Abstract:
A wireless remote control system for disconnecting the power in a whole-house utility meter. The user is then able to dial a pager number that is already pre-programmed. The paging service then transmits a signal to a radio frequency (“RF”) receiver in the module. The signal is then decoded and sent to a processor. The processor then causes a relay to open or close in accordance with the decoded signal to connect or disconnect the electrical power.

Description:
[0001]     Related Applications: This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09/672,162, filed on Sep. 27, 2000. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention is in the field of disconnect systems for electrical power-meters.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Utility meters are widely used by utility companies to monitor the usage of electrical power into residences, offices, and any other sites using electrical power supplied by the utility companies. These meters are typically monitored by visual inspections and the customer billed according to their electrical usage. Often it becomes necessary for the power to be disconnected from the site being served. This may be due to an end of service situation, a chronic no-pay customer, seasonal use of the site being served, turn-over of a site or other situations. Presently, these situations require service personnel to visit the site and manually disconnect the power, such as removing the meter. An additional visit is required then to re-connect the power.  
         [0004]     These visits are time-consuming and expensive for the utility companies. Further, the timing may not always be suitable for many situations, such as re-connecting power. An additional problem arises in situations where safety may be of concern.  
         [0005]     A previous attempt to solve this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,538, issued to Warwick. This patent discloses a modular electricity meter having a remotely controllable switch. This meter uses a direct telephone connection or a radio signal to activate a solenoid switch. This system requires special installation and either the expense of a direct telephone line or special radio equipment to operate the device.  
         [0006]     There presently is a need for a system that will provide remote disconnect/connect of a utility power supply in an inexpensive manner.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention solves these problems and others by providing a system for remote disconnect/connection of electrical power into a building. The system, in a preferred embodiment, is a “plug and play” device that is already preprogrammed for operation. The system is integrally mounted within a utility power meter. The power meter is simply plugged into the meter housing and the control board is activated by any touch tone telephone or computer modem. Once the paging service has been activated, the system is ready for operation without the need of complicated installation or programming.  
         [0008]     The user is then able to dial a pager number that is already pre-programmed. The paging service then transmits a signal to a radio frequency (“RF”) receiver in the power supply module. The signal is then decoded and sent to a processor. The processor then causes a switching circuit to open or close in accordance with the decoded signal to disconnect or connect the electrical power entering the building. The exemplary embodiments are described using relay switches or other types of switching circuits.  
         [0009]     These and other features will be evident from the ensuing description of preferred embodiments and from the drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a device utilizing the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a standard utility power meter set-up.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  illustrates an operational diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates a schematic of the RF receiver, and filter of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  illustrates a schematic of the decoder circuit of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  illustrates a command controller unit of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic of the switching circuit, input power supply unit and the output power supply unit of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-8 . It is to be expressly understood that the descriptive embodiments are provided herein for explanatory purposes only and is not meant to unduly limit the claimed inventions. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a wireless remote control system for disconnecting/connecting electrical power for houses, buildings and other environments using electrical meters. The preferred embodiment of the present invention has particular utility for seasonal use buildings, apartment complexes with high turn over rates, chronic no pays and for use in safety disconnect environments.  
         [0000]     General Overview  
         [0019]     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention incorporates a wireless remote control system integrated within an electrical power meter, such as shown in  FIG. 1 . The integrated utility meters  10 , of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, are able to quickly replace existing standard utility meters. The utility meter  10 , as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , meters the flow of electricity from a utility substation into a building, such as a house, office building, apartment complex, etc.  
         [0020]     The utility meter  10  includes control board  20 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , integrated directly into the utility meter  10 . The control board is shown in an operational diagram in  FIG. 4  and schematically in  FIGS. 5-8 . The control board  20  is connected between the power input loads  12 ,  14  and power output loads  16 ,  18 .  
         [0021]     The remote disconnection/connection system of a preferred embodiment includes an Electrical Input  30 , Radio Frequency (“RF”) Receiver  40 , Filter Circuit  50 , Decoder Unit  60 , Command Controller Unit  70 , Switching Circuit  80  and Electrical Output  90 . Each of these circuits will be discussed in greater detail below.  
         [0022]     If the utility company decides to remotely power disconnect the electricity into the building, it only requires a simple telephone call. The user calls an assigned telephone number to a paging service. The user may also use a mobile telephone, a personal computer, or even a personal digital assistant. The paging service then transmits an encrypted signal from a paging transmitter in accordance with standard paging technology. The signal can be transmitted from land or satellite based paging transmitters.  
         [0023]     The paging signal is received at the control board  20  by RF receiver  40 . The system may use an external antennae if necessary. The received paging signal is then filtered through filter circuit  50  and sent to decoding controller  60 . The controller  60  then decodes the signal into a command stream. This command stream is sent to the Command Controller Unit  70 .  
         [0024]     The Command Controller Unit  70 , in accordance with the command stream, then activates the Switching Circuit  80 . Switching Circuit  80 , in the preferred embodiment, is a relay switch. It is to be expressly understood that other types of circuits may be used as well to enable the switching operation. The Switching Circuit  80  is normally in the closed position so that the fail mode is powered on in the preferred embodiment. In this embodiment the Circuit  80  is in a closed position so the Electrical Output is hot. Thus, the Command Controller Unit  70 , upon receiving the command signal processed from the signal sent by the paging transmitter based on the user&#39;s call, causes the Switching Circuit  80  to open. The current from the input power unit is interrupted and the Electrical Output  90  is no longer hot.  
         [0025]     It is to be expressly understood that the reverse can also be accomplished under the present invention. The Switching Circuit  80  may be maintained normally in the open position so that power is not initially powered to the Electrical Output  90 . The user can then power up any device connected to the Electrical Output  90  by simply paging the system, as discussed above. The Switching Circuit  80  is closed to allow current to flow to the main power output  90  to power up the device connect to it.  
         [0000]     Specific Implementation of a Wireless Remote Control System  
         [0026]     A specific implementation of a wireless remote control activation system, as discussed above, is shown in  FIGS. 5-8 . It is to be expressly understood that this implementation is being described for explanatory purposes and is not meant to limit the claimed inventions.  
         [0027]     RF Receiver  40  is schematically shown in  FIG. 5 . The RF Receiver  40  is capable of receiving an RF signal from a paging transmitter (not shown). The paging transmitter can be land-based or satellite based. The RF Receiver  40  may be connected to an external antenna (not shown) if necessary. The paging transmitter transmits the RF signal based upon a user telephoning an assigned telephone number, or from a computer via a modem, personal digital assistant or other known devices for notifying the paging transmitter. The RF Receiver  40  receives the RF signal from the paging transmitter wherein it is sent through Filter  50  to initially process the signal. The filtered signal is then sent to Paging Decoder  60 , shown in  FIG. 6 , that decodes the RF signal from a typical paging protocol format. The transmitted signal is decoded into a digital bit stream and sent onward along buss  62  to the Command Controller  70 , shown in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0028]     Command Controller  70  receives the digital bit stream and acts in accordance with the information contained in the stream. The Command Controller  70  includes an integrated processor circuit  72  to process the signal. Controller Unit  70  may also includes an LED (Light Emitting Diode)  73  to display the status of the Unit. The serial interface  74  also allows the Command Controller Unit  70  be updated or reprogrammed. The Unit  70  also includes a buffer memory circuit  75  in the event that the Controller Unit memory bank is full.  
         [0029]     Power Override Circuit  76  (in another preferred embodiment) is provided to allow the Command Controller Unit  70  to be overridden, such as to manually switch the power on or off to the Electrical Output  90 . In normal use, the Command Controller Unit  70  transmits a command signal to the Switching Circuit  80 , shown in  FIG. 8 , in accordance with the paging transmitted signal. The Switching Circuit  80 , normally held in the closed position would then be reset to the open position to prevent power from flowing to Electrical Output  90 . Alternatively, if the failsafe mode is in the open position, then the Switching Circuit  80  would then be closed to allow power to flow to the Electrical Output  90 . In this preferred embodiment, Switching Circuit  80  is a relay switch, but other types of switching circuits could be used as well.  
         [0030]     It is to be expressly understood that other embodiments may also be within the scope of the present invention to allow power and other transmissions to be controlled by wireless remote control integrated in the utility power meter.