Designing for Small Spaces

A bistable latching solenoid was designed to lock and unlock individual servers in the rack.

Customer Problem

A producer of modular computing servers needed a means of ensuring that technicians could physically identify which specific server needed maintenance. Any single installation could involve hundreds or even thousands of individual servers. With so many, it was possible that a technician may inadvertently remove and service the wrong one. A device was needed that would lock the individual servers in the rack and unlock only the faulty servers.

The TLX Solution

TLX Technologies developed a bistable latching solenoid that could be mounted in the small amount of space available in the server rack. To keep the solenoid as small as possible, it used the mounting surface in the rack to complete the magnetic circuit. The design used latching technology so that only a short pulse of power was needed to unlock or relock the individual server, minimizing power consumption and heat generation.

View Design Solution

Bistable Latching Solenoid

Stroke: 5 mm ± .20 mm

Supply voltage: 12 Vdc

Coil resistance at 20°C: 8.0 Ω

Operating temperature range: 15°C to 45°C (59°F to 113°F)

Duty cycle: 10% max.

All TLX components are customized to fit system requirements, meaning technical specifications are unique to each customer and design. Examples given on our website are for illustration purposes only.

Working with TLX

Experienced partner of industry leaders, first-tier suppliers, and OEMs
Direct access to our design and engineering team
Localized production in USA and China
Dependable single-source solution from design to delivery

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Our Process

Step 1 / Initial Review

Our engineering team works directly with you to determine the viability of your program and identify the best solution based on your specifications.

Step 2 / Quote

Quotes include all costs related to your project - tooling, prototype, piece part, production and project specific costs.

Step 3 / Design Review & Prototypes

Our engineering team reviews the design with you and makes any adjustments needed. Prototypes are built according to design specifications for testing.