Patent ID: 11901145
Assignee: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A system, comprising:
a first power source; and
a switching device, comprising:
an armature configured to electrically couple one or more movable contacts to one or more contacts of an electric circuit;
a relay coil configured to receive a current from a second power source, thereby causing the armature to electrically couple the one or more movable contacts to the one or more contacts of the electric circuit or electrically disconnect the one or more movable contacts from the one or more contacts after a period of time; and
a control system configured to perform operations comprising:
transmitting a command to the second power source to provide power to the relay coil with a fixed current profile;
receiving one or more voltage measurements associated with the relay coil during the period of time;
determining that the one or more voltage measurements indicate that the one or more movable contacts are at least partially welded to the one or more contacts of the electric circuit; and
in response to determining that the one or more voltage measurements indicate that the one or more movable contacts are at least partially welded to the one or more contacts of the electric circuit, transmitting an additional command to the second power source to disconnect the current to the relay coil.