Current transformer with integrated actuator

A system comprising a magnetic actuator, a current transformer and operational electronics in a dual-coil circuit breaker. The system includes an inline implementation of the primary and secondary coils to maintain a narrow width suitable for retrofitting in currently designed industrial rack mounted enclosures. The system further comprises network connectivity allowing interrogation of the components for operational data associated with the component.

BACKGROUND

Typical current motor protection circuit breakers, for rated currents up to approximately one hundred amps, are designed with bimetal strips/heaters for thermal protection and magnetic plungers for short circuit protection. The operation of these devices produces a significant amount of power loss in the form of heat. The trend of government regulation and public opinion is towards a reduction in power consumption of all electrical devices, creating market pressure for more efficient electrical device designs. Further, reduced operating expenses are available to encourage the use of the design in new applications and to offset the cost of retrofitting existing applications with a more efficient circuit breaker.

Another shortcoming in the design of this class of existing circuit breakers is the lack of integrated electronics for measuring circuit breaker conditions and the ability to communicate this data to a control system or network. Greater efficiency of operation and preventative maintenance opportunities are lost because the first sign of a problem with the circuit breaker is after circuit breaker failure. The consumer trend towards sophisticated control systems and control system network communications is creating additional market pressure to provide the ability to integrate this level of electrical device into the communication network of an existing control system.

Further, market interest in this class of circuit breaker with regard to the design's operational characteristics, such as speed of contact opening, prevention from reclosing and prevention from welding are required but a smaller form factor is desired to reduce manufacturing cost by allowing the circuit breaker to fit into existing smaller case designs and increase the applicability of the device by opening new areas of application. Accordingly, market pressure due to the unfulfilled need for a more power efficient circuit breaker, meeting expected government and industry standards, containing self-powered electronics for data collection and communication, but fitting in a smaller and possibly previously existing form factor has driven circuit breaker development in a direction previously thought unobtainable.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description presented later.

The present innovation blends the desirable characteristics of the existing class of circuit breakers with the aspects required by the pressure from a new market direction to create a new class of circuit breaker. The new class of circuit breaker provides protection previously believed obtainable only in a large inefficient design in a reduced form factor fitting today's requirements and existing enclosures. Reduction in size is accomplished by an inline dual coil design targeted at reducing the width of the required enclosure unlike existing designs using concentric dual coil implementations.

The heart of the design uses a dual coil winding system of separate but inline coils to reduce the physical dimensions of the circuit breaker enclosure. The inline design allows the coil windings of the plunger system to act as the primary coil of a current transformer providing power for the embedded electronics. The multiple turns of the primary coil winding provide for higher line outputs for powering the embedded data collection and communication electronics. Additionally, the primary coil serves to measure the primary current, acting as a data source for communication to the integrated electronics for communication to the communicatively connected network and control system. Further, an integrated magnetic actuator is included to provide fast contact opening when an overload is detected. The integrated magnetic actuator further serves to prevent the problems of reclosing and welding, typical of other circuit breaker designs of this physical size for this current load, when an overload is serviced.

According to an aspect of the invention, a system for a circuit breaker comprises: a primary coil component for providing current based overload protection; a magnetic actuator component for disconnecting circuit breaker contacts; a secondary coil component for providing voltage based overload protection; and a control system interface component for communicating operational data. According to another aspect of the invention, a system for a circuit breaker comprises: means for providing current-based overload protection; means for disconnecting the circuit breaker contacts; means for providing voltage-based overload protection; and means for communicating operational data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,” “equipment,” “interface”, “network,” and/or the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer, an industrial controller, a relay, a sensor and/or a variable frequency drive. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

In addition to the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the claimed subject matter can be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using typical programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any suitable combination thereof to control a computing device, such as a variable frequency drive and controller, to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any suitable computer-readable device, media, or a carrier generated by such media/device. For example, computer readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . . ), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ). Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave generated by a transmitter can be employed to carry computer-readable electronic data such as those used in transmitting and receiving electronic mail or in accessing a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Referring to the drawings,FIG. 1depicts a block diagram100of a current transformer with integrated magnetic actuator and embedded electronics for measurement and communications including a primary coil component102, a magnetic actuator component104, a secondary coil component106, a power supply component108, a control system interface component110and an overload detection component112.

The primary coil component102is the current coil and provides sufficient windings to provide power for the control system interface component110and to act as the measurement device for the primary current. The primary coil component102wraps a plunger component and is implemented separately from the secondary coil component106but in-line with the coil component106to reduce enclosure size requirements.

The magnetic actuator component104simultaneously provides an instantaneous trip and an induced delay trip capability. The magnetic actuator component104is not susceptible to the inefficient power based heat generation problems of bimetal thermal overload detectors and is immediately ready for reset after tripping. The magnetic actuator component104implements integrated mechanical movement of the plunger and the armature based on magnetic field strength driven by current load of the primary coil component102to break the contacts in an overload condition. As one non-limiting example, the magnetic actuator component104is designed as a spring loaded plunger acting as the armature of the primary coil component102.

The secondary coil component106provides the voltage coil for allowing a remote or “panic” shutdown. As previously described, the implementation of the design is separate coils oriented inline to allow the use of a smaller form factor enclosure. As an example of the differences in the subject innovative design and a typical existing design, a typical existing design would include concentric dual coils. The physical geometry of requiring a secondary coil to wrap around the outer diameter of the primary coil would prohibit the desired reduction in size of the enclosure because of the width requirements of the concentric coils.

The power supply component108provides power for the integrated measurement and communication aspects of the control system interface component110. The power supply component108derives its source from the windings of the primary coil component102and is designed to match the power supply requirements of the control system interface component110.

The control system interface component110provides the electronics allowing the measurement of circuit breaker related data and the communication of the circuit breaker related data to other devices communicatively connected to the control system interface component110. The control system interface component110collects data such as current flow of the primary coil, voltage of the secondary coil, temperature of the enclosure and its components and tripping events associated with overload conditions or remote shutdown. The control system interface110communicates the collected information to any devices communicatively connected to the control system interface component110.

The overload measurement component112provides for detecting a current overload in the primary coil based on the increasing magnetic field strength surrounding the magnetic actuator component104and the voltage overload in the secondary coil based on a remote shutdown supply voltage. The mechanisms of overload measurement component112provide for instantaneous shutdown in short circuit conditions but also allow delayed shutdown for overload conditions not involving a short circuit. In another aspect, the described shutdown mechanisms accomplish this task without the inefficient generation of heat typical with the bimetal design of overload protection.

Referring again to the drawings,FIG. 2depicts in200the control system interface component110including the data collection component202and the network communication component204. The data collection component202provides measurement electronics suitable to measure the current of the primary coil component102, the voltage of the secondary coil component106, the voltage of the power supply component108, the temperature of the enclosure components and the load exerted on the plunger deflection spring. The data measurements available to the data collection component202are provided to the network communication component for transmission to other devices communicatively connected to the control system interface component110. The data can be analyzed and for further analysis.

The network communication component204provides the ability to communicate to other devices on a network. For example, an industrial controller can interrogate the network communication component204over a control network and request the current values of any data measurable by the data collection component202. Further, an industrial controller can request the value of the current measurement for the primary coil and the temperature of the enclosure. The network communication component204will package the requested data in a format suitable for the connected network and transmit the data to the requesting device.

In another aspect, the network communication component204can receive a communication containing a command to perform an action such as opening the contacts. Upon receiving such a command, the network communication component204directs an overload voltage to the secondary coil and performs a remote shutdown. In another aspect, the network communication component204can communicate the occurrence of a shutdown, for any reason and by either coil to a device communicatively connected to the network communication component204without a prior request from the device for the data.

Referring now toFIGS. 3A-F, the inline design of the dual coil system is illustrated, including the plunger type magnetic actuator component104, the current measuring primary coil102and the voltage measuring secondary coil106. The inline dimensional drawing302(inFIG. 3F) depicts the space savings of a dual coil system of a non-concentric type allowing for the placement of the system100in existing enclosure designs. In another aspect, primary coil304(inFIG. 3E) depicts sufficient windings to provide enough power to support the data collection component202and the network communication component204of the control system interface component110.

Referring toFIG. 4, a three-dimensional depiction of the inline dual coil system is illustrated, including the preexisting enclosure402, the primary coil102, the secondary coil106, the plunger408, a magnetic shunt410, the control system interface component110electronics404and the control system interface component110network connection406. The width of the preexisting enclosure402requires a narrow coil design and would not work if the coils were implemented in a concentric fashion. The control system interface component110electronics404are powered from the additional windings of the primary coil and provide for data collection and networked based bidirectional communication to other devices on the communicatively connected network. The network connection406port provides the point of attachment for the network cable suitable to position the enclosure in existing control component mounting racks.

With reference toFIG. 5, the exemplary computing environment500for implementing various aspects includes embedded control and communication electronics502, including a processing unit504, a system memory506and a system bus508. The system bus508couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory506to the processing unit504. The processing unit504can be any of various commercially available processors, such a single core processor, a multi-core processor, or any other suitable arrangement of processors. The system bus508can be any of several types of bus structure that can further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory506can include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), high-speed RAM (such as static RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, the computer502can include a hard disk drive, upon which program instructions, data, and the like can be retained. Moreover, removable data storage can be associated with the embedded control and communication electronics502. Hard disk drives, removable media, etc. can be communicatively coupled to the processing unit504by way of the system bus508.

The system memory506can retain a number of program modules, such as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. All or portions of an operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can be, for instance, cached in RAM, retained upon a hard disk drive, or any other suitable location. A user can enter commands and information into the embedded control and communication electronics502through one or more wired/wireless input devices, such as a keyboard, pointing and clicking mechanism, pressure sensitive screen, microphone, joystick, stylus pen, etc. A monitor or other type of interface can also be connected to the system bus508.

The embedded control and communication electronics502can operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, phones, or other computing devices, such as workstations, server computers, routers, personal computers, portable computers, microprocessor-based entertainment appliances, peer devices or other common network nodes, etc. The embedded control and communication electronics502can connect to other devices/networks by way of antenna, port, network interface adaptor, wireless access point, modem, and/or the like.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter,FIG. 6as well as the following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter may be implemented. While the subject matter has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on a computer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention also may be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that performs particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventive methods may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA), phone, watch . . . ), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. However, some, if not all aspects of the invention can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

With reference toFIG. 6, an exemplary environment600for implementing various aspects disclosed herein includes a computer612(e.g., desktop, laptop, server, hand held, programmable consumer or industrial electronics . . . ). Additionally, computer612can comprise an actual target hardware system, and can comprise an embedded computer that has all the characteristics of environment600. The computer612includes a processing unit614, a system memory616, and a system bus618. The system bus618couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory616to the processing unit614. The processing unit614can be any of various available microprocessors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit614.

The system memory616includes volatile memory620and nonvolatile memory622. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer information between elements within the computer612, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory622. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory622can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory620includes random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).

It is to be appreciated thatFIG. 6describes software that acts as an intermediary between users and the basic computer resources described in suitable operating environment600. Such software includes an operating system628. Operating system628, which can be stored on disk storage624, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer system612. System applications630take advantage of the management of resources by operating system628through program modules632and program data634stored either in system memory616or on disk storage624. It is to be appreciated that the present invention can be implemented with various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer612through input device(s)636. Input devices636include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit614through the system bus618via interface port(s)638. Interface port(s)638include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s)640use some of the same type of ports as input device(s)636. Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer612and to output information from computer612to an output device640. Output adapter642is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices640like displays (e.g., flat panel and CRT), speakers, and printers, among other output devices640that require special adapters. The output adapters642include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between the output device640and the system bus618. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)644.

Computer612can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)644. The remote computer(s)644can be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to computer612. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device646is illustrated with remote computer(s)644. Remote computer(s)644is logically connected to computer612through a network interface648and then physically connected via communication connection650. Network interface648encompasses communication networks such as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links, circuit-switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s)650refers to the hardware/software employed to connect the network interface648to the bus618. While communication connection650is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer612, it can also be external to computer612. The hardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface648includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems, power modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards or components.

FIG. 7is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment700with which the present invention can interact. The system700includes one or more client(s)710. The client(s)710can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The system700also includes one or more server(s)730. Thus, system700can correspond to a two-tier client server model or a multi-tier model (e.g., client, middle tier server, data server), amongst other models. The server(s)730can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers730can house threads to perform transformations by employing the present invention, for example. One possible communication between a client710and a server730may be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes.

The system700includes a communication framework750that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s)710and the server(s)730. The client(s)710are operatively connected to one or more client data store(s)760that can be employed to store information local to the client(s)710. Similarly, the server(s)730are operatively connected to one or more server data store(s)740that can be employed to store information local to the servers730.

In addition to the various embodiments described herein, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the described embodiment(s) for performing the same or equivalent function of the corresponding embodiment(s) without deviating therefrom. Still further, multiple processing chips or multiple devices can share the performance of one or more functions described herein, and similarly, storage can be effected across a plurality of devices. Accordingly, no single embodiment shall be considered limiting, but rather the various embodiments and their equivalents should be construed consistently with the breadth, spirit and scope in accordance with the appended claims.

It is also noted that the term industrial controller as used herein includes both PLCs and process controllers from distributed control systems and can include functionality that can be shared across multiple components, systems, and or networks. One or more industrial controllers can communicate and cooperate with various network devices across a network. This can include substantially any type of control, communications module, computer, I/O device, Human Machine Interface (HMI) that communicate via the network which includes control, automation, and/or public networks. The industrial controller can also communicate to and control various other devices such as Input/Output modules including Analog, Digital, Programmed/Intelligent I/O modules, other industrial controllers, communications modules, and the like. The network (not shown) can include public networks such as the Internet, Intranets, and automation networks such as Control and Information Protocol (CIP) networks including DeviceNet and ControlNet. Other networks include Ethernet, DH/DH+, Remote I/O, Fieldbus, Modbus, Profibus, wireless networks, serial protocols, and so forth. In addition, the network devices can include various possibilities (hardware and/or software components). These include components such as switches with virtual local area network (VLAN) capability, LANs, WANs, proxies, gateways, routers, firewalls, virtual private network (VPN) devices, servers, clients, computers, configuration tools, monitoring tools, and/or other devices.