Temperature monitoring in uninterruptible power supply systems using synthetic loading
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorRobert W. Johnson, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is configured to be coupled to a power source at an input node and to a load at an output node. The UPS is synthetically loaded (e.g., to a maximum rated load) by transferring current from the output node to the input node. Concurrent with synthetically loading the UPS, a temperature of an electrical conductor of the UPS is monitored. The monitoring of the temperature of the electrical conductor may include receiving a temperature sensor signal representative of the temperature of the electrical conductor from a temperature sensor (e.g., a self-powered wireless temperature sensor) mounted on the electrical conductor. The invention may be embodied as methods, apparatus and computer-readable media.
Claims25
A method of monitoring an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that is configured to be coupled to a power source at an input node and to a load at an output node, the method comprising:
- synthetically loading the UPS by transferring current from the output node to the input node;
- and
- concurrent with synthetically loading the UPS, monitoring a temperature of an electrical conductor of the UPS.
An apparatus for monitoring a UPS that is coupled to a power source at an input node and to a load at an output node, the apparatus comprising:
- a receiver circuit configured to receive a temperature sensor signal representative of a temperature of an electrical conductor of the UPS;
- and
- a controller circuit operatively associated with a loading circuit and the receiver circuit and configured to cause the loading circuit to synthetically load the UPS by transferring current from the output node to the input node and to monitor a temperature of the electrical conductor of the UPS responsive to the received temperature sensor signal concurrent with the synthetic loading.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a UPS configured to be coupled to a power source at an input node and to be coupled to a load at an output node, the UPS comprising a power converter circuit configured to transfer power from the input node to the output node and bypass circuit configured to directly couple the input node and the output node to bypass the power converter circuit;
- a temperature sensor configured to generate a temperature sensor signal representative of an electrical conductor of the UPS;
- a receiver circuit configured to receive the temperature sensor signal;
- and
- a controller circuit operatively associated with the UPS and the receiver circuit and configured to cause the power converter circuit and the bypass circuit to synthetically load the UPS circuit by transferring current from the output node to the input node via the bypass circuit and to monitor a temperature of the electrical conductor to the received temperature sensor signal concurrent with the synthetic loading.
A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code comprising:
- program code configure to cause synthetic loading the UPS by transferring current from the output node to the input node;
- and
- program code configured to monitor a temperature of an electrical conductor of the UPS concurrent with the synthetic loading of the UPS.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.