Energy information device and graphical display for a circuit breaker

An energy information system for use with a circuit breaker coupled be en a power source and a load, the energy information system comprising:

• a sensor to sense at least one of i) a voltage and ii) a current flowing between the power source and the load through the circuit breaker;
• a transition detector to detect transitions of a sensed voltage from the sensor;
• a counter coupled to the sensor to count a number of times the circuit breaker trips and interrupts the current flow between the power source and the load;
• a energy information controller coupled to the sensor and counter to measure the current flow through the circuit breaker when the circuit breaker trips and interrupts the current flow between the power source and the load and for measuring a plurality of related parameters, including a measure of at least one of the voltage, the current and the frequency based on an output from the transition detector;
• an input device coupled to the energy information controller to enter a user input for controlling at least one of the circuit breaker and a display;
• the display coupled to the energy information controller to display at least one of the plurality of power related parameters responsive to the user input;
• and
• a communication port coupled to the energy information controller to selectively communicate at least one of the plurality of power related parameters to a remote terminal.

An energy information system for use with a circuit breaker coupled between a power source and a load, the energy information system comprising:

• a sensor to sense at least one of i) a voltage and ii) a current flowing between the power source and the load through the circuit breaker;
• a transition detector to detect transitions of a sensed voltage from the sensor;
• a voltage shifter coupled to the sensor to bias the voltage above a ground potential by a predetermined voltage to produce a full-wave biased voltage waveform;
• a counter to determine
• i) a first count value based on a total number of times the circuit breaker trips;
• ii) a second count value indicating a current range flowing between the power source and the load when the circuit breaker trips, the current range based on percentage of a trip rating of the circuit breaker;
• and
• iii) a third count value indicating a count based on a predetermined fault condition of the circuit breaker;
• an energy information controller coupled to the sensor, the counter, the transition detector and the voltage shifter, the energy information controller measuring i) the current flow through the circuit breaker when the circuit breaker trips and ii) the full-wave biased voltage waveform to determine the plurality of energy related parameters of the circuit breaker;
• an input device coupled to the energy information controller to enter a user input for controlling at least one of the circuit breaker and a display;
• a memory to store a date of manufacture of the circuit breaker;
• the display coupled to the energy information controller to display at least one of i) the plurality of conditions and ii) the date of manufacture of the circuit breaker responsive to the user input, the plurality of energy related parameters including
• a) an energy demand;
• and
• b) a plurality of RMS parameters measured over a range of harmonics of a fundamental frequency of the power source based on at least one of the voltage, the current and the frequency over a predetermined period of time,
• a security controller to selectively allow access of the energy information system by the input device;
• and
• a communications port including at least one serial communications port, the communications port coupled to the energy information controller to selectively communicate with a remote terminal;
• wherein the communication port provides for upload and download of data between the remote terminal and the energy information controller.

An energy information device for use with a circuit breaker having a trip unit, the energy information device coupled between a power source and a load, the device comprising:

• a plurality of current sensors having an input coupled to respective ones of a plurality of power lines between the power source and the load;
• a plurality of transformers coupled between the respective ones of the plurality of power lines and an analog to digital converter (ADC);
• a transition detector having an input coupled to an output of one of the plurality of transformers;
• an override circuit coupled to an output of the plurality of current sensors, an input of a power supply and a first microprocessor;
• a trip circuit having a first input coupled to an output of the override circuit;
• the first microprocessor further coupled to a first programmable read only memory (PROM), a second input of the trip circuit, and a second microprocessor;
• and
• the second microprocessor further coupled to an output of the transition detector, an output of the ADC, a clock circuit, a second PROM and a random access memory (RAM).

An energy information device for use with a circuit breaker having a trip unit, the energy information device coupled between a power source and a load, the device comprising:

• a signal conditioner coupled to a plurality of power lines between the power source and the load providing conditioned signals based on an input signal representative of a current flowing between the power source and the load;
• an override circuit coupled to an output of the signal conditioner;
• a filter coupled to a first output of the override circuit to filter the first output of the override circuit;
• a microprocessor coupled to an output of the filter;
• a memory coupled to the microprocessor;
• and
• a trip circuit coupled to an output of the microprocessor and a further output of the override circuit, and generating a trip signal for the trip unit based on at least one of i) the further output of the override circuit and ii) the output of the microprocessor.

An energy information device for use with a circuit breaker having a trip unit, the energy information device coupled between a power source and a load, the device comprising:

• a first amplifier coupled to a plurality of power lines between the power source and the load, providing first amplified signals based on a first input signal representative of a plurality of currents flowing between the power source and the load;
• a second amplifier coupled to the plurality of power lines between the power source and the load, providing second amplified signals based on a second input signal representative of a respective plurality of voltages provided by the power source to the load;
• a transition detector coupled to an output of the second amplifier to detect a transition of a voltage signal based on one of the plurality of voltages, and generating a transition signal used in determining a frequency of the voltage signal;
• a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to an output of the first amplifier to generate a first digital output signal representative of the plurality of currents based on an offset value;
• a second ADC coupled to an output of the second amplifier to generate a second digital output signal representative of the plurality of voltages based on the offset value;
• an offset generator coupled to the first amplifier, the second amplifier, the first ADC and the second ADC, and generating the offset value;
• a first clock generator for generating a clock signal to control a sample timing of the first ADC and the second ADC;
• a microprocessor coupled to the first ADC and the second ADC, said microprocessor processing the first and second digital output signals of the first and second ADC, respectively;
• a second clock generator coupled to the microprocessor for generating a system time base;
• a first memory coupled to the microprocessor, the memory containing an executable program for the microprocessor;
• a second memory coupled to the microprocessor for storing data from and providing data to the microprocessor;
• and
• a communications port coupled to the microprocessor for remote access of the microprocessor.

An energy information system mounted within a circuit breaker coupled between a power source and a load, the energy information system comprising:

• a sensor to sense at least one of i) a voltage and ii) a current flowing between the power source and the load through the circuit breaker, the sensor having a voltage input range from about 50% to 125% of the voltage of the power source;
• a voltage transformer to convert a line voltage of the power source to a voltage lower than the line voltage;
• a transition detector to detect transitions of a sensed voltage from said sensor and to generate a transition signal, said transition detector comprising:
• i) a filter having an input coupled to an output of the voltage transformer to filter an AC signal from the transformer;
• ii) a comparator coupled to the filter to compare a filtered output of the filter to a voltage;
• iii) an amplifier for amplifying an output of the comparator;
• and
• iv) an inverter for inverting an output of the amplifier and producing a signal representative of a frequency of the AC signal;
• a voltage shifter to bias the lower voltage above a ground potential by a predetermined voltage to produce a full-wave biased voltage waveform;
• a mechanical counter to determine a first count value based on a total number of times the circuit breaker trips;
• an interruption level counter to determine a second count value, the second count value indicating a current range flowing between the power source and the load when the circuit breaker trips, the interruption level counter includes a plurality of count values of respective ranges of current flows, the ranges of current flows selected from the group consisting of
• i) the current flow being less than about 100% of a trip rating of the circuit breaker;
• ii) the current flow being between about 100% and 300% of the trip rating of the circuit breaker;
• iii) the current flow being between about 300% and 600% of the trip rating of the circuit breaker;
• iv) the current flow being between about 600% and 900% of the trip rating of the circuit breaker, and
• v) the current flow being greater than about 900% of the trip rating of the circuit breaker;
• a fault counter to determine a third count value, the third count value indicating a count of a fault condition that trips the circuit breaker, the fault condition being at least one of:
• i) an overload fault;
• ii) a short time fault;
• iii) an instantaneous fault;
• and
• iv) a ground fault;
• an energy information controller coupled to the sensor, the transition detector, the interruption level counter, and the voltage shifter, the energy information controller measures i) the current flow through the circuit breaker when the circuit breaker trips and interrupts the current flow between the power source and the load, and ii) the full-wave biased voltage to determine a plurality of energy related parameters using an AC signal frequency based on the transition signal;
• a keypad coupled to the energy information controller to enter a user input, the user input for controlling at least one of the circuit breaker and a display;
• a memory to store a date of manufacture of the circuit breaker;
• the display coupled to the energy information controller to display at least one of i) the plurality of energy related parameters and ii) the date of manufacture, of the circuit breaker responsive to the user input, the plurality of energy related parameters including:
• a) an energy demand calculated according to the following equation:
• ∑ n = 1 T PRG ⁢ ( I A + I B + I C 3 ) T PRG = AmpDemand
• where
• TPRG is a programmable demand period, and
• IA, IB and IC are phase currents for phases A, B and C, respectively;
• and
• b) a plurality of RMS parameters measured over a range of harmonics of a fundamental frequency of the power source based on at least one of the voltage, the current and the frequency, over a predetermined period of time, the range of harmonics including up to at least about a 19th harmonic of the fundamental frequency;
• a security controller for selectively allowing access of the energy information system by the keypad;
• and
• a communication port including at least one of an RS-232 communication port and an RS485 communication port, the communication ports coupled to the energy information controller to selectively communicate at least one of the plurality of energy related parameters and the date of manufacture to a remote terminal;
• wherein the communication ports provide for upload and download of data between the remote terminal and the energy information controller;
• the display displays the plurality of energy related parameters in one of a plurality of languages based on a user selection through at least one of the keypad and the communication port;
• and
• the energy information system is field installable within the circuit breaker.