Monday, October 16, 2006

Illuminated switches improve recognition, safety

An illuminated pushbutton range uses LED's that are much brighter than incandescent bulbs. This greater brightness improves colour recognition and consequently safety.

Matsushita Electric Works has introduced an updated range of 3A/250VAC-100mA/125VAC, pushbutton and selector switches designed to meet the ISO12100 series of international safety standards. The man-machine interface must be designed to enable the status of the machine to be recognised, clearly and correctly by anyone running the machine, without the need of special training or expertise. For this reason display lamp colours conform to standards set out under IEC60073 (JIS C 0448) and IEC60204-1 (JIS B 9960).

This durable, splash proof switch series has a lock lever system for ease of installation and due to the light operational load, enabled by the snap action actuation, has a pleasant, light switching action.

The ND series, apart from the buzzer, is UL and CSA approved and carries the CE mark.

The illuminated pushbutton range use LED's that are much brighter than incandescent bulbs.

This greater brightness improves colour recognition and consequently, safety.

The difference between yellow and green is particularly easy to see.

The power consumption of the 12V type has been greatly reduced, particularly in the 16mm diameter type, to 10mA or less.

The LED's have a life of 5 years (50,000 hours) if continuously illuminated.

The current limiting resistor and protective diode are already built into the LED bulb.

Product is available in 6 illuminated colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and white and the splash proof types have an IP 65 seal.

The emergency pushbutton switches, available in 25mm and 40mm diameters, are equipped with a safety lock mechanism.

The contact does not move until the pushbutton has been completely locked and will not switch until the button has been depressed completely, thus avoiding inadvertent actuation.

Another safety feature is the forced contact separation mechanism, which will ensure that a circuit will be shut off even in the event of contact weld.

The ND Series is available in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a range of covers, mounting hole plugs and maintenance tools.