US Patent 7852179 Relay with automated overtravel adjustment

An electromagnetic relay has a relay coil, an armature, a pusher and a contact system. The armature is actuated by the relay coil, and linked to the pusher to drive the pusher to operate the contact system. A set of stationary contact springs and a set of moveable contact springs have a gap separating them. The moveable contact springs connect to the pusher and to a pivot point. The stationary springs have a notch therein adjacent to the base structure portion. The pusher movement causes the stationary contact springs and the moveable contact springs to engage or disengage, and to automatically adjust the overtravel angle of the stationary contact springs relative to the moveable contact springs by bending the stationary contact spring at the notch of the stationary contact spring.