Industrial technology is, at once, astonishingly simple and rightfully complex. Automated processes are nothing new – but continued development of smart industrial workflows, coupled with parallel development of machine learning algorithms and initiative-taking AI processes, only leads to a disrupted landscape for tech, manufacturing and more.
Within this complex array of interrelated technologies, there are many small and (relatively) insignificant pieces of the puzzle; without any one of them, an entire industry collapses. Here, then, an opportunity to consider one such puzzle piece: the magnetic reed switch. Magnetic reed switches are compact, reliable sensors used to detect the presence, absence, or movement of magnetic fields. They are, like industrial technology writ large, at once astonishingly simple and rightfully complex. How exactly do they contribute to the tech environment?
Security and Access Control Applications
One of the more obvious use cases for magnetic reed switches is, of course, in security and access. Magnetic reed switches can be used to detect the opening and/or closing of a given entry point, be it a window, door or hatch. The switch would close a circuit linked to an alarm system, alerting the system to an entry – unauthorized or otherwise. This isn’t just a tool for commercial and domestic alarm systems; it can also be used to great effect in industry.
Industrial Automation and Machinery Monitoring
For instance, magnetic reed switches are indispensable components in automated industrial processes, as a sensor that can monitor internal processes and workings – with quicker reaction times than other non-automated solutions.
Such switches can act as arbiters for the operating limits of a piece of machinery, engaging when a magnetized part moves out of tolerance and halting a process before equipment is damaged. They can also be used to sense the movement of components and materials through an assembly line, triggering new stages in a process accordingly.
Environmental and Utility Measurement Devices
These active processes are benefited heavily by magnetic reed switches – but it isn’t just the active engagement with automated technologies that magnetic reed switches lend themselves too. They are also indispensable for measurement and calibration devices; reed switches feature in flow meters, level indicators, and other monitoring instruments where movement needs to be detected without mechanical wear.
Consumer Electronics and Everyday Devices
Lastly but no less importantly, magnetic reed switches are a common feature in consumer devices. They are integrated into a wide variety of technologies, from electric bicycles to laptops and kitchen appliances; they are typically used to enable functions such as lid detection or speed measurement. As an example, closing a laptop lid activates a reed switch, which in turn triggers a subroutine that puts it to sleep.
