The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 06, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 10, 1998
Richard A. Balch, North Hampton, NH (US);
David D. Elmore, Somersworth, NH (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
An electricity meter which, in one embodiment, includes a temperature sensing unit for determining a signal representative of the temperature within the meter is described. In the one embodiment, the meter includes a current sensor, a voltage sensor and a processing unit. The current sensor generates an signal representative of a line current and the voltage sensor generates a signal representative of a line voltage. The current and voltage sensor and temperature sensing unit outputs are coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit includes an analog to digital (A/D) converter, a digital signal processor (DSP) and a microcomputer. The digital outputs of the A/D converter are connected to the DSP. The outputs of the DSP are connected to the microcomputer. Temperature characteristics of the meter are stored within the DSP. In operation, the output signals from the current sensor and the voltage sensor are sampled by the A/D converter to generate digital output signals representative of the line current and the line voltage. The output of the sensing unit is sampled by the A/D converter to generate a digital output signal representative of the temperature within the meter. The A/D converter digital output signals are transmitted to the DSP. The DSP determines if the output signal representative of the temperature within the meter is within a valid range. If the temperature signal is within the valid range, the DSP adjusts the line current and line voltage by the temperature characteristics of the meter based on the temperature representative signal. An adjusted energy consumption value is then determined by the DSP using the adjusted line current and the adjusted line voltage.