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US 5,668,693 AGranted
Method of monitoring a contactor
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorsCharles J. Tennies, Jerome K. Hastings, Matthew E. Hastings
Life of this patent
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AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorsCharles J. Tennies, Jerome K. Hastings, Matthew E. Hastings
Estimating the term…
A varying voltage is applied across a coil of a contactor. The varying voltage has a characteristic (frequency) which varies as a function of the position of the armature. The varying voltage is transmitted to a coupler which transmits information to a controller. The coupler may include one or more light sources (LEDs) which are sequentially energized and de-energized to sequentially render a phototransistor conducting and nonconducting. The frequency of the output from the coupler corresponds to the frequency at which the phototransistor is changed between the conducting and nonconducting conditions. A controller determines whether the frequency of the output from the coupler corresponds to the intended position of the armature of the contactor or to an unintended position by comparing the frequency of the output from the coupler to known frequencies for various positions of the armature.
A method of monitoring operation of a contactor, said method comprising the steps of operating the contactor from an actuated condition to an unactuated condition by de-energizing a coil of the contactor, applying a voltage of short duration across the coil of the contactor while maintaining the contactor in the unactuated condition, and determining the position of an armature of the contactor relative to a stator of the contactor while the contactor is in the unactuated condition by monitoring a characteristic of voltage across the coil of the contactor.
A method of controlling operation of a contactor, said method comprising the steps of operating the contactor between actuated and unactuated conditions by electrically energizing a coil of the contactor to move an armature of the contactor toward a stator of the contactor under the influence of a magnetic field from the coil to operate the contactor from the unactuated condition to the actuated condition and de-energizing the coil of the contactor to enable the armature of the contactor to move away from the stator of the contactor to operate the contactor from the actuated condition to the unactuated condition, varying a voltage across the coil of the contactor under the influence of energy which is stored when the contactor is in one of the actuated and unactuated conditions, and determining the position of the armature relative to the stator of the contactor as a function of a characteristic of the varying voltage.
A method of controlling operation of a contactor, said method comprising the steps of operating the contactor between unactuated and actuated conditions by electrically energizing a coil of the contactor to move an armature of the contactor toward a stator of the contactor under the influence of a magnetic field from the coil to operate the contactor from the unactuated condition to the actuated condition and de-energizing the coil of the contactor to enable the armature of the contactor to move away from the stator of the contactor to operate the contactor from the actuated condition to the unactuated condition, said steps operating the contactor between the unactuated and actuated conditions include moving the armature of the contactor relative to the stator of the contactor from a fully open position through intermediate positions to a fully closed position, applying a voltage to the coil of the contactor while armature of the contactor is in one of the fully open, fully closed or intermediate positions, determining a characteristic of the voltage across the coil of the contactor while the armature of the contactor is in the one of the positions, providing a reference containing known characteristics of voltage across the coil when the armature of the coil is at each of the fully open, fully closed, and intermediate positions, and determining which one of the positions the armature is in by comparing the characteristic of the voltage across the coil of the contactor while the armature of the contactor is in the one position with the reference containing characteristics of voltage across the coil when the armature of the contactor is at the fully open, fully closed, and intermediate positions.
A method of controlling operation of a contactor, said method comprising the steps of operating the contactor between unactuated and actuated conditions by electrically energizing a coil of the contactor to move an armature of the contactor toward a stator of the contactor under the influence of a magnetic field from the coil to operate the contactor from the unactuated condition to the actuated condition and de-energizing the coil of the contactor to enable the armature of the contactor to move away from the stator of the contactor to operate the contactor from the actuated condition to the unactuated condition, said steps operating the contactor between the unactuated and actuated conditions include moving the armature of the contactor relative to the stator of the contactor from a fully open position through intermediate positions to a fully closed position, conducting a varying current through the coil of the contactor while armature of the contactor is in one of the fully open, fully closed or intermediate positions, and providing an output indicative of the one position of the armature by energizing and de-energizing a light source as a function of variations in a characteristic of the voltage across the coil of the contactor.
A method of controlling operation of a contactor, said method comprising the steps of operating the contactor between unactuated and actuated conditions by electrically energizing a coil of the contactor to move an armature of the contactor toward a stator of the contactor under the influence of a magnetic field from the coil to operate the contactor from the unactuated condition to the actuated condition and de-energizing the coil of the contactor to enable the armature of the contactor to move away from the stator of the contactor to operate the contactor from the actuated condition to the unactuated condition, generating a voltage at the coil of the contactor when the contactor is in one of the actuated and unactuated conditions, and determining the position of the armature relative to the stator of the contactor as a function of a characteristic of the generated voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.