Patent ID: 11959966
Assignee: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES SAS
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A method for estimating a state of an electrical switching apparatus, the switching apparatus comprising separable electrical contacts set up to be coupled to an electrical conductor, and an electromagnetic actuator, controlled by a control circuit and comprising a movable core, coupled to the separable contacts, and a coil, which is passed through by a coil current,
wherein the method comprises:
measuring, by means of sensors associated with the coil, values of the coil current during a time interval, while the electromagnetic actuator is kept in a stable position;
computing, by means of an electronic control device of the switching apparatus, one or more values of a magnetic flux of the coil from the measured coil current values, and using previously known coil voltage and coil resistance values; and
using the computed one or more values of the magnetic flux of the coil to estimate the state of the electrical switching apparatus.