A new design of multi-contact reed relay for improving switching load capacity

Reeds and reed devices are being employed to serve as measuring and switching elements in automated electrical power systems where the load currents encountered are much greater than in electronic system applications. Much work has been performed to look for an appropriate reed structure to improve switching capacity. In this paper, modified power reed structures with double and treble contact gaps are presented. It has been proven by theoretical analysis and experiments that their load capacities are significantly increased. The most important problem that must be considered is the dynamic behavior of the modified structures. The transient state under closure and opening operation of the reed structure were analyzed by the finite element method. Based on the computations, the conclusions on dynamic behavior of the reed's operation and proper selection of the reed's parameters were performed using these computations.