Electrical component remote temperature monitoring system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9671292-B2
Application number	US-201314052447-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2013
Priority date	Oct 11, 2013
Publication date	Jun 6, 2017
Grant date	Jun 6, 2017

Abstract

The present techniques generally relate to a system and methods for remotely monitoring the interior of a closed electrical enclosure for localized heating (e.g., hot spots). In general, the monitoring system includes features designed to detect one or more hot spots within a dim or dark environment, determine the location of the hot spot within the enclosure, determine a temperature range of the hot spot, and/or notify (e.g., alarm or alert) an operator upon detection of the hot spot. The monitoring system may include one or more temperature sensitive elements configured to determine the heating of potential hot spots within the electrical enclosure. Further, the foregoing features may be designed to allow one or more electrical enclosures to remotely communicate with computer equipment (e.g., workstation or general purpose computers) over a wireless network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
applying one or more temperature sensitive elements on or between one or more electrical components disposed within an electrical enclosure, wherein the one or more temperature sensitive elements are configured to change appearance based on a heating of potential hot spots within the electrical enclosure;
illuminating the temperature sensitive elements with a light source disposed within the electrical enclosure;
detecting light reflected by the temperature sensitive elements within the electrical enclosure via a camera of a detection system disposed within the enclosure;
processing the detected light, via image processing circuitry of the detection system, to generate image related information; and
determining the heating of at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure based on the generated image related information.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining a location of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining a temperature or a temperature range of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising providing an alarm indication of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heating of the at least one hot spot is determined periodically at one or more pre-set increments.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the heating of the at least one hot spot occurs in response to the change in appearance of the one or more temperature sensitive elements.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensitive elements comprise one or more paints, coatings, or decals.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising applying a temperature sensitive paint, a temperature sensitive coating, or a temperature sensitive decal to the temperature sensitive element.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting light reflected by the temperature sensitive elements with the camera of the detection system comprising detecting the light without opening the electrical enclosure.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein illuminating the temperature sensitive elements with a light source disposed within the electrical enclosure comprises illuminating the temperature sensitive elements with an infrared LED.

11. A method, comprising:
applying one or more temperature sensitive elements on or between one or more electrical components disposed within an electrical enclosure, wherein the one or more temperature sensitive elements are configured to change appearance based on a heating of potential hot spots within the electrical enclosure;
illuminating the temperature sensitive elements with a light source disposed within the electrical enclosure;
detecting light reflected by the temperature sensitive elements with a camera disposed within the enclosure, wherein the light is detected without opening the electrical enclosure and during the heating of the hot spots within the electrical enclosure;
processing the detected light, via image processing circuitry, to generate image related information; and
determining the heating of at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure based on the generated image related information.

12. The method of claim 11 , comprising providing an alarm indication of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein illuminating the temperature sensitive elements with a light source disposed within the electrical enclosure comprises illuminating the temperature sensitive elements without opening the electrical enclosure.

14. The method of claim 11 , comprising applying a temperature sensitive paint, a temperature sensitive coating, or a temperature sensitive decal to the temperature sensitive element.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein processing the detected light comprises filtering the detected light, via the image processing circuitry, to generate the image related information.

16. The method of claim 11 , comprising determining a location of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

17. The method of claim 11 , comprising determining a temperature or a temperature range of the heating of the at least one hot spot within the electrical enclosure.

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Wei Kun
• Qian Wei

Classifications

• G01J5/026

  Control of working procedures of a pyrometer, other than calibration; Bandwidth calculation; Gain control · CPC title

• G01K11/12

  using changes in colour, translucency or reflectance · CPC title

• G01J2005/0077

  Imaging · CPC title

• G01J5/025

  Interfacing a pyrometer to an external device or network; User interface · CPC title

• G01J5/0066

  for hot spots detection · CPC title