Safety switch and associated methods

A cable pull switch comprising:

• a spring configured to couple to a first end of a pull cable and configured to at least one of linearly compress and linearly expand in relation to a linear displacement of the first end of the pull cable;
• an electrical inductance sensor electrically coupled to the spring and configured to sense an electrical inductance value of the spring and a change in the electrical inductance value of the spring in relationship to the at least one of the linear compression and the linear expansion of the spring, and configured to measure a linear displacement of a first end of a pull cable;
• and
• at least one processing device coupled to the electrical inductance sensor, the processing device configured to:
• receive, from the electrical inductance sensor, a value indicative of the electrical inductance value of the spring and corresponding to the linear displacement of the first end of the pull cable;
• determine whether the value is outside of a non-tripped value window, a first limit edge of the non-tripped value window comprising a pull threshold value, the pull threshold value being indicative of a cable pull event;
• and
• generate an output signal indicative of the cable pull event in response to determining that the value is outside of the non-tripped value window on the first end.

A cable pull switch comprising:

• a sensor configured to measure a linear displacement of a first end of a pull cable;
• and
• at least one processing device coupled to the sensor, the processing device configured to:
• receive, from the sensor, a value corresponding to the linear displacement of the first end of the pull cable;
• determine whether the value is outside of a non-tripped value window, a first limit edge of the non-tripped value window comprising a pull threshold value, the pull threshold value being indicative of a cable pull event;
• generate an output signal indicative of the cable pull event in response to determining that the value is outside of the non-tripped value window on the first end;
• receive an indication of a tension adjustment of the pull cable;
• and
• determine whether the value is outside of an adjustment value window, a first limit edge of the adjustment value window comprising a pull adjustment margin threshold value,
• wherein the adjustment value window is a subset of the non-tripped value window.

A method of operating a cable pull switch including a sensor, the method comprising:

• measuring, via the sensor, a value corresponding to a linear displacement of a first end of a pull cable;
• determining whether the value is outside of a non-tripped value window, a first limit edge of the non-tripped value window comprising a pull threshold value, the pull threshold value being indicative of a cable pull event;
• generating an output signal indicative of the cable pull event in response to determining that the value is outside of the non-tripped value window on the first end;
• receiving an indication of a tension adjustment of the pull cable;
• and
• determining whether the value is outside of an adjustment value window, a first limit edge of the adjustment value window comprising a pull adjustment margin threshold value,
• wherein the adjustment value window is a subset of the non-tripped value window.