Smooth Starting Although reduced electrical and mechanical surges can be obtained with a step-by-step motor starting method, very smooth and gradual starting will require different controlling methods. These are discussed in detail later in the text. Manual or Automatic Starting and Stopping While the manual starting and stopping of machines by an operator is still a common prac- tice, many machines and industrial processes are started and restarted automatically. These auto- matic devices result in tremendous savings of time and materials, Automatic stopping devices are used in motor control systems for the same rea- sons. Automatic stopping devices greatly reduce the safety hazards of operating some types of ma- chinery, both for the operator and the materials being processed. An electrically operated, me- chanical brake is shown in figure 1-13. Such a brake may be required to stop a machine’s motion in a hurry to protect materials being processed or people in the area. Quick Stop or Slow Stop ‘Many motors are allowed to coast to a stand- still. However, manufacturing requirements and safety considerations often make it necessary to bring machines to as rapid a stop as possible. Au- tomatic controls can retard and brake the speed of FIGURE 143 Typical 30-inch brake (Courtesy EATON Comp. Cutler-Hornmer Products) 10 a motor and also apply a torque in the opposite direction of rotation to bring about a rapid stop. ‘This is referred to as plugging. Plugging can only be used if the driven machine and its load will not be damaged by the reversal of the motor torque. ‘The control of deceleration is one of the important functions of a motor control. Another method of braking electric motors is known as dynamic braking. When this method is used to reduce the speed of de motors, the arma- ture is connected across a load resistor when power is disconnected from the motor. If the field winding of the motor remains energized, the mo- tor becomes a generator and current is supplied to the load resistor by the armature, figure 1-14. The current flowing through the armature winding cre- ates a magnetic field around the armature. This magnetic field causes the armature to be attracted to the magnetic field of the pole pieces. This ac- tion in a de generator is known as counter torque. Using counter torque to brake a de motor is known as dynamic braking. ‘Ac induction motors can be braked by mo- ‘mentarily connecting de voltage to the stator + VOLTSde - DPDT SWITCH LOAD RESISTOR FIGURE 144 Dynamic braking for a de compound motor ‘SECTION 4 SOLID-STATE DEVICES