SWITCHES

Switch types
An electrical switch is any device used to interrupt the flow of electrons in a circuit.
Switches are essentially binary devices: they are either completely on ("closed") or
completely off ("open").

Toggle switch

Toggle switches are actuated by a lever angled in one of two or more positions. The
common light switch used in household wiring is an example of a toggle switch. Most
toggle switches will come to rest in any of their lever positions, while others have an
internal spring mechanism returning the lever to a certain normal position, allowing for
what is called "momentary" operation.

Pushbutton switch

Pushbutton switches are two-position devices actuated with a button that is pressed and
released. Most pushbutton switches have an internal spring mechanism returning the
button to its "out," or "un-pressed," position, for momentary operation.

Selector switch

Selector switches are actuated with a rotary knob or lever of some sort to select one of
two or more positions. Like the toggle switch, selector switches can either rest in any of
their positions or contain spring-return mechanisms for momentary operation.

Contact "normal" state and make/break sequence

Introduction to Relay
An automatic washing machine uses the input of a simple controller to complete its
washing cycles. Each cycle consists of the following steps:
1) Fill water inside the washer
2) Heat up the water inside it
3) Washing action (cycling the laundry)
4) Emptying dirty water
5) Fill clean water in
6) Rinse action
7) Emptying water
8) Soak out and heating action
9) Stop
The basic washer components include:
 Heater
 Two speeds electrical motor (low speed for washing action, and high speed for
soak out).
 Valve to let water get inside the washer.
 Valve to let water out from the washer.
Each one these components is controlled by simple On/Off switch. All switches are from
the normally opened type. The electrical motor has two switches one for each speed.
 S2 Water in
valve

washer

Heater

S1
water out
valve
Motor
S3
S4 (low speed)
S5 (high speed)
Now let’s consider one washing cycle, we can draw the following table to simulate the
processes, remember that “1” simulates that the switch is pressed, and “0” not pressed:
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Water filling 0 1 0 0 0
Heating 1 0 0 0 0
Washing 0 0 0 1 0
Emptying 0 0 1 1 0
Water filling 1 0 0 0 0
Rinse 0 0 0 1 0
Emptying 0 0 1 1 0
Soak-out & Heat 1 0 1 0 1
Stop 0 0 0 0 0
Or we can put it in more graphical form like this:
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Water filling

Heating

Washing

Emptying

Water filling

Rinse

Emptying

Soak-out & Heat

Stop

As you can see we can build a powerful controller by just using some simple switches.
Things can improve dramatically if we consider more sophisticated electronic
components. See you don’t have to wait beside the washer all the time in order to keep
switching On and Off all the time. You want to press one or only few buttons on order to
complete any washing cycle you want. But wait, we have to ask two major questions:
1) At what volt rate this one button (switch) will run at? Some electrical switches in
our circuit can work at say 220V AC like with the motor, but other works at 24V
DC like with valves.
2) When, or at what point, the machine should move to execute the second step in its
program?
The answer to the first question is: use a Relay.
The answer to the second is: use a PLC.

Electromechanical relays
Relay construction
An electric current through a conductor will produce a magnetic field at right angles to
the direction of electron flow. If that conductor is wrapped into a coil shape, the magnetic
field produced will be oriented along the length of the coil. The greater the current, the
greater the strength of the magnetic field, all other factors being equal:

The magnetic field produced by a coil of current-carrying wire can be used to exert a
mechanical force on any magnetic object, just as we can use a permanent magnet to
attract magnetic objects, except that this magnet (formed by the coil) can be turned on or
off by switching the current on or off through the coil.
If we place a magnetic object near such a coil for the purpose of making that object move
when we energize the coil with electric current, we have what is called a solenoid. The
movable magnetic object is called an armature, and most armatures can be moved with
either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) energizing the coil. The polarity of
the magnetic field is irrelevant for the purpose of attracting an iron armature. Solenoids
can be used to electrically open door latches, open or shut valves, move robotic limbs,
and even actuate electric switch mechanisms. However, if a solenoid is used to actuate a
set of switch contacts, we have a device so useful it deserves its own name: the relay.

Relays are extremely useful when we have a need to control a large amount of current
and/or voltage with a small electrical signal. The relay coil which produces the magnetic
field may only consume fractions of a watt of power, while the contacts closed or opened
by that magnetic field may be able to conduct hundreds of times that amount of power to
a load. In effect, a relay acts as a binary (on or off) amplifier. Just as with transistors, the
relay’s ability to control one electrical signal with another finds application in the
construction of logic functions.

 
In the above schematic, the relay’s coil is energized by the low-voltage (12 VDC) source,
while the single-pole, single-throw (SPST) contact interrupts the high-voltage (480 VAC)
circuit. It is quite likely that the current required to energize the relay coil will be
hundreds of times less than the current rating of the contact. Typical relay coil currents
are well below 1 amp, while typical contact ratings for industrial relays are at least 10
amps.
One relay coil/armature assembly may be used to actuate more than one set of contacts.
Those contacts may be normally-open, normally-closed, or any combination of the two.
As with switches, the ”normal” state of a relay’s contacts is that state when the coil is de-
energized, just as you would find the relay sitting on a shelf, not connected to any circuit.
Aside from the ability to allow a relatively small electric signal to switch a relatively
large electric signal, relays also offer electrical isolation between coil and contact
circuits. This means that the coil circuit and contact circuit(s) are electrically insulated
from one another. One circuit may be DC and the other AC (such as in the example
circuit shown earlier), and/or they may be at completely different voltage levels, across
the connections or from connections to ground.
While relays are essentially binary devices, either being completely on or completely off,
there are operating conditions where their state may be indeterminate, just as with
semiconductor logic gates. In order for a relay to positively “pull in” the armature to
actuate the contact(s), there must be a certain minimum amount of current through
the coil. This minimum amount is called the pull-in current, and it is analogous to the
minimum input voltage that a logic gate requires to guarantee a “high” state (typically 2
Volts for TTL, 3.5 Volts for CMOS). Once the armature is pulled closer to the coil’s
center, however, it takes less magnetic field flux (less coli current) to hold it there.
Therefore, the coil current must drop below a value significantly lower than the pull-
in current before the armature” drops out” to its spring-loaded position and the
contacts resume their normal state. This current level is called the drop-out current,
and it is analogous to the maximum input voltage that a logic gate input will allow to
guarantee a” low” state (typically 0.8 Volts for TTL, 1.5 Volts for CMOS).

Contactors
When a relay is used to switch a large amount of electrical power through its contacts, it
is designated by a special name: contactor. Contactors typically have multiple contacts,
and those contacts are usually (but not always) normally-open, so that power to the load
is shut off when the coil is de-energized. Perhaps the most common industrial use for
contactors is the control of electric motors.
 The top three contacts switch the respective phases of the incoming 3-phase AC power,
typically at least 480 Volts for motors 1 horsepower or greater.
The three “opposed-question-mark” shaped devices in series with each phase going to the
motor are called overload heaters. Each “heater” element is a low-resistance strip of
metal intended to heat up as the motor draws current. If the temperature of any of these
heater elements reaches a critical point (equivalent to a moderate overloading of the
motor), a normally-closed switch contact (not shown in the diagram) will spring open.
This normally-closed contact is usually connected in series with the relay coil, so that
when it opens the relay will automatically de-energize, thereby shutting off power to the
motor.