An Electronic Control Unit for Reducing Contact Bounce in Electromagnetic Contactors

With the increasing concern on reliability and life span of electromagnetic contactors, manufacturers are now providing devices equipped with electronic control units, in an effort to reduce problems associated with contact bounce, such as contact wear, excessive heating, contact welding, etc. The addition of a control unit, however, brings increased costs both in the development and production of this new generation of contactors. Considering this, a cost-effective microcontroller-based electronic control module is proposed. Some fundamental equations are reviewed, and the most important aspects of the control algorithms employed are discussed. Finally, experimental results are presented.