Help me find a switch that moves on or off
Reach
Posts: 107
Is there a switches that move on and off when controlled by a digital signal? In other words when I turn the switch on with my hand then later turn it off with the propeller I wish for the switch to move to the off position. Hope this makes since. Thanks...
Comments
If you want something largely pre-packaged, the simplest, mass market form close to this, is the one found in car locking.
Look for 5 wire/Master Central Locking Door Motor
That gives latching action, and digital control, with visual indication.
To add manual local control, just add a centre sprung toggle, or 2 push buttons.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-latching-bistable-relay-10-24V-coil-250V-20A-contact-manual-override-lever-/321241755877?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4acb8030e5
This.
Nice looking part.
However, one of my peeves with LATCHING Relays in general, is they forget to include a sense contact.
If they were serious about energy savings, a small-signal contact that let users sense when the unit had moved, would allow minimal possible energy.
Douglas Lighting has latching relays with sensing contacts. Of course they cost a bit more than $4.00.
By using a latching relay, you could have a slide that works as the equivalent of a push button to toggle on. If the slide was spring loaded, a release from an off signal could return it to the original off position, and physically touching the on position my have it slide back to off while generating another pulse to the relay.
That would be a lot more energy efficient and maybe more compact that having an electro-mechanically driven slide. A spring would just stretch to the on position, and would release to the off.
NOT entirely true about the sense contact.
There are two kinds of latching relays... one wire that requires some outside feedback to determine an on or off status,
And two wire latching relays that have one wire to pulse to ON and another wire to pulse to OFF that should not require a feedback set up.
In general, the two wire latching relays are made for higher amperage switching and two separate coils are required to fully engage contacts properly in opposite directions. The single wire units somehow internally toggle the motion.
I'm talking about energy used, not basic operation.
Sure, they can work with a fixed pulse, but if you can terminate the pulse early, you can save energy.
That can translate into a lot of added battery life.
Tony wins IMO for the coolest & cheapest switch around. I'll get two just 'cuz MAYBE I'll use them someday. You could have l,ots of fun with that, making something like a self-switching Useless box with an ultrasonic sensor and flips itself when it detects your hand approaching.
Here are some links on auto power locks;
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/power-door-lock3.htm
These kind are simple and directly driven by a motor;
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/car-door-lock-actuator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_door_locks
Much thanks, tonyp12
Those Gr
Well, one could wire a feedback loop that would do that as well. Or one might statistically determine a pulse length that is adequate. There is always something left for engineers to resolve. Most generic parts are exemplars, not the ideal for a given application.