Electromagnet control system having printed circuit board variable voltage selection array

An electromagnet controller, comprising:

• a printed circuit board;
• circuitry supported on the printed circuit board having a generating section for producing an electromagnet control voltage to control the power in an electromagnet;
• a transformer having a plurality of taps off of a transformer winding;
• a plurality of receptacles mounted on the printed circuit board and ordered in a formation, the receptacles each having a pair of terminals;
• traces on the printed circuit board interconnecting the pairs of terminals in the receptacles to pairs of the transformer's taps;
• and
• a connector of a shape to plug into any one of the receptacles and having conductors for establishing an electrical connection of the terminals of the receptacle into which the connector is plugged within the generating section, the electrical connection determining the electromagnet control voltage in at least one mode of operation of the electromagnet controller;
• whereby a choice of the receptacle into which the connector is plugged selects the electromagnet control voltage in the at least one mode of operation.

A system for operating an electromagnet, comprising:

• an electromagnet;
• a DC generator having a field winding and being connected to generate power in the electromagnet;
• an operator control device;
• a magnet generator controller fabricated on a printed circuit board and operating to vary a field voltage on the field winding to control the power in the electromagnet in response to the operator control device;
• and
• a variable voltage selection array having an array of receptacles supported on the printed circuit board and a connector, the receptacles associated one-to-one with a plurality of voltage values, the connector being insertable into any of plural receptacles of the array to select the field voltage in an operating mode of the magnet generator controller from the voltage values.

A method of setting an electromagnet voltage in a magnet generator controller, comprising:

• producing alternating current power;
• applying the alternating current power to a transformer having a plurality of winding taps to produce a variety of alternating current voltages at pairs of the winding taps;
• carrying the alternating current voltages to a plurality of receptacles arranged in an array and interconnected one-to-one with the pairs of winding taps;
• connecting a plug having a connection to a rectifier input into a selected one of the receptacles to select from the alternating current voltages for input to the rectifier;
• rectifying the selected alternating current voltage in the rectifier;
• and
• applying the rectified, selected alternating current voltage to a field winding of a generator to control the power in an electromagnet connected to the generator.

A controller for controlling power applied by a generator to an electromagnet, comprising:

• a field voltage generator circuit having a plurality of switch contactors for selectively applying a plurality of operator-settable voltages at a pair of terminals connectable to a field winding of the generator;
• a controller operating circuit having a function select switch, an operator control switch, a plurality of relay switches coupled with the switch contactors, and at least one timer;
• the controller operating circuit selectively activates the relay switches in response to the function select switch, the operator control switch, and the at least one timer to cause the field voltage generator circuit to select from the operator settable voltages to apply at the terminals;
• the function select switch being operator-settable to select from a plurality of functions of the controller operating circuit, the functions comprising a run function and a plurality of exclusive mode functions;
• the controller operating circuit operating according to the run function to sequence through a plurality of modes in response to the operator control switch and the at least one timer, each of the modes associated with one of the operator-settable voltages, the controller operating circuit selectively activating the relay switches in each mode to cause the field voltage generator circuit to apply the operator-settable voltage associated with such mode;
• the controller operating circuit operating according to the exclusive mode functions to remain exclusively in respective ones of the modes, where the controller operating circuit selectively activates the relay switches to cause the field voltage generator to apply the operator-settable voltage associated with the respective mode.