Abstract:
A digital automatic monitoring and power breaking safety socket has a shell in which an electrical connection base is mounted for connecting to a power line and an external line plug inside. A power switch is connected in series between the electrical connection base and the power line. A digital power monitoring circuit is coupled to the power line detect the power status to control the power switch based on the power status. Further, a power line data communication circuit is mounted in the shell and connects to the digital power monitoring circuit to obtain and process the power status. The processed power status is loaded into the power line that connects to the electrical connection base. Therefore, in addition to automatic power breaking and supplying, a remote power management host is able to obtain the power status and remotely control the socket.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a socket and, in particular, to a safety socket that uses the digital monitoring technique to achieve automatic power breaking and supply. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Electrical sockets have different styles according to their usages. But they are all used as power terminal elements for AC power or power supplying devices. An electronic device obtains its working power after its power plug is plugged into the socket. 
         [0005]    Taking an indoor wall-embedding socket as an example, the socket is embedded in a wall and connects to a pre-embedded power line in the wall. The electricity safety is monitored by a power breaker of the building. When the total power used in the building exceeds a safety threshold, the power breaker automatically breaks the circuit, cutting power to all the sockets in the building. The breaker is restarted after the total power usage drops below the safety threshold. However, a common reason that the total power exceeds the safety threshold is because too many high-power consumption electronic products are used at the same time. Therefore, once the power is overloaded, the breaker cuts the power of all sockets. It is very inconvenient. 
         [0006]    Take the socket of a power distributor as another example. A distributive power supply has a plurality of breakers, a plurality of sockets, and a power management module inside a shell. In particular, the breakers are all connected between the external power line and the corresponding sockets in order to distribute power of the external power line to the sockets. The power management module includes a network port or a serial port for storing the power status of the power distributor and for a remote or a local monitoring computer connected to the network port or serial port to conveniently obtain the power status thereof for management. Although currently the power distributor is built in with a power management module, data transmission of the power management module still adopts a network protocol or simple serial protocol. Therefore, the monitoring computer still requires related network settings and network line deployment. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In view of the foregoing, an objective of the invention is to provide a digital automatic monitoring and power breaking safety socket. The safety socket directly monitors the power status of the power line connected to the socket. If the electrical current overflows or the power is overloaded, the safety socket immediately breaks the electrical connection between the socket and the power line. 
         [0008]    To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the disclosed digital automatic monitoring and power breaking safety socket has: 
         [0009]    The socket has a shell in which an electrical connection base is mounted for connecting to a power line and an external line plug inside. A power switch is connected in series between the electrical connection base and the power line. A digital power monitoring circuit is coupled to the power line detect the power status to control the power switch based on the power status. Further, a power line data communication circuit is mounted in the shell and connects to the digital power monitoring circuit to obtain and process the power status. The processed power status is loaded into the power line that connects to the electrical connection base. Therefore, in addition to automatic power breaking and supplying, a remote power management host is able to obtain the power status and remotely control the socket. 
         [0010]    According to the invention, the socket is disposed with a digital power monitoring circuit and a power switch to directly monitor whether the socket overflows or is overloaded. If so, the power switch is controlled to break the connection between the electrical connection base and the power line. After the digital power monitoring circuit determines that the current power status returns to its safe range, the power switch is driven to close so that the socket resumes power supply. For a remote power management host to conveniently obtain the power status of each socket, the invention further electrically connects the power line data communication circuit to the digital power monitoring circuit. The obtained power status is processed and coupled to the power line connected with the electrical connection base. The power status information is transmitted out via the power line. Therefore, the remote power management host can obtain the power status data of the sockets through the power line. Remote power management is thus achieved without using other network lines or serial lines. 
         [0011]    Another objective of the invention is to provide a socket whose on and off is remotely controlled. Since the above-mentioned power line data communication circuit has network packets conveyed on the power line, the remote power management host can process the on/off command that controls the power switch in a specific socket and load it into the power line. After the power line data communication circuit in the socket obtains the on/off command packet from the power line, this on/off command is transmitted to the digital power monitoring circuit. The digital power monitoring circuit follows the on/off command to control the on and off of the power switch. This achieves the goal of remotely controlling power. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a socket according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the internal structure of the socket of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a circuit in the socket; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a detailed circuit diagram of part of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of part of a power distributor; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a circuit block diagram in a single socket of  FIG. 5 ; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing a plurality of power distributors connecting to a remote power management host. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3  for a preferred embodiment of the invention, a socket  10  is a wall-embedded socket. The socket  10  comprises a shell  11 , a power switch  13 , a digital power monitoring circuit  20  and a power line data communication circuit  30 . 
         [0020]    The shell  11  has an electrical connection base  12  therein for a power line to connect and an external line plug to plug in. 
         [0021]    The power switch  13  is connected in series between the electrical connection base  12  and the power line  50 . In this embodiment, the power switch can be an electro-mechanical relay or a solid-state relay (SSR). 
         [0022]    The digital power monitoring circuit  20  is mounted in the shell  11  and electrically connected to the electrical connection base  12  for obtaining power status. The digital power monitoring circuit  20  is electrically connected with a trigger terminal (e.g., a magnetic coil of the electro-mechanical relay) of the power switch  13 , thereby controlling the on and off of the power switch  13 . 
         [0023]    The power line data communication circuit  30  is mounted in the shell  11  and coupled with the electrical connection base  12 . The power line data communication circuit  30  is electrically connected with the digital power monitoring circuit  20  to obtain the power status. The power line data communication circuit  30  processes the power status and couples it to the power line  50  connected with the electrical connection base  12 . 
         [0024]    The digital power monitoring circuit  20  has a power detecting unit  21  and a controlling unit  22  and may further comprises a temperature detector  23  and a humidity detector  24 . 
         [0025]    The power detecting unit  21  is coupled to the electrical connection base to detect the power status of the power line  50  currently connected with the electrical connection base  12 . The power status includes the information of voltage, current and power. 
         [0026]    The controlling unit  22  is electrically connected between the power detecting unit  21  and the power switch  13 . The controlling unit  22  mainly includes a microprocessor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a single chip (e.g., the PIC series of Microchip Corp.). The controlling unit  22  converts the power status detected by the power detecting unit  21  to the corresponding power status data for a comparison with predetermined power safety threshold values. 
         [0027]    The controlling unit  22  compares the power status data with the predetermined power safety threshold values. If an abnormal power status is detected, the power switch  13  is turned off. After the power status is determined to become normal again, the power switch  13  is turned on. The digital power monitoring circuit  20  can further comprise the temperature detector  23  or the humidity detector  24  connected with their respective driving circuits for sending the internal temperature or humidity of each socket  10  to the controlling unit  22 . 
         [0028]    The power line data communication circuit  30  comprises an analog front processing unit  31 , a digital processing unit  32 , a network packet processing unit and an AC-to-DC power circuit  34 . 
         [0029]    The analog front processing unit  31  is coupled to the electrical connection base  12  via a coupler. The digital processing unit  32  is electrically connected with the analog front processing unit  31  and the controlling unit  22  to obtain the power status, temperature and humidity. In this embodiment, the digital processing unit  32  has a GPSI or I 2 C interface for connecting to a microprocessor, FPGA or PIC single chip controlling unit  22  with the same interface, thereby perform bi-directional data transmissions. 
         [0030]    The network packet processing unit  33  mainly includes a physical layer processor  331  and a network port  332 . The physical layer processor  331  connects to the digital processing unit  32  and the network port  332  (RJ45). 
         [0031]    The AC-to-DC power circuit  34  is electrically connected to the power connection base  12  to obtain the AC power from the power line  50 . The AC-to-DC power circuit  34  converts the AC power into DC power as the operating power for the above-mentioned circuits and units. The AC-to-DC power circuit can be a switch type power circuit. 
         [0032]    In the power line data communication circuit  30  of the invention, the digital processing unit  32  connects to the controlling unit  22  of the digital power monitoring circuit  20  to obtain the current power status of the power line  50 . The power status is processed and modulated by the analog front processing unit Afterwards, the modulated power status is coupled to the power line  50  and sent out. Moreover, the controlling unit  22  can be connected to the physical layer processor  331  through a physical layer chip  221 . After the physical layer processor  331  receives the power status, the power status is further transmitted to the digital processing unit  32 . Besides, the digital processing unit  32  can also obtain the network packet of on/off command from a remote power management host. After demodulation of the network packet, the digital processing unit  32  extracts the on/off command and outputs the command to the controlling unit  22 . The controlling unit  22  turns on or turns off the power switch  13  based on the received command, achieving the goal of remote control. 
         [0033]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , the circuit diagram of the AC-to-DC power circuit  34  and the power detecting unit  21  is shown. The AC-to-DC power circuit comprise a full-wave rectifier  341 , a transformer and a power switching unit  343 . 
         [0034]    The full-wave rectifier  341  connects to the power connection base  12  to obtain the AC power. After the full-wave AC power is rectified to DC power, the DC power is output through a filter capacitor C. 
         [0035]    In the transformer, its primary side connects to the filter capacitor C. The secondary side is the DC power output terminal Vdc of the AC-to-DC power circuit  34 . The DC power is output to the digital power monitoring circuit  20  and the power line data communication circuit  30 . 
         [0036]    The power switching unit  343  connects to the output terminal Vdc via a photo coupler  344 . The electrical current on the primary side of the transformer is adjusted according to the voltage of the DC power, thereby providing a stable DC voltage. 
         [0037]    The power detecting unit  21  includes a voltage divider  211 , a current detecting resistor  212  and a power measuring device  213 . The power measuring device  213  connects to the power connection base  12  via the voltage divider  211  to obtain the voltage on the power line  50 . The current detecting resistor  212  is connected in series between the power connection base  12  and the power line. Thus, the power measuring device  213  obtains the electrical current on the power line via the current detecting resistor  212 . The power measuring device  213  connects to the controlling unit  22  in order to transmit voltage, electrical current and power statuses to the controlling device  22 . 
         [0038]    According to the above description, the invention has the digital power monitoring circuit  20  and the power switch  13  in the socket in order to monitor whether the socket has over-current or overloading situation. If the situation happens, the power switch  13  is controlled to break the connection between the power connection base  12  and the power line  50 . After the digital power monitoring circuit  20  determines that the current power status returns to the safe range, the power switch  13  is driven to close and resumes power supply to the socket  10 . 
         [0039]    In order for the remote power management host to obtain the power status of each socket  10 , the power line data communication circuit  30  is electrically connected with the digital power monitoring circuit  20 . The obtained power status data are processed and loaded to the power line  50  connected with the power connection base  12 , thereby transmitting the data out. Consequently, the remote power management host can obtain the power status data of a plurality of sockets  10  via the power line  50 . It does not need the installation of other network lines or serial lines for the remote power management. 
         [0040]    With reference to  FIG. 5  for a second embodiment of the invention, the socket  10  is used in a power distributor  40 . The power distributor  40  comprises a box  41  having a plurality of sockets  10  and a plurality of breakers. Each of the sockets  10  is exposed on the box  41 . The box  41  has an external power line  42 . The power distributor  40  utilizes the above-mentioned sockets  10 . With reference to  FIG. 6 , the power connection base  12  is connected with a corresponding breaker  43 . The breakers  43  are then connected to the external power line  42  to obtain AC power. Since the power distributor  40  usually provides stable power to the servers in a control room, the power distributor  40  has to have the function of power management. Each of the breakers  43  is connected in parallel with a signal coupler  44 , so that the power status data can still be transmitted out via the signal coupler  44  when the power is being switched. 
         [0041]    With reference to  FIG. 7 , the power distributor  40  uses socket  10  in accordance with the present invention. Therefore, each of the sockets  10  can transmit its power status via the power line. Each power distributor  40  can thus link to a local power line host  51  via a power line  50 . The local power line host then links to a remote power management host  52  via the Internet. Likewise, the power line data communication circuit  30  of each socket  10  in each power distributor  40  can retrieve network packets from the power line. Therefore, the remote power management host  52  can send the network packet of an on/off command to a specific socket  10  of a particular power distributor  40 , achieving the goal of remote power control. 
         [0042]    While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.