ON CHARACTERISTICS OF SNAP-THROUGH ACTION OF COMPLEX ARCH SPRINGS : 2ND REPORT, STATICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MOVABLE SPRINGS OF V- AND W-TYPE MICROSWITCHES

The incremental finite element method is applied to analyze the snap-through problem of the movable spring for the V-and W-type precision snap-acting switches (i.e. microswitches). These movable springs are treated as two examples of the complex arch springs and idealized as composed of the "beam-column" elements. Calculated results are found to coincide with experimental one with accuracy enough for practical purposes. Further, by examining the numerical results with the method of experimental designs, some design formulae for the movable springs of the V-and W-type microswitches are proposed.