Gateway interface for an enhanced circuit breaker disconnect

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11699898-B2
Application number	US-202217886738-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2022
Priority date	Feb 21, 2020
Publication date	Jul 11, 2023
Grant date	Jul 11, 2023

Abstract

A system includes a solid-state circuit breaker coupling between a power supply and an electrical load. The system also includes a gateway interface device communicatively coupled to the solid-state circuit breaker and includes a plurality of communication interfaces. In an embodiment, the gateway interface device includes a controller configured to perform operations including determining a connection status of at least one communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces and determining a number of devices connected to the at least one communication interface, receive a signal from at least one device of the number of devices. In the embodiment, the operations may also include in response to receiving the signal, instructing the solid-state circuit breaker to disconnect the electrical load from the power supply.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a solid-state circuit breaker configured to couple between a power supply and an electrical load; and
a gateway interface device communicatively coupled to a controller of the solid-state circuit breaker and comprising a plurality of communication interfaces, wherein each of the plurality of communication interfaces is configured to communicate using a different communication protocol, and wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising:
determining a connection status of at least one communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces based on a set of data signals received via the at least one communication interface;
determining a set of devices connected to the at least one communication interface based on the set of data signals received via the at least one communication interface;
creating a data table configured to map data received from each device of the set of devices into a shared memory; and
storing data received from the set of devices in the shared memory based on the data table.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one communication interface comprises an Ethernet internet protocol (IP) communication interface, an Ethernet subnet communication interface, an expansion bus communication interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication interface, a Controller Area Network Flexible Data Rate (CAN FD) communication interface, or any combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from the solid-state circuit breaker, a signal via a first communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces, wherein the signal is indicative of an operational state of the solid-state circuit breaker; and
translating the signal from a first communication protocol associated with the first communication interface to a second communication protocol associated with the at least one communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising transmitting the translated signal to a first device of the set of devices via the at least one communication interface.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising causing the solid-state circuit breaker to adjust an operational state.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the operational state comprises an open circuit or a closed circuit.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from the solid-state circuit breaker, a signal indicative of an operational state associated with the solid-state circuit breaker; and
transmitting the signal to a first device of the set of devices, wherein the signal is configured to cause the first device to provide an indication associated with the operational state of the solid-state circuit breaker.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first device of the set of devices, a signal via the at least one communication interface;
translating the signal from a first communication protocol to a second communication protocol; and
transmitting the translated signal to the solid-state circuit breaker via a second communication interface.

9. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor, a signal indicative of adjusting an operational status of a solid-state circuit breaker disposed in an enclosure; and
in response to receiving the signal:
determining, by the processor, a door position status for a door of the enclosure; and
adjusting, by the processor, the operational status of the solid-state circuit breaker based on the door position status and the signal.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising determining, by the processor, a lock position status associated with a lock of the enclosure, wherein the lock position status is indicative of the lock being engaged.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein adjusting the operational status of the solid-state circuit breaker comprises coupling a voltage to an electrical load via the solid-state circuit breaker.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the door position status is indicative of the door being closed.

13. The method of claim 9 , comprising generating a log associated with adjusting the operational status of the solid-state circuit breaker.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the log includes a timestamp, the door position status, a user associated with the solid-state circuit breaker, or any combination thereof.

15. A gateway interface device, comprising:
a plurality of communication interfaces, each communication interface configured to communicatively couple to a respective solid-state circuit breaker of a set of solid-state circuit breakers, each solid-state circuit breaker configured to couple between a respective power supply and a respective electrical load; and
a controller configured to perform operations comprising:
determining a total electrical load associated with the set of solid-state circuit breakers exceeds a threshold; and
causing a subset of the set of solid-state circuit breakers to open in response to the total electrical load exceeding the threshold.

16. The gateway interface device of claim 15 , wherein a first communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces is associated with a first communication protocol and a second communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces is associated with a second communication protocol.

17. The gateway interface device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising receiving a set of operational factors comprising a device type associated with the respective electrical load, a first value indicative of the respective electrical load, a second value indicative of the respective power supply, or any combination thereof.

18. The gateway interface device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the operations comprising:
determining an adjustment of an operational state of a first solid-state circuit breaker of the set of solid-state circuit breakers; and
assigning the first solid-state circuit breaker to the subset of solid-state circuit breakers.

19. The gateway interface device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the operations comprising generating a log based on the total electrical load exceeding the threshold, wherein the log comprises an indication of the subset of the solid-state circuit breakers, a number of solid-state circuit breakers in the subset of the solid-state circuit breakers, a time associated with the total electrical load exceeding the threshold, or any combination thereof.

20. The gateway interface device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the operations comprising:
determine a respective operational state for each solid-state circuit breaker of the set of solid-state circuit breakers; and
based on the respective operational state being an energized state, assigning one or more of the set of solid-state circuit breakers to the subset of solid-state circuit breakers.

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mazur David C
• Peterson Corey A
• Dilgard Robert
• Sauve Todd R
• Halpin Peter J
• Steinweg Calvin C

Classifications

• H02H7/08

  for dynamo-electric motors · CPC title

• H02H3/10

  additionally responsive to some other abnormal electrical conditions · CPC title

• H02H1/0092 Primary

  concerning the data processing means, e.g. expert systems, neural networks · CPC title

• G05B19/04 Primary

  Program control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers (G05B19/418 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02H7/085 Primary

  against excessive load {(H02H6/00 takes precedence)} · CPC title