In electrical controls, a stepping switch, also known as a stepping relay, is an electromechanical device which allows an input connection to be connected to one of a number of possible output connections, under the control of a series of electrical pulses.
It can step on one axis (called a uniselector), or on two axes (a Strowger switch). Stepping switches were invented by Almon Brown Strowger in 1888. The major use for these devices was in early automatic telephone exchanges (commonly called Strowger or step-by-step exchanges or steppers) to route telephone calls. Later, they were often used in such equipment as industrial control systems.
Read more about Stepping Switch: Single-axis Stepping Switches (uniselectors), Two Axis Stepping Switch, Applications of Stepper Switches
Famous quotes containing the words stepping and/or switch:
“As they move into sharing parenting, men often are apprentices to women because they are not yet as skilled in child care. Mothers have to be willing to teach fathers—both by stepping in and showing and by stepping back and letting them learn.”
—Nancy Press Hawley. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 6 (1978)
“Children ... after a certain age do not welcome parental advice. Occasionally, they may listen to another adult, which is why perhaps people should switch children with their neighbors and friends for a while in the teen years!”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)