- Reed relay
A reed relay is one or more
reed switch es controlled by anelectromagnet . The contacts are ofmagnetic material and the electromagnet acts directly on them without requiring an armature to move them. Sealed in a long, narrow glass tube, the contacts are protected fromcorrosion , and are usually plated withsilver , which has very low resistivity but is prone to corrosion, rather than corrosion-resistant but more resistivegold as used in exposed contacts of high quality. Multiple reed switches can be inserted into a singlebobbin and actuate simultaneously. Reed switches have been manufactured since the 1930s.As the moving parts are small and lightweight, reed relays can switch much faster than relays with armatures [http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/relay.htm] . They are mechanically simple, making for reliability and long life.
Memory device
A few million reed relays were used from the 1930s to the 1960s for memory functions in
Bell System electromechanicaltelephone exchange s. Often a multiple-reed relay was used, with one of the reeds latching the relay, and the other or others performing logic or memory functions. Most reed relays in thecrossbar switch ing systems of the 1940s through the 1970s were packaged in groups of five. Such a "reed pack" was able to store one decimal digit, encoded in atwo-out-of-five code (74210 variant) for easy validity checking bywire spring relay logic.Crosspoint switch
In the Bell System
Stored Program Control exchange systems of the 1970s, reed relays were no longer needed for data storage, but tens of millions of them were packaged in arrays for voice path switching. In the1ESS switch , the cores were made of a magnetically remanent alloy, so the relay could latch magnetically instead of latching electrically. This "Ferreed" method reduced power consumption and allowed both contacts to be used for voice path. The coils were wired for coincident current selection similar to amagnetic core memory , so operating the contacts for one crosspoint would release the other crosspoints in its row and column.Each input of the array had, besides the two talk wires, a P lead for controlling the crosspoints on that level. Two coils on each crosspoint were wired in series with all the others on that level, to the P lead. Each output of the array also had a P lead with two coils on each crosspoint of that output level. The two windings controlled by the same level were unequal, and were wound around opposite ends of the reed, in opposing polarity. When a pulse passed through the crosspoints of a level, the two ends of each reed were magnetized north to north or south to south, thus repelled each other and opened the crosspoint in all except the selected crosspoint.
The selected crosspoint had current passing through both its input P lead and its output P lead, thus through all four windings. On each end of the ferreed, the windings provided by the two different P leads were opposed to each other, and the greater one predominated when both were energized. This being the input P lead at one end of the ferreed, and the output P lead at the other end, the two ends of that particular ferreed were magnetized north to south, hence attracted each other and closed the contact. Current was applied by the pulser only to set up the connection. The P leads remained dry and the crosspoint remained closed until such time as another connection was made involving one of the levels.
Because the individual crosspoints were more expensive than those of
crossbar switch es, while the control circuitry was cheaper, reed arrays usually had fewer crosspoints and were more numerous. This required them to be arranged in more stages. Thus, while a telephone call in a typical crossbar exchange like5XB passed through four switches, a call in a reed system such as 1ESS typically passed through eight.In the later 1AESS, the reeds themselves were of remnant magnetic material. This "Remreed" design allowed further reduction in size and power consumption. A "grid" of 1024 2-wire crosspoints, arranged as two stages of eight 8x8 switches, was permanently packaged in a box. Despite the sealed contacts, plating with silver rather than with precious metals resulted in reed arrays being less reliable than crossbar switches. When one crosspoint failed, the grid box was quickly replaced whole, and either repaired at a local workbench or shipped to a repair shop.
Stromberg-Carlson made the similar ESC system, whose reeds were called crossreeed.Other uses
Reed arrays passed out of use in the mid-1990s, being unnecessary in true electronic (digital) telephone systems such as
DMS-100 and5ESS switch . Reed relays continued in their uses outside the telephone industry such as forautomatic test equipment andelectronic instrumentation . Reed relays have also found numerous applications in RF andmicrowave switching applications [ [http://www.ecnasiamag.com/article-8617-reedrelayslivelongandprosper-Asia.html ecnasiamag.com] ] .References
ee also
*PRX
*TXE External links
* [http://www.meder.com/en/index.php?page=44 Summary of reed relay applications, from a manufacturer]
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