Discovered New Components and Products

DISCOVERED NEW PRODUCTS
Discover New Products List, Page 2
New Products 2009

New product announcements are made nearly every day. I subscribe to many trade journals and each is filled with hundreds of flashy advertisements. But, only a few of those product ads catch my eye. Since I’m a circuit designer, I especially like those components that trigger many new application ideas in my mind. Sometimes it is the smallest products that are the most useful. Tiny surface mounted components that perform a nice little function have countless applications. I also like anything that keeps battery power consumption low. These days you can do many interesting things with a well-designed circuit powered from just a few tiny button battery cells.

I often discover new products in surplus electronic catalogs. The surplus companies often buy up stock that came from companies that went out of business. Bad marketing or bad management may have killed a perfectly good product idea. Their loss can be your gain if you can spot the bargain.

In this section I will highlight some components or products that have attracted my attention. Let me know what new products you have seen that got you excited.

Charge Pump Converter Works down to 0.3 Volts

Using fully depleted transistors Seiko’s IC S-882Z can produce several volts from an input of only 0.3 volts. This would be perfect for a battery charger circuit, powered from a single 0.5 volt silicon solar cell. The S-882Z device would provide the needed initial higher start-up voltage for a conventional voltage boost type switching regulator. Once started, a bit of the output of the regulator would be used to main regulator operation. This “bootstrap” method could keep the overall efficiency in excess of 85%.

Miniature Flame Detector

Looking very much like a small NE-2 neon lamp, Hamamatsu’s “UV Tron” R2868 deep ultraviolet detector can detect the unique light from an open flame from several feet away. The 200 nanometer wavelength response of the Hamamatsu device ignores the ultraviolet from sunlight, allowing it to be used in outdoor applications. The only downside of the device is that it requires a stable 325 volt supply which can source in excess of 1ma of current. This would make the device difficult to operate using a battery supply.

Near Object Sensor From Sharp

The GP2 family of devices from Sharp has been used in automatic flushing toilets and in automatic faucets for many years now. The devices contain both an infrared LED and a PIN photo diode which is connected to a synchronous detection scheme circuit. This method ignores most ambient light changes and only responds to light reflected off an object that appears in front of the device. The typical range of detection is 16 inches but with a carefully designed circuit, it can be extended out to almost 10 feet. The only downside of this device is its power hungry 33ma current draw.

Ultra Low Current Drain Voltage Regulators from Seiko

I could not believe my eyes when I first saw these devices. Here was a low voltage regulator that demanded only a microamp or so of current. Wow, these things have lots and lots of applications. Now I could supply some of my ultra low current circuits with a nice regulated voltage, without blowing my total battery current budget. I have since included these parts in several of my new designs.

I would recommend using the Seiko S-812 regulators. These have a higher input voltage limit. They offer both through-hole and surface mounted packages. You can buy them through your Seiko distributor or from Mouser Electronics. For more technical information visit Seiko’s website Seiko Electronics.

Tiny AC to DC Power Supplies from Bias Power Technology

These devices are bit pricey and sometimes they are not always available but I have used these things in two different products I have designed. They are great when you have a circuit board that requires a fully isolated DC supply and power line connections. Their square inch printed circuit board surface area requirement is much smaller than conventional switching regulator or a transformer approaches. The output power ratings of these devices range from 0.25 watts to 4 watts. Their universal input voltage range of 85vac to 265vac is a real bonus. My only wish is that the price could be a bit lower. They are available from Digikey. You can download more technical data from their website at: Bias Power Technology

Capacitance Based Proximity Switches from Quantum Research Group

I design many such switches in my career. Some of the first of my designs go back almost 20 years. Quantum Research has a nice line of ICs that can be turned into many useful products. I have designed and sold many switches using their devices. But, be warned. Their website and product data sheets suck. They also have terrible application notes. But, if you are willing to study and experiment with their products, you will be able to come up with some nice capacitance switch circuits. The really nice feature of their parts is their ability to self calibrate every few seconds to minutes. Once set, the switch can be activated with just a hand wave over a metal plate. Their power demands are also low, allowing them to operate from batteries. You can buy them through Digikey and you can get more information by visiting their website at: Quantum Research Group

Instant Clock Generator from Linear Technology

Linear’s LTC1799 is a very simple device to use. It’s tiny SOT-23 package takes up very little board space. It only requires a single external resistor to set up the frequency, which is accurate to about 1.5%. Using its internal divider, you can divide the oscillator frequency by a factor of 1, 10 or 100. Its maximum frequency is 30MHz but its minimum is only 1KHz. My only complaint with the part is its current draw of 1.3 milliamps is a bit high for many battery powered applications. Maybe they will be coming out with a low power version. I can imagine a device with a maximum 30KHz frequency, which could generate a much lower 1Hz clock and perhaps draw less than 10 microamps. The device is available from Digikey. For more information visit Linear Technology.

Low Power Voltage Comparators from National Semiconductor

The LMC7215 from National Semiconductor is a wonder device. I have found many applications for this thing. Its 2 to 8 volt supply range is perfect for many battery powered circuits. It draws only 1 microamp of current, yet can source or sink 25 milliamps of current. This makes the device great for driving LEDs or big FETs.

Light To Frequency Converter from Texas Instruments

There are many ways you can monitor the intensity of light and produce an output. The typical circuits turn the light into either a current or voltage. But, Texas Instruments has integrated a linear light to frequency converter into one small device. This is perfect for some applications where an intensity times time product is needed. By counting the number of pulses per unit time, you have the light energy figure you need. The Texas Instruments TSL245 is very sensitive and can handle light down to less than 0.01 microwatts per square centimeter or a very bright 1 milliwatt per square centimeter, which produces an output frequency of 500KHz, while drawing about 2 milliamps. Its supply voltage can range from 2.7 to 6 volts. The only problem with this part is that it is restricted to the infrared spectrum from 800nm to about 1050nm. According to TI the TSL235 with a clear plastic package and sensitive to visible light, is now obsolete. Go figure!

Tiny But Powerful FETs from Fairchild

I was hoping that someone would eventually package some MOSFETs with high current ratings in a small package. Fairchild, Zetex and others have finally done it. You can now get a device, which can switch over 2 amps in a tiny SOT-23 package. The FDN337 from Fairchild, available from Digikey has a maximum drain voltage of 30 volts, a maximum current of 2.2 amps and has a turn-on threshold of only 1 volt.

Ultra Low Current Voltage Detectors from Microchip

These nifty parts will monitor the voltage from a battery and change state when the voltage drops below a certain point. They do this feat while drawing only a microamp or so of current. I have designed many circuits using these things. You can even turn them into a very low power oscillator with a few extra parts. These parts are available from Digikey. They are offered in both an open drain and a push pull output version. The series 54 draws only 1 microamp of current while monitoring voltages ranging from 1.4 volts to 7.7 volts. The maximum voltage is 12 volts.

Latching Relays from Aromat

OK, I know, these are not the flashiest new products but I’m amazed how many designs waste power by holding a set of relay contacts closed. Some new latching relays are small and can handle over 10 amps of current. This is enough to power a good size pump motor or a bunch of lights. Using some small super capacitors, I’m working out ways to latch and unlatch these relays using the power from a small lithium battery cell. The relays from Aromat are typical. Their DK1A-L2-3V can be latched or unlatched in about 20 milliseconds. It has a contact rating of 10 amps at 250vac and a coil resistance of 45 ohms.

Super Capacitors from Cooper

These are new devices looking for new applications. They are like a hammer, looking for a nail. They can’t compete with batteries for energy stored per unit volume or even energy per unit weight, but they will last much longer than batteries and some have some real “punch” when it comes to delivering high peak power. When coupled to a small solar cell panel, these devices can be charged during the day and deliver their energy at night. I have also experimented with them for driving some low voltage latching relays from small batteries. In that circuit, the big capacitor is used as a charge pump to deliver more than enough peak voltage to the relay’s coil from a single 3v lithium cell.

There must over twenty different companies now offering large capacitance devices in a small package. The capacitors from Cooper are typical. Their AA size device claims a peak current delivery of 35 amps with a voltage of 2.7 volts.

Tiny Single Gate Logic Devices from Toshiba

Have you ever had a design that required a single nand gate, nor gate, inverter, analog switch or flip/flop? Now you don’t have to take up valuable board space with a 14 pin logic package. You can just use one of these devices. With the size shrunk down, these 5 or 6 pin devices can allow you to do some neat things, while being squeezed into a small space. Fairchild, Toshiba and Texas Instruments all have single gate devices. The Toshiba TC4S584 single Schmitt trigger inverter is typical. It has a wide power supply range of 3v to 15v. By starving the device for voltage at 2.5 volts, you can make yourself a nice low frequency oscillator, which draws only a couple microamps of current. At the other extreme, The Toshiba TC7SHU04 single unbuffered inverter can be turned into a voltage amplifier with a gain of about X10 and a bandwidth that exceeds 50MHz.