Stand on me: new medical industry footpedal from Herga

Herga Technology has announced that its Modular Base System has successfully gained UL- and IEC- 60601-1 medical product approval. In combination with the company's medically approved electrical and Bluetooth® footswitches and puckswitches, this building-block platform now provides a global solution for multipedal medical equipment footswitch selection and purchase. Renamed for medical switching tasks as the Medical Footswitch Design Platform, Herga says that OEMs can be assured that their complete multipedal switching module now has medical approval on delivery - saving cost by reducing product design effort, simplifying the medical approval process and speeding time-to-market.

The Medical Footswitch Design Platform is said by Herga to be "an attractive and ergonomic solution for medical equipment manufacturers offering wide flexibility for application-specific switching". OEMs can easily accommodate their specific switching requirements for a single machine or range of machines with varying functionality through the expansion of the range. The base system consists of moulded thermoplastic single and double plinths that mechanically lock with joining spacers to provide electrical connections for 1-, 2-, 3- 4-, or 5- plinth configurations. Each single plinth can accommodate a single footswitch as well as one or two puckswitches.

Whilst the electrical ratings for each complete base unit are determined by the application, the typical electrical switching range for each footswitch is up to 3A at 24V AC/DC with momentary function for SPST, N/O or SPDT. Medically approved 6241 puckswitches, 6244 haptic puckswitches and Otto switches can also be included with typical ratings of 0.1 A at 24V DC for SPDT/DPDT switching says Herga.

All of the electrical switching functions for the Medical Footswitch Design Platform are typically output via a single cable for straightforward machine connection, with flying leads and stripped cable cores or with a preferred connector as required, or alternatively via Herga's closed network Bluetooth connection. A range of modular accessories may be included such as tubular steel carrying handles, open guards or roll bars. For improved operational safety, each footswitch may also be separated with a raised divider built into the joining spacer. Steel base plates are available for added durability. The switch components can be suppled in a range of standard colours and  with customer logos included as required. Additional options include LEDs, screen printing and USB connection. Fully customised base systems are available in OEM quantities.

Herga points out to machine builders that the Modular Base System is also suitable for industrial and commercial machinery switching tasks where medical approval is not essential. The company has developed a range of standard variants that use the new modular base system to combine commonly specified 6226 series footswitches and single 6241 puckswitches. With a series of detailed datasheets including reference dimensions and ordering information available from the Herga website, this range covers straightforward selection in eight combinations that span a single footswitch to a multiple switch combination including 4x footswitch plus 4x puckswitches switch configuration.