Test block with Faraday cage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10132837-B2
Application number	US-201715481824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2017
Priority date	Apr 8, 2016
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

There is described a test block intended to be implanted in the circuit connecting an apparatus to be tested such as an electricity meter or a protective relay and a power source supplying the apparatus to be tested such as an intensity sensor and/or a voltage sensor, the test block comprising a base including a plurality of inner electric circuits capable of allowing the transmission of information from the power source to the apparatus to be tested and a protective cover intended to be removably assembled with the base in order to form a closed enclosure in which the inner electric circuits are housed. The base and the protective cover are configured such that the removal of the protective cover gives access to a receiving site delimited by the base and capable of receiving, by plugging, a test plug independent of the test block and electrically linked to a test equipment, in particular a voltmeter and/or an ammeter and/or a dummy current source. The base and the protective cover comprise electrically conductive elements linked to each other and configured so as to ensure a continuity and magnetic shielding closure such that the enclosure delimited by the base and the protective cover is a Faraday cage protecting the inner electric circuits relative to the magnetic fields external to the enclosure delimited by the base and the protective cover.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A test block intended to be implanted in the circuit connecting an apparatus to be tested such as an electricity meter or a protective relay and a power source supplying the apparatus to be tested such as an intensity sensor and/or a voltage sensor, the test block comprising:
a base including a plurality of inner electric circuits capable of allowing the transmission of information from the power source to the apparatus to be tested,
a protective cover intended to be removably assembled with the base in order to form a closed enclosure in which the inner electric circuits are housed,
the base and the protective cover being configured so that the removal of the protective cover gives access to a receiving site delimited by the base and capable of receiving by plugging a test plug independent of the test block and electrically linked to a test equipment, in particular a voltmeter and/or an ammeter and/or a dummy current source, the test block being characterized in that the base and the protective cover comprise electrically conductive elements linked to each other and configured so as to ensure a continuity and magnetic shielding closure such that the enclosure delimited by the base and the protective cover is a Faraday cage protecting the inner electric circuits relative to the magnetic fields external to the enclosure delimited by the base and the protective cover.

2. The test block according to claim 1 , characterized in that on all or part of the surface of the outer walls of the base, said outer walls are covered internally and/or externally, or constituted by an aluminum panel.

3. The test block according to claim 1 , characterized in that on all or part of the surface of the outer walls of the protective cover, said outer walls are covered internally and/or externally, or constituted by an aluminum panel.

4. The test block according to claim 1 , characterized in that the base comprises at least one multi-contact type input socket accessible from the outside of the enclosure and having contacts which are respectively electrically linked to the inner electric circuits in such a way that the input socket is connected to all the inner electric circuits at the same time, the input socket being configured such that it can be connected to a first multi-contact type connector independent of the test block and having contacts electrically linked to the power source, in particular via a multicore cable.

5. The test block according to claim 1 , characterized in that the base comprises at least one multi-contact type output socket accessible from the outside of the enclosure and having contacts which are respectively electrically linked to the inner electric circuits in such a way that the output socket is connected to all the inner electric circuits at the same time, the output socket being configured such that it can be connected to a second multi-contact type connector independent of the test block and having contacts electrically linked to the apparatus to be tested, in particular via a multicore cable.

6. The test block according to claim 5 , characterized in that the input socket and/or the output socket are each formed by a male or female connector of the RJ45 type comprising a pinning with 8 contact positions, each of the pins corresponding to a contact of the concerned socket.

7. The test block according to claim 6 , characterized in that the base comprises a removable lid whose removal relative to the rest of the base gives access to the inner electric circuits and whose nature and/or shape is adapted to the nature of the input and output sockets and in that the removable lid comprises a portion of the electrically conductive elements which constitute the Faraday cage.

8. A test appliance comprising a test block according to claim 1 further comprising a test plug capable of being plugged into the receiving site delimited by the base after the removal of the protective cover, the inner electric circuits of the test block and the test plug being configured such that the plugging of the test plug causes a temporary action on all or part of the inner electric circuits of the test block as long as the test plug is plugged, said temporary action being such that it allows carrying out measuring and/or calibrating operations relative to the apparatus to be tested thanks to the test equipment.

9. The test appliance according to claim 8 , characterized in that the base comprising at least one multi-contact type input socket accessible from outside the enclosure and having contacts which are respectively electrically linked to the inner electric circuits in such a way that the input socket is connected to all the inner electric circuits at the same time, the appliance comprises a first multi-contact type connector capable of being connected to the input socket of the test block, independent of the test block and having contacts electrically linked to the power source via a first multicore cable and in that the electrically conductive elements which constitute the Faraday cage are linked to the shield of said first multicore cable.

10. The appliance according to claim 8 , characterized in that the base comprising at least one multi-contact type output socket accessible from the outside of the enclosure and having contacts which are respectively electrically linked to the inner electric circuits in such a way that the output socket is connected to all the inner electric circuits at the same time, the appliance comprises a second multi-contact type connector capable of being connected to the output socket of the test block, independent of the test block and having contacts electrically linked to the apparatus to be tested via a second multicore cable, and in that the electrically conductive elements which constitute the Faraday cage are linked to the shield of said second multicore cable.

11. The test appliance according to claim 8 , characterized in that the base of the test block comprises mounting elements allowing fastening the test block on a metallic cabinet, and in that the test block comprises electrically conductive elements linking the electrically conductive elements which constitute the Faraday cage to the metallic cabinet when the base is mounted on the electric cabinet.

12. The test appliance according to claim 8 , characterized in that the test plug comprises, on the one hand, a plurality of actuating elements and a plurality of electric conductors configured so as to act on the inner electric circuits of the base so as to cause said temporary action as long as the test plug is plugged in the receiving site delimited by the base and, on the other hand, a multi-contact type output socket having contacts which are respectively connected to all or part of the electric conductors, the output socket of the test plug being configured such that it can be connected to a third multi-contact connector independent of the test block and the test plug and having contacts electrically linked to the test equipment, in particular via a multicore cable.

13. The test appliance according to claim 12 , characterized in that the output socket of the test plug is formed by a male or female connector of the RJ45 type comprising a pinning with 8 contact positions, each one of the pins corresponding to a contact of the output socket of the test plug.

14. The test block according to claim 2 , characterized in that on all or part of the surface of the outer walls of the protective cover, said outer walls are covered internally and/or externally, or constituted by an aluminum panel.

15. The test block according to claim 14 , characteriz

Assignees

• Abb Schweiz Ag

Inventors

• France Philippe
• Chaillet Alexandre

Classifications

• G01R31/31937

  Timing aspects, e.g. measuring propagation delay (G01R31/3191 and G01R31/31922 take precedence; marginal testing G06F11/24) · CPC title

• H01R2201/20

  for testing or measuring purposes · CPC title

• G01R31/44

  Testing lamps · CPC title

• G01R31/3278

  of relays, solenoids or reed switches (measuring contact resistance G01R27/205; high voltage magnetic switches G01R31/3271, G01R31/333; testing electric windings G01R31/72; monitoring of fail safe circuits H01H47/002) · CPC title

• G01R35/00

  Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass · CPC title