| 摘要 |
An electrical relay that uses a conducting liquid in the switching mechanism. In the relay, a pair of fixed electrical contacts is held a small distance from a pair of moveable electrical contacts. The facing surfaces of the contacts each support a droplet of a conducting liquid, such as a liquid metal. A piezoelectric or magnetorestrictive actuator is energized to move the pair of moveable contacts, closing the gap between one of the fixed contacts and one of the moveable contacts, thereby causing conducting liquid droplets to coalesce and form an electrical circuit. At the same time, the gap between the other fixed contact and the other moveable contact is increased, thereby causing conducting liquid droplets to separate and break an electrical circuit. The actuator is then de-energized and the moveable electrical contacts return to their starting positions. The volume of liquid metal is chosen so that liquid metal droplets remain coalesced or separated because of surface tension in the liquid. The relay is amenable to manufacture by micro-machining techniques.
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