Relay

A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to operate

a switching mechanism mechanically, but other operating principles are also used.
Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal (with
complete electrical isolation between control and controlled circuits), or where several
circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first relays were used in long distance
telegraph circuits, repeating the signal coming in from one circuit and re-transmitting it
to another. Relays were used extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers
to perform logical operations.

A type of relay that can handle the high power required to directly drive an electric motor
is called a contactor. Solid-state relays control power circuits with no moving parts,
instead using a semiconductor device to perform switching. Relays with calibrated
operating characteristics and sometimes multiple operating coils are used to protect
electrical circuits from overload or faults; in modern electric power systems these
functions are performed by digital instruments still called "protective relays".

Relays are used to and for:

 Control a high-voltage circuit with a low-voltage signal, as in some types of

modems or audio amplifiers,
 Control a high-current circuit with a low-current signal, as in the starter solenoid
of an automobile,
 Detect and isolate faults on transmission and distribution lines by opening and
closing circuit breakers (protection relays),
 Time delay functions. Relays can be modified to delay opening or delay closing a
set of contacts. A very short (a fraction of a second) delay would use a copper
disk between the armature and moving blade assembly. Current flowing in the
disk maintains magnetic field for a short time, lengthening release time. For a
slightly longer (up to a minute) delay, a dashpot is used. A dashpot is a piston
filled with fluid that is allowed to escape slowly. The time period can be varied by
increasing or decreasing the flow rate. For longer time periods, a mechanical
clockwork timer is installed.

Walter A. Elmore. Protective Relaying Theory and Applications. Marcel Dekker, Inc..
ISBN 0-8247-9152-5.

Power windows

Power windows or electric windows as well as electric or power window lifts are
automobile windows which can be raised and lowered by depressing a button or switch,
as opposed to using a hand-turned crank handle. Power windows are usually inoperable
when the car is not running as the electrical system is not 'live' once the ignition has
been turned off. The Hydro-Lectric system; however, could lower the windows at rest,
since pressure from the hydraulic system was merely released to lower the window.
Raising the windows required the pump to operate (at a fairly high noise level) and
introduce pressure at each cylinder. These hydraulic systems also required pressure
lines to each cylinder (door, seat and top) and tended to leak.

Hemmings Classic Car. January 2009. pp. 22–23

Emergency button

The emergency button option designates a button on hand-held or vehicle radios which sends the
MDC-1200 unit ID with an emergency flag appended. The decoder notes the unit ID but
interprets this data packet as an emergency message rather than a unit ID.

Options allow emergency messages to always be sent over a specific channel rather than the
channel set by the operator using the channel selector. For example, a system with two channels
could be programmed to send all emergency messages on channel 2. This reduces interruption of
the primary dispatch channel if an emergency button is pressed.

The default setup for emergency buttons is for the sending radio to be completely silent when the
emergency button is pressed. The radio will silently send the emergency message, with the four-
digit unit ID embedded, three times. In hand-held radios, this increases the probability of at least
one packet getting through.

In a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) environment, the button press may pop a dialog box or
activate some other attention-getting device. For example, on a screen showing status summary
of all units, the unit with an activated emergency button may change colors or flash.

Usages

 A shut-down switch for catastrophic circumstances to avert further damage or to cause it,
example an "emergency power-off" button.
 Help call in emergencies or for disabled persons.
 Firing or detonating a weapon, typically a nuclear device.
 In hacker jargon, the shutdown button or power switch on a computer, especially the red
"emergency pull" switch on IBM mainframe operator consoles. The term has also
sometimes been used for the power switch on IBM PCs.

Clark, Laurence (4 November 2006). "The Big Red Button". Ouch!. BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/the_big_red_button.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
Power Supply

A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term
is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another,
though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy (e.g., mechanical,
chemical, solar) to electrical energy. A regulated power supply is one that controls the output
voltage or current to a specific value; the controlled value is held nearly constant despite
variations in either load current or the voltage supplied by the power supply's energy source.

Every power supply must obtain the energy it supplies to its load, as well as any energy it
consumes while performing that task, from an energy source. Depending on its design, a power
supply may obtain energy from:

 Electrical energy transmission systems. Common examples of this include power

supplies that convert AC line voltage to DC voltage.
 Energy storage devices such as batteries and fuel cells.
 Electromechanical systems such as generators and alternators.
 Solar power.

A power supply may be implemented as a discrete, stand-alone device or as an integral device

that is hardwired to its load. In the latter case, for example, low voltage DC power supplies are
commonly integrated with their loads in devices such as computers and household electronics.

Constraints that commonly affect power supplies include:

 The amount of voltage and current they can supply.

 How long they can supply energy without needing some kind of refueling or recharging
(applies to power supplies that employ portable energy sources).
 How stable their output voltage or current is under varying load conditions.
 Whether they provide continuous or pulsed energy.

Miller, Rex. Electronics The Easy Way, 4th ed. Barron's Educational Series, 2002 p. 88-89.

Water Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.

A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into five major groups:
direct lift, displacement, velocity, buoyancy and gravity pumps. Their names describe the
method for moving a fluid.

The positive displacement principle applies whether the pump is a

  rotary lobe pump
 progressing cavity pump
 rotary gear pump
 piston pump
 diaphragm pump
 screw pump
 gear pump
 Hydraulic pump
 vane pump
 regenerative (peripheral) pump
 peristaltic

Hill, Donald Routledge (1996). A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times.
London: Routledge. p. 143.

Permanent Magnet Alternator (YAF-54)

An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to

electrical energy in the form of alternating current. Most alternators use a rotating
magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used. In principle, any AC electrical
generator can be called an alternator, but usually the word refers to small rotating
machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines. Alternators in
power stations driven by steam turbines are called turbo-alternators.

Principle of operation

Diagram of a simple alternator with a rotating magnetic core (rotor) and stationary wire
(stator) also showing the current induced in the stator by the rotating magnetic field of
the rotor.

Alternators generate electricity by the same principle as DC generators, namely, when

the magnetic field around a conductor changes, a current is induced in the conductor.
Typically, a rotating magnet called the rotor turns within a stationary set of conductors
wound in coils on an iron core, called the stator. The field cuts across the conductors,
generating an induced EMF, as the mechanical input causes the rotor to turn.

The rotating magnetic field induces an AC voltage in the stator windings. Often there
are three sets of stator windings, physically offset so that the rotating magnetic field
produces three phase currents, displaced by one-third of a period with respect to each
other.

Thompson, Sylvanus P., Dynamo-Electric Machinery, A Manual for Students of

Electrotechnics, Part 1, Collier and Sons, New York, 1902