DE102022000706B4 - CEE power plug with mobile radio-based measuring and monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for integrating an electronic component (9) into a CEE mains plug, which consists of a plug face (15) with a connection area and a hood (16) with strain relief (17), which are connected to one another via a mechanical separation point, characterized in that it is designed as a hollow adapter (12), which• has matching counterparts of the separation points (19) of the plug face (15) and hood (16) of the CEE mains plug intended for extension at both ends (13, 14) and can therefore be mounted in a form-fitting manner between the face and hood (16) of the CEE mains plug,• is closed in the area facing the hood (16) by a further device, which together with the electronic component (9) forms a new connection area (21) for the device connection cable (2), wherein this connection area (21) within the adapter (12) can be contacted with the original connection area (18) via electrical conductors (22) and functionally replaces it, so that the electrical function of the extended plug device is retained in comparison to the CEE mains plug and• creates an installation space (20) with galvanic access to the electrical conductors passed through, for example, but not only, for electronic assemblies, so that the plug face (15) and the cover (16) with strain relief (17) can remain unchanged.

Description

Technical area

The invention described relates to power plugs according to the IEC60309 standard, as they are used to connect electrical equipment to the power supply network and are generally known from the prior art. These standardized power plugs, also known as CEE power plugs, are used in particular where consumers with a high electrical connection load are used. This is primarily the case in industrial and commercial manufacturing, in retail, and more rarely in home use. The power plugs mentioned typically offer consumers a three-phase connection to the power supply network together with a neutral conductor and protective conductor, but can generally cover a very wide range of different connection loads and connection types thanks to different designs.

State of the art and problem

Electrical energy is a precious and limited commodity. Depending on the type of generation, it can produce climate-damaging gases that must be avoided. Due to high production costs, electrical energy is expensive and therefore an important cost factor for many industrial processes.

Recording electrical energy as one of the electrical parameters of a consumer has therefore become increasingly important for the holistic consideration of process chains. The measurement principles required for this are known from the general state of the art and physics and have been used for a long time in the form of many devices available on the market, such as electricity meters.

In addition to the pure recording of electrical energy as a measured value, the fully automatic transmission, data processing, analysis and monitoring of the recorded electrical parameters, as well as the forwarding and processing of the data in third-party systems, are also relevant. For example, parameters such as "energy per production unit" of a product production chain can be determined, or anomalies in the operating behavior of machines can be detected and remedied at an early stage.

There are already many systems that are offered as part of the digitalization of industrial processes and offer options for recording electrical energy and many other electrical parameters such as current, voltage, phase angle, frequency and power factor of the connected circuits. The components required for this are very complex, especially when they are designed to monitor many parallel measuring points, and are typically located in the electrical installation of buildings. This usually requires major unwanted interventions in the electrical installation. Many other system components such as data servers or access points are often required for operation, so that an installation often only pays for itself when there is a large number of measuring points or when the energy costs are above a certain level. If such systems are to be retrofitted in existing systems, this often leads to even higher costs and long downtimes for connected consumers can be expected. The often outdated electrical installation of existing buildings often does not allow for cost-effective retrofitting of measuring systems at the level of individual consumer recording.

These high technical barriers to entry and the high costs mean that the measurement solutions described are often only economically viable for large corporations with high energy costs and a very high number of measuring points. They are rarely suitable for smaller companies or for retrofitting individual machines.

In a production facility, a few consumers and production machines are often responsible for the majority of energy consumption. This means that there can still be significant savings potential, or it may be important for reasons of operational safety and failure detection if these machines are monitored and optimized using a measuring system.

Instead of measuring devices that are installed purely on the building side, intermediate plug adapters that can be plugged between the consumer's plug and the connection box have long been available as part of the low-threshold use of measuring technology on classic protective contact household sockets. These have measuring technology for recording the electrical parameters of the connected consumer, as in DE202019103752U1 The housing of the measuring technology in a protective contact connection box on the building side is also DE102019207716A1 known.

DE102017004018A1 , DE102018133497A1 , US2018/0358760A1 and US2018/0226755A1 describe the approach of integrating measurement and communication components directly into a power connector. The focus is on the recording and monitoring of electrical parameters and operating states by means of a computing unit ity is referred to as well as an integrated wireless communication interface such as cellular for transmitting recorded measurement data. The setting of parameters and limit values via this interface is also mentioned. The CEE plug is also described as a specific plug type for integration. All solutions have the disadvantage that the integration of the measurement solution always involves significant design changes compared to the original plug device without measurement and communication technology, or the complex mechanical integration is not dealt with in detail at all, which is why the feasibility of the solutions in the plug is questionable. Particularly with complex industrial plug connectors, it is desirable to adopt an existing and approved plug type unchanged as a basis, which is not possible with the solutions listed. In single-phase plug devices for household use, the plug bodies of which mostly consist of over-molded plug pins for manufacturing reasons, the integration of sensitive electronic components is problematic because the pressure and temperature conditions that occur during the over-molding process can destroy or damage the components. In addition, it is questionable whether the available installation space is generally sufficient for the integration of all listed components.

In the context of CEE connection technology, the currents and powers to be recorded are significantly higher than with plug devices for domestic use. Typically, measurement technology must also be available for three phases instead of one. This leads to a significantly larger space requirement for the measurement components than is the case with single-phase protective contact plugs from the household sector. This is also the reason why, in the context of the CEE power plug, a flexible measurement solution is often based on wired intermediate plug solutions made of discrete components, in which the required components are accommodated, for example, in a small distributor with sufficient installation space. This small distributor solution is then provided with connection cables and CEE power plugs and plugged in between the network and the consumer. Since the measurement technology of these commercially available solutions often only involves the compilation of commercially available modules, the resulting overall structures are disadvantageously large and expensive.

In DE102017004018A1 , DE102018133497A1 and US2018/0226755A1 The approach of using inductive measuring transducers to measure the conductor currents in a plug-in device is described, since direct measurement via a current measuring resistor is often no longer sensible due to current conduction and losses. In the area of small household plugs, however, it is questionable whether a sensor element with the desired precision can actually be integrated into the installation spaces shown. In the area of industrial CEE plug connectors, the integration of the inductive transducers requires a complete redesign of the plug-in device in the area of the connection pins, which also makes direct use of existing approved plug types impossible.

The integration of the measuring technology into an inter-pluggable measuring adapter, which is characterized by the fact that it has a CEE plug and a CEE socket, which are firmly connected to one another via a common housing, for establishing the electrical connection, is also DE202021002256U1 and from "Fraunhofer IPA, PRESS RELEASE June 17, 2021, Retrofit machine data retrieval via the connection cable". Despite its size, the required measuring technology can be accommodated easily and flexibly thanks to the free determination of the adapter dimensions. This leads to the fact that the measuring adapters are mechanically simple, but are disadvantageously large and impractical to handle, and the normative admissibility of these systems is also questionable.

In addition to the pure recording of energy or other electrical parameters, the monitoring of locally distributed and mobile equipment in real time is also relevant in order to immediately recognize anomalies in operating behavior, trigger alarms and be able to intervene to correct them. Impressive examples of this are failures in event technology and at trade fairs, which are often caused by overloaded circuits, water damage caused by faulty lifting systems or spoiled food caused by faulty refrigerated trucks. If several measuring adapters are used with different, non-stationary equipment, this can lead to an organizational problem, as measuring devices have to be assigned to consumers. However, because adapters can be plugged in, there is no fixed connection between the measuring device and the device, which means that when systems are set up and dismantled or when they are moved, the measuring devices can easily be mixed up, resulting in assignment errors in the measurement data.

These measuring adapters can also only be used to a limited extent on CEE connection panels, as they cannot be plugged directly into a connection box due to their size or design, cover other connection boxes due to their length when plugged in, or cause problems due to the resulting lever in connection with the heavy devices. te connection cables slip out or even break. Therefore, the setup often has to be expanded to include unwanted additional adapter cables in order to create a secure electrical connection.

This approach of adding additional plug connections to the electrical connection line of a consumer introduces additional sources of error. Apart from higher costs, electrical plug connections should be kept to a minimum for high currents, as these plug connections are subject to heavy loads. Wear and age can cause the contact to deteriorate, and this can lead to the contact point heating up and even causing a fire. Due to the disadvantages described, it is advantageous to place the measurement components in the immediate vicinity of the plug device.

Another measurement approach in the area of a CEE power plug is described in DE102010015940A1 described. The measurement of electrical quantities is to be carried out by placing a measuring device between the pins of the CEE mains plug and the CEE connection socket. The economic application of this approach fails due to the practical feasibility within the framework of the normative requirements for safe operation. CEE mains plugs have a locking mechanism that is intended to prevent the plug from slipping out of the connection socket, e.g. due to the pulling of heavy connecting cables. This locking mechanism only takes effect when the plugs are fully connected, which cannot be achieved with an intermediate measuring device.

In DE102017004018A1 and US2018/0358760A1 It is further described that power plugs can also be equipped with a sensor for temperature monitoring. This can be used to detect and signal impermissible operating states and, if necessary, even trigger an interruption of the circuit. In both of the solutions described, the sensor is integrated within the plug device in the area of the contact pins with the necessary adjustments on the plug side. Due to the design changes, however, this solution concept cannot be applied to existing plug types. Temperature monitoring can also be carried out at some distance from the plug pin, as there is sufficient heat conduction via the connection terminal on the pin and the connected connection cable. A direct measurement on the plug pin is therefore not absolutely necessary for the sole detection of impermissible heating of the plug device.

In DE202021101194U1 A CEE plug device is also described, which is characterized by the fact that an operating state, in this case the presence of a voltage at the plug, can be signaled optically. The lighting is also integrated directly into the plug device, which means that a device specially designed for this application is required. Adding this display functionality to plug types without this function is not possible according to the solution approach described.

An optical signal can be DE102016122690A1 can also be used to enable the location of a plug when external control signals are received, e.g. via a radio interface.

Out of DE102018133497A1 It is also known that systems for determining position can be integrated into a connector. Direct localization can be achieved, for example, via GPS (Global Positioning System), and detection is also possible via mobile network metadata. By transmitting the position data to a data endpoint, remote location of the connector is also possible.

Out of DE102018133497A1 It is also known that a documentation system which is integrated into a CEE power plug can have an operating timer which can be used to monitor maintenance intervals of the connected operating devices. The disadvantage of the solution from DE102018133497A1 is again the fact that the electronic components are to be integrated directly into the connector device and therefore a specially designed connector is required.

Currently, no measuring solution is known that is capable of recording and monitoring electrical parameters, transmitting them via a mobile phone connection to a data sink for analysis and evaluation, reporting adjustable operating states and also signaling them locally directly on the measuring device and at the same time being able to be integrated into typical CEE power plug systems without the plug devices to be expanded having to be significantly changed or redesigned.

Solution approach

A solution to this problem is provided by integrating a mobile radio-based measurement and monitoring system for electrical parameters into existing CEE power plug systems ( 2a) , whereby the electronic components The additional installation space required for the components is created by a new type of retro-fit adapter suitable for the respective CEE mains plug system. The integration concept can be applied to any CEE mains plug system without the underlying mains plug having to be significantly modified. The associated adverse consequences can thus be avoided. The result is the device referred to below as the CEE measuring plug (1), the features of which are described in more detail below.

Because CEE mains plugs, unlike many Schuko plugs, are detachably connected to the device connection cable (2) of an operating device (3), replacing the CEE mains plug with a CEE measuring plug makes it possible to install and assign the measuring device to the consumer in seconds, without the need for installation and setup to be carried out by specially trained personnel.

However, due to the fact that the CEE measuring plug is directly connected to the consumer's connection cable, it moves with the consumer and is always supplied with energy and ready for measuring operation when the consumer itself is connected to the energy supply network (4) via the CEE connection box (10).

The direct use of mobile communications (5) as a communication technology ensures that mobile consumers can operate while making full use of the data connection and all associated measurement and monitoring functions. Furthermore, the complex process of having to connect the CEE measuring plugs to local infrastructure in any form is no longer necessary. It is state of the art to install SIM cards permanently in electronic devices at the factory, so that the user does not have to insert a SIM card and manage the mobile connection. Because the data connection is immediately available, setting up the CEE measuring plug is limited to assigning it to a user account on a so-called data endpoint (6), which can be designed as a cloud service and is accessible to the CEE measuring plugs and users from anywhere via an Internet connection (7).

The digitization of existing consumers can thus take place without having to replace devices or intervene in the building infrastructure and without having to make functional compromises in the measurement and monitoring functions. This is sustainable and reduces costs. The described and in 1 The system structure shown is highly scalable and flexible. You can start with the installation of a single measuring point and add as many CEE measuring plugs as you need. The initial purchase costs for a measuring system based on CEE measuring plugs are very low, as infrastructure-related one-off costs can be completely eliminated compared to other systems.

The CEE measuring plugs can be operated at different locations by linking them via the Internet, but can be managed together via a data endpoint. A connection to third-party systems such as a control room system is also possible via a digital interface to the data endpoint (8) via the Internet.

Because the hardware does not require maintenance and updates are carried out directly via the mobile phone connection, the CEE measuring plugs can always be kept up to date in terms of functions and safety without the user incurring high operating costs.

Since the measurement technology and electronics (9) become a fixed component of the consumer via the CEE measuring plug, additional functions can be implemented that offer the user added value beyond the pure measurement and recording of electrical parameters and are difficult to implement in classic systems on the infrastructure side. These include rule-based failure monitoring, an operating hours counter at the consumer level, but also location tracking for mobile consumers. Additional optical or acoustic signaling (11) directly on the CEE measuring plug not only allows alarms in the event of impermissible operating states to be displayed directly and enables rapid intervention, but a function for finding consumers can also be implemented by specifically triggering optical or acoustic signals via the data endpoint.

There is currently no known solution that integrates these functional criteria of a measuring and monitoring system directly into a CEE power plug.

Technical problem and solution

Basically, the technical problems underlying the invention are divided into two areas. Firstly, these are the functional aspects of the measuring and monitoring system in the CEE power plug, which are intended to solve the application-related problems described, and secondly, this is the general electromechanical integration of the functionally required electronic components in a generic CEE Mains plug, which is thereby extended to a CEE measuring plug (1).

The basic idea of the invention on the mechanical side is a special housing extension (12), hereinafter referred to as an adapter, so that an existing CEE plug device according to the state of the art ( 2a) is supplemented in such a way that the electronic components required for the implementation of the measuring and monitoring system (9), i.e. the electrical connection, the power supply, the measuring technology, the data processing and the mobile radio communication technology, can be integrated into the resulting overall structure in such a way that no adjustments have to be made to the original CEE power plug and it can be used unchanged. The solution idea therefore describes a retrofit approach in which the CEE measuring plug with measuring and monitoring functions is created by adding components from an existing CEE plug device, which itself remains unchanged.

Since the CEE mains plugs exist in different designs from different manufacturers, this solution for creating a CEE measuring plug is characterized by the fact that a transfer to any design of CEE plug devices can be achieved only by a slight adaptation of the adapter and its separation points (13, 14).

For the invention, the structure of commercially available CEE plug devices was analyzed and structural features identified that are present across all models. These are typically not cast, glued or molded, but the device connection cable (2) is detachably connected to the CEE plug device. The structure of a plug device is typically divided into the plug face (15), cover (16), strain relief (17) and the connection area (18) for the device connection cable. CEE plug devices almost always have a radially symmetrical structure with a screw or bayonet lock as a separation point (19) in relation to the outer contour, which separates the plug face from the cover.

To create the required installation space for the measuring technology (20) in a generic CEE plug device, a hollow body element (12) is inserted in a form-fitting manner between the plug face and the cover, which itself has the counterparts for the separation points of the underlying CEE plug device at both ends and thus forms an adapter piece. The adapter itself then enables the operating electronics to be reused independently of the underlying CEE plug and the associated design of the separation points of the adapter, if necessary with small adjustments.

The electrical connection of the device connection cable in CEE plug devices is typically made via a connection area (18) in the plug face, with various forms of contact for the conductors such as screw terminals or spring terminals being state of the art. Since this area is now covered by the adapter and is no longer accessible to the user, another, new connection area (21) is created which is again accessible to the user. For this purpose, the adapter is closed at the end facing the plug hood with a cover which, together with the electrical components inside the adapter, forms a new connection area. The old and new connection areas are electrically connected to one another (22) so that the current flow between the device connection cable and the plug contacts (23) can continue unhindered. In the simplest case, this can be achieved using electrical conductors that run between the two connection areas.

A protected area has been created within the adapter in which electronic components can be housed and where there is direct galvanic access to the electrical conductors without the underlying CEE plug device being modified in any way. At the same time, this ensures that the power supply to the components installed is ensured and that measurement tasks can be carried out on the conductors.

The operating electronics are completely protected against user intervention in the overall structure, as the separation point to the plug face (13) and the cover with the newly created connection area (21) are connected to the adapter in a way that the user cannot detach. The separation point (14) that can be detachable by the end user is located between the newly inserted adapter and the cover, where the end user can now connect the device connection cable to the newly created connection area (21) in a similar way to the previous connection process. For this purpose, the cover of the original CEE plug device (16) remains detachably connected to the inserted adapter (12) and its new separation point (14), so that the CEE measuring plug can also be reconnected.

The invention fulfils the electromechanical retrofit character of the measuring and monitoring system and thus achieves the described advantages in terms of adaptability and speed in developing different CEE plug types for the extension with measuring and monitoring functions. Because no Since there are no external mechanical interfaces on the CEE measuring plug, the plug remains completely closed during operation, which maintains protection against environmental influences inside, thus enabling high levels of safety and long product life cycles, as well as maintenance-free operation.

Functionally, the integration of a measuring and monitoring system into a CEE power plug solves the problems and deficits of conventional measuring technology already described, especially in the area of mobile equipment and low-threshold access to compact measuring systems with added value functions at the consumer level.

Installing the measuring technology by replacing the CEE power plug is a technically simple and quick process in which the equipment only has to interrupt its function for a short time. The technically low-threshold installation of the CEE measuring plug is supported by the simple setup process. The direct integration of mobile communications (5) into the measuring system allows a communication connection to be established to the data endpoint (6) without prior configuration steps by the user. After the power supply has been established by plugging in the CEE measuring plug, a communication connection is automatically established and is immediately available for the further setup process. The user carries out a one-time, low-complexity teaching process of the CEE measuring plug to his user profile, for example via a web application (26). This completes all of the mandatory parts of the setup process and the system can begin transmitting measurement data. The data endpoint used for this purpose is designed as a cloud-based backend system, for example, which implements all the required functions in the areas of user management, data storage, data analysis and data provision and also makes these available via digital interfaces (8) over the Internet, so that the data connection of third-party systems is also possible.

The functions of the system can be divided into two groups, those that are carried out on the data endpoint and those that the CEE measuring plug can carry out independently and locally and are therefore functional even without a permanent communication connection.

The display and storage of measurement data, the configuration and the provision of setting parameters are carried out exclusively via the data endpoint. For setting purposes, the user can change parameters, for example, via a web application.

When a communication connection is established, the CEE measuring plug regularly compares all locally stored configuration parameters with the data endpoint. If communication fails, this ensures that local work and measurements can be carried out, but that the most current setting parameters are always used when the connection is established. Recorded measured values and setting parameters are buffered so that there is tolerance to short-term communication failures.

To record the electrical parameters, the CEE measuring plug has measuring devices that monitor the currents and voltages of all phases in a small installation space. All common parameters such as voltage, current, active and reactive power, phase angle, energy and mains frequency can be determined.

In addition to simply recording the electrical parameters, the measuring and monitoring system can continuously monitor operating states that are defined by a combination of the various measured variables. The operating software of the CEE measuring plug checks the operating states for rules previously transmitted by the data endpoint. If one or more rule violations occur, this can be transmitted in the form of an alarm message via the communication interface. In addition, the rule violation is signaled locally on the CEE measuring plug (11). This has the advantage that impermissible operating states can not only continue to be monitored, but can also be effectively signaled, even if the data connection fails.

If there is an existing mobile phone connection, the measuring system retrieves the current time from the data endpoint and compares it with an internal local timer so that measurements between different CEE measuring plugs, even those that are spatially distributed, are carried out in a synchronized manner. In addition, an industry-standard averaging is carried out over defined time intervals so that overall the recorded measured values can be compared well and high-quality data analysis is possible.

Embodiments

• 1 shows a system overview in which the system components are schematically shown which are functionally involved in the operation of a mobile radio-based measuring and monitoring system in a CEE power plug according to claim 1.

Regarding the mechanical components, 2a and b show how an existing CEE connector can be converted into a CEE measuring plug by adding the components of the invention. Specifically, 2 B a section through a schematic embodiment of the invention in which a generic CEE-16A, 3P+N+PE, 6h plug device forms the underlying power plug according to the prior art ( 2a) , which was then extended by the device described in claim 1 for introducing the operating electronic components.

According to a further embodiment according to claim 3, the local signaling of impermissible operating states takes place directly on the CEE measuring plug via optical or acoustic signal transmitters. These are located in a protected manner on the operating electronics inside the adapter and only their signals are passed on to the outside via the closed housing and thus to the user. To output optical signals from the inside of the adapter, the adapter housing is made of translucent material. In addition, a wall thickness reduction (25) can be made in the relevant areas around the signal source in order to increase the amount of light coupled out, reduce absorption losses and create individual contrast in the signal area.

In an embodiment of the power plug according to claim 4, a function is added that enables CEE measuring plugs to be easily found. A control command is sent to the CEE measuring plug via the data endpoint and the mobile radio interface, which triggers an optical or acoustic signal on the CEE measuring plug. This gives the user the option of identifying the selected CEE measuring plug even in larger installations.

Another version of the CEE measuring plug according to claim 3 is particularly advantageous in which inductive current transformers are used for current measurement. The non-invasive measuring method in the area of large currents allows a simpler and scalable structure of the current measuring technology, since the measuring range can be adjusted simply by exchanging the transformers, without having to make changes to the power-carrying areas of the circuit board. This enables even greater flexibility and faster adaptability of the retrofit measuring solution to different CEE plug devices with different power ranges.

According to a further embodiment of claim 3, the mobile radio communication interface of the invention is designed so that narrowband mobile radio technologies such as NB-IoT or LTE CAT-M1 are used. These have considerable advantages in terms of energy consumption and obstacle penetration, which proves to be particularly advantageous for the flexible and comprehensive use of the CEE measuring plug and operation under otherwise difficult reception conditions.

In a further embodiment of the CEE measuring plug according to claim 3, it can independently record the operating hours of the connected consumers. For this purpose, a threshold value for electrical parameters such as the total power or individual conductor currents can be set via the communication interface and the data endpoint, whereupon the operating time is summed up and transmitted directly in the CEE measuring plug. A distinction is made between at least two states, whereby in the "plugged in" state the time in which the consumer is connected to the supply network is recorded and in the "active" state the time period in which the consumer exceeds the set threshold is recorded.

In a further embodiment of the CEE measuring plug according to claim 3, position-relevant measurement data is recorded and transmitted to the data endpoint. In a simple embodiment, this data can contain the position itself, for example if the power plug has a corresponding receiver for satellite-based positioning. Since CEE devices are often operated indoors where satellite-based positioning is possible, indirect position-relevant data can also be recorded and then evaluated in the data endpoint. One example of this is the recording of the unique identifier of the surrounding mobile radio cells via the mobile radio communication interface. By subsequently comparing this data with a database on the data endpoint, which contains the location data of the mobile radio cells, the rough position of the CEE measuring plug can also be determined.

In a final embodiment of the invention, the measuring and monitoring system according to claim 3 is expanded to include a temperature sensor (24). It is known that the plug contacts (23) which establish the electrical connection between the CEE mains plug and the CEE socket are subject to wear. This increases the contact resistance of the electrical connection and the flow of current can lead to an unacceptable heating of the contact points. This effect can increase to the point of fire. By installing a temperature sensor near the connection point, an unacceptable heating can be detected and reported to the user. be detected before a fire occurs. It is not necessary for the temperature sensor to be located directly on the connector pins, since heating continues via the metallic electrical conductors into the housing adapter (12) and can also be detected there by temperature sensors due to the slow heating behavior.

Summary of benefits

The compact integration of a measuring and monitoring system directly into a CEE power plug enables a low-threshold entry into the recording of electrical parameters and the monitoring of connected, even non-stationary, equipment by simply and quickly replacing the CEE power plug. This allows both retrofitting and initial equipment to digitize machines and, for example, save energy costs or determine other process parameters and relevant parameters.

The invention allows the measuring and monitoring system to be adapted to almost any CEE plug device available on the market using a retrofit process, thus avoiding the time-consuming and costly development of these components. This means that different designs and performance classes of the CEE plug devices can be quickly expanded to become measuring plugs, which also enables faster market access. By expanding normatively certified CEE plug devices, cost-optimized recertification of the expanded plug device is also possible, as many tests and inspections can be omitted due to the identical parts used. This drastically reduces the overall complexity of the structure and enables the resulting plug device to be of high quality, while still being able to meet safety-relevant and normative requirements.

By directly integrating a mobile communications interface into the CEE measuring plug, the setup effort for the measuring system is reduced to a minimum. The independence from location-specific infrastructure enables maximum flexibility and mobility in the use of consumers and measuring operations without the need for additional setup at new operating locations. Nevertheless, the new narrowband mobile communications standards used make data communication possible under difficult conditions, such as those that prevail at typical operating locations of CEE consumers, such as building basements.

The direct integration of the mobile phone connection also allows convenient automatic recording and transmission of electrical parameters and monitoring of the operating status of the connected consumers, as well as alerting users, without the need for local infrastructure. The fact that the measuring system is compact and integrated directly into the power plug allows easy assignment of the measurement data to a device and enables added value functions that would otherwise not be sensibly implemented with classic meters on the infrastructure side. These include the functions described, such as location, identification or alarm functions with local signaling directly on the connection plug itself.

Because the measuring technology is supplied with energy directly via the supply voltage of the CEE power plug, no energy storage devices, which are a typical wearing part, are required in the device. Together with the closed design of the retrofit adapter, which ensures the protection of the operating components and electrical safety, a long product life and maintenance-free operation of the CEE measuring plugs can be achieved.

List of reference symbols

1

CEE power plug with integrated mobile radio-based measuring and monitoring system (CEE measuring plug)

2

Device connection cable

3

Operating resources or consumers

4

Energy supply network

5

Mobile connection

6

Data endpoint

7

Internet connection

8th

Digital interface to the data endpoint

9

Measurement technology and operational electronic components of the measurement and monitoring system

10

CEE connection box

11

Optical or acoustic signaling

12

Inserted retrofit housing extension or adapter (longitudinal hatching)

13

Separation point between plug face and adapter

14

Separation point between adapter and connector cover

15

Connector face

16

Plug cover

17

Strain relief

18

Original connection area in the plug face of the unchanged CEE plug

19

Separation point between face and hood of the unchanged CEE plug

20

Created installation space inside the adapter

21

Cover for the adapter with new electrical connection area (checkered pattern)

22

Electrical connection between original and new connection area

23

Plug contacts or plug pins

24

Temperature sensor

25

Wall thickness reduction for the output of optical signals

26

Web application for configuration, data analysis and visualization

Claims (10)

Device for integrating an electronic component (9) into a CEE mains plug, which consists of a plug face (15) with a connection area and a hood (16) with strain relief (17), which are connected to one another via a mechanical separation point, characterized in that it is designed as a hollow adapter (12), which • has matching counterparts of the separation points (19) of the plug face (15) and hood (16) of the CEE mains plug intended for extension at both ends (13, 14) and can therefore be mounted in a form-fitting manner between the face and hood (16) of the CEE mains plug, • is closed in the area facing the hood (16) by a further device, which together with the electronic component (9) forms a new connection area (21) for the device connection cable (2), wherein this connection area (21) within the adapter (12) can be contacted with the original connection area (18) via electrical conductors (22) and functionally replaces it, so that the electrical function of the extended plug device is retained in comparison to the CEE mains plug and • creates an installation space (20) with galvanic access to the electrical conductors passed through, for example, but not only, for electronic assemblies, so that the plug face (15) and the cover (16) with strain relief (17) can remain unchanged. Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the hollow adapter (12) used has a reduced wall thickness (25) in selected areas and also consists of translucent material, so that targeted illumination with an electric light source from the interior of the device can take place for signaling purposes, whereby absorption losses are reduced and targeted contrasting with variable shaping is achieved in the signal area. CEE mains plug according to IEC60309 for the connection of equipment (3) to the power supply network (4) with a device according to one of the Claims 1 or 2 , wherein the electronic component (9) • uses a measuring device to record electrical parameters of connected equipment, such as, but not exclusively, power, conductor currents, energy, conductor voltage, phase angle or frequency, • uses a computing unit to monitor these parameters for adjustable operating states and • transmits these parameters and operating states to an associated data endpoint (6) via an integrated mobile radio communication point (5) and the Internet (7), wherein this electronic component (9) is fully integrated into the CEE plug device, so that a compact functional unit (1) is created, the installation of which, as with conventional CEE mains plugs without this electronic component (9), is carried out via the connection area (21) for the device connection cable (2). CEE power plug according to Claim 3 , characterized in that operating states resulting from the monitoring of the recorded parameters and a comparison with a set of rules previously set via the communication interface can be displayed directly on the CEE mains plug via optical or acoustic signal generators (11). CEE power plug according to Claim 4 , characterized in that the electronic component (9), triggered by an external control signal which is received via the communication interface from the data endpoint (6), emits optical or acoustic signals which enable the CEE mains plug to be found more quickly in an electrical installation. CEE power plug according to one of the Claims 3 until 5 , characterized in that the measurement of the conductor currents is carried out potential-free via inductive measuring transformers. CEE power plug according to one of the Claims 3 until 6 , characterized in that the mobile radio communication interface uses narrowband mobile radio technologies such as NB-IoT or LTE CAT-M1. CEE power plug according to one of the Claims 3 until 7 , characterized in that the operating hours of a connected piece of equipment can be recorded in a differentiated manner in previously defined operating states, wherein the differentiation between different operating states is possible via an adjustable set of rules which is applied to the recordable measured variables. CEE power plug according to one of the Claims 3 until 8th , characterized in that it records position-relevant data and forwards it via the communication connection so that the local position of the CEE mains plug can be determined by data evaluation at the latest at the data end point. CEE power plug according to one of the Claims 3 until 9 , characterized in that it has one or more temperature sensors (24) which are arranged in structural proximity to the plug contacts (23) of the plug face (15) in order to be able to draw conclusions about an inadmissible heating of the plug contacts.

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