Vibrator (electronic)

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For other uses, see Vibrator (disambiguation).

In electronics before the development of switch-mode power supplies and the introduction of semiconductor devices operating off low voltage, there was a requirement to generate voltages of about 50 to 250V DC from vehicle batteries. Electromechanical components known as vibrators were used in inverter circuits to provide an alternating current (AC) electric power supply from a direct current (DC) source, which could be converted to a higher voltage with a transformer, rectified, and filtered to create higher-voltage DC.

The primary use for this type of circuit was to operate vacuum tube radios in vehicles and locations with a 6 or 12V accumulator (battery) and no mains electricity supply such as farms. Vacuum tubes require plate voltages ranging from about 45 volts to 250 volts in electronic devices such as radios. For portable radios, hearing aids and similar equipment, B batteries were manufactured with various voltage ratings. In order to provide the necessary voltage for a radio from the typical 6 or 12 volt DC supply available in a car or from a farm lighting battery, it was necessary to convert the DC supply to AC and use a transformer to increase the voltage.


Schematic diagram of a typical circuit to convert low voltage DC to high voltage DC

The vibrator was a device with switch contacts on flexible metal strips. When the vibrator was operated the strips vibrated rapidly in such a way as to make contacts presenting a 6 or 12V DC from the battery in alternating sense, rapidly exchanging positive and negative, effectively generating a square wave. Unlike DC, an alternating voltage applied to the terminals of the primary winding of a transformer will induce a different (in practice higher) voltage of any desired value at the secondary; this voltage can be rectified by a thermionic diode or copper-oxide or selenium rectifier, or by an additional set of mechanical contacts making the vibrator output a synchronous rectifier. The rectified output is then filtered, ultimately converting a DC voltage to a higher one, with some losses dissipated as heat.

This arrangement is an electromechanical inverter circuit. The vibrator switches used for this purpose wore out after a time, so were usually encased in a steel or aluminum can with a plug for easy replacement when mounted in a socket similar to those used for tubes.

See also[edit]


  • Bedford, B. D.; Hoft, R. G. et al. (1964). Principles of Inverter Circuits. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-06134-4.