Contact elements for medium to high voltage switches

A medium or high voltage switch has a first set of contact elements (13a, 13b, 13c) and a second set of contact elements (14a, 14b, 14c). Each contact element consists of an insulating carrier (15) carrying conducting elements (16). In the closed state of the switch, the conducting elements (16) align to form one or more current paths between terminals (8, 9) of the switch along an axial direction (A). For opening the switch, the contact elements are mutually displaced by means of two drives (18, 19) along a direction (D) perpendicular to the axial direction (A) with the conducting elements (16) mounted onto the contact elements by means of springloaded pins (161,162).