The history and evolution of Micro Switch

You use these units in your appliances or while working in your office. They are very small and may not be visible to you when you are using a printer, changing floors in elevators, baking food in ovens, and other things. Let’s find out more.

Here we are going to talk about a technology called microswitch. You may not know what is going on inside a switch and it may not be important to you at this time either. However, the history of the invention of this technology has some interesting facts that can be a good topic for discussion today.

Micro Switch can be recognized as a brand these days. Let’s go back to the time when it was just ordinary terminology. The history of this technology begins with an order for 10,000 electric chicken brooders in 1932. This order was received by an American company from Wisconsin, Burgess Labs. To complete this order, Burgess Labs required 10,000 switches. So he contacted a local manufacturer to supply him with that number of switches.

The local manufacturer ensured the timely delivery of the switches. However, the quality was not good and these switches did not work in the way that the director of the company wanted for the manufacture of electric brooders.

They kept trying to get something positive out of these switches, but they ended up disappointed. Time was short and reputation was at stake. In the midst of this situation, Burgess asked one of his mechanics to develop a better shift that can be consistently performed at a specific action point and has enough stability to withstand long reps.

Phillip McGall was that mechanic who made the switch that was compatible with electric brooders. He designed it with the inflection point principle in mind that allows any switch to perform repeatable actions with stability and precision using a spring. This contribution served as a breakthrough in the history of technology and caught the attention of many people who were associated with this field.

After some years of testing and consistency, this technology was patented by McGall as “Snap-Switch”. Initially, it was marketed by a team at Burgess Labs, but Burgess had to sell its portfolio later. It was acquired by a well-known company, Honeywell in 1950 and became a microswitch corporation.

The key factor why this technology became so popular was the minimal operating force. It can be activated by applying a low power force. The small size was another reason that allowed this technology to be installed in any type of device or machine.

In short, the modern form of a microswitch may have evolved over the years with the introduction of new materials and new designs, but the functionalities remain the same and serve the purpose for which this technology was patented. Therefore, great credit should be given to Phillip McGall and Burgess Labs for designing such a reliable and durable technology.