Even though solenoids have been around for a while now, we hardly have given them much attention in our new products that are posted daily online. The main reason for that is that we just don’t receive press releases from companies or the PR folks, announcing them. I have not even seen one release since I started covering them and I have been the editor in charge of them for about six months now. We do however feature solenoids heavily in EEM.com.
I personally do not find solenoid glamorous or innovative parts compared to the analog/mixed-signal ICs that I usually cover. However, they are important parts to mention, because they are needed in designs that involve linear or rotary operations.
They actually appear under two types: linear and rotary. They both operate in the same fashion. A few places that we might see linear solenoids are vending machines, door locks, and medical apparati. Applications for rotary solenoids include media storage, lasers, machine tools, and photo processing.
Linear solenoids use an electromagnet with a movable core or plunger, which when energized moves a small mechanical part a short distance, producing linear mechanical motion with an axial stroke in either a push or pull action.
Rotary solenoids convert axial motion into rotary stroke. The assembly consists of the armature plate, the hub, and the shaft, which is the complete moving element in a rotary solenoid.
For more applications in which linear or rotary solenoids are used go to the Ledex Web site or just click on http://www.ledex.com/solenoid/solenoid-applications.html
Also solenoids.com provides a tutorial for these parts and a glossary of terms to help with the selection for your product design.
In the mean time, if you know of any new trends in solenoids, please let me know.
Christina Nickolas
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