Relay with world’s smallest footprint to be unveiled at Semicon West
Pickering Electronics plan to release exciting new Reed Relay, the Series 120, at Semicon West 2017, on booth 5162.
The Pickering Series 120 is a range of Single Pole (1 Form A) reed relays that will require a board area of only 4mm x 4mm, making it the highest packing density currently available, taking up the smallest board area ever.
Two switch types are available, a general purpose sputtered ruthenium switch rated for up to 20 Watts, 1 Amp and a low level sputtered ruthenium switch rated at 10 Watts, 0.5 Amps.
These are the same reed switches as used in many other long established Pickering Electronics ranges but are orientated vertically within the package, allowing this very high density.
The small size of the package does not allow an internal diode. Back EMF suppression diodes are included in many relay drivers but if they are not, and depending on your drive methods, these may have to be provided externally.
The relays feature an internal mu-metal magnetic screen. Mu-metal has the advantage of a high permeability and low magnetic remanence and eliminates problems that would otherwise occur due to magnetic interaction. Relays of this small size without magnetic screening would be totally unsuitable for applications where dense packing is required.
The image to the right has a total of 528 Series 120 relays on Pickering Interfaces’ ultra-high-density module, illustrating the packing density of these extremely small Reed Relays.
The device has pins on a 2mm square pitch. There are suitable connectors available from some manufacturers, both SMD and Through Hole, that will allow these relays to be stacked in either a row or in a matrix on a 4mm pitch.
To learn more about this industry changing Reed Relay visit Pickering Electronics in booth 5162 at Semicon West 2017 this July.
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John Moore founder of Pickering Electronics will be ‘greatly missed’
TRIBUTES have been paid to the founder of an electronics firm, who employed hundreds of people and was still involved with the company weeks before he died.
John Moore 84, of Frinton, launched Pickering Electronics in 1968 to manufacture high quality components.
He grew up in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and always had a strong passion and drive to succeed. After two years’ national service in the RAF he had several electrical engineering jobs at companies including Marconi Instruments, De Havilland Aircraft and Knowles Electronics. Mr Moore had fond memories of his time at Knowles. After landing a new job at Astralux Dynamics in Brightlingsea, he moved to Great Bentley. That job did not work out so he started his own company and Pickering Electronics was launched.
Its UK factories in Clacton employ about 160 people, with two more factories in the Czech Republic and offices in countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australasia.
Mr Moore was incredibly proud of Pickering and all its employees, and was still involved in the company until the last few weeks of his life. He died last month after a short illness.
Company director Graham Dale said: “Pickering has been based in Clacton for around 45 years. In that time, John has seen many hundreds of employees pass through our doors, some staying with the company for 20, 30, or even 40 years. John always had a high regard for our staff, considering them to be our most valuable asset. In turn, he was held in high regard by so many and will be greatly missed.”
Pickering’s 49 year history will continue to be overseen by Mr Moore’s son Keith. He said: “My father built Pickering from nothing to employing over 300 people worldwide exporting 90 per cent overseas. I have every intention to continue this growth while keeping Pickering’s original values and employee-orientated behaviour”.
He leaves behind wife Rosemary, son Keith and five grandchildren, two of whom work at Pickering. His funeral takes place at Weeley Crematorium on 8th June at 12.30pm. Mourners are being urged to wear bright clothing in celebration of his life and achievements.
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Pickering Electronics to showcase latest reed relays at TUG 2017
Clacton-on-Sea, England. Pickering Electronics announced it will be showcasing its latest high-voltage reed relays at the Teradyne Users Group vendor fair on May 2, 2017, in San Francisco.
Pickering Electronics said it has expanded its high-voltage single-in-line (SIL/SIP) reed relay range to include three new series that all offer higher packing density: the Series 67 and 68 dry reed-relay range for up to 10 kV and the Series 119 micro-SIL range for up to 3 kV.
The company calls the Series 119 the industry’s smallest high-voltage SIL/SIP reed relay for up to 3 kV stand-off: the 1 Form A, 2 Form A, and 1 Form B versions are available with either 3-, 5-, or 12-V operating coils. The 1 Form A, 1-kV version has four pins on 0.15-inch (3.8-mm) pitch, the same as the long-established Series 109P. These can be stacked side-by-side for maximum packing density (all Pickering SIL/SIP relays have full magnetic screening allowing side by side operation).
This Series 119 relay is intended for voltages considerably higher than standard small SIL/SIP relays, suitable for cable and backplane testers and mixed-signal ATE. Pickering also offers other SIL/SIP high-voltage dry reed relays with the Series 104 for use up to 3-kV stand-off, 25-W switching.
The Series 67 and 68 reed-relay range are available for up to 10-kV stand-off, 7.5-kV switching, with an option of either PCB or flying-lead switch connections. Similar in specification to the long-established Series 60/65, these new relays are manufactured in a SIL/SIP format using former-less coils, which dispense with the more usual coil-supporting bobbin, allowing a smaller package than similar rated devices.
The unusual package design does present some interesting packing possibilities for high density applications such as multiplexers and matrices in instrumentation and test systems. 5-, 12-, and 24-V coils are available as standard, and other voltages can be supplied to special order, as can variations in the lead length of the Series 68 range. The relays are suitable for high-voltage transformer and cable test and some electro-medical applications such as defibrillators.
The long-established Series 60, 62, 63, and 65 are suitable for up to 15-kV stand-off, 12.5-kV switching at 50 W maximum. The Series 62 and 63 also come with push-on connections on the top face. Like the Series 67 and 68, these larger parts all feature robust tungsten plated contacts to ensure a long and reliable life.
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‘Hot’ versus ‘Cold’ switching
Reed Relays generally have a higher Carry Current rating than their ‘hot’ Switching Current rating. It is usually during ‘hot’ switching where contact damage occurs due to the resulting arc across the contacts as they open or close.
A severe current overload will quickly melt the contact area causing the two surfaces to fuse together creating a hard weld as soon as the contact closes. Less severe current inrushes will cause a milder weld or gradually build up a ‘pip’ on one contact and erode a ‘crater’ on the other according to the direction of current flow. These can eventually lock together. Arcs can occur when contacts open, particularly when the load is inductive and Back EMFs from inductive loads should always be limited, usually by a simple diode in the case of DC loads or by a Snubber or Varistor in the case of AC loads.
One way to reduce or remove these issues is to ‘Cold’ switch. This is a common technique in Test Instrumentation, where the current or voltage stimulus is not applied to the switch until after the relay has been operated and contact bounce finished. In the same way, the stimulus is removed before the contact is opened. In this way, there will be no arcing or switched current inrushes and the relay will achieve maximum life, often into billions of operations.
When calculating the delay time between switching on the relay coil and applying the current to the switch, it is important to consider the effects of high ambient temperature if this is likely to be encountered. The maximum operate time and bounce figures given on the data sheets are at a 25°C ambient level. At higher temperatures, the resistance of the coil winding will increase at a rate of 0.4 % per °C, this being the coefficient of resistance of the copper coil wire. There will therefore be a corresponding fall in coil current and the level of the magnetic field that is generated to operate the reed switch. This lower drive level will increase the operate time slightly.
The timing figures on Pickering data sheets are normally quite conservative so this is unlikely to be an issue up to the normal ambient specification of 85°C. However, if there is any additional self-heating within the relay due to a high carry current and the switch resistance (I²R Watts), it will be necessary to consider this and allow a little more time before turning on the current through the switch.
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