JP2011204555A - Hybrid relay - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To implement low power consumption with a mechanical contact switch installed on a power feeding path to a load being of a latching type.SOLUTION: On the power feeding path to the load 3 from a power supply 2, one series circuit and the other series circuit are connected in parallel, the one circuit being constructed of a first mechanical contact switch 12 whose contact is open/close-controlled by a first driving section and a semiconductor switch 16, the other series circuit being constructed of a second mechanical contact switch 13 whose contact is open/close-controlled by a second driving section and a third mechanical contact switch 14 whose contact is open/close-controlled by a third driving section. The second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 are of a latching type such that the second and third driving sections are supplied with currents only when contacts S2, S3 of the switches are opened/closed, and are adapted to conduct electricity in the order of the first mechanical contact switch 12, one of the second and third mechanical contact switches (13 or 14), the semiconductor switch 16, and the other of the second and third mechanical contact switches (14 or 13).

Description

  The present invention relates to a hybrid relay including a mechanical contact switch and a semiconductor switch.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hybrid relay including a mechanical contact switch and a semiconductor switch connected in parallel is used in order to switch between power supply and interruption to a load including an inverter circuit that performs inverter control such as a lighting fixture. A load having an inverter circuit is provided with a large-capacity smoothing capacitor in order to convert an AC voltage into a DC voltage. When a power source is turned on from the AC power source to the load, a large current flows into the smoothing capacitor, so that an inrush current to the load is generated. In particular, in a situation where the power supply voltage is high and the load is high, the inrush current flowing into the load increases. Therefore, even in a hybrid relay connected between the load and the AC power supply, a large current based on this inrush current is generated. Flows.

  For this reason, in a hybrid relay connected to such a load, only the semiconductor switch is first brought into a conducting state. In the following description, “semiconductor switch is turned on” or “mechanical contact switch is closed” means “semiconductor switch is turned on” or “mechanical contact switch is turned on” " Similarly, in the following description, “semiconductor switch is turned off” or “mechanical contact switch is opened” means “semiconductor switch is turned off” or “mechanical contact. "The switch is turned off." After the inrush current flows through the semiconductor switch, the mechanical contact switch is turned off when the current supplied to the load becomes a steady state (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By such an operation, it is possible to prevent a large current from flowing through the mechanical contact switch in the hybrid relay, so that it is possible to avoid contact welding due to generation of an arc immediately before contact of the contact pair.

  Thus, the hybrid relay has a structure including a semiconductor switch in order to prevent contact welding in the mechanical contact switch, and after the mechanical contact switch is turned on, the semiconductor switch is turned off to supply power to the load. Start supplying. Further, a hybrid in which a mechanical contact switch (referred to as “second switch”) for further turning on the semiconductor switch is further added before the mechanical contact switch (referred to as “first switch”) is turned ON. A relay has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 11-238441 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-054772

  In the hybrid relay described in Patent Document 2 described above, the mechanical contact switches of the first and second switches are always excitation-type mechanical contact switches, and the magnetic coil used for each is common. Furthermore, by setting the distance between the contacts of the first and second switches to be different, the opening / closing timing of each of the first and second switches is set so that the second switch is closed before the first switch. ing. For this reason, it is necessary to accurately design the distance between the contacts of each of the first and second switches and the magnetic coil, and the manufacturing work becomes complicated.

  Further, since each of the first and second switches is a normally-excited mechanical contact switch, it is always necessary to supply current to the magnetic coil while the first and second switches are closed. For this reason, in the configuration using the always-excited mechanical contact switch as the first switch as in the hybrid relay of Patent Document 2, it is necessary to maintain power supply to the hybrid relay when supplying power to the load. It is difficult to realize power saving.

  Furthermore, it is sufficient that the semiconductor switch is turned on when the first switch in which the arc current that affects the contact welding of the first switch, etc. is generated is turned on or off. After switching to the switched state, the second switch may be turned off. However, since the magnetic coil for turning the first and second switches ON or OFF is common, the second switch is also ON while the first switch is ON. That is, since the contacts of both the first and second switches are magnetically attracted by a common magnetic coil, it is necessary to generate an attractive force that is greater than the combined force due to the spring load of each of the first and second switches. Since the amount of current increases, the amount of power consumption also increases.

  In view of such problems, the present invention adopts a latching type mechanical contact switch installed on a power supply path to a load, and operates the semiconductor switch only when the mechanical contact switch is turned ON or OFF. Therefore, it aims at proposing the hybrid relay which implement | achieves low power consumption.

  In order to achieve the above object, the hybrid relay of the present invention has a first mechanical contact switch whose contact is opened and closed by the first drive unit and a contact which is opened and closed by the second drive unit separate from the first drive unit. A second mechanical contact switch, a third mechanical contact switch whose contact is opened and closed by a third drive unit separate from the first and second drive units, and a first mechanical contact switch connected in series A series circuit of a first mechanical contact switch and a semiconductor switch and a series circuit of a second mechanical contact switch and a third mechanical contact switch on a power supply path that is supplied to a load from a power source. The second and third mechanical contact switches connected in parallel are latching type mechanical contact switches in which current is supplied to the second and third driving units when the switch contacts are opened and closed. Type contact Switch, one of the second or third mechanical contact switch, characterized in that to conduct the other order of the semiconductor switches, and the second or third mechanical contact switch.

  In this hybrid relay, it is preferable that the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch, the semiconductor switch, one of the second or third mechanical contact switch, and the first mechanical contact switch are made non-conductive in this order. .

  In this hybrid relay, the power source is preferably an AC power source, and the semiconductor switch is preferably a semiconductor switch having a zero-cross firing function that conducts when the voltage supplied from the AC power source becomes the center voltage.

  Further, in this hybrid relay, when the power source is an AC power source and each of the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch is made non-conductive, after the semiconductor switch is made non-conductive, the AC voltage by the AC power source is not less than a half cycle. It is preferable to open the contact of the first mechanical contact switch when the time period elapses.

  Further, in this hybrid relay, after the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch is turned on, one of the second or third mechanical contact switch is turned on, the semiconductor switch, The second or third mechanical contact is turned on in the order of the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch, with the second and third mechanical contact switches both turned on. After making the other of the switches non-conductive, the semiconductor switch, the second or third mechanical contact switch, and the first mechanical contact switch are preferably non-conductive in this order.

  In this hybrid relay, the first mechanical contact switch is an always-excited mechanical contact switch in which current is always supplied to the first drive unit when the switch contact is closed. A photocoupler having a light emitting element for generating a signal, the conduction and non-conduction of which are controlled based on an optical signal of the light emitting element, wherein a first driving unit and the light emitting element are connected in series, and a first mechanical contact When the switch and the semiconductor switch are turned on at the same time, it is preferable to drive the first drive unit and the light emitting element with a common current.

  In the hybrid relay, when the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch are simultaneously turned on from the non-conductive state, a first current is supplied to the light emitting element and the second drive unit, respectively. When the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch are turned on when the contact switch is in a conductive state, a second current having a current amount smaller than the first current is supplied to each of the light emitting element and the first drive unit. It is preferable to do.

  Further, in this hybrid relay, when the contact of the first mechanical contact switch is closed, the first current is supplied to the first drive unit, while the first drive unit is closed after the contact of the first mechanical contact switch is closed. It is preferable to pass a second current having a current value smaller than that of the first current.

  In the hybrid relay, the first mechanical contact switch is preferably a latching type mechanical contact switch in which a current is supplied to the first drive unit when the contact of the switch is opened and closed.

  According to the present invention, the mechanical contact switch installed on the power supply path to the load is of the latching type, and the semiconductor switch is operated only when the mechanical contact switch is opened and closed, thereby realizing low power consumption. can do.

Schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay of the first embodiment Timing chart showing an example of state transition of each part in the hybrid relay of the first embodiment The timing chart which shows the relationship between the state at the time of power activation of each part in the hybrid relay of 1st Embodiment, and the alternating voltage from alternating current power supply The timing chart which shows an example of the transition of the state of each part in the hybrid relay of the modification 1 of 1st Embodiment The timing chart which shows an example of the transition of the state of each part in the hybrid relay of the modification 2 of 1st Embodiment Schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay of the second embodiment The timing chart which shows the relationship between the state at the time of power activation of each part in the hybrid relay of 2nd Embodiment, and the alternating voltage from alternating current power supply The timing chart which shows another example of the state transition of each part in the hybrid relay of 3rd Embodiment Schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay of the fourth embodiment The timing chart which shows an example of the state transition of each part in the hybrid relay of 4th Embodiment Schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay of the fifth embodiment The timing chart which shows an example of the transition of the state of each part in the hybrid relay of 5th Embodiment Schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay of the sixth embodiment The timing chart which shows an example of the state transition of each part in the hybrid relay of 6th Embodiment The schematic circuit diagram of the hybrid relay of the modification applied to the hybrid relay of 1st Embodiment The timing chart which shows an example of the transition of the state of each part in the hybrid relay of the modification applied to the hybrid relay of 1st Embodiment The timing chart which shows the relationship between the state at the time of power activation of each part in the hybrid relay of the modification applied to the hybrid relay of 1st Embodiment, and AC voltage from AC power supply

<First Embodiment>
A hybrid relay according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of state transition in each part in the hybrid relay of the first embodiment. In the description of each embodiment below, “semiconductor switch is turned on” or “mechanical contact switch is closed” means “semiconductor switch is turned on” or “ It is expressed as “Mechanical contact switch is turned ON”. Similarly, in the description of each embodiment below, “semiconductor switch is turned off” or “mechanical contact switch is opened” means “semiconductor switch is turned off”. Or “mechanical contact switch is turned off”.

1. Configuration of Hybrid Relay 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment is connected to one end of each of an AC power supply 2 and a load 3 connected in series, whereby an AC power supply 2 and a load 3 are connected. And form a closed circuit. That is, turning on and off the power from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 is determined by the state where the hybrid relay 1 is turned on and the state where it is turned off. The AC power source 2 is, for example, a commercial power source of 100 [V], and the load 3 is, for example, a lighting device including a fluorescent lamp or an incandescent bulb or a ventilation fan.

  The hybrid relay 1 has a terminal 10 connected to the other end of the AC power supply 2 having one end connected to one end of the load 3, a terminal 11 connected to the other end of the load 3, and one end connected to the terminal 10. A first mechanical contact switch 12 having a contact portion S1, a second mechanical contact switch 13 having a contact portion S2 having one end connected to a connection node between the terminal 10 and one end of the contact portion S1, and one end to the terminal 11. Is connected and the other end is connected to the other end of the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, the third mechanical contact switch 14 having a contact portion S3, and the T1 electrode is connected to the other end of the contact portion S1. And the semiconductor switch 16 having the triac S4 having the T2 electrode connected to the terminal 11, and the first, second and third mechanical contact switches 12, 13, 14 and the semiconductor switch 16 are turned on or And a signal processing circuit 17 for performing control for the FF state.

  Details of the circuit configuration of the hybrid relay 1 will be further described. The hybrid relay 1 includes a series circuit including a contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and a triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16, a contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, and a third mechanical contact switch. A series circuit constituted by 14 contact portions S3 is connected in parallel between the terminals 10 and 11.

  The first mechanical contact switch 12 is a normally-excited mechanical contact switch, and includes a magnetic coil L3 that generates an electromagnetic force for holding the contact portion S1 in an ON state. That is, the magnetic coil L3 constitutes the first drive unit of the first mechanical contact switch 12.

  The second mechanical contact switch 13 is a latching type mechanical contact switch. The second mechanical contact switch 13 is in a state in which the magnetic coil L1 for generating an electromagnetic force for switching to the state where the contact portion S2 is turned on and the contact portion S2 are turned off. And a magnetic coil L2 that generates an electromagnetic force for switching. That is, the magnetic coils L 1 and L 2 constitute a second drive unit of the second mechanical contact switch 13.

  The third mechanical contact switch 14 is a latching type mechanical contact switch. The third mechanical contact switch 14 has a magnetic coil L4 that generates electromagnetic force for switching the contact portion S3 to the ON state, and the contact portion S1 is turned OFF. And a magnetic coil L5 that generates an electromagnetic force for switching. That is, the magnetic coils L4 and L5 constitute the third drive unit of the third mechanical contact switch 14.

  The first mechanical contact switch 12 includes one magnetic coil L3 and a diode D5 connected in parallel with the magnetic coil L3. A connection node formed by one end of the magnetic coil L3 and the anode electrode of the diode D5 is grounded, and a connection node formed by the other end of the magnetic coil L3 and the cathode electrode of the diode D5 is connected to the signal processing circuit 17.

  In the second mechanical contact switch 13, one end of the magnetic coil L 1 is connected to the cathode electrode of the diode D 3 whose anode electrode is connected to the signal processing circuit 17, while one end of the magnetic coil L 2 is connected to the signal of the anode electrode. Connected to the cathode electrode of the diode D4 connected to the processing circuit 17. The other ends of these magnetic coils L1, L2 are connected to each other. The connection nodes of these magnetic coils L1, L2 are grounded and connected to the anode electrodes of the diodes D1, D2, respectively. Note that “grounding” in the following embodiments including the first embodiment means connecting to a reference voltage in the hybrid relay 1. The cathode electrodes of the diodes D1 and D2 are connected to the cathode electrodes of the diodes D3 and D4. As described above, the second mechanical contact switch 13 includes the magnetic coils L1 and L2 connected in series, the diodes D1 and D2 in which the anode electrodes are connected to each other, and the diode D3 in which the anode electrode is connected to the signal processing circuit 17. , D4.

  In the third mechanical contact switch 14, one end of the magnetic coil L 4 is connected to the cathode electrode of the diode D 8 whose anode electrode is connected to the signal processing circuit 17, while one end of the magnetic coil L 5 is connected to the anode electrode. Connected to the cathode electrode of the diode D9 connected to the processing circuit 17. The other ends of these magnetic coils L4 and L5 are connected to each other. The connection nodes of the magnetic coils L4 and L5 are grounded and connected to the anode electrodes of the diodes D6 and D7. The cathode electrodes of the diodes D6 and D7 are connected to the cathode electrodes of the diodes D8 and D9. As described above, the third mechanical contact switch 14 includes the magnetic coils L4 and L5 connected in series, the diodes D6 and D7 whose anode electrodes are connected to each other, and the diode D8 whose anode electrode is connected to the signal processing circuit 17. , D9.

  The semiconductor switch 16 includes a triac S4, a resistor R1 and a capacitor C1 connected in parallel between the T2 electrode and the gate electrode of the triac S4, a resistor R2 having one end connected to the T1 electrode of the triac S4, and a resistor R2. The phototriac coupler 15 includes a phototriac S4z having a T1 electrode connected to the other end. The phototriac coupler 15 further includes a light emitting diode LD having an anode electrode connected to the signal processing circuit 17 via a resistor R3 and a cathode electrode grounded, and a T2 electrode connected to the gate electrode of the triac S4. An optical signal from the light emitting diode LD is incident on the phototriac S4z. Furthermore, the phototriac S4z is a semiconductor switching element having a zero-cross point function. When an optical signal from the light emitting diode LD is incident, the phototriac S4z receives an AC voltage from the AC power source 2 on the T2 electrode side of the phototriac S4z. Only when the center voltage (reference voltage) is detected is conduction made.

  The hybrid relay 1 has one end connected to a connection node between the other end of the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the other end of the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14, and the triac A resistor R4 having the other end connected to the T2 electrode of S4 is connected in parallel to the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch.

2. Turning on the power by the hybrid relay The operation when turning on and off the power from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 in the hybrid relay 1 configured as described above will be described below with reference to the timing chart of FIG. FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating an example of state transition of each unit in the hybrid relay according to the first embodiment.

  First, the operation of each part in the hybrid relay 1 when the signal processing circuit 17 is instructed to turn on power from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 will be described. As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 2, when a drive current is supplied from the signal processing circuit 17 to the magnetic coil L3, an electromagnetic attractive force is generated by the magnetic coil L3, and the first mechanical type including the magnetic coil L3 is also included. The contact portion S1 of the contact switch 12 is turned on. The diode D5 connected in parallel with the magnetic coil L3 functions as a backflow prevention diode for preventing the current flowing through the magnetic coil L3 from flowing back.

  After the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the signal processing circuit 17 gives a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L1 via the diode D3. At this time, in the second mechanical contact switch 13, the diode D1 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L1 from flowing back, and the diode D2 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L2. As a result, a pulse current flows through the magnetic coil L1, and an electromagnetic attractive force temporarily works, so that the contact portion S2 in the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on. Since the second mechanical contact switch 13 is a latching type, as shown in FIG. 2, the contact portion S2 is held in an ON state even after the current supply to the magnetic coil L1 is stopped.

  As described above, after both the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 are turned on, the signal processing circuit 17 drives the light emitting diode LD with a drive current. give. Thereby, in the phototriac coupler 15, the light emitting diode LD emits light, and the phototriac S4z receives an optical signal generated by the light emission. At this time, the phototriac S4 has a zero-cross point function, and when it is detected that the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 has become the center voltage, which is the reference voltage, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. S4z is turned on. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the AC voltage from the AC power source 2 and the operating state of each part in the first, second and third mechanical contact switches 12, 13, 14 and the semiconductor switch 16 when the power is turned on. It is a timing chart.

  When the phototriac S4z is turned on, an AC current from the AC power supply 2 flows through the resistor R2 and the phototriac S4 to the parallel circuit including the resistor R1 and the capacitor C1. As a result, a parallel circuit including the resistor R1 and the capacitor C1 operates, and a current is supplied to the gate electrode of the triac S4 so that the triac S4 is turned on. As a result, the load 3 is electrically connected to the AC power source 2 via the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16 in the hybrid relay 1. It is thrown in.

  At this time, since an inrush current flows from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3, a large current based on the inrush current flows also in each of the triac S4 and the photo triac S4z that are turned on. This inrush current has a variation in the amount of current because the phototriac S4z has a zero-cross point call function so that the timing at which the phototriac S4z is turned on does not vary with respect to the cycle of the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2. Can be suppressed. Further, this inrush current flows to the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12, but since the contact in the contact portion S1 is in an ON state, no arc is generated at the time of switching of the contact opening and closing. Contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented.

  In this way, after the triac S4 in the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on and the power supply from the AC power supply 2 is turned on to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17 sends a pulse current as a drive current via the diode D8. To the magnetic coil L4. At this time, in the third mechanical contact switch 14, the diode D6 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L4 from flowing back, and the diode D9 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L5. As a result, a pulse current flows through the magnetic coil L4, and an electromagnetic attractive force temporarily works, so that the contact portion S3 in the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned on. Since the third mechanical contact switch 14 is a latching type, as shown in FIG. 2, even after the current supply to the magnetic coil L4 is stopped, the contact portion S3 is held in an ON state.

  Thus, according to the order of the 1st mechanical contact switch 12, the 2nd mechanical contact switch 13, the semiconductor switch 16, and the 3rd mechanical contact switch 14, each switch will be in the ON state. For this reason, the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment can prevent an inrush current from flowing to the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14. Therefore, the third mechanical contact switch 14 can prevent the bounce of the contact based on the inrush current that causes contact welding. After power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 via the contact part S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the contact part S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is started, the power supply path in the semiconductor switch 16 In order to cut off the signal, the signal processing circuit 17 stops the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. For this reason, the light emitting operation of the light emitting diode LD is stopped, the irradiation of the optical signal to the phototriac S4z is stopped, and the phototriac S4z stops operating when the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 becomes the center voltage. , It is turned off.

  When the phototriac S4z is turned off, current supply to the gate electrode of the triac S4 is stopped, so that the triac S4 is turned off and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole. After the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off, the signal processing circuit 17 stops supplying the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 of the first mechanical contact switch 12. That is, since the current supply to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, the normally excited first mechanical contact switch 12 loses the electromagnetic attraction force by the magnetic coil L3, and the contact portion S1 is turned off. Thus, since the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off after the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off, the first mechanical contact switch 12 is in a state where no current flows. 1 The contact of the contact portion S1 of the mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off. Thus, when the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off, arcing between the contacts of the contact portion S1 can be prevented, so that contact welding at the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented. .

In this way, when power is supplied to the load 3 from the AC power supply 2, the signal processing circuit 17 sets the timing for supplying the drive current to each of the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD as shown in FIG. By doing so, as described above, contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented. That is, when the AC voltage for one period T is supplied from the AC power source 2, the time t ₂ from the stop of the supply of the driving current to the light emitting diode LD to stop the supply of the driving current to the magnetic coil L3, AC The time is longer than the half cycle T / 2 of the voltage.

Thus, by setting the phototriac S4z in the phototriac coupler 15 to the OFF state, the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be set to the OFF state after the triac S4 is completely turned off. it can. Further, since the phototriac S4z in the phototriac coupler 15 has a zero cross point call function, it is possible to suppress variations in inrush current when the triac S4 is turned on. However, the time t ₁ from the start of the supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 to the start of the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD is set to be longer than the half cycle T / 2 of the AC voltage, It is good also as what can suppress variation more reliably.

3. On the other hand, the contact part S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the contact part S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 are both turned on, and power is supplied from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3. When the signal processing circuit 17 is instructed to shut off the power supply to the load 3, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 2, the signal processing circuit 17 causes the magnetic coil L3 to become a drive current pulse. Supply current. Thereby, the contact part S1 in the 1st mechanical contact switch 12 will be in the state turned ON similarly to the time of power activation to the load 3. FIG. Thereafter, when the time t1 has elapsed since the drive current was supplied to the magnetic coil L3, the signal processing circuit 17 supplies the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. Since the light emitting diode LD emits light and irradiates the phototriac S4z with an optical signal, the phototriac S4z is turned on when the AC voltage from the AC power source 2 becomes the center voltage, and similarly the triac S4. Is turned on, and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole.

  As a result, as a power feeding path from the AC power source 2 to the load 3, a power feeding path via the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14, and a first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16 are used. Are formed in the hybrid relay 1. That is, since the power supply path via the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16 is secured, a part of the current flowing to the load 3 flows to the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16, and the second The amount of current flowing through the mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 can be reduced. In addition, since the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on after the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, it is possible to avoid the generation of an arc at the contact portion S1, so that the contact welding at the first mechanical contact switch 12 is performed. It is possible to prevent contact consumption due to the like.

  Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17 switches the contact portion S3 to the OFF state by applying a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L5 via the diode D9 to temporarily excite the magnetic coil L5. At this time, since the contact is turned off when the amount of current is small, the contact portion S3 can suppress the generation of an arc and prevent contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the third mechanical contact switch 14. be able to. In the third mechanical contact switch 14, the diode D7 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L5 from flowing back, and the diode D8 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L4.

  Thus, when the contact portion S3 in the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off, the signal processing circuit 17 first stops the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. As a result, the phototriac S4z is no longer irradiated with the optical signal from the light emitting diode LD, so that the phototriac S4z is turned off when the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 becomes the center voltage. Since the triac S4 is turned off in conjunction with the phototriac S4z being turned off, the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole. Therefore, since the power supply path from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 is interrupted, the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is stopped.

  Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17 switches the contact portion S2 to the OFF state by applying a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L2 via the diode D4 to temporarily excite the magnetic coil L2. At this time, since the contact portion S2 is in a state in which the contact portion S3 is turned off in a state where no current flows because the contact portion S3 is turned off, generation of an arc can be eliminated. Contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the mechanical contact switch 13 can be prevented. In the second mechanical contact switch 13, the diode D2 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L2 from flowing back, and the diode D3 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L1.

The signal processing circuit 17, the light emitting diode time t ₂ the feed from the stop of the drive current to the LD has elapsed, stops supplying the driving current to the magnetic coil L3. That is, after the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole, the excitation by the magnetic coil L3 is stopped and the contact of the contact portion S1 is turned off, so that the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off. It becomes a state. At this time, since the semiconductor switch 16 has already been turned off as a whole and no current flows through the first mechanical contact switch 12, even when the contact of the contact portion S2 is turned off, Since there is no occurrence, contact consumption of the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented.

<Variation 1 of the first embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 2, in the first embodiment, after the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the signal processing circuit 17 performs a pulse that becomes a drive current via the diode D3. By applying a current to the magnetic coil L1, the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 was turned on. However, as a first modification of the first embodiment, as shown in a rectangular area A in FIG. 4, the signal processing circuit 17 is not after the contact portion S <b> 1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. The contact switch S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 may be controlled to be turned on after the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole. FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating an example of state transition of each unit in the first modification of the first embodiment. The transition of the state of each part other than the timing at which the contact part S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on in Modification 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is the same as the contents shown in FIG. is there. Even in the first modification of the first embodiment, the configuration of the hybrid relay 1 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Thereby, since no current flows through the third mechanical contact switch 14, no arc is generated with respect to the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14, and bounce of the contact portion S3 is suppressed. This makes it possible to suppress the consumption of the contact portion S3.

<Modification 2 of the first embodiment>
Further, as a second modification to the first modification of the first embodiment, as disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above, the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch shown in FIG. 14 may be controlled by the same driving unit. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 have their respective ON and OFF operations controlled by different drive units. . However, since it is necessary to provide a separate drive unit in the hybrid relay 1 in the first embodiment, the structure of the hybrid relay 1 is complicated, and the size of the hybrid relay 1 cannot be avoided. Therefore, in the second modification of the first embodiment, for example, the drive unit of the second mechanical contact switch 13 may also control the opening / closing operation of the contact unit S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14. .

  In order to control the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 with the same drive unit, specifically, the distance between the contact portions S2 and S3 is made different, for example, the contact portion S2 The second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 may be configured such that the distance between the contacts is greater than the distance between the contacts of the contact portion S3. In this case, with respect to the ON / OFF control sequence of the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14, the contact portion S2 and the contact point when the hybrid relay 1 is turned on. When the power is cut off by the hybrid relay 1, the contact portion S3 and the contact portion S2 are turned off.

  FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating an example of a state transition of each unit in the hybrid relay 1 according to the second modification of the first embodiment. Only differences from the timing chart shown in FIG. 4 will be described. The difference from the timing chart shown in FIG. 4 is the order in which the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off when the hybrid relay 1 is turned off, as shown in the rectangular area B of FIG. When the power supply is cut off by the hybrid relay 1, after the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off, the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off. Become. Thereafter, the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole. The transition of the state of each part other than the timing at which the contact part S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 in the second modification of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is turned off is the same as the contents shown in FIG. is there.

  As a result, the opening / closing operation of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 can be controlled by the same drive unit, so that the structure of the hybrid relay 1 is complicated, and the hybrid relay 1 An increase in size can be avoided.

<Second Embodiment>
A hybrid relay 1a according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1a of the second embodiment. FIG. 7 shows the state of each part in the hybrid relay 1a of FIG. 6 when the power is turned on and the AC voltage from the AC power source. It is a timing chart which shows the relationship. In the hybrid relay 1a of FIG. 6, the same components as those in the hybrid relay 1 of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the hybrid relay 1a of the second embodiment includes a magnetic coil L3 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and a light emitting diode LD of the phototriac coupler 15 that is a part of the semiconductor switch 16. By connecting in series, the overall drive current amount is reduced as compared with the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a is provided instead of the signal processing circuit 17 in the hybrid relay 1 shown in FIG. 1, and one end of the magnetic coil L3 is connected to the other end of the resistor R5 having one end connected to the signal processing circuit 17a. The anode electrode of the light emitting diode LD is connected to the other end of the magnetic coil L3.

  The diode D5 connected to both ends of the magnetic coil L3 and functioning as a backflow prevention for the magnetic coil L3 has a cathode electrode connected to the resistor R5 and an anode electrode connected to the anode electrode of the light emitting diode LD. The hybrid relay 1a of the second embodiment includes a resistor R6 having one end connected to a connection node between the anode electrode of the light emitting diode LD and the magnetic coil L3, and a resistor R7 having one end connected to the cathode electrode of the light emitting diode LD. In this configuration, npn transistors Tr1 and Tr2 having collector electrodes connected to the other ends of the resistors R6 and R7 and an emitter electrode grounded are added. A control signal is given to the base electrodes of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 from the signal processing circuit 17a. Since other configurations are the same as those of the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, the details thereof are omitted.

  The operation of the hybrid relay 1a configured as described above will be described with reference to the timing charts shown in FIGS. Similarly to the hybrid relay 1 in the first embodiment, the hybrid relay 1a is supplied with drive current to the magnetic coils L1 to L5 and the light emitting diode LD, and the contact portions S1, S2, and S3 are turned on or turned off. The timing in the state chart and the timing in which the triac S4 and the phototriac S4z are turned on or turned off are the timings in the timing chart of FIG.

  That is, when power is supplied to the load 3 by the AC power source 2, the signal processing circuit 17a applies a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L3 and the magnetic coil L1, respectively, and the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 And the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is closed. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17a causes the light emitting diode LD to emit light so that the phototriac S4z and the triac S4 are turned on, and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole. As described above, the signal processing circuit 17a sets the first mechanical contact switch 12, the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the semiconductor switch 16 to the ON state, and then applies a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L4. As a result, the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is switched to the ON state. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17a stops the drive current to the light emitting diode LD, turns the phototriac S4z and the triac S4 to the OFF state, and sets the semiconductor switch 16 to the OFF state as a whole. The supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, and the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  On the other hand, when the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is cut off, similarly, the signal processing circuit 17a gives a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L3, and the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned ON. Then, the light emitting diode LD is caused to emit light so that the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17a applies a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L5 to switch the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 to the OFF state. After that, the signal processing circuit 17a stops the driving current to the light emitting diode LD, and after the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole, the signal processing circuit 17a gives the pulse current that becomes the driving current to the magnetic coil L2 to give the second current. After the contact portion S2 of the mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off, the drive current supply to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, and the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  At this time, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 7, the hybrid relay 1a according to the second embodiment determines the timing at which the control signal is applied to the base electrodes of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2, thereby causing the magnetic coil L3 and the light-emitting diode LD to operate. The timing at which the drive current is applied to each is determined. Therefore, in the following, the timing chart of FIG. 7 is used for the relationship between the output timing of the control signal given to the base electrodes of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 by the signal processing circuit 17a and the generation timing of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD. The description will be given with reference.

  As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 7, the signal processing circuit 17a first applies a control signal to the base electrode of the transistor Tr1, thereby turning on the transistor Tr1, and using the resistors R5 and R6 and the magnetic coil L3. Drive the series circuit. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a applies a drive current only to the magnetic coil L3 by turning on the transistor Tr1. Thereby, as described above, the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on.

  When the time t1 elapses after the transistor Tr1 is turned on, the signal processing circuit 17a stops supplying the control signal to the gate electrode of the transistor Tr1, and simultaneously starts supplying the control signal to the gate electrode of the transistor Tr2. To do. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a drives the series circuit including the resistors R5 and R7, the magnetic coil L3, and the light emitting diode LD with the transistor Tr1 turned off and the transistor Tr2 turned on. As a result, the signal processing circuit 17a supplies the drive current to each of the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD connected in series, so that the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 remains in the ON state. The triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 can be turned on.

  Further, unlike the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, since the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD are connected in series, the drive current flowing through each is common. Therefore, as compared with the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment in which the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD are connected in parallel, the amount of drive current when driving the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD simultaneously can be reduced as a whole. Therefore, the power consumption can be suppressed.

  The signal processing circuit 17a supplies a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L1 from the time when the transistor Tr1 is turned on until the time t1 elapses, so that the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on. Set to the ON state. After that, when the time t1 has elapsed since the transistor Tr1 is turned on, the signal processing circuit 17a applies a drive current to the light emitting diode LD to turn on the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16, and then the above-described state. As described above, a pulse current which is a drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L4. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a supplies a drive current to the magnetic coil L4 to switch the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 to the ON state. Although not particularly shown in FIG. 7, the same can be considered when the power supply to the load 3 is cut off.

When the third mechanical contact switch 14 is switched to the ON state in this way, the signal processing circuit 17a stops supplying the control signal to the gate electrode of the transistor Tr2, and at the same time, controls the control signal for the gate electrode of the transistor Tr1. Start supplying. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a turns off the transistor Tr2 and at the same time stops the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD with the transistor Tr1 turned on, and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off. State. At this time, the signal processing circuit 17a turns on the transistor Tr1 again, so that the drive current is continuously supplied to the magnetic coil L3. For this reason, the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is maintained in an ON state. When the transistor Tr2 is the time t ₂ from the state of being OFF elapsed, the signal processing circuit 17a stops supplying the control signal to the gate electrode of the transistor Tr1. That is, the signal processing circuit 17a turns off the transistor Tr1, stops supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3, and turns off the first mechanical contact switch 12.

  As in the second embodiment, the driving coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD are connected in series so that the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16 are driven simultaneously. A common drive current can be supplied to the coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD. Therefore, compared with the case where the drive coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD are connected in parallel, the amount of drive current supplied from the signal processing circuit 17a can be reduced as a whole, so that the power consumption in the hybrid relay 1a can also be reduced.

  In the second embodiment, the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr2 is turned on is smaller than the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr1 is turned on. It is good also as what sets the resistance value of resistance R6, R7 so that it may become. That is, when the resistance values of the resistors R6 and R7 are Rr6 and Rr7, the drop voltage of the light emitting diode D5 is Vd, and the current flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr1 is turned on is Il. The resistance value Rr7 of the resistor R7 is set to be larger than the resistance value Rr6-Vd / Il.

  When the resistance values of the resistors R6 and R7 are set in this way, the transistor Tr1 is turned on, a sufficiently large current is passed through the magnetic coil L3, and the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. And can. When the first mechanical contact switch 12 is held in the ON state and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole, the transistor Tr2 is turned on and the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. It is possible to pass a lower current than when switching to the ON state. Accordingly, in the timing chart of FIG. 7, the total amount of drive current for operating the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 can be suppressed, and power consumption can be reduced.

<Third Embodiment>
A hybrid relay according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1a of the third embodiment is the configuration shown in FIG. 6 as in the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing state transitions at various parts in the hybrid relay 1a of the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the hybrid relay 1a having the same configuration as that of the second embodiment is used. However, unlike the second embodiment, the hybrid relay 1a is turned off when the third mechanical contact switch 14 is switched to the ON state. The transistors Tr1 and Tr2 are driven at different timings when switching to the normal state. Therefore, hereinafter, the operation of the hybrid relay 1a of the third embodiment will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 8, when power is supplied to the load 3, first, as in the second embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17a first turns on the transistor Tr1, and the drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3. And the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. After that, until the time t ₁ elapses after the drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3, the signal processing circuit 17a supplies the drive current to the magnetic coil L1 to contact the contact portion of the second mechanical contact switch 13. S2 is turned on. When time t1 elapses after the drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3, the signal processing circuit 17a turns off the transistor Tr1 and turns on the transistor Tr2, and turns on the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD. A drive current is supplied to. As a result, the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on while the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. As described above, when the triac S4 in the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on and the power supply from the AC power supply 2 is turned on to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17a applies a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L4. The contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off.

  When power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 via the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is started, the signal processing circuit 17a includes a transistor Tr2 in order to cut off the power supply path in the semiconductor switch 16. Is turned off, and the supply of drive current to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD is stopped. That is, in the third embodiment, when the power to the load 3 is turned on, the second and third mechanical contact switches 13 and 14 are both turned on, and unlike the second embodiment, the transistor The period during which Tr1 is turned on and the drive current is supplied only to the magnetic coil L3 is excluded. As a result, the second and third mechanical contact switches 13 and 14 are turned ON by performing the operation when the power supply to the load 3 of the third embodiment is turned on, as compared with the operation of the second embodiment. Then, the power consumption corresponding to supplying the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 can be reduced when the transistor Tr1 is turned on.

  On the other hand, when the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is interrupted, unlike the second embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17a first turns on the transistor Tr2 to turn on the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode. A drive current is supplied to each of the LDs, and the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 are turned on. As described above, when the power supply path is established through the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the triac S4 in the semiconductor switch 16, the signal processing circuit 17a sends the pulse current as the drive current to the magnetic coil L5. The contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off.

  When the power supply path through the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is interrupted, the signal processing circuit 17a turns off the transistor Tr2 and turns on the transistor Tr1 at the same time as in the second embodiment. In this state, the supply of drive current to the light emitting diode LD is stopped, and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off. Thereby, the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is cut off. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17a supplies a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L2, thereby turning off the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, and then turning off the transistor Tr1. In this state, the supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, and the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  That is, in the third embodiment, when the power supply to the load 3 is cut off, unlike the second embodiment, the first mechanical contact before the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole is turned on. The period during which only the switch 12 is turned on is excluded. As a result, by performing the operation at the time of power-off to the load 3 of the third embodiment, the transistor Tr1 is turned on before the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as compared with the operation of the second embodiment. In the ON state, power consumption corresponding to the amount of drive current supplied to the magnetic coil L3 can be reduced.

<Fourth Embodiment>
A hybrid relay 1b according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1b according to the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing state transitions at various parts in the hybrid relay 1b of FIG. In the hybrid relay 1b shown in FIG. 9, the same components as those in the hybrid relay 1a shown in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the hybrid relay 1b of the fourth embodiment, a series circuit including a resistor R7a and a transistor Tr2a is further connected to the cathode electrode of the light emitting diode LD in the configuration of the hybrid relay 1a (see FIG. 6). It becomes composition. That is, the collector electrode of the npn-type transistor Tr2a having the emitter electrode grounded is connected to the other end of the resistor R7a whose one end is connected to the connection node between the cathode electrode of the light emitting diode LD and the resistor R7. The hybrid relay 1b according to the fourth embodiment is configured to perform signal processing for supplying current signals to the gate electrodes of the transistors Tr1, Tr2, and Tr2a and the magnetic coils L1, L2, L4, and L5 instead of the signal processing circuit 17a. A circuit 17b is provided.

  In the hybrid relay 1b configured as described above, the relationship between the resistance values Rr7 and Rr7a of the resistors R7 and R7a connected to the light emitting diode LD is Rr7 <Rr7a. When the resistance value of the resistor R6 is Rr6, the voltage drop of the light emitting diode D5 is Vd, and the current flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr1 is turned on is Il, the resistance of the resistor R7 The value Rr7 is the resistance value Rr6-Vd / Il. Thus, by setting the resistance values Rr7 and Rr7a of the resistors R7 and R7a, the value of the current flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr1 is turned on and the value when the transistor Tr2 is turned on are set. The current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 can be made equal, and the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 can be reduced when the transistor Tr2a is turned on.

  Below, with reference to the timing chart of FIG. 10, operation | movement of the hybrid relay 1b of 4th Embodiment is demonstrated. As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 10, when power is supplied to the load 3, first, as in the third embodiment, first, the signal processing circuit 17b sets the transistor Tr1 to ON and supplies a drive current to the magnetic coil L3. The contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. Thus, after sufficient driving current is applied to the magnetic coil L3 to bring the contact portion S1 into the ON state, a driving current having a current amount necessary to hold the contact portion S1 in the ON state. Can be passed through the magnetic coil L3, and the amount of current can be reduced. Therefore, unlike the third embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17b turns off the transistor Tr1 and simultaneously turns on the transistor Tr2a to bring the transistor Tr1 into a conductive state to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD. A drive current having a smaller amount of current than that when supplied is supplied.

  Thereby, in a state where the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on by supplying a drive current to the magnetic coil L4. After that, the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on. In this way, when the power source from the AC power source 2 is turned on to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17b supplies a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L4, as in the third embodiment. 3. The contact portion S3 of the mechanical contact switch 14 is turned on. Thereafter, in order to cut off the power feeding path in the semiconductor switch 16, the signal processing circuit 17b stops the supply of drive current to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD with the transistor Tr2a turned off. Thereafter, the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  On the other hand, when the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is cut off, as in the third embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17b first turns on the transistor Tr2 to turn on the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode. A drive current is supplied to each LD. In this way, when the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 are turned on, the drive current that flows next to the magnetic coil L3 can be reduced, so that the signal processing circuit 17b. Causes the transistor Tr2 to be turned off and at the same time causes the transistor Tr2a to be turned on. In this way, the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 are kept ON while the drive currents supplied to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD are reduced. After that, the signal processing circuit 17b supplies a pulse current, which is a drive current, to the magnetic coil L5 so that the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off.

  When the power supply path through the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is cut off, the signal processing circuit 17b turns off the transistor Tr2a and simultaneously turns on the transistor Tr1 to turn on the light emitting diode LD. Is stopped, and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off. Thereby, similarly to the third embodiment, power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is interrupted. Thereafter, as in the third embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17b supplies the drive current to the magnetic coil L2 to turn off the transistor Tr1 after the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off. In this state, the supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, and the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  Thus, in the fourth embodiment, only when the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the amount of drive current supplied to the magnetic coil L3 is increased, and the first When the contact portion S1 of the one mechanical setting switch 12 is held in the ON state, the amount of drive current supplied to the magnetic coil L3 can be reduced. Therefore, by using the hybrid relay 1b of the fourth embodiment, the power consumption can be further reduced compared to the case of the third embodiment.

<Fifth Embodiment>
A hybrid relay 1c according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1c of the fifth embodiment. FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing state transition in each part of the hybrid relay 1c of FIG. In the hybrid relay 1c of FIG. 11, the same components as those in the hybrid relay of FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in the hybrid relay 1c of the fifth embodiment, a series circuit including a resistor R6a and a transistor Tr1a is added to the configuration of the hybrid relay 1b (see FIG. 9), and a connection node between the magnetic coil L3 and the resistor R6. It becomes the structure further connected to. That is, one end of the resistor R6a is connected to the connection node between the magnetic coil L3 and the resistor R6, and the collector electrode of the npn transistor Tr1a having the emitter electrode grounded is connected to the other end of the resistor R6a. Further, the hybrid relay 1c of the fifth embodiment provides current signals to the gate electrodes of the transistors Tr1, Tr1a, Tr2, Tr2a and the magnetic coils L1, L2, L4, L5 instead of the signal processing circuit 17b. A signal processing circuit 17c is provided.

  Further, the resistance values Rr6 and Rr6a of the resistors R6 and R6a respectively satisfy Rr6 <Rr6a, as in the relationship with the resistance values Rr7 and Rr7a of the resistors R7 and R7a. That is, the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr1 is turned on is equal to the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr2 is turned on, and the transistor Tr1a is turned on. The current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr2a is turned on is made equal to the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when the transistor Tr2a is turned on. Compared to the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when one of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 is turned on, the current value flowing through the magnetic coil L3 when either the transistor Tr1a or Tr2a is turned on Can be reduced.

  The operation of the hybrid relay 1c will be described below with reference to the timing chart of FIG. As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 12, when power is supplied to the load 3, first, as in the fourth embodiment, first, the signal processing circuit 17c turns on the transistor Tr1, and the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on. The contact portion S1 is turned on. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17b supplies the drive current to the magnetic coil L1, thereby turning on the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17c turns off the transistor Tr1 and simultaneously turns on the transistor Tr2a in order to supply a driving current having a smaller amount of current than when the transistor Tr1 is turned on. When the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on. In this way, when the power source from the AC power source 2 is turned on to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17c supplies a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L4 to provide the third current, as in the third embodiment. After the contact portion S3 of the mechanical contact switch 14 is turned on, the transistor Tr2a is turned off, and the supply of drive current to the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD is stopped.

  On the other hand, when the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is cut off, the signal processing circuit 17c first sets the transistor Tr2 to the ON state, as in the fourth embodiment, and then sets the first mechanical contact switch 12 After the contact portion S1 and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 are turned on, the signal processing circuit 17c turns off the transistor Tr2 and turns on the transistor Tr2a. As described above, while the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 are in the ON state, the signal processing circuit 17c sends a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L5. The contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off.

  When the power supply path through the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is interrupted, unlike the fourth embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17c turns on the transistor Tr1a at the same time as turning off the transistor Tr2a. In this state, the supply of drive current to the light emitting diode LD is stopped, and the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off. That is, even when the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is cut off, the drive current supplied to the magnetic coil L3 can be made small as in the case where the transistor Tr2a is turned on. . Therefore, the power consumption can be further reduced as compared with the fourth embodiment. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17c supplies the magnetic coil L2 with a pulse current which is a drive current to turn off the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, and then turns off the transistor Tr1a. Then, the supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, and the contact part S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off.

  In addition, it is good also as a structure which excluded the series circuit by resistance R7a and transistor Tr2a from the structure of the hybrid relay 1c of 5th Embodiment. In such a configuration, when power is supplied to the load 3, as in the third embodiment, the transistor Tr1 is turned off and at the same time the transistor Tr2 is turned on. On the other hand, when the power supply to the load 3 is cut off, the drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L5 with the transistor Tr2 turned on, as in the third embodiment.

  According to the hybrid relays 1a to 1c in each of the second to fifth embodiments described above, any of the magnetic coils L1, L2, L4, and L5 when a drive current is passed through the light emitting diode LD and the magnetic coil L3. When a drive current is applied, the total amount of drive current increases. That is, when a drive current is supplied to any one of the magnetic coils L1, L2, L4, L5, the drive current supplied to the drive circuits of the hybrid relays 1a to 1c temporarily peaks. Therefore, when the control terminal device that communicates with the transmission control device via the power line has a configuration including a plurality of the above-described hybrid relays, each hybrid relay is turned on when power is turned on or off by each of the plurality of hybrid relays. Are operated at the same timing, the driving current at the peak time is supplied to the control terminal device. Therefore, when power is turned on or off by each of a plurality of hybrid relays, the driving current that reaches the peak is dispersed by operating the hybrid relays of various constants (for example, two) at the same timing. And an extreme voltage drop in the supply voltage to the control terminal device can be suppressed.

<Sixth Embodiment>
A hybrid relay 1d according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 13 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the hybrid relay 1d according to the sixth embodiment, and FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing state transitions at various parts in the hybrid relay 1d shown in FIG. In the hybrid relay 1d shown in FIG. 13, the same components as those in the hybrid relay 1 shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the hybrid relay 1 d of the sixth embodiment is a latching type similar to the second mechanical contact switch 13 instead of the first mechanical contact switch 12 in the hybrid relay 1 (see FIG. 1). The first mechanical contact switch 12a is provided. That is, the first mechanical contact switch 12a generates a magnetic coil L3a that generates an electromagnetic force for switching the contact portion S1 to an ON state and an electromagnetic force for switching the contact portion S1 to an OFF state. And a magnetic coil L3b. The magnetic coils L3a and L3b are connected in series, and the connection node is grounded. Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, the magnetic coils L3a and L3b constitute the drive unit of the first mechanical contact switch 12a.

  Further, the first mechanical contact switch 12a including the magnetic coils L3a and L3b includes diodes D10 to D13 corresponding to the diodes D1 to D4 in the second mechanical contact switch 13. That is, the diodes D10 and D11 whose anode electrodes are grounded are connected in parallel to the magnetic coils L3a and L3b, respectively, and the cathode electrodes of the diodes D12 and D13 whose anode electrodes are connected to the signal processing circuit 17d. Are connected to the cathode electrodes of the diodes D10 and D11. Since other configurations are the same as those of the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, the details thereof are omitted.

  The hybrid relay 1d includes a contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12a, a contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, a contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14, and a triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16. The ON / OFF switching timing at is the same as that of the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment. That is, the magnetic coils L1, L2, L4, L5 and light emission in the second mechanical contact switch 13, the third mechanical contact switch 14, and the semiconductor switch 16 having the same configuration as the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment. For the diode LD, the timing at which the drive current is supplied from the signal processing circuit 17b is the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, hereinafter, the operation of the hybrid relay 1d will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. 14, focusing on the state where the first mechanical contact switch 12a is turned on or turned off.

  As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 14, when power is supplied to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17d drives the magnetic coil L3a to turn on the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12a. A pulse current, which is a current, is supplied. As a result, when the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12a is switched to the ON state, the signal processing circuit 17d receives the magnetic current from the time when the drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3a until the time t1 elapses. By supplying the drive current to the coil L1, the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on and when the time t1 has elapsed since the drive current was supplied to the magnetic coil L3a. A driving current is supplied to the light emitting diode LD. Therefore, similarly to the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, when the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 becomes the center voltage after the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on, the semiconductor switch 16 The triac S4 is turned on in conjunction with the phototriac S4z being turned on, and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on as a whole.

  In this way, when the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the semiconductor switch 16 are turned on and the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is started, the signal processing circuit 17d is connected to the magnetic coil L4. Then, a pulse current which is a drive current is supplied, and the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned on. When the third mechanical contact switch 14 is switched to the ON state, the signal processing circuit 17d stops supplying the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. Thereby, in the semiconductor switch 16, when the AC voltage from the AC power source 2 becomes the center voltage, each of the triac S4 and the phototriac S4z is turned off, and the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off as a whole. It becomes.

  When the time t2 has elapsed since the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD is stopped, the signal processing circuit 17d supplies a drive current as a pulse current to the magnetic coil L3b of the first mechanical contact switch 12a. Supply. Thereby, in the 1st mechanical contact switch 12a, it switches to the state by which contact part S1 was turned off. By operating in this way, the semiconductor switch 16 can be turned on between the time when the first mechanical contact switch 12a is turned on and the time when it is turned off. The signal processing circuit 17d supplies a drive current to the magnetic coils L3a and L3b only when the first mechanical contact switch 12a is switched to the ON state or the OFF state. That is, the timing for supplying the drive current to the light emitting diode LD of the semiconductor switch 16 is different from the timing for supplying the drive current to the magnetic coils L3a and L3b.

  Even when the power supply to the load 3 is interrupted, the signal processing circuit 17d applies a pulse current to the magnetic coils L3a and L3b only when switching the ON state or the OFF state of the first mechanical contact switch 12a. A driving current is supplied. That is, first, a pulse current as a driving current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3a to turn on the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12a, and then a driving current is supplied to the light emitting diode LD. The triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned on. Thereafter, when a pulse current as a drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L5 and the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off, the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD is stopped, The triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16 is turned off. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17d supplies a pulse current that is a drive current to the magnetic coil L2, thereby turning off the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13, and a pulse that is a drive current is supplied to the magnetic coil L3b. An electric current is supplied and the contact part S1 of the 1st mechanical contact switch 12a is made into the OFF state.

  As in the sixth embodiment, the first mechanical contact switch 12a is a latching-type mechanical contact switch, so that only the drive current that becomes a pulse current is supplied to the drive coils L3a and L3b, and the contact portion S1 Can be switched to an ON state or an OFF state. Therefore, the drive current does not flow simultaneously from the signal processing circuit 17d to each of the drive coils L3a and L3b and the light emitting diode LD. Therefore, the amount of drive current supplied from the signal processing circuit 17d can be reduced, although there is a hindrance to downsizing as compared with the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment provided with the constantly excited first mechanical contact switch 12. Therefore, power consumption in the hybrid relay 1d can also be reduced.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the first mechanical contact switch 12 has an auxiliary contact with a small capacity for performing an opening / closing operation in conjunction with the contact portion S1 serving as a main contact, and the opening / closing of the auxiliary contact is signal-processed. It is good also as what detects the open state or the closed state of contact part S1 by confirming each of the circuits 17 and 17a-17d. By providing the first mechanical contact switch 12 having the auxiliary contact, it is possible to reliably detect the opened state or the closed state of the contact portion S1, and the first mechanical contact switches 12, 12a. The switching operation can be shifted to the contact portion S1 and the semiconductor switch 16 respectively.

<Modifications applicable to each embodiment>
Modifications applicable to the above-described embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 15 is a schematic circuit diagram of a hybrid relay 1e of a modification applied to the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, the following description is not limited to the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment, and can be applied to the hybrid relays 1 and 1a to 1d of all the above-described embodiments.

  In the hybrid relay 1e shown in FIG. 15, one end of the resistor R4 is connected to a connection node between the other end of the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the other end of the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14. The resistor R4, the other end of which is connected to the gate electrode of the triac S4, is connected in parallel to the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the hybrid relay 1 shown in FIG. 1, description regarding the content of the configuration is omitted.

  The operation of the hybrid relay 1e configured as described above when the power is turned on and off from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 will be described below with reference to the timing charts of FIGS. FIG. 16 is a timing chart showing an example of state transition of each part in the hybrid relay 1e shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the state of each part in the hybrid relay 1e shown in FIG. 15 when the power is turned on and the AC voltage from the AC power source.

  First, the operation of each part in the hybrid relay 1e when the signal processing circuit 17e is instructed to turn on the power from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 will be described. As shown in the timing chart of FIG. 16, when a drive current is supplied from the signal processing circuit 17e to the magnetic coil L3, an electromagnetic attractive force is generated by the magnetic coil L3, and the first mechanical type including the magnetic coil L3 is also included. The contact portion S1 of the contact switch 12 is turned on. The diode D5 connected in parallel with the magnetic coil L3 functions as a backflow prevention diode for preventing the current flowing through the magnetic coil L3 from flowing back.

  After the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, the signal processing circuit 17e gives a pulse current as a drive current to the magnetic coil L1 via the diode D3. At this time, in the second mechanical contact switch 13, the diode D1 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L1 from flowing back, and the diode D2 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L2. As a result, a pulse current flows through the magnetic coil L1, and an electromagnetic attractive force temporarily works, so that the contact portion S2 in the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on. Since the second mechanical contact switch 13 is a latching type, as shown in FIG. 16, the contact portion S2 is held in the ON state even after the current supply to the magnetic coil L1 is stopped.

  Immediately after the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on, a part of the AC current from the AC power supply 2 that is shunted by the resistor R2 and the resistor R4 is passed through the resistor R4. Supplied to the gate electrode of the triac S4, the triac S4 is turned on. Thereby, since the load 3 is electrically connected to the AC power source 2 via the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16a in the hybrid relay 1, the load 3 is supplied with power from the AC power source 2. It is thrown in.

  In this way, after the triac S4 in the semiconductor switch 16a is turned on and the power supply from the AC power supply 2 is turned on to the load 3, the signal processing circuit 17e converts the pulse current as the drive current into the diode D8. To the magnetic coil L4. At this time, in the third mechanical contact switch 14, the diode D6 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L4 from flowing back, and the diode D9 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L5. As a result, a pulse current flows through the magnetic coil L4, and an electromagnetic attractive force temporarily works, so that the contact portion S3 in the third mechanical contact switch 14 is turned on. Since the third mechanical contact switch 14 is a latching type, as shown in FIG. 16, the contact portion S3 is held in the ON state even after the current supply to the magnetic coil L4 is stopped.

  Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17a starts to supply drive current to the light emitting diode LD. Thereby, in the phototriac coupler 15, the light emitting diode LD emits light, and the phototriac S4z receives an optical signal generated by the light emission. At this time, the photo triac S4z has a zero cross point function, and when it is detected that the AC voltage from the AC power source 2 becomes the center voltage as the reference voltage as shown in the timing chart of FIG. S4z is turned on. However, when the photo triac S4z is turned on, the triac S4 is already turned on.

  Thus, according to the order of the 1st mechanical contact switch 12, the 2nd mechanical contact switch 13, the semiconductor switch 16a, and the 3rd mechanical contact switch 14, each switch will be in the ON state. For this reason, the hybrid relay 1e can prevent an inrush current from flowing to the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14. Therefore, the third mechanical contact switch 14 can prevent the bounce of the contact based on the inrush current that causes contact welding.

  After power supply to the load 3 by the AC power source 2 via the contact part S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the contact part S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 is started, the power supply path in the semiconductor switch 16a In order to cut off, the signal processing circuit 17e stops the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. For this reason, the light emitting operation of the light emitting diode LD is stopped, the irradiation of the optical signal to the phototriac S4z is stopped, and the phototriac S4z stops operating when the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 becomes the center voltage. , It is turned off.

  When the phototriac S4z is turned off, no current is supplied to the gate electrode of the triac S4, so that the triac S4 is turned off, and the semiconductor switch 16a is turned off as a whole. After the semiconductor switch 16a is turned off, the signal processing circuit 17e stops supplying the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 of the first mechanical contact switch 12. That is, since the current supply to the magnetic coil L3 is stopped, the normally excited first mechanical contact switch 12 loses the electromagnetic attraction force by the magnetic coil L3, and the contact portion S1 is turned off. As a result, since the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off after the semiconductor switch 16a is turned off, the first mechanical contact switch 12 is in a state where no current flows. 1 The contact of the contact portion S1 of the mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off. Thus, when the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off, arcing between the contacts of the contact portion S1 can be prevented, so that contact welding at the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented. .

When the power supply from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 is thus performed, the signal processing circuit 17a sets the timing for supplying the drive current to each of the magnetic coil L3 and the light emitting diode LD as shown in FIG. By doing so, as described above, contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented. That is, when the AC voltage for one period T is supplied from the AC power source 2, the time t ₂ from the stop of the supply of the driving current to the light emitting diode LD to stop the supply of the driving current to the magnetic coil L3, AC The time is longer than the half cycle T / 2 of the voltage.

Thus, by setting the phototriac S4z in the phototriac coupler 15 to the OFF state, the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be set to the OFF state after the triac S4 is completely turned off. it can. Further, since the phototriac S4z in the phototriac coupler 15 has a zero cross point call function, it is possible to suppress variations in inrush current when the triac S4 is turned on. However, the time t ₁ from the start of the supply of the drive current to the magnetic coil L3 to the start of the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD is set to be longer than the half cycle T / 2 of the AC voltage, It is good also as what can suppress variation more reliably. Further, after the contact portion S1 of the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, and after the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned on, the resistance R4 is used. A part of the alternating current from the alternating current power supply 2 is supplied to the gate electrode of the triac S4 of the semiconductor switch 16a, and the triac S4 is turned on. For this reason, the hybrid relay 1e can reduce the drive current amount of the light emitting diode LD by the signal processing circuit 17e as compared with the hybrid relay 1 of the first embodiment.

  Next, in FIG. 16, the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the contact portion S3 of the third mechanical contact switch 14 are both turned on, and power is supplied from the AC power source 2 to the load 3. When the signal processing circuit 17e is instructed to shut off the power supply to the load 3, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 16, the signal processing circuit 17e causes a pulse that becomes a driving current to the magnetic coil L3. Supply current. Thereby, the contact part S1 in the 1st mechanical contact switch 12 will be in the state turned ON similarly to the time of power activation to the load 3. FIG. Thereafter, when the time t1 has elapsed since the drive current was supplied to the magnetic coil L3, the signal processing circuit 17e supplies the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. Since the light emitting diode LD emits light and irradiates the phototriac S4z with an optical signal, the phototriac S4z is turned on when the AC voltage from the AC power source 2 becomes the center voltage, and similarly the triac S4. Is turned on, and the semiconductor switch 16a is turned on as a whole.

  As a result, as a power supply path from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3, a power supply path via the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14, and a first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16a are used. Are formed in the hybrid relay 1. That is, since the power supply path through the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16a is secured, a part of the current flowing to the load 3 flows to the first mechanical contact switch 12 and the semiconductor switch 16a, and the second The amount of current flowing through the mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 can be reduced. Further, since the semiconductor switch 16a is turned on after the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned on, it is possible to avoid the generation of an arc in the contact portion S1, so that the contact welding in the first mechanical contact switch 12 is performed. It is possible to prevent contact consumption due to the like.

  Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17e switches the contact portion S2 to the OFF state by applying a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L2 via the diode D4 to temporarily excite the magnetic coil L2. At this time, since the contact portion S2 is turned off in a state where the amount of current is small, generation of arc can be suppressed, and contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the second mechanical contact switch 13 is prevented. be able to. In the second mechanical contact switch 13, the diode D2 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L2 from flowing back, and the diode D3 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L1.

  Thus, when the contact portion S2 in the second mechanical contact switch 14 is turned off, the signal processing circuit 17e first stops the supply of the drive current to the light emitting diode LD. As a result, when the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off, no current flows to the gate electrode of the triac S4 via the resistor R4, and the light signal from the light emitting diode LD is irradiated to the phototriac S4z. Therefore, when the AC voltage from the AC power supply 2 becomes the center voltage, the photo triac S4z is turned off. Since the triac S4 is turned off in conjunction with the phototriac S4z being turned off, the semiconductor switch 16a is totally turned off. Therefore, since the power supply path from the AC power supply 2 to the load 3 is interrupted, the power supply to the load 3 by the AC power supply 2 is stopped.

  Thereafter, the signal processing circuit 17e switches the contact portion S3 to the OFF state by applying a pulse current as a driving current to the magnetic coil L5 via the diode D9 to temporarily excite the magnetic coil L5. At this time, since the contact portion S3 is in a state where the contact portion S2 of the second mechanical contact switch 13 is turned off and the contact portion is turned off when no current flows, an arc is generated. And the contact wear due to contact welding or the like in the third mechanical contact switch 13 can be prevented. In the third mechanical contact switch 13, the diode D7 functions as a backflow prevention diode that prevents the current flowing to the magnetic coil L5 from flowing back, and the diode D8 prevents the current from flowing to the magnetic coil L4.

  Further, the signal processing circuit 17e stops supplying the driving current to the magnetic coil L3 after a while after stopping the supply of the driving current to the light emitting diode LD. That is, after the semiconductor switch 16a is turned off as a whole, the excitation by the magnetic coil L3 is stopped and the contact of the contact portion S1 is turned off, so that the first mechanical contact switch 12 is turned off. It becomes a state. At this time, since the semiconductor switch 16a is already turned off as a whole and no current flows through the first mechanical contact switch 12, even when the contact of the contact portion S1 is turned off, Since there is no occurrence, contact consumption of the first mechanical contact switch 12 can be prevented.

  As mentioned above, although various embodiment was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that the hybrid relay 1, 1a-1e of this invention is not limited to this example. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, although it has been described that the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 of each embodiment described above are latching type switches, they may be always excitation type switches. In this case, a predetermined current is continuously supplied from the signal processing circuit to the magnetic coils of the second mechanical contact switch 13 and the third mechanical contact switch 14 while power is supplied to the load 3. Therefore, although the total amount of drive current in the hybrid relay increases, the structure of the hybrid relay can be reduced in size.

1, 1a to 1d Hybrid relay 2 AC power supply 3 Loads 10 and 11 Terminals 12 and 12a First mechanical contact switch 13 Second mechanical contact switch 14 Third mechanical contact switch 15 Phototriac coupler 16 Semiconductor switches 17 and 17a 17d Signal processing circuit C1 Capacitors D1-D9 Diodes L1-L9 Magnetic coils L3a, L3b Magnetic coils LD Light-emitting diodes R1-R7 Resistors R6a, R7a Resistors S1, S2, S3 Contact portion S4 Triac S4z Phototriac Tr1, Tr1a, Tr2, Tr2a Transistor

Claims (10)

A first mechanical contact switch whose contact is opened and closed by a first drive unit;
A second mechanical contact switch whose contact is opened and closed by a second drive unit separate from the first drive unit;
A third mechanical contact switch whose contact is opened and closed by a third drive unit separate from the first and second drive units;
A semiconductor switch connected in series with the first mechanical contact switch,
A series circuit of the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch and a series circuit of the second mechanical contact switch and the third mechanical contact switch are connected in parallel on a power supply path that supplies power to a load from a power source.
The second and third mechanical contact switches are mechanical contact switches that supply current to the second and third driving units when the contact of the switch is opened and closed.
A hybrid relay characterized in that the first mechanical contact switch, one of the second or third mechanical contact switch, the semiconductor switch, and the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch are turned on in this order. . The hybrid relay according to claim 1,
A hybrid characterized in that the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch, the semiconductor switch, one of the second or third mechanical contact switch, and the first mechanical contact switch are made non-conductive in this order. relay. The hybrid relay according to claim 2,
The power source is an AC power source,
The hybrid relay, wherein the semiconductor switch is a semiconductor switch having a zero-cross firing function that conducts when the voltage supplied from the AC power supply becomes a center voltage. The hybrid relay according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The power source is an AC power source,
When each of the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch is made non-conductive, after the semiconductor switch is made non-conductive, a time that is longer than a half cycle of the AC voltage by the AC power source has passed. A hybrid relay characterized by opening the contact of a mechanical contact switch. The hybrid relay according to claim 1,
After the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch is turned on, one of the second or third mechanical contact switches is turned on, and the semiconductor switch and the first mechanical contact switch are turned on. Non-conducting in order,
In a state where the second and third mechanical contact switches are both conducted, the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch are conducted in this order, and the other of the second or third mechanical contact switch is not connected. A hybrid relay characterized in that after conducting, the semiconductor switch, the second or third mechanical contact switch, and the first mechanical contact switch are made non-conductive in this order. The hybrid relay according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The first mechanical contact switch is a normally-excited mechanical contact switch in which current is always supplied to the first drive unit when the contact of the switch is closed.
The semiconductor switch has a light emitting element that generates an optical signal, and is a photocoupler in which conduction and non-conduction are controlled based on the optical signal of the light emitting element.
When the first driving unit and the light emitting element are connected in series to make the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch conductive at the same time, the first driving unit and the light emitting element are caused by a common current. A hybrid relay characterized by driving. The hybrid relay according to claim 6,
In the case where the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch are simultaneously turned on from a non-conductive state, a first current is supplied to each of the light emitting element and the second driving unit,
When the first mechanical contact switch and the semiconductor switch are turned on when the first mechanical contact switch is in a conductive state, the first current is supplied to the light emitting element and the first driving unit, respectively. A hybrid relay characterized by supplying a second current having a smaller current amount. The hybrid relay according to claim 7,
When closing the contact of the first mechanical contact switch, the first current is supplied to the first drive unit, while after closing the contact of the first mechanical contact switch, the first drive unit A hybrid relay, wherein a second current having a current value smaller than that of a first current is passed. The hybrid relay according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The hybrid relay, wherein the first mechanical contact switch is a latching type mechanical contact switch in which a current is supplied to the first drive unit when the contact of the switch is opened and closed. The hybrid relay according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The hybrid relay characterized in that the second and third mechanical contact switches are latching mechanical contact switches.

Images