Electrical cable section detection circuit breaker and method of controlling such a circuit breaker

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10176940-B2
Application number	US-201415030628-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2014
Priority date	Oct 21, 2013
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

A cable section detection circuit breaker and a method of control making it possible notably to automatically calibrate the circuit breaker according to the section detected. For this purpose, the circuit breaker, provided for the protection of at least one electrical line comprising at least one electrical cable, comprises: an electrical cable diameter sensor; and a data processing unit connected to the diameter sensor for receiving a value of said diameter. The processing unit is capable of verifying that the value of said diameter is greater than or equal to a limit value determined from an assigned current of said circuit breaker.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A circuit breaker for the protection of at least one power line comprising at least one electrical cable, the circuit breaker comprising at least:
an electrical cable diameter sensor; and
a data processing unit connected to the diameter sensor for receiving a value of said diameter,

said processing unit being capable of verifying that the value of said diameter is greater than or equal to a limit value determined from an assigned current of said circuit breaker.

2. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said processing unit is further capable of determining, according to the value of said diameter, a first threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out of the line to be protected.

3. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising a current sensor suitable for measuring a current and a potential difference on said electrical line, the processing unit being further capable of collecting data from said current sensor and determining a second threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out according to said collected data and the diameter value of the cable.

4. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising at least one memory suitable for archiving data collected from each of said sensors.

5. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one communication interface, the processing unit being suitable for transmitting, on request, via the communication interface, the value of said diameter or said data collected by the sensor or sensors.

6. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said processing unit is capable of determining said at least one threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out of the line to be protected according to a calibration instruction received via the communication interface.

7. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the circuit breaker is engaged or tripped on receiving a control instruction received via said communication interface.

8. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an electrical power supply unit controlled by the processing unit, said electrical power supply unit being suitable for:
regulating an electrical power received, and
supplying said electrical line to be protected according to the regulated electrical power.

9. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, when said processing unit is out of service, an electronic module for monitoring the operation of said processing unit trips the circuit breaker.

10. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further suitable for:
detecting operating anomalies from the diameter value or the collected data; and
emitting a warning.

11. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cable diameter sensor is a laser device.

12. An electrical installation including at least one circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1 .

13. A method of controlling a circuit breaker for the protection of at least one electrical line comprising at least one electrical cable, the method comprising at least the steps of:
collecting data from an electrical cable diameter sensor;
verifying that the value of said diameter is greater than or equal to a limit value determined from an assigned current of said circuit breaker; and
based on the verifying step, tripping an electrical cut-out of the at least one electrical line.

14. The control method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising a step of determining, according to the value of said diameter, a first threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out of said line to be protected.

15. The control method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising the steps of:
receiving a calibration instruction via a communication interface of the circuit breaker; and
determining said threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out according to said calibration instruction.

16. The control method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
collecting data from a current sensor measuring a current and a potential difference on said electrical line; and
determining a second threshold for tripping an electrical cut-out according to said collected data and the diameter value of the cable.

17. The control method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising a step of determining an operating range of the circuit breaker, said operating range being included between:
said first threshold; and
said second threshold;

an effective tripping threshold being determined in said operating range.

18. The control method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
monitoring the diameter value and data collected for detecting operating anomalies; and
emitting a warning in the event of a detected anomaly.

19. A non-transitory computer program product stored in a memory of a circuit breaker, comprising instructions readable by a processor of said circuit breaker, said processor implementing the method according to claim 13 when said instructions are executed by said processor.

Assignees

• Electricite De France

Inventors

• Pignier Daniel
• Menga David

Classifications

• Y02B90/224

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y04S20/14

  Protecting elements, switches, relays or circuit breakers · CPC title

• H01H71/74

  Means for adjusting the conditions under which the device will function to provide protection · CPC title

• H02H3/08

  responsive to excess current (responsive to abnormal temperature caused by excess current H02H5/04) · CPC title

• H01H2300/03

  Application domotique, e.g. for house automation, bus connected switches, sensors, loads or intelligent wiring · CPC title