Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

Timothy M Minteer

David Kenny

Eric M Sawyer

Edmund O Schweitzer, Iii

Raymond W Rice

Johnny J Moore

Brett Taggart

David E Whitehead

James Mobley

Benjamin T Rowland

Naiden K Spasov

Edmund O Schweiter, Iii

Lyssa W Blood

Joe Baylon

Systems and methods include using a magnetic core winder to install a powerline-mounted device with a non-gapped magnetic core, therefore reducing the weight of the powerline-mounted device while still harvesting equal or more power than a large cross-sectional and gapped magnetic cores. In particular, the methods include installing bobbin(s) and a core housing on a powerline and winding strip/ribbon core material onto the core housing. The bobbins may be wound axially opposed to on a toroid winder, which improves the accuracy of turns count of the magnetic core. The improved accuracy of turns count may increase the accuracy and/or tolerance of magnetic component(s) of the powerline-mounted device.

Magnetic core winder for powerline-mounted devices

A current transformer (CT) isolation clamp is mounted to a phase conductor and includes a step-down CT transformer and a passive isolation transformer. A three-phase power-harvesting sensor system includes a plurality of CT isolation clamps mounted to phase conductors in a three-phase power system. An electronics module is connected to the CT isolation clamps. The electronics module may include a sensing circuit to determine power characteristics of the three-phase power system based on the outputs of the CT isolation clamps. The electronics module may include a communication subsystem to transmit the determined power characteristics to local or remote devices. Additionally, the electronics module may include a power harvesting circuit to harvest power to operate the sensing circuit and the communication subsystem.

Multiphase power-harvesting sensor devices and systems

A current transformer includes a pre-formed core forming a closed loop with a flexible axially wound secondary winding. A continuous length of wire is axially coiled around a flexible bobbin to form a secondary winding. The resulting secondary winding may be slid onto the closed loop of the pre-formed core. The flexibility of the axially wound secondary winding facilitates conformity to a non-linear shape of the pre-formed core.

Method of manufacturing a current transformer

The present disclosure relates to powering distributed sensors used to monitor electrical and/or environmental conditions and to powering other equipment associated with electric power systems. In one embodiment, a system may be used to mount a sensor in proximity to a reference conductor. An electric field power conversion subsystem may generate a usable electric potential from an electric field created by the electric power system and existing between the reference conductor and another conductor (e.g., another phase conductor, a ground conductor). The sensor powered by the usable electric potential may provide a measurement of a condition associated with the electric power system. A communication subsystem powered by the usable electric potential may communicate the measurement of the condition to a monitoring system.

Electric field powered devices in electric power systems

Current transformer with flexible secondary winding

A system for monitoring the operation of one or more devices is provided. The system includes a microphone acoustically coupled to one the monitored device. An analog-to-digital-converter samples the microphone and a processor examines the resultant digital signal for the occurrence of an abnormal event.

System, method, and apparatus for using the sound signature of a device to determine its operability

A transformer to isolate a primary winding from a signal winding include a primary substrate (which may comprise a printed circuit board (PCB)) and a secondary substrate. The primary and secondary substrates may each have three openings to allow first and second E-E core halves to be joined therebetween. A first insulator may be disposed between the primary and secondary substrates to isolate the primary substrate from the secondary substrate. A second insulator may secure the primary and secondary substrates in place and insulate the secondary substrate from the core. The primary and secondary substrates may each include a Faraday shield its outer layers. A shield slit to prevent shorting between the legs of the E-E core may be formed by cutting a channel in the shield between the opening of the primary and secondary substrates. A retaining clip may be used to clamp together the primary substrate, first and second core E-E core halves, secondary substrate and second insulator. A primary winding and sense winding may be disposed within the primary substrate and a signal winding may be disposed within the secondary substrate. The primary, sense, and signal windings may be positioned so that the magnetic flux produced by the primary winding passes through the signal and sense windings in substantially equal proportions. The primary and signal winding may enter the E-E core from opposite directions to choke any common mode current therebetween.

Systems and methods for forming an isolated transformer

An accurate linear equivalent of an analog signal may be produced across an isolation barrier by driving a primary transformer winding with a drive amplifier and compensation amplifier, where the compensation operational amplifier amplifies a difference between a signal produced on a sense winding of the transformer and a combination of the input analog signal and output of the drive amplifier. The system may be stabilized by a lead-lag network between the sense winding, input signal, and operational amplifier. The transformer may comprise an isolation barrier to isolate the input analog signal from a signal winding. The primary winding of the transformer, driven by the operational amplifier and driver amplifier circuit, may produce a linear equivalent of the input analog signal across the isolation barrier on a signal winding of the transformer. The transformer may comprise power supply windings connected to a power supply bridge rectifier and regulator circuit to control and supply power to the circuit components across the isolation barrier. The operational amplifier and drive amplifier circuit may be active for only a portion of each analog signal sampling period. The control signals may provide power during the rest of the sampling cycle.

Systems and methods for isolating an analog signal

A communications device, such as a transceiver, is used with a fiber optic communication line, wherein the communications device is powered from a host device. A voltage supply circuit, which comprises a full wave bridge rectifier responsive to data and control signals from the host device, produces plus and minus rectified voltage signals. First and second voltage regulators are responsive to the rectified voltage signals to produce plus and minus regulated voltages, for example &#xb1;5 volts, which is sufficient to power the communications device. A charge circuit alternately transfers energy from the plus and minus voltage lines to ensure the presence of plus and minus voltage signals when only positive or negative signals are provided by the host device.

Communications device powered from host apparatus

A fiber-optic transceiver receives from and transmits to an associated electronic terminal device, such as a protective relay, digital data signals. Fiber-optic transceivers can be positioned at opposite ends of a connecting fiber-optic line. Power for each transceiver is obtained from its associated electronic device. The transceiver includes a transmit section, a receive section, a handshake section to provide feedback of control signals which may be required by the associated electronic terminal device, and a voltage supply section. A particular optical coding arrangement is used to convert the digital data signal from the terminal device to a series of optical pulses, wherein a pair of optical pulses represents a rising edge of the digital data signal from the electronic device, while a single pulse represents the falling edge of the data signal. Additional pairs of pulses and single pulses may follow the initial one, depending upon the length of the high and/or low portions of the data signal. A receive portion of the transceiver receives a series of optical pulses from the fiber-optic cable, recognizes the double and single optical pulses, and reconstructs a digital data signal therefrom.

Fiber-optic transceiver for long distance data communications

The fiber-optic transceiver system combines EIA-232 data with IRIG-B time code information in a time multiplexing arrangement. The combined signal is transmitted to a receiver where the time code information is decombined from the data so that the two signals are replicas of their originals. The time multiplexing is accomplished by inserting a pulse into the data stream following the occurrence of a minimum time for each data bit and the coincidence of a time code pulse.

Growing community of inventors

Pullman, WA, United States of America

Timothy M Minteer