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US 9,754,745 B2Granted
Methods and apparatus for improved relay control
AssigneeRaritan Americas, Inc.
InventorMichael Suchoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus provide for: at least one electromechanical relay including a coil and at least one pair of contacts, the contacts transitioning between a de-energized state and an energized state in response to current through the coil; a microcontroller having at least one tri-state output operating to produce ON, OFF, and FLOAT states; and a driver circuit operating, in conjunction with the tri-state output of the microcontroller, to control the current through the coil of the relay such that: (i) a transition of the tri-state output from OFF to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their de-energized state through the transition, and (ii) a transition of the tri-state output from ON to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their energized state through the transition.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one electromechanical relay including a coil and at least one pair of contacts, the contacts transitioning between a de-energized state and an energized state in response to current through the coil;
- a microcontroller having at least one tri-state output operating to produce ON, OFF, and FLOAT states;
- and
- a driver circuit operating, in conjunction with the tri-state output of the microcontroller, to control the current through the coil of the relay such that:
- (i) a transition of the tri-state output from OFF to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their de-energized state through the transition, and
- (ii) a transition of the tri-state output from ON to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their energized state through the transition.
3 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one electromechanical relay including a coil and at least one pair of contacts, the contacts transitioning from a de-energized state to an energized state in response to current through the coil;
- a transistor having a control terminal, and a pair of output terminals coupled in series with the coil of the relay, the output terminals being responsive to bias on the control terminal;
- a microcontroller having at least one tri-state output operating to produce ON, OFF, and FLOAT states, the tri-state output being coupled to the control terminal of the transistor;
- and
- a pulse circuit operating to produce a pulse voltage output signal, which is coupled, through a series impedance, to at least one of the tri-state output of the microcontroller, and the control terminal of the transistor, such that:
- (i) a transition of the tri-state output from OFF to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their de-energized state through the transition, and
- (ii) a transition of the tri-state output from ON to FLOAT maintains the contacts of the relay in their energized state through the transition.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one electromechanical relay including a coil and at least one pair of contacts, the contacts transitioning from a de-energized state to an energized state in response to current through the coil;
- a first transistor having a control terminal, and a pair of output terminals coupled in series with the coil of the relay, the output terminals being responsive to bias on the control terminal, and a first impedance being defined by a series aggregate of the coil and the first transistor;
- a second transistor having a control terminal, and a pair of output terminals coupled in series with the coil of the relay, the output terminals being responsive to bias on the control terminal, and a second impedance being defined by a series aggregate of the coil and the second transistor, the second impedance being substantially lower than the first impedance;
- a first comparator circuit having a positive input, a negative input and a first output responsive to a voltage difference between the positive and negative inputs, the negative input of the first comparator being coupled to a first reference potential, and the first output being coupled to the control terminal of the first transistor;
- a second comparator circuit having a positive input, a negative input and a second output responsive to a voltage difference between the positive and negative inputs, the negative input of the second comparator being coupled to a second reference potential, which is higher than the first reference potential, and the second output being coupled to the control terminal of the second transistor;
- a microcontroller having at least one tri-state output operating to produce ON, OFF, and FLOAT states, the tri-state output being coupled to the positive terminals of the first and second comparator circuits;
- and
- a bias circuit operating to produce a third reference voltage on the positive inputs of the first and second comparator circuits only when the tri-state output of the microcontroller is in the FLOAT state, the third reference voltage being between the first and second reference voltages.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.