Standex-Meder Electronics, the manufacturer of custom and standard reed switches, reed sensors, reed relays, and magnetics, have announced a new ATEX optocoupler for intrinsically safe circuits. The optocoupler series are tested and certified for extreme/harsh environments such as potentially explosive atmospheres so they will not become an ignition point when subjected to short circuits or adjacent component failures. Mining is one of the core markets that will benefit from the optocouplers.

Optocouplers are electronic components which use light waves to provide electrical isolation while transferring an electrical signal. Standex-Meder’s optocouplers have a number of different uses and applications, which include: control technology, network engineering, automation technology communication systems, measurement and data acquisition systems, control and connection equipment, and heating technology. Additional applications are counting systems, speed indication, rotation measurement, seismic instrumentation, temperature monitoring and measurement, and medical ESD protection.

The main features that the optocouplers offer are their galvanic separation between input and output circuits, analog & digital signal transfer is possible, there are marginal coupling capacities between input and output, only minor output delay times compared to relays, and they have a long life due to their nonabrasive mechanical wear. Their isolation resistance between input & output is up to 10e+13 Ω, their magnetic fields do not impact operation, a photodiode makes for very short cycle times (nanoseconds) with more than 10 MHz possible, and there are input and output differences up to 20 kV. Also, Standex-Meder’s optocouplers are able to invert the output signal during transfer, there is a lifetime factor increased by a factor of ten if the LED is used with less than 50% of the nominal current, and they are resistant against voltage drop.