Solenoid Cutter Mechanism

Since I have my solenoids working properly I started working on the cutter mechanism. Solenoids are really neat mechanisms and if it weren't for them generating A LOT of heat I wouldn't even have to design a mechanism. But they do, so I will!

The purpose of this mechanism is to allow me to keep the cutter open or closed for ANY amount of time. I started thinking of all these neat mechanisms that would allow me to latch the solenoid. These were pretty complex but eventually it got more and more simple. Eventually it came down to this design.

The figure below show the solenoids in the starting position. You can see that the solenoid plungers don't have any magnets attached to them or anything. The magnets are on the brackets at the end. The solenoid at the top is in the on postion, meaning the current is running through it to attract the plunger and retract it. The bottom solenoid is in the off position. I don't have a representation of a hole in this experiment but imagine that the hole is just to the right of the bracket in the middle.

In order to cutter the water the bottom solenoid will turn on, but just for a moment (200 ms). Once the cutter mechanism has moved to the "closed position" (see figure below) the upper solenoid engages the magnets and the valve is now closed and all current is off.


In order to move the cutter mechanism basck to the start the top solenoid is turned on and the entire process starts over again.

I can't say that this is the exact design that I am going to use yet. I still have a few other ideas that I have before I commit to one design, but so far I am pleased with these results. So I only run current through it to move the mechanism once it arrives at its destination the current turns off and remains in the position until the next solenoid is turned on. That means no excess heat, and remember HEAT is the enemy in electronics.