3
UC1702
UC2702
UC3702
CT: A capacitor from the CT pin to ground sets the oscil
lator center frequency. Note that the oscillator period
must be least an order of magnitude less than the relax
ation time constant (L/R) of the relay coil. However, a
needlessly high operating frequency only increases
power dissipation. For best accuracy, CT should be
220pF or greater.
GND: Both ground pins must be connected to a low
noise system ground.
INA, INB, INC, IND: Separate digital control inputs for
each of the four relay drivers. An active high input (a
logic high) turns on the respective relay. Active low dis
ables the common-emitter drive transistor.
OUTA, OUTB, OUTC, OUTD: Each of these output pins
can be connected to the low side of one relay coil. The
rated relay coil voltage of all relays to be driven by a sin
gle UC3702 must be the same. (It is permissible to use
coils with different rated series resistances with a single
UC3702, so long as the rated coil voltages are the same
and care is taken with respect to the relaxation times of
the different relay coils). Output transients are slew rate
limited to decrease electro-magnetic radiation.
R1: User selected external resistor must be placed from
the R1 pin to the VBUS voltage supply. Sensing the
VBUS amplitude, the oscillator varies its ON duty cycle
such that the average voltage across the driver coil is
constant.
R2: User selected external resistor must placed from R2
pin to GND. This resistor, in conjunction with the external
timing capacitor, CT, sets the OFF cycle time of the oscil
-
lator. For best accuracy, use 42.3kΩ for R2.
RESET:
Digital reset pin is active low. When RESET is
low, the oscillator stops running and all drivers are open
collector.
VCC: Nominally 5V. In addition to supplying the voltage
for the driver logic and oscillator circuit, the VCC supply
is used as reference for the generating the average relay
voltage. It is recommended that the VCC be regulated to
±5% of its nominal value or better to insure good regula
-
tion. Good decoupling with a minimum of 1µF is neces
-
sary.
VBUS: This pin should be tied to a low impedance voltage source at some voltage higher than the rated voltage
of the relay coil to be driven. VBUS may even be a
poorly filtered rectified sin wave, as the UC3702 will regulate the correct duty cycle. Good decoupling with a minimum of 1µF is necessary.
PIN DESCRIPTIONS
The UC3702 must be programmed for a specific relay
voltage. The table given below has some suggested val
-
ues of R1, R2, and CT. The VCC supply voltage is as
-
sumed to be 5V.
More generally, the following equation can be used to
determine the equivalent average relay voltage:
V
VCC R
R
mV
RELAY
=
••
•
106 1
22
400
.
–
Industrial Relays
The UC3702 takes advantage of the inductance of the
relay coil to regulate a constant coil current in a manner
very similar to a switch-mode power supply. To use the
UC3702 correctly, the coil characteristics must be
known. The rated relay voltage is what the relay manu
facturers specify as voltage to drive the relay coil with if
the coil were driven from a dc source. Most manufactur
ers also specify the series resistance of the coil. This is
the resistance of the copper wire and determines the
steady state coil ON current. For example, a 12V relay
with a 320
series coil resistance with a draw of 37.5mA
of constant current. The relay inductance is not typically
specified in the manufacturer’s short-form datasheet, so
the engineer will need an LCR bridge to measure it or re
-
quest the information from the relay manufacturer.
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Rated Relay
Voltage
R1 R2 CT
9V 153kΩ 43.2kΩ 220pF
12V 203kΩ 43.2kΩ 220pF
24V 398kΩ 43.2kΩ 220pF