Universal electronic energy meter for use with 4-wire standard services

Abstract

A universal electronic energy meter for measuring electrical energy usage of a circuit having a 4-wire service is disclosed. The universal meter is operable with both 4-wire wye and 4-wire delta services without modification to the meter's hardware or software. The universal meter is further operable over a wide range of standard service voltages that are supplied in connection with 4-wire services. The universal meter includes a voltage divider network that senses the line voltages from the circuit and scales the line voltages to a voltage suitable for processing by the meter. The scaled voltage has a maximum peak-to-peak voltage irrespective of the particular standard service supplying the electrical energy to the circuit, and therefore, the voltage divider network is not reconfigured to accommodate a wide range of service voltages. The voltage divider network includes resistive dividers that scale the line voltage to provide a linear voltage with minimal phase shift. The universal meter also includes a power supply that is also operable over a wide range of service voltages. The power supply supplies a regulated fixed supply voltage used by the meter for processing functions carried out by the meter independent of the type of 4-wire service supplying the electrical energy to the circuit.