Devices, systems and methods for electrical utility submetering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11516899-B2
Application number	US-201916429003-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2019
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods for coupling sensors to intelligent electronic devices (IED's), e.g., an electrical power meter, via various communication media for electrical utility submetering are provided. The present disclosure provides a mechanism for coupling an IED to another desired device, e.g., a circuit breaker, using modular connectors (e.g., a RJ-45 connector, fiber optic connectors, etc.) and fiber-optic cables. The present disclosure also provides for coupling devices using modular connectors via wired or wireless connectivity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A circuit breaker for monitoring a circuit to a load comprising:
a housing configured to be disposed in a circuit breaker panel;
at least one modular receptacle disposed on a surface of the housing and configured to receive at least one modular connector for communicatively coupling the circuit breaker to at least one intelligent electronic device (IED);
at least one fault detection and tripping device disposed in the housing and configured to detect a fault condition in the circuit and, if the fault condition is detected, break the circuit;
at least one sensor disposed in the housing and configured to sense at least one electrical parameter of the circuit and output an analog signal indicative of the at least one electrical parameter; and
at least one analog to digital converter disposed in the housing and configured to convert the analog signal to at least one digital signal,
wherein, the at least one modular receptacle is configured to receive the at least one digital signal and provide the at least one digital signal to the at least one modular connector.

2. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical parameter is any one of current, voltage, energy, power, and/or temperature.

3. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor configured to multiplex sensor data included in the at least one digital signal.

4. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor configured to serialize sensor data included in the at least one digital signal.

5. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , wherein the at least one modular receptacle includes at least one first data channel and at least one second data channel, the at least one digital signal includes a first type of data and a second type of data and the circuit breaker further comprises at least one processor configured to separate data included in the at least one digital signal into the first type of data and the second type of data and provide the first type of data to the at least one first data channel and the second type of data to the at least one second data channel.

6. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one memory for storing calibration data associated with the at least one sensor, the calibration data provided to the at least one IED via the at least one modular receptacle for calibrating sensor data included in the at least one digital signal.

7. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor configured to receive at least one communication signal from the at least one IED via the at least one modular receptacle, the at least one processor configured to perform at least one action based on the at least one communication signal.

8. The circuit breaker of claim 7 , wherein the at least one action includes instructing the fault detection and tripping device to break the circuit.

9. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , wherein the at least one modular receptacle is an optical fiber receptacle and the at least one connector receptacle is an optical fiber connector.

10. The circuit breaker of claim 9 , wherein the at least one receptacle includes voltage to light converter (VLC) circuitry for converting electrical signals to lights signals, the VLC circuitry configured to convert the at least one digital signal to one or more light signals to be provided to the at least one modular receptacle.

11. A circuit breaker comprising:
a housing;
at least one modular receptacle disposed on a surface of the housing and configured to receive at least one modular connector for communicatively coupling the circuit breaker to at least one intelligent electronic device (IED);
at least one fault detection and tripping device configured to detect a fault condition in a circuit and, if the fault condition is detected, break the circuit;
at least one sensor configured to sense at least one electrical parameter of the circuit and output an analog signal indicative of the at least one electrical parameter; and
at least one analog to digital converter configured to convert the analog signal to at least one digital signal,
wherein, the at least one modular receptacle is configured to receive the at least one digital signal and provide the at least one digital signal to the at least one modular connector, the at least one modular receptacle being an optical fiber receptacle and the at least one connector receptacle being an optical fiber connector,
wherein the at least one modular receptacle includes at least one micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) having a reflector module and an actuator module, the at least one receptacle receives a continuous light signal from at least one fiber optic cable coupling the at least one modular connector to the at least one IED, the reflector module configured to reflect the continuous light signal into the fiber optic cable and the actuator configured to control the orientation of the reflector module such that the continuous light signal is selectively reflected into the fiber optic cable as a pulsed light signal carrying data, the data including the at least one digital signal.

12. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one modular receptacle receives light signals via a fiber optic cable coupling the circuit breaker to the at least one IED, the at least one modular receptacle including light to voltage converter (LVC) circuitry configured to convert the light signals to electrical signals to be provided to the at least one processor.

13. The circuit breaker of claim 1 , further comprising at least one second modular receptacle and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to use the at least one modular receptacle for outbound communication and the at least one second modular receptacle for inbound communication to enable the circuit breaker to be coupled with at least one second circuit breaker in a daisy-chain arrangement.

14. A circuit breaker for monitoring a circuit to a load comprising:
a housing configured to be disposed in a circuit breaker panel;
at least one fault detection and tripping device disposed in the housing and configured to detect a fault condition in the circuit and, if the fault condition is detected, break the circuit;
at least one sensor disposed in the housing and configured to sense at least one electrical parameter of the circuit and output an analog signal indicative of the at least one electrical parameter;
at least one analog to digital converter disposed in the housing and configured to convert the analog signal to at least one digital signal; and
a wireless communication module disposed in the housing and configured to transmit the at least one digital signal wirelessly to at least one device.

15. A system comprising:
a circuit breaker panel configured to receive a plurality of individual circuit breakers;
at least one circuit breaker for monitoring a circuit to a load including,
a housing configured to be disposed in the circuit breaker panel,
at least one first modular receptacle disposed on a surface of the housing and configured to receive at least one first modular connector,
at least one fault detection and tripping device disposed in the housing and configured to detect a fault condition in the circuit and, if the fault condition is detected, break the circuit,
at least one sensor disposed in the housing and configured to sense at least one electrical parameter of the circuit and output an analog signal indicative of the at least one electrical parameter, and
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Assignees

• Electro Industries/Gauge Tech

Inventors

• Banhegyesi Tibor

Classifications

• H01H2300/03

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

• H01H71/04

  Means for indicating condition of the switching device {(by means of an auxiliary contact H01H71/46)} · CPC title

• G01R22/063

  related to remote communication · CPC title

• H04B10/808 Primary

  Electrical power feeding of an optical transmission system · CPC title

• H04B10/278

  Bus-type networks · CPC title