Monitor system for surge protection devices
AssigneeERICO International Corporation
InventorsGreg Martinjak, Spencer Allemang, Thomas Bendlak
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A monitor system for one or more surge protection devices may include a hub configured for wireless communication with one or more remote devices, or a sensor configured to detect an end-of-life state of a surge protection device (SPD). The sensor may include a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit a sensor signal to the hub to indicate the end-of-life state of the SPD. The hub may be configured to transmit to one or more of a remote server or a mobile device a hub signal corresponding to the end-of-life state.
Claims20
A surge protection system, the surge protection system comprising:
- a surge protection device including a flag movable between a ready state corresponding to normal operation of the surge protection device and a triggered state corresponding to an end-of-life state of the surge protection device;
- and
- a surge protection monitor system that includes a sensor, the sensor including:
- a switch, and an electronic transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit signals based on a state of the switch;
- the sensor having an installed configuration in which the sensor is secured to the surge protection device with the switch aligned to detect a position of the flag that corresponds to the triggered state;
- and
- with the sensor in the installed configuration, the electronic transmitter being configured to wirelessly transmit an end-of-life signal to indicate that the surge protection device is in the end-of-life state, in response to detection of the position of the flag by the switch.
A retrofit system to monitor a surge protection device, the retrofit system comprising:
- a sensor configured to be removably secured to a surge protection device;
- the sensor including:
- a housing configured to removably engage the surge protection device to secure the sensor to the surge protection device;
- a detector configured to detect a movement of a component of the surge protection device corresponding to an end of life state of the surge protection device;
- and
- a transmitter configured to transmit a wireless signal to a remotely located hub, in response to the detected movement, to indicate the end of life state of the surge protection device.
A method of monitoring surge protection devices, comprising:
- retrofitting a surge protection device by:
- removably engaging a housing of a sensor with the surge protection device to secure the sensor to the surge protection device, so that a detector of the sensor is arranged to detect a movement of a component of the surge protection device corresponding to an end-of-life state of the surge protection device;
- and
- pairing the sensor with a remotely located hub to permit wireless communication between a transmitter of the sensor and the remotely located hub;
- wherein the transmitter is thereby configured to transmit a wireless signal to the remotely located hub to indicate the end-of-life state of the surge protection device in response to the detector detecting the movement of the component of the surge protection device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.