SHERIDAN COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING &

TECHNOLOGY

ENGI 21987 Electro Pneumatics

Relay Control of Valves 16EP

Direct and Indirect Control of Valves
• The piston rod of a single-acting cylinder
extends when a pushbutton is pressed.
When the pushbutton is released the
cylinder retracts.

• Figure 1 shows the associated pneumatic

circuit diagram.

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Direct and Indirect Control of Valves
• The electrical circuit diagram for direct control of the
single-acting cylinder is shown in Figure 2.
• When the pushbutton S1 is pressed, current flows through
the solenoid coil of the 3/2-way valve (3 ports and 2
switching positions).
• The solenoid is activated, the valve switches to the
actuated position and the cylinder extends.
• When the pushbutton is released, the flow of current is
interrupted.
• The solenoid 1M1 is de-energized, the valve switches to
the normal position and the cylinder retracts to its start
position.
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Figure 1 Pneumatic diagram Figure 2 Electric diagram using direct
control
Direct and Indirect Control of Valves
• If the pushbutton in an indirect control system is
pressed, as shown in Figure 3, current flows
through the relay coil. Contact K1 of the relay
closes, and the control valve switches. The
cylinder extends.

• When the pushbutton is released, the current flow

through the relay coil is interrupted. The relay is
de-energized, and the valve switches to the
normal position. The cylinder retracts.

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Figure 3 Electric diagram using indirect control
Direct and Indirect Control of Valves
• Indirect control is to be used whenever the following
conditions apply:

The main circuit and control circuit operate with different

voltages.
The current through the coil of the valve exceeds the
permissible current for the pushbutton.
Several valves are operated with one pushbutton or one
control switch.
Complex links are necessary between the signals of the
various pushbuttons.

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Control of a Double-acting Cylinder
• The piston rod of a double acting cylinder is
to advance when pushbutton S1 is pressed
and retracted when the pushbutton is
released.

• The electrical signal control circuit is

unchanged from the control system for a
single-acting cylinder, as shown in Figure
173.
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• As there are two cylinder chambers which have to be
vented or pressurized, either a 4/2-way valve (4 ports, 2
switching positions) or a 5/2-way valve (5 ports, 2
switching positions) is used, as shown below.

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 Relays
• Relays and contactors are used to perform
switching functions in home, office, and industry –
in furnaces, refrigerators, air conditioners, copy
machines, punch presses, molding machines,
and automation production and assembly
equipment.

• In electro-pneumatic control systems, relays are

mainly used for isolation of control circuits from
the main circuit, conversion and delaying of
signals and association of information.
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Relays
• In purely electrical controllers, the relay is
also used for isolation of DC and AC
circuits.

• Figure 4 shows a row of relays in the

control cabinet of a mechatronic control
system:

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Figure 4 Relays in a control cabinet

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Relays
• A relay consists of a solenoid coil of wire and
an electrical switch, as shown in Figure 5.

• The solenoid coil comprises hundreds or even

thousands of turns of wire wound on a soft
iron core.

• The switch comprises one or more stationary

contacts, and at least one or more movable
contacts.
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Figure 5 Construction of a relay
Relays
• A relay is an electromagnetically actuated switch.
• When a voltage is applied to the solenoid coil, an
electromagnetic field is generated.
• This causes the armature to be attracted to the coil
core.
• The armature actuates the relay contacts, either
closing or opening them, depending on the design.
• A return spring returns the armature to its initial
position when the current through the coil is
interrupted.
• Figure 6 shows an actuated relay.
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Relays

Figure 6 Relay energized – contacts are closed

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Relays
• Depending on the configuration of the contact or
contacts, the contacts may be normally open (NO),
normally closed (NC), or a combination of the two, as
shown in Figure 7.

• A normally open contact means that when the relay is

at rest, the contact is open. A normally closed contact
means that when the relay is at rest, the switch is
closed. That is, when the relay is actuated, the closed
contact then opens.

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 Relays

*) SPST-NO means Single Pole, Single Throw – Normally Open

-NC means Normally Closed
SPDT means Single Pole Double Throw

Figure 7 Single pole contact configuration

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Relays
• A “single pole, double throw” (SPDT) switch
has one movable contact, one normally
open contact and one normally closed
contact.

• When the relay is at rest, the movable

contact is touching the normally closed
contact, but not the normally open contact.

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Relays
• Other common contact configurations as
shown in Figure 8 are the “double make”
and “double break” arrangements.

• These forms make and/or break the load

circuit at two separate points.

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 Relays

*) DM means Double Make, DB means Double Break

Figure 8 Double contact configurations

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 Relays

This relay comes with 8

terminal points.

The terminals are COIL,

COIL, COM, COM, NO, NO,
NC, NC.

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Logical Operations
• In order to produce the required
movements by pneumatic cylinders, it is
often necessary to combine signals from
several control elements through logic
operations.

• The aim is to be able to trigger the

extension of a piston rod of a cylinder with
two different input elements, pushbuttons
S1 and S2.
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Logical Operations
• The contacts of the two pushbuttons are
connected in parallel in the circuit diagram
(Figure 177c and 177d).
• As long as no pushbutton is actuated, the valve
remains in its initial position.
• The piston rod is retracted. If at least one of the
two pushbuttons is pressed, the valve switches to
the actuated position and the piston rod extends.
• When both pushbuttons are released, the valve
switches back to its initial start position. The
piston rod is retracted.
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26
Logical Operations
• Below is a table representing the OR operation. The
following values are assigned to the signals:
 “0” – pushbutton not pressed or cylinder does not extend
 “1” – pushbutton pressed or cylinder extends

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Logical Operations
• In Figure 180 the contacts of the two pushbuttons
are connected in series.
• As long as neither or only one of the two
pushbuttons is activated, the valve remains in its
initial start position.
• If both pushbuttons are pressed at the same time,
the valve switches and the piston rod advances.
• When at least one of the two pushbuttons is
released, the valve switches to its initial start
position. The piston rod is retracted.
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Logical Operations
• Below is a table showing the AND operation in tabular
form. The following values are assigned to the signals:
 “0” – pushbutton not pressed or cylinder does not extend
 “1” – pushbutton pressed or cylinder extends

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Logical Operations
• In all of these circuits the piston rod only
advances as long as the input pushbutton is
actuated. If the pushbutton is released during the
advancing movement, the piston is retracted
without reached the forward end position.

• In practice it is usually necessary for the piston

rod to be fully extended even if the pushbutton is
pressed only briefly. To achieve this, the actuation
of the pushbutton must be stored.

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Signal Storage - Latching
Signal Storage with Double Solenoid Valves

• A double solenoid valve maintains its switching

position even when the associated solenoid coil is
no longer energized. It is used as a storage
element.

• Figure 183 shows a manual forward and return

stroke control with double solenoid valves.

• The two pushbuttons act directly or indirectly on the

coils of the double solenoid valve, as shown in
Figure 183c and 183d.
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Signal Storage with Double Solenoid
Valves
• If pushbutton S1 is activated, solenoid coil 1M1 is
energized.

• The double solenoid valve switches and the

piston rod advances.

• If the pushbutton S1 is released during the

advancing movement, the piston rod continues
extending to the forward end position because
the valve retains its switching position.
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Automatic Return Stroke Control with
Double Solenoid Valve

• The aim is for the piston rod of a double-

acting cylinder to be advanced when
pushbutton S1 is pressed.

• When the forward end position is

reached, the piston rod is to be returned.

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Figure 185
Automatic return
stroke control with
signal storage by
double solenoid
valve
Automatic Return Stroke Control with
Double Solenoid Valve

• The electrical circuit diagram for return stroke control

is shown in Figure 185b and 185c.
• When pushbutton S1 is actuated, the piston rod
advances.
• When the piston rod reaches the forward end
position, current is flowing through solenoid coil 1M2
via limit switch 1S2, and the piston rod retracts.
• The prerequisite for the return movement is that
pushbutton S1 must first have been released.

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Oscillating Movement with Double
Solenoid Valve
• Using a conveyor belt, parts are to be
transported in linear timed sequence to work
stations which arranged in line after one
another.

• When the latching pushbutton switch S1 is

pressed the main wheel is indexed by the
oscillating piston rod of cylinder 1A via a pawl,
as shown in Figure 187. When the pushbutton
switch is pressed again the drive is switched
off.
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• The piston rod of a cylinder is to advance and
retract automatically as soon as control switch S1
is activated. When the control switch is reset, the
piston rod is to occupy the retracted end position.

Figure 187

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Oscillating Movement with Double
Solenoid Valve
• Initially the control system is in the start position.

• The piston rod is in the fully retracted end position

and limit switch 1S1 is actuated (Figure 188). If S1 is
actuated, the piston rod advances.

• When the forward end position is reached, limit

switch 1S2 is actuated and the piston rod retracts.

• Another movement cycle begins when the cylinder

reaches the retracted end position.

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Relay Circuits with Latching
• When the “ON” pushbutton is actuated in the
circuit in Figure 190a, the relay coil is
energized.
• The relay is activated and contact K1 closes.
• After the “ON” pushbutton is released, current
flows continuously via contact K1 through the
coil.
• The relay remains in the actuated position.
• The “ON” signal is stored. Therefore it is a
relay circuit with latching function.
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Relay Circuits with Latching
• When the “OFF” pushbutton is pressed the
current flow is interrupted and the relay
becomes de-energized.

• If the “ON” and “OFF” pushbuttons are both

pressed at the same time, the relay coil is
energized.

• It is a dominant ON latching circuit.

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Relay Circuits with Latching
• The circuit shown in Figure 190b has the same
behavior as the circuit in Figure 190a if only the
“ON” pushbutton or only the “OFF” pushbutton is
pressed.

• The behavior is different when both pushbuttons

are pressed at the same time. In this circuit the
relay coil is not energized.

• This circuit is referred to as a dominant OFF

latching circuit.
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Manual Forward and Return Stroke
Control via Relay with Latching Function

• The piston rod of a cylinder is to advance

when pushbutton S1 is pressed and retract
when pushbutton S2 is pressed.

• A relay with latching function is to be used

for signal storage.

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Manual Forward and Return Stroke
Control via Relay with Latching Function

• As shown in Figure 5c, when the

pushbutton S1 is pressed, the relay is
latched. The valve is actuated and the
cylinder extends.

• The latch is broken by pressing pushbutton

S2 – solenoid 1Y loses power and the
valve returns to home position. The cylinder
retracts.
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