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US 12,526,635 B2Granted
Communication enabled circuit breakers
AssigneeLeviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.
InventorsScott Freeman, Abhishek Golwala, Rejaul Monir, Michael Ostrovsky, Alfred J. Lombardi, Ozgur Keser, Adam Kevelos, Paul Soccoli, Justin Berghoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Wireless communication enabled circuit breakers are described. Methods associated with such wireless communication enabled circuit breakers are also described. The wireless communication enabled circuit breakers may controlled by a remote entity. The remote entity may wirelessly case the wireless communication enabled circuit breakers to trip.
Claims23
A wirelessly communicating circuit breaker comprising:
- a line side phase terminal;
- a load side phase terminal;
- a memory comprising fault interrupter instructions and power metering instructions;
- an interrupter coupled to the memory, the interrupter to interrupt an electrical communication between the line side phase terminal and the load side phase terminal based at least in part on the fault interrupter instructions;
- an electrical sensor coupled to at least one of the line side phase terminal and the load side phase terminal;
- a wireless radio;
- and
- a processor coupled to the memory and the wireless radio, in response to executing the power metering instructions the processor to:
- receive signals from the electrical sensor;
- generate data related to one or more electrical parameters of the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker based on the received signals;
- send the data to a remote entity via the wireless radio;
- and
- record a status of the interrupter, the status comprising whether the interrupter is in an open state or in a closed state, whether the interrupter was tripped or set locally or remotely, or a combination thereof;
- the processor to execute further instructions to cause the interrupter to enter a service mode in response to receipt of a remote entity signal from the remote entity, the service mode to prevent the interrupter from tripping based on occurrence of one or more of an arc fault, a ground fault, an overcurrent fault, or any combination thereof;
- the processor to output an alert signal to cause an alert based on a tripping event that would cause the interrupter to trip if the interrupter were not in the service mode;
- wherein the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker is controllable remotely based on receipt of a control signal, to report a status of the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker, to open and close the interrupter, and to update the fault interrupter instructions.
13 more elements
A system comprising:
- a building panel to house a circuit breaker controller and one or more wirelessly communicating circuit breakers;
- and
- a wirelessly communicating circuit breaker housed within the building panel, the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker comprising:
- a line side phase terminal;
- a load side phase terminal;
- a memory comprising communication instructions, fault interrupter instructions, and power metering instructions;
- an interrupter coupled to a processor, the interrupter to interrupt an electrical communication between the line side phase terminal and the load side phase terminal based at least in part on the fault interrupter instructions;
- an electrical sensor coupled to at least one of the line side phase terminal or the load side phase terminal;
- a wireless radio;
- and
- the processor coupled to the memory and the wireless radio, wherein in response to executing the power metering instructions, the processor to:
- receive signals from the electrical sensor;
- generate data related to one or more electrical parameters of the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker based on the received signals;
- send the data to a remote entity via the wireless radio;
- and
- record a status of the interrupter, the status comprising whether the interrupter is in an open state or in a closed state, whether the interrupter was tripped or set locally or remotely, or a combination thereof;
- wherein the processor executes further instructions to enter a service mode in response to a signal from the remote entity, the processor, while in the service mode, configured to trip the interrupter upon detection of an overcurrent but not trip upon detection of an arc fault;
- wherein the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker is controllable wirelessly by the remote entity based on receipt of a control signal, to report a status of the wirelessly communicating circuit breaker, to open and close the interrupter, and to update the fault interrupter instructions.
15 more elements
A system comprising:
- at least one communication enabled circuit breaker, each of the at least one communication enabled circuit breaker comprising:
- a line side phase terminal;
- a load side phase terminal;
- a first memory comprising fault interrupter instructions and power metering instructions;
- a fault interrupter coupled to the first memory, the fault interrupter to interrupt an electrical communication between the line side phase terminal and the load side phase terminal based at least in part on the fault interrupter instructions;
- an electrical sensor coupled to at least one of the line side phase terminal or the load side phase terminal;
- a first wireless radio;
- and
- a first processor coupled to the first memory and the first wireless radio;
- and
- a circuit breaker controller comprising:
- a second wireless radio;
- a second memory comprising controller instructions;
- and
- a second processor electrically coupled to the second wireless radio and the second memory;
- wherein the first processor, in response to executing the power metering instructions to receive signals from the electrical sensor, is configured to:
- generate data related to one or more electrical parameters of the at least one communication enabled circuit breaker based on the received signals, and
- send the data to the circuit breaker controller via the first wireless radio, wherein the data comprises historical data including fault signatures and operating conditions incident to the fault signatures;
- and
- record a status of the fault interrupter, the status comprising whether the fault interrupter is in an open state or in a closed state, whether the fault interrupter was tripped or set locally or remotely, or a combination thereof;
- the first processor to execute further instructions to cause the fault interrupter to enter a service mode in response to receipt of a signal from a remote entity, the service mode to prevent the fault interrupter from tripping based on occurrence of an arc fault, a ground fault, an overcurrent fault, or any combination thereof;
- wherein the at least one communication enabled circuit breaker is controllable remotely based on receipt of a control signal, to report a status of the at least one communication enabled circuit breaker, to open and close the fault interrupter, and to update the fault interrupter instructions.
19 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.