Eaton Corporation

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Gaton Corporation

Thomas J Schoepf

Charles John Luebke

Xin Zhou

Malakondaiah Naidu

Suresh Gopalakrishnan

George Albert Drew

Jerome Kenneth Hastings

Birger Pahl

Ismat Ali Abu-Isa

Joseph Charles Zuercher

William E Beatty, Jr

Robert Yanniello

Gerd Rudolph

Dale Louis Gass

Yi Yang

Steven A Musick

Rafil A Basheer

Neil R Aukland

Suresh Gopalakrishan

William E Beatty

Dale L Gass

A load power device includes a power input, at least one power output for at least one load, a plurality of sensors structured to sense voltage and current at the at least one power output, and a processor. The processor provides: (a) load identification based upon the sensed voltage and current, and (b) load control and management based upon the load identification.

Load power device, system and method of load control and management employing load identification

A distribution manager for a power microgrid system includes a main bus, and a circuit breaker coupled to the main bus and to one of a load and an inter-microgrid connection system of the power microgrid system, the circuit breaker being structured to operate based on a set of functional trip settings. The distribution manager is structured and configured to: (i) determine an available source overcurrent that will be fed through the circuit breaker, (ii) determine a number of trip parameter settings based on at least the available source overcurrent, and (iii) set the functional trip settings of the circuit breaker based on the determined number of trip parameter settings.

Microgrid distribution manager with dynamically adjustable trip curves for multi-source microgrids

An electrical system includes (1) a distributed power source device structured to generate: (i) AC power, and (ii) a signal indicating an amount of current being produced by the distributed power source device, and (2) a circuit breaker having set trip characteristics coupled to distributed power source device, wherein the circuit breaker is structured to receive the signal and adjust the set trip characteristics (e.g., the trip curve) based on at least the signal from the distributed power source device.

System and method for adjusting the trip characteristics of a circuit breaker

A distribution manager includes a main bus, a first connection coupled to the main bus through a first circuit breaker and being structured to couple the distribution manager to an inter-microgrid connection system, a second connection coupled to the main bus through a second circuit breaker and being structured to couple the distribution manager to the inter-microgrid connection system, and a third circuit breaker coupled to the main bus and being structured to be coupled to a load. The distribution manager is configured to detect an overload condition and in response thereto (i) request to bring an offline distributed source online, (ii) if an offline distributed source cannot be brought online, request to shed the load, and (iii) if the load cannot be shed, cause the second circuit breaker to downwardly adjust the trip curve thereof.

Microgrid system structured to detect overload conditions and take corrective actions relating thereto

An acoustic sensor system includes a first plurality of acoustic sensors, and an acoustic transmitter structured to generate acoustic noise to mimic acoustic noise induced by an electrical conductivity fault. A smaller second number of acoustic sensors of the first plurality of acoustic sensors are structured to identify a plurality of locations in an electrical distribution system having a plurality of electrical joints, in order that the smaller second number of acoustic sensors can monitor the plurality of electrical joints of the electrical distribution system.

Acoustic sensor system, acoustic signature simulator, and electrical distribution system

An acoustic sensor system is for an electrical distribution system having a number of phases. The acoustic sensor system comprises: a plurality of sets of acoustic sensors structured to detect an electrical conductivity fault of the electrical distribution system. Each of the plurality of sets includes a number of acoustic sensors. Each of the number of acoustic sensors is for a corresponding one of the number of phases of the electrical distribution system.

Acoustic sensor system for detecting electrical conductivity faults in an electrical distribution system

An electrical switching apparatus comprises: a first terminal; a second terminal; separable contacts electrically connected between the first terminal and the second terminal; an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts; and an arc fault trip circuit cooperating with the operating mechanism and structured to trip open the separable contacts responsive to an arc fault condition. An inductor is electrically connected in series between the first terminal and the second terminal. A capacitor includes a first lead electrically connected between the inductor and the second terminal, and a second lead electrically connected to a ground or neutral conductor. The inductor and the capacitor are structured to cooperate with a power circuit impedance downstream of the second terminal to form a filter trap circuit.

Power distribution system and electrical switching apparatus employing a filter trap circuit to provide arc fault trip coordination

An arc fault detector includes a shunt resistor deployed in a protected circuit, an arc discriminator sensing voltages across the shunt resistor and producing an arc indication deduced from current variations associated with parallel and series arc faults, a signal transformer buffering the arc detection signal and producing a pulse, a switch transient detector sensing a voltage differential across load switches and producing a pulsed switch transient signal when the voltage differential across load switches exceeds a reference value, a line interrupter, such as a static relay, a switch controller including logic gates generating a trip signal based on predetermined criteria, and a manual switch for resetting the line interrupter. An embodiment comprises a voltage sensing coil enveloping a toroidal core to detect current variations in conductors passing through the core.

Arc fault detector and method

The present invention discloses an arc fault detector including a shunt resistor deployed in a circuit being protected, an arc discriminator sensing voltages across the shunt resistor and outputting an arc detection signal when it detects current variations caused by parallel and series arc faults, a signal transformer buffering the arc detection signal and outputting a pulse, a switch transient detector detecting a voltage differential across load switches and outputting a pulsed switch transient detection signal when the voltage differential across load switches exceeds a reference value, a line interrupter such as a static relay, a switch controller including logic gates generating a trip signal based on predetermined criteria, and a manual switch for resetting the line interrupter. A second embodiment of the present invention senses voltage induced in a coil wrapped around a toroidal core to detect current variations in conductors which pass through the center of the toroidal core.

A contact structure for a sliding switch includes a conductive stationary contact disposed on a base and a conductive movable contact for electrically contacting the stationary contact. The movable contact is movable along a path between a non-contact position and a make-contact position with respect to the stationary contact, and at least one of the contacts has a protruding portion that provides an electrical interface for discharge of arcing as the movable contact breaks from the stationary contact. As a result, the invention prevents or substantially reduces degradation in switch performance which might otherwise be caused by debris accumulation associated with arcing.

Contact structures for sliding switches

An arc quenching electrical connector has a male pin terminal which inserts longitudinally into a receptacle or terminal having a gassing wall engaged concentrically about the receptacle. During 'hot unplugging' of the electrical connector, an arc is carried between a tip of the male pin and a contact surface of a leading end of the receptacle. The gassing wall extends over and is directly engaged to a portion of the contact surface. Because the gassing wall is also preferably an electrical insulator, the arc communicates electrically with the exposed contact surface and is biased directly against the gassing wall. The gassing wall, when heated by the adjacent arc, quenches or reduces the energy of the arc by releasing gas which eliminates arc erosion of the terminals.

Electrical connector

A direct current electrical circuit having a smart wire harness that has integrated electronics which measure both voltage and current through wires of the harness to detect and protect the electrical current from parallel and serial arc faults occurring within a protection zone. The protection zone is disposed directly between two smart connectors of the wire harness which are in communication with one another via a series of signal wires of the harness to detect serial or parallel arc faults within the protection zone. To measure serial arc faults, a voltage drop of the positive wire is measured at each smart connector and a difference taken which equals the serial arc voltage. If this voltage differential increases to a preset value, a switching device which provides power to the smart wire harness is opened. To detect parallel arc faults, that is those arcs which jump between the positive wire and the ground wire of the wire harness, a current is measured at both ends of the positive wire of the wire harness via the same smart connectors. If the ending current is less than the beginning current, signaling a parallel arc fault due to the arc resistance of the arc itself, the same switching device is opened.

Smart wire harness for an electrical circuit

Electrical arc suppression when terminals under load are connected/unconnected is provided via an applied magnetic field causing the arc path to be lengthened, with the consequences that the voltage necessary for the arc to be sustained is increased and the arc energy is decreased. In a preferred form, at least one magnet with a high permeability flux return path is placed adjacent the terminal proximity zone of initial/final touching of mating terminals. The magnetic field increases the arc length, and thereby suppresses the arc by increasing the voltage necessary to sustain the arc and decreasing the energy of the arc.

Growing community of inventors

Whitefish Bay, WI, United States of America

Thomas J Schoepf