Monday, July 11, 2022

Magnetic Latch Simulations, Part Two

 I changed my simulation scripts for two variations on a magnetic latch mechanism so I could plot force vs. distance for them.  One is the simple magnet and flat steel plate, and the other is one of my long-range latch designs.  The differences are pretty stark:



The long-range latch force vs. distance plot looks a little bumpy but the important thing to note is that it is exerting pretty significant pull as far away as 1.6 inches, while the simple latch just starts to do its thing at around one-half inch, and even at that distance is far less "strong".

Based on this result I think a combination of my long-range latch and a simple air pneumatic damper to get the soft-close effect should work pretty good.  And there's hardly anything that can wear out.  The most likely failure probably would be the one-way valve, and if that's the case I could easily make one using a bearing ball. Putting a tiny magnet in there to retain a steel ball would enable it to work in any position.  Of course, I'll have to use FEMM to simulate that 😃.






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