RELAY ECONOMIZER AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

摘要

A relay economizer according to the present invention, which can reduce current consumption according to the operation of a relay, comprises: a first switch which applies a relay driving voltage to a coil of the relay; at least one voltage detection unit which detects the size of the relay driving voltage; a variable resistor unit which forms a closed circuit with the first switch and the coil of the relay and of which resistance is varied according to the detected size of the relay driving voltage; and a second switch which is connected to the variable resistor unit in parallel. The relay economizer of the present invention can reduce the dependence on a control unit by simplifying a circuit using a plurality of switches and resistors, can be applied as an external circuit of the relay to have high universality, and can adaptively reduce the current consumption of the relay according to the size of the relay driving voltage by adaptively subdividing the holding state of the relay according to the variation in the relay driving voltage to maintain the relay in a plurality of holding states after the pickup operation of the relay.