MEDER electronic REED SWITCH CHARACTERISTICS
Reed Switch Operational Characteristics
Introduction Rhodium or Ruthenium, must be carried out precisely
in ultra clean environments similar to semiconductor
The Reed Switch was first invented by Bell Labs in the technology. Like semiconductors, any foreign particles
late 1930s. However, it was not until the 1940s when it present in the manufacture will give rise to losses, qual-
began to find application widely as a sensor and a Reed ity and reliability problems.
Relay. Here it was used in an assortment of stepping/
switching applications, early electronic equipment and Over the years, the Reed Switch has shrunk in size
test equipment. In the late 1940s Western Electric be- from approximately 50 mm (2 inches) to 6 mm (0.24
gan using Reed Relays in their central office telephone inches). These smaller sizes have opened up many
switching stations, where they are still used in some ar- more applications particularly in RF and fast time do-
eas today. The Reed Switch greatly contributed to the main requirements.
development of telecommunications technology.
Reed Switch Features
Over the years several manufacturers have come and
gone, some staying longer than they should have, 1. Ability to switch up to 10,000 Volts
tainting the marketplace with poor quality, and poor reli- 2. Ability to switch currents up to 5 Amps
ability. However, most of the manufacturers of Reed 3. Ability to switch or carry as low as 10 nanoVolts
Switches today produce very high quality and very reli- without signal loss
able switches. This has given rise to unprecedented 4. Ability to switch or carry as low as 1 femptoAmp
growth. without signal loss
5. Ability to switch or carry up to 7 GigaHertz with
Today Reed Switch technology is used in all market minimal signal loss
segments including: test and measurement equip- 6. Isolation across the contacts up to 1015 W
ment, medical electronics, Telecom, automotive, secu- 7. Contact resistance (on resistance) typical 50 mil-
rity, appliances, general purpose, etc. Its growth rate is liOhms (mW)
stronger than ever, where the world output can not stay 8. In its off state it requires no power or circuitry
abreast with demand. 9. Ability to offer a latching feature
10. Operate time in the 100 ms to 300 ms range
As a technology, the Reed Switch is unique. Being her- 11. Ability to operate over extreme temperature
metically sealed, it can exist or be used in almost any ranges from –55 oC to 200 oC
environment. Very simple in its structure, it crosses 12. Ability to operate in all types of environments
many technologies in its manufacture. Critical to its including air, water, vacuum, oil, fuels, and dust
quality and reliability is its glass to metal hermetic seal, laden atmospheres
where the glass and metal used must have exact linear 13. Ability to withstand shocks up to 200 Gs
thermal coefficients of expansion. Otherwise, cracking 14. Ability to withstand vibration environments of 50
and poor seals will result. Whether sputtered or plated, Hz to 2000 Hz at up to 30 Gs
the process of applying the contact material, usually 15. Long life. With no wearing parts, load switching
under 5 Volts at 10 mA, will operate well into the
billions of operations
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REED SWITCH CHARACTERISTICS MEDER electronic
The Basic Reed Switch
Shown below Figure #1 ration is described as 2 Form A ( two normally open
switches or Double Pole Single Throw (DPST)), 3 Form
A (three normally open switches), etc. A normally closed
(N.C.) switch is described as a 1 Form B. A switch with
a common blade, a normally open blade and a normally
closed blade (see Figure # 2) is described as a 1 Form
C (single pole double throw (SPDT)).
(Figure #1. The basic hermetically sealed Form 1A (normally
open) Reed Switch and its component makeup.)
A Reed Switch consists of two ferromagnetic blades
(generally composed of iron and nickel) hermetically
sealed in a glass capsule. The blades overlap internally
in the glass capsule with a gap between them, and make (Figure #2. The 1 Form C (single pole double throw) three
contact with each other when in the presence of a suit- leaded Reed Switch and its component makeup.)
able magnetic field. The contact area on both blades is
plated or sputtered with a very hard metal, usually Rho- The common blade (or armature blade), the only moving
dium or Ruthenium. These very hard metals give rise to reed blade, is connected to the normally closed blade
the potential of very long life times if the contacts are not in the absence of a magnetic field. When a magnetic
switched with heavy loads. The gas in the capsule usu- field of sufficient strength is present, the common blade
ally consists of Nitrogen or some equivalent inert gas. swings over to the normally open blade. The normally
Some Reed Switches, to increase their ability to switch open and normally closed blades always remain sta-
and standoff high voltages, have an internal vacuum. tionary. All three reed blades are ferromagnetic; how-
The reed blades act as magnetic flux conductors when ever, the contact area of the normally closed contact is
exposed to an external magnetic field from either a per- a non-magnetic metal which has been welded to the fer-
manent magnet or an electromagnetic coil. Poles of op- romagnetic blade. When exposed to a magnetic field,
posite polarity are created and the contacts close when both the fixed reeds assume the same polarity, which is
the magnetic force exceeds the spring force of the reed opposite that of the armature. The non-magnetic met-
blades. As the external magnetic field is reduced so that al interrupts the magnetic flux on the normally closed
the force between the reeds is less than the restoring blade so that the armature sees an un-interrupted flux
force of the reed blades, the contacts open. path to the normally open blade, and it is that which it
seeks. Here the attractive force is of sufficient magni-
The Reed Switch described above is a 1 Form A (nor- tude between the normally open and armature that the
mally open (N.O.) or Single Pole Single Throw (SPST)) contacts close.
Reed Switch. Multiple switch usage in a given configu-
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MEDER electronic REED SWITCH CHARACTERISTICS
To close Reed Switch contacts, two approaches are
generally used. 1. The use of a permanent magnet
(see Figure #3);
(Figure #4. A Reed Switch sitting in a solenoid where the mag-
netic field is strongest in its center. Here the reed blades be-
come polarized and an attractive force exists across the con-
tacts.)
When a permanent magnet, as shown, is brought into
(Figure #3. The basic operation of a Reed Switch under the the proximity of a Reed Switch the individual reeds be-
influence of the magnetic field of a permanent magnet. The come magnetized with the attractive magnetic polarity
polarization of the reed blades occurs in such a manner to offer as shown. When the external magnetic field becomes
an attractive force at the reed contacts.) strong enough the magnetic force of attraction closes
the blades. The reed blades are annealed and pro-
or 2. The use of a coil wound with copper insulated wire cessed to remove any magnetic retentivity. When the
(see Figure #4). magnetic field is withdrawn the magnetic field on the
reed blades also dissipates. If any residual magnetism
existed on the reed blades, the Reed Switch character-
istics would be altered. Proper processing and proper
annealing clearly are important steps in their manufac-
turing.
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