Vibration-tolerant multi-position, multi-pole continuous-rotation stepper relay

A system for sequentially opening and/or closing a plurality of switches, the system comprising:

• a rotatable disk having a plurality of indexing members attached thereto, the plurality of indexing members evenly distributed along a circular path centered on an axis of rotation of the rotatable disk;
• a cam coupled to or part of the rotatable disk so as to rotate with the rotatable disk;
• a rotational securing assembly attached to a fixed frame at a fixed rotational position about the axis of rotation and configured to sequentially secure and release the plurality of indexing members attached to the rotatable disk, thereby sequentially securing and releasing the rotatable disk to and from a sequence of rotational positions;
• a ratcheting assembly having a ratcheting pawl configured to sequentially engage and move a plurality of advancing members attached to the rotatable disk, thereby sequentially rotating the rotatable disk to a next one of the sequence of rotational positions;
• a plurality of switches attached to the fixed frame and distributed along a second circular path centered on the axis of rotation and axially aligned with the cam, each of the plurality of switches corresponding to one of the sequence of rotational positions and having a spring-loaded contact configured to either open or close the switch in response to the cam being rotationally aligned with the spring-loaded contact;
• and
• a control system configured to coordinate operations of the rotational securing assembly with the ratcheting assembly so as to advance rotation of the rotatable disk in a stepwise fashion to the next one in the sequence of rotational positions, such that:
• i) the ratcheting pawl is retracted as one of the circular sequence of indexing members is secured by the rotational securing assembly, thereby positioning the ratcheting pawl in a ready-to-advance-rotation position;
• ii) the rotational securing assembly releases the one of the circular sequence of indexing members so that the rotatable disk can be freely rotated;
• iii) as the one of the circular sequence of indexing members is released, the ratcheting pawl begins advancing so as to engage and move an engagement-ready one of the plurality of advancing members, thereby beginning rotation of the rotatable disk;
• iv) the rotational securing assembly blocks the path of a next one of the circular sequence of indexing members after the rotatable disk is rotated a fraction of a rotation;
• v) the rotational securing assembly secures the next one of the circular sequence of indexing members after the next one of the circular sequence of indexing members engages the index-stop member;
• and
• vi) the steps i) through v) are repeated, thereby sequentially opening or closing the plurality of switches.