Integrally coupled power control system having a solid state relay

A power control system comprising:

• a base including a housing for releasably receiving a control unit and defining a first cavity for receiving a power switch, a second cavity for receiving a limit switch, an input power terminal, an output power terminal coupled to receive switched power from an output terminal, a received power switch, control couplers for coupling to an input and an output control terminal of the received power switch, and a plurality of electrical connections;
• a limit switch within the second cavity and coupled by a portion of the electrical connections in series with the input power terminal, an input terminal of the power switch received within the first cavity, and the output power terminal;
• a control unit for providing control signals to the limit switch and control signals to the received power switch for selectively providing, at least a portion of, the power received at the input power terminal to the output power terminal, the control unit having a housing adapted to be releasably coupled to the base housing, the control unit and base being configured to electrically couple the control unit to the control terminals of the received power switch as a function of the control unit being releasably coupled to the base, the control unit including a limit component having a limit function characteristic, the limit switch control signals being a function of the limit function characteristic.

A method of assembling a power control unit, the method comprising:

• inserting a solid state relay having a hockey puck configuration into a cavity defined by a base having a housing;
• coupling an input power terminal to an input terminal of the solid state relay;
• coupling an output power terminal to an output terminal of the solid state relay;
• coupling a first control attachment fixture to a first control terminal of the solid state relay;
• coupling a second control attachment fixture to a second control terminal of the solid state relay;
• and
• inserting a control unit having a control housing onto the base housing, the control housing and the base housing being configured for releasably coupling the inserted control unit to the base, the inserting a control unit including compressively coupling the control unit to the first control attachment fixture and the second control attachment fixture and completing an electrical connection between the control unit and each of the control terminals of the solid state relay.