The disclosure relates to a contactor having electronic coil control for a magnet coil, the operation of keeping the pull-in power of the magnet coil constant being formed by current clocking, and having a safety-related output assembly of a programmable logic controller for the fault diagnosis of the contactor, the safety-related output assembly determining the flow of current flowing into the contactor and detecting a fault if a limit value is undershot and switching off. In the contactor disclosed herein, a connectable base load is integrated in the contactor.

The disclosure relates to a contactor having electronic coil control for a magnet coil, the operation of keeping the pull-in power of the magnet coil constant being formed by current clocking, and having a safety-related output assembly of a programmable logic controller for the fault diagnosis of the contactor, the safety-related output assembly determining the flow of current flowing into the contactor and detecting a fault if a limit value is undershot and switching off. In the contactor disclosed herein, a connectable base load is integrated in the contactor.

A step-by-step electric relay structure of a bistable type, comprising a mechanical part and an electric part, the mechanical part comprising push-button means to be operated by a user and the electric part comprising coil means, capacitor means, resistor means and diode means operatively interconnected to one another, the coil means comprising either two coils coupled in parallel to one another or a single coil polarized or biased with two polarities, thereby, as the push-button means are operated by the user to provide a switching or exchanging of at least a contact of the relay structure, either one of the two coils is shorted or the two polarities of the single coil are mutually reversed, thereby providing the electric relay structure with a logic SET function and a logic RESET function.

Provided are embodiments for operating an autonomous mode change circuit for solenoid drivers. The embodiments include initiating an operation of a solenoid, and receiving a command to control the operation of the solenoid. The embodiments also include controlling, by a drive circuit, a switch coupled to the solenoid based at least in part on the command, and detecting at least one of a current or voltage of the solenoid, and subsequently controlling the operation of the solenoid based at least in part on the detection.

A drive circuit is provided for controlling a solenoid valve having a solenoid coil. The drive circuit includes a first semiconductor device, a flyback circuit, and a processor. The first semiconductor is coupled in series with the coil and is controlled by a gate signal to energize the coil. The flyback circuit is in parallel with the coil and includes a series-coupled second semiconductor device and a diode. The second semiconductor is controlled by a flyback control signal to enable the flyback circuit when the first semiconductor is controlled by the gate signal to hold the valve open. The diode has a low forward voltage to slow decay of a current conducted through the coil. The processor generates the gate signal to control the first semiconductor and to reduce a duty cycle of the gate signal when the flyback circuit is enabled to reduce power consumption by the coil.

In a relay operation state maintaining device configured to maintain an operation state of a relay when an abnormality occurs in a controller configured to control an operation of the relay, the relay operation state maintaining device includes: a memory configured to store a relay control signal output for an operation of the relay by the controller at a time the abnormality occurs and to generate and output a memory output signal based on a stored signal; a first relay driving signal generator configured to generate and output a first relay driving signal based on the relay control signal and a signal corresponding to the abnormality occurrence; and a second relay driving signal generator configured to generate and output a second relay driving signal based on the first relay driving signal and the memory output signal.

A circuit for reducing a power consumption when driving a relay, the circuit includes a first input, a second input, a timing element, a longitudinal control having a Zener diode and a transistor, a first output, and a second output. The first and second inputs are configured to input an input voltage and the first and second outputs are configured for outputting an output voltage for driving the relay. The Zener diode is configured, when the input voltage exceeds a breakdown voltage of the Zener diode, to generate a voltage source, which is connected to the control input of the transistor via a diode and to provide a control voltage that is stabilized and reduced in level compared with the input voltage. The control input is connected to the first input via a timing element.

A circuit for reducing a power consumption when driving a relay, the circuit includes a first input, a second input, a timing element, a longitudinal control having a Zener diode and a transistor, a first output, and a second output. The first and second inputs are configured to input an input voltage and the first and second outputs are configured for outputting an output voltage for driving the relay. The Zener diode is configured, when the input voltage exceeds a breakdown voltage of the Zener diode, to generate a voltage source, which is connected to the control input of the transistor via a diode and to provide a control voltage that is stabilized and reduced in level compared with the input voltage. The control input is connected to the first input via a timing element.

A solenoid control circuit can make measurements during operation to determine the state of a solenoid and can provide for rapid re-energization of a solenoid upon detection of a dropout condition. A method of controlling a solenoid can include closing an input switch, cycling a low side switch based on voltage drop across a resistor, opening the input switch after a time interval, closing the low side switch and driving a discharge switch to control the discharge current rate from an energy storage device to an inductor. The method can include determining a condition of the inductor based on a time interval between actuation of comparators and maintaining a level of energy in the energy storage device sufficient to cause the inductor to produce a magnetic field for actuating a valve.

A solenoid valve includes a solenoid coil, a poppet, and a drive circuit. A first semiconductor device of the drive circuit is controlled by a gate signal to control a coil current. A flyback circuit of the drive circuit includes a second semiconductor device in series with a diode. The second semiconductor device is controlled by a flyback control signal to: (i) enable the flyback circuit to maintain the coil current through the solenoid coil when the poppet transitions to a second position, and (ii) disable recirculation of the coil current through the solenoid coil when the poppet transitions to a first position. A controller is configured to transition the poppet to the second position using the gate signal, enable the flyback circuit using the flyback control signal, and reduce at least one of a duty cycle and a frequency of the gate signal when the flyback circuit is enabled.