EP1058937A1

EP1058937A1 - Electromagnetic relay

Info

Publication number: EP1058937A1
Application number: EP99932424A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Florenz Von Guttenberg
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Logistics AG
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH
Priority date: 1998-02-02
Filing date: 1999-01-18
Publication date: 2000-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2019-01-18
Also published as: EP1058937B1; WO1999039360A1; DE19803992A1; DE59901117D1; ES2172338T3; DE19803992C2

Abstract

The invention concerns an electromagnetic relay comprising a magnet system, a magnetic field sensitive sensor element (4), a mechanical contact (5) and an electronic contact (6) that is parallel connected to the mechanical contact (5). The magnet system includes an excitation coil (1), a core (2) and an armature (3). The core (2) and the armature form at least one working air gap. The mechanical contact (5) comprises at least one movable contact element and stationary contact element. The sensor element (4) has means for exciting a current dependent on the magnetic field of the exciter coil.

Description

Electromagnetic relay

The invention relates to an electromagnetic relay with a magnet system, a mechanical contact, coil and contact connection elements and an electronic contact.

A parallel connection of an electromechanical relay and a semiconductor relay to avoid contact erosion in electromechanical contacts to increase the contact life and reduce the expensive contact material is already known as a possible solution. Such a hybrid relay is described for example in JP-PS-57 54 34. There, a light-emitting diode is connected on the control side parallel to the excitation coil of the electromechanical relay, which drives a photo cell on the load side of the semiconductor relay. This photocell is used to trigger a triac, which is connected in parallel to the mechanical contact actuated by the excitation coil and which represents the electronic contact.

A similar solution is known from EP 0 437 474 B1. There an electromechanical relay is supplemented by an optocoupler. The disadvantages of the solutions mentioned can be seen in the fact that sufficient insulation distances have to be provided for the electromechanical relay and for the semiconductor relay in order to provide sufficient insulation between the control and load side.

With the electromechanical relay, this is usually not a major problem and is ensured by the mechanical structure. However, in the case of a semiconductor relay, for example, a more complex optocoupler must be used. In addition, such couplers of the semiconductor relay require an additional control element on the control side. In the optocoupler, for example, this is a light emitting diode. Furthermore, to relieve the mechanical switching To provide 2 clocks additional timers. The task of these timers is to coordinate the activation of the electromechanical contact and the semiconductor switch in such a way that when the semiconductor switch is switched on before the electromechanical contact closes and the switching process is reversed accordingly. Such timers are often implemented by electronic circuits, which cause additional costs and complicate a compact design of such a hybrid relay.

The invention has for its object to provide a relay with a compact structure and with inexpensive to implement means to avoid contact erosion on electromechanical contacts during switching operations. In addition, the aim of such a relay is to reduce the power loss.

According to the invention, this goal is achieved by an electromagnetic relay

a magnet system containing an excitation coil, a core and an armature, the core and the armature forming at least one working air gap,

a mechanical contact consisting of at least one movable contact element and at least one fixed contact element,

- coil connection elements and contact connection elements,

a magnetic field sensitive sensor element which has means for generating a voltage dependent on the magnetic field of the excitation coil, and

- An electronic contact controlled by the sensor element, which is connected in parallel to the mechanical contact, is reached.

A reduction in the power loss is achieved in the relay according to the invention by the parallel connection of the mechanical contact to the electronic switch. Another 3 Advantage of the solution according to the invention is that a previously required additional control element for the electronic contact is now eliminated, which results in considerable cost advantages. The excitation coil controls both the mechanical contact and the electronic contact via the magnetic field-sensitive sensor element. In addition, a timer for coordinating the control of the mechanical contact and the electronic contact can be dispensed with if the relay components are suitably dimensioned and arranged. When the relay coil is excited, the electronic contact on the load side switches on faster than the mechanical contact. While the electronic contact reacts comparatively without delay, the mechanical contact has a certain inertia towards the exciting magnetic field, which explains the behavior over time. The mechanical contact switches with a time delay with only a minimal load voltage, which relieves the electronic contact of the current. The relief of the electronic contact results in a reduction in the power loss. When the excitation is switched off, the situation is exactly the opposite. The electronic contact controlled by the sensor element remains closed somewhat longer than the mechanical contact, since the magnetic field is retained over the time the mechanical contact is opened. In an advantageous embodiment, this can be achieved in particular by means of a diode connected in parallel with the excitation coil, so that the current through the coil is briefly maintained even after the excitation voltage has been switched off.

A Hall sensor is preferably used to implement the sensor element. Alternatively, it is advisable to use a magnetoresistive sensor. The mechanical contact and the electronic contact can be arranged together with the magnet system in a housing or can be connected to one another by an external connection. With the electronic contact an npn- 4 transistor can be used as a switching element, because in this way it is possible to implement very short switching times for the electronic contact. The use of other bipolar, MOS or FET transistor types as well as the use of triacs or thyristors as switching elements is also possible. The electronic contact is preferably coupled to the sensor element via an additional amplifier for signal processing.

The invention is explained in more detail using an exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawing. 1 shows the schematic structure of a relay and

Figure 2 shows a typical course of the timing control behavior of the relay according to the invention.

The relay shown in Figure 1 has a magnet system with an excitation coil 1, with a core 2 and a movable armature 3, which forms a working air gap with the core 2. The armature movement is transmitted to a mechanical contact 5 via an actuating element 7, which consists of insulating material. The mechanical contact 5 itself has a fixed and a movable contact element, which are each connected to contact connection elements 9. The coil 1 is excited by applying a control voltage to the coil connection elements 10. A magnetic field-sensitive sensor element 4 - here a Hall sensor - is arranged on an armature-side end of the coil 1 in the vicinity of the working air gap. This sensor element 4 controls an electronic contact 6 via a measuring amplifier 8, which is connected in parallel to the mechanical contact 5.

Figure 2 illustrates the control behavior of the mechanical contact and the electronic contact connected in parallel. Curve A shows the course over time of an excitation voltage which has an L level before the excitation is switched on and which is at an H level while the excitation is switched on. rt tr t " ¹ PJ -QN rr N cn Φ rt rsi p, rt Cn PJ PJ O: d 3 d ι-i Φ K

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Claims

6 claims

1. Electromagnetic relay with

- A magnet system containing an excitation coil (1), a core (2) and an armature (3), the core (2) and the

Anchors (3) form at least one working air gap,

a mechanical contact (5) consisting of at least one movable contact element and at least one fixed contact element,

- Coil connection elements (10) and contact connection elements (9),

- A magnetic field sensitive sensor element (4) which has means for generating a voltage dependent on the magnetic field of the excitation coil, and

- An electronic contact (6) controlled by the sensor element (4), which is connected in parallel to the mechanical contact (5).

2. Relay according to claim 1, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that a diode is connected in parallel to the excitation coil (1).

3. Relay according to one of claims 1 to 2, so that the sensor element (4) is formed by a Hall sensor.

4. Relay according to one of claims 1 to 2, so that the sensor element (4) has a magnetoresistive element, the electronic contact being controlled by a voltage drop at the magnetoresistive element.

5. Relay according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the mechanical contact (5) and the electronic contact (6) are arranged together with the magnet system in a common housing. 7

6. Relay according to one of claims 1 to 5, so that the at least one movable contact element of the mechanical contact (5) is coupled via an actuating element (7) made of insulating material to the armature (3).

7. Relay according to one of claims 1 to 6, that the electronic contact (6) is coupled to the sensor element (4) via an amplifier (8).