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US 12,315,691 B2Granted
Zero crossing contactor and method of operating
AssigneeGE Aviation Systems LLC
InventorsPeter Roy Payne, John Houghton, Robert Henry Keith Miles Bullock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A contactor apparatus and method for operating the contactor apparatus can include a contactor assembly with a contactor coil operably coupled to a contactor switch. One or more sensors can be provided in the contactor assembly adapted to measure one or more aspects of the contactor assembly. Based upon the measured aspects, a controller can initiate operation of the contactor switch to effectively toggle the contactor switch at a zero-crossing point along an alternating current waveform.
Claims20
A method of operating a contactor, the method comprising:
- receiving, in a controller module, at least two operational characteristics of the contactor, with each operational characteristic representative of a delay time, the at least two operational characteristics of the contactor including:
- a contactor coil temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the contactor coil;
- and
- a contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
- determining, in the controller module, an estimated contactor time delay for at least one of disconnecting or connecting a power supply by the contactor, the contactor time delay being a summation of a set of delay timings based on the delay time of each operational characteristic;
- initiating, by the controller module, the at least one of disconnecting or connecting of the power supply by the contactor at an initiation time prior to a zero-crossing voltage of an alternating current (AC) waveform of the power supply, wherein the initiation time anticipates the zero-crossing voltage based upon the estimated contactor time delay;
- determining, by the controller module, an error correction value signal defined by a difference between the actual contactor time delay operation of the disconnecting or connecting of the power supply by the contactor and the estimated contactor time delay;
- and
- updating the determined contactor time delay for subsequent disconnecting or connecting of the power supply by the contactor based on the error correction value signal.
6 more elements
A method of operating a contactor, the method comprising:
- receiving, in a controller module, at least two operational characteristics of the contactor, with each operational characteristic representative of a delay time;
- determining, in the controller module, an estimated total contactor time delay defined by a timing estimation to operably disconnect or connect a power supply and an electrical load, based on the delay time of each operational characteristic, a temperature of a contactor coil and a contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
- determining an estimated contactor initiation time based on at least one delay time and an alternating current (AC) waveform of the power supply, such that an expiration of the estimated total contactor time delay coincides with a zero-crossing voltage of the AC waveform;
- initiating, by the controller module, a toggling of the power supply by the contactor at the estimated contactor initiation time;
- determining, in the controller module, an error correction value signal defined by a difference between the actual toggling of the power supply by the contactor at the estimated contactor initiation time and the actual zero-crossing voltage of the AC waveform;
- and
- updating the estimated contactor initiation time for subsequent disconnecting or connecting of the power supply by the contactor based on the error correction value signal.
4 more elements
A contactor assembly comprising:
- a contactor switch selectably connecting an input with an output;
- a contactor coil operably coupled to the contactor switch and configured to actuate the contactor switch;
- at least two sensors configured to measure an operational characteristic of the contactor assembly comprising a contactor coil temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the contactor coil and a contactor coil energizing supply sensor configured to measure a contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
- and
- a controller module configured to:
- receive at least two electrical signals from the at least two sensors, with each electrical signal representative of a delay time;
- determine an estimated contactor time delay as a summation of a set of delay timings based upon the at least two electrical signals comprising:
- the temperature of the contactor coil;
- and
- the contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
- initiate at least one of a disconnecting or connecting of the input and the output by the contactor switch at an initiation time prior to a zero-crossing voltage of an alternating current (AC) waveform of a power supply wherein the initiation time is based upon the estimated contactor time delay;
- determine an error correction value signal defined by a difference between the actual contactor time delay operation of the disconnecting or connecting of the input and the output by the contactor switch and the estimated contactor time delay;
- and
- updating the determined contactor time delay for subsequent disconnecting or connecting of the input and the output by the contactor based on the error correction value signal.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.