Floating contactor relay

A relay comprising:

• a substrate formed of electrically insulating material;
• conductive contacts formed on the substrate;
• a contactor having a surface including a conductive area and residing unattached within a space partially bounded by the conductive contacts;
• a first coil embedded in the substrate for intermittently conducting a first current in a first direction and for generating a first magnetic field when conducting the first current, and
• a magnetized core positioned such that the first magnetic field moves the core toward the conductive contacts, causing the core to force the contactor onto the conductive contacts such that the contactor's conductive area provides a signal path between the first conductive contacts.

A hybrid circuit comprising:

• a printed circuit board;
• an integrated circuit chip mounted on the printed circuit board and having a signal terminal;
• two first conductive contacts mounted on the printed circuit board,
• means for conductively linking one of the two first conductive contacts to the signal terminal of the integrated circuit chip;
• a contactor having a surface including a conductive area and residing unattached within a space partially bounded by the first conductive contacts, the contactor comprising material subject to a motive force when in a magnetic field;
• and
• a first coil embedded in the printed circuit board for intermittently conducting a first current and for generating a first magnetic field when conducting the first current, wherein the first magnetic field causes the contactor to move within the space until the conductive area of the contactor's surface comes into contact with the first conductive contacts thereby providing a first signal path between the first conductive contacts.