay has presented some unusual manufacturing problems. As the name implies, the springs of these relays are wires. The contacts through which electrical circuits are established consist of small blocks of palladium accurately and securely welded to one end of these wires. The wires, arranged in a parallel array, are imbedded for part of their length in molded phenol plastic to form parts which will be designated as “combs” in this paper. There are two kinds of combs, those with the wires arranged in pairs called twin wire combs, and single wire combs. Different welding techniques are required, each of which will be described separately.