60's-Gottlieb relay-switch mystery?

Ok, I picked up a '65 Gottlieb wedgehead a couple weeks ago and
although it mostly worked, I decided to inspect all components and
clean/adjust as necessary. So this weekend, I'm working my way
through the backbox and I inspect and clean the switches on the 100
and 10-point relays; no problem there. Then I get to the 1-point
relay (4 NO switches) and upon looking closely, I can see there is one
switch where neither blade extends through the slotted plastic yoke
that gets moved by the coil to actuate all the switches. Hmmm.
Figuring that the end of the blade must have broken broke off, I
compare it to the 10 and 100-pt relays. What I found when I
disassembled the fully functional 10-pt relay, was a similar looking
pair of short switch blades (neither of which are long enough to reach
the plastic yoke), but with a little separate "helper" piece of copper
blade. The intact helper piece is about 7/8" long with a tiny bent-
down tab on one end that fits into a slot on the actual switch blade
inside the bakelite insulators. The other end of the helper piece has
a little V shape bent into the end that fits a similar shape on the
plastic yoke. The helper also has a 1/8" hole in the blade that
surrounds the tab on the back of the contact point on the actual
switch blade itself. This little copper helper piece exerts pressure
upward from the bottom to close the short switch blades. WTF???

Long story short, the end of the little helper piece fractured off at
the hole and it doesn't appear it will be easy to fabricate a
replacement part with the same tiny tab and V-shape bent into the end.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why a design like this was used? What
problem did it solve ? The other 3 switches in the 1-pt relay are
conventional with one longer blade that fits through a slot in the
plastic yoke. Why goes to this design?

Puzzled in MD
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tech help needed (a lot!): Gottlieb El Dorado
    ... I just need to get a new switch ... that goes into a slot on the insulator arm of the relay) is A-4983. ... The short blade is A-4984. ... of the match unit are you talking about here? ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: EM Tech: Sky Jump
    ... the game, 1st switch, left side. ... Blade 2 is the one that gets moved. ... Move blades 3 and 1 so they can't make contact, and the game plays ... along with the relay, ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Tech EM Pop A Card Start Up
    ... Tilt Relay. ...  It's got four sets of blade contacts on it. ... at the switch stack. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: 1973 GOTTLIEB BIG SHOT EM PROBLEMS... HELP!!!
    ... a switch with three blades. ... When the coil is energized, the middle blade and the lower blade ... It seems the "G" relay is staying energized, ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: 60s-Gottlieb relay-switch mystery?
    ... OK this switch appears to be a locking switch for that points relay... ... or in case a normally open relay locks on because of a problem. ... piece blade. ... The hole in the helper would simply be to avoid the ...
    (rec.games.pinball)