GB2293465A - Programmable time switch - Google Patents

Programmable time switch Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2293465A
GB2293465A GB9517981A GB9517981A GB2293465A GB 2293465 A GB2293465 A GB 2293465A GB 9517981 A GB9517981 A GB 9517981A GB 9517981 A GB9517981 A GB 9517981A GB 2293465 A GB2293465 A GB 2293465A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
time
time switch
switch
delay
equipment
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB9517981A
Other versions
GB9517981D0 (en
Inventor
George Heftman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Smiths Group PLC
Original Assignee
Smiths Group PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Smiths Group PLC filed Critical Smiths Group PLC
Publication of GB9517981D0 publication Critical patent/GB9517981D0/en
Publication of GB2293465A publication Critical patent/GB2293465A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J13/00—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network
    • H02J13/00006—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
    • H02J13/00022—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment using wireless data transmission
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B90/00—Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02B90/20—Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S40/00—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them
    • Y04S40/12—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment
    • Y04S40/126—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment using wireless data transmission

Abstract

A time switch 2 for switching power to a storage heater 3 or the like during a low tariff period has a radio receiver 21 tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals. In order to ensure that all such time switches do not switch on simultaneously, the time switch 2 introduces a delay between the receipt of a signal indicating that the storage heater 3 should be switched on and the actual activation of the heater 3. The delay may vary randomly from day to day or may be preset to a different value for each time switch in a manufacturing batch. <IMAGE>

Description

Time Switches and Systems This invention relates to time switches, methods of manufacturing time switches and systems including time switches.
The invention is more particularly concerned with radio-controlled time switches.
Time switches are used in many different applications to switch electrical equipment on or off at pre-set times. One use of these time switches is to switch on electrical equipment, such as night storage heaters, when electricity demand is at a low level. In this way, the electricity supply company benefits by shifting load from peak demand times so that only a reduced generator capacity is needed. The consumer can also benefit from reduced tariffs during off-peak times. One problem in using conventional time switches to control operation of the equipment is that any interruption to the power supply to the switch may cause it to run at the incorrect time when power is resumed. Also, the time switch fails to take into account changes between Greenwich Mean Time and Summer Time.
In an attempt to overcome these problems, it has been proposed to synchronize the time switch to a radio broadcast time signal. The time switch will, therefore, maintain a high accuracy and will be reset automatically to the correct time after any interruption to its power supply. The time switch will also advance or retard automatically by one hour when the time changes between BST and GMT.
Although these radio-controlled time switches overcome the above problems, they can cause problems to the electricity supply company, where they are used to switch on equipment at the start of an off-peak period. This arises because every piece of equipment controlled by such a switch will be switched on at precisely the same time, by virtue of the high accuracy of the switches. The supply company, therefore, has to face a large surge in demand when the tariff rates change from peak to off-peak. This can increase expense for the supply company in ensuring that it has sufficient generator capacity to meet this demand.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a time switch that can be used to alleviate this problem.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a time switch for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, the time switch also including means for introducing a delay between receipt of a predetermined broadcast signal and the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched.
The means for introducing a delay may vary the delay from day to day. Alternatively, the delay may be pre-set.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a time switch for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, the time switch also including means for varying the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched in a random fashion within a predetermined time period from day to day.
Preferably the means for varying the time is arranged to add a delay to a predetermined time signal received by the radio receiver so that the equipment is switched on or off at some time later than the predetermined time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a time switch of the kind for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, the time switch also including means for introducing a delay between receipt of a predetermined broadcast signal and the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched, the method including the step of setting a different delay in different time switches of a group such that in any group of time switches the equipment associated with those time switches will be switched on at different times.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a time switch made by the method of the further aspect of the invention.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical system including a power supply, a time switch according to any of the above aspects of the present invention and electrical equipment connected to the power supply via the time switch.
The system preferably includes a plurality of time switches or groups of time switches arranged to switch on at different times. The system may also include a power consumption meter arranged to monitor power consumption during two different tariff periods.
A time switch and an electrical system including a time switch will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows the system schematically.
The system comprises an electrical power supply 1, such as a domestic mains supply, a time switch unit 2, an item of electrical equipment 3 connected to the supply via the time switch unit, and a remote radio transmitter 4.
The power supply 1 includes a power consumption meter 10 of known kind adapted to measure separately the power consumed during two different tariff periods, so that power consumed during these two periods is charged at different rates. The electrical equipment 3 is a storage heater, washing machine or similar equipment that has a relatively high power consumption and that does not generally need to be powered during peak tariff periods.
The time switch unit 2 is arranged to enable supply of power to the equipment 3 only during off-peak tariff periods, such as between 0000hrs and 0700hrs daily. The time switch unit 2 could be arranged take account of different off-peak periods on different days, such as at the weekends. The unit 2 is wired into the system between the supply 1 and the equipment 3, although it could instead be a plug-in unit adapted to plug into a mains socket, the unit having a socket that receives a plug on a cable extending to the equipment. The unit 2 includes an internal ferrite aerial 20 connected to a radio receiver 21 tuned to receive transmissions incorporating time reference signals made by the BBC in the UK on Radio 4 frequencies in the long wave band.Similar radio broadcasts are made in other countries by other radio broadcasting organisations. The receiver 21 is arranged to identify the time transmissions made at the beginning of an off-peak period, such as at 0000hrs, and at the end of an off-peak period, such as at 0700hrs. When the off-peak period starts, the receiver 21 supplies an output signal to a bistable circuit 22 the output of which is connected to a random time delay unit 23.
The delay unit 23 is arranged to introduce a delay that spreads start-up demand over a part of the off-peak period. The delay is selected so that the longest foreseeable programme that can be run by the equipment 2 will be finished within the off-peak period. The output from the delay unit 23 is connected to a conventional load-switching relay 24 connected in series between the power supply 1 and the equipment 3.
The equipment 3 cannot be operated until after the start of the off-peak period at, for example, 0000hrs. When this time signal is received, the time delay unit 23 is started and introduces a delay of anything between 0 and 5 hours, but typically between about 0 and 30 minutes, this delay changing from day-to-day in a random fashion. After the delay has expired, the delay unit 23 closes the relay 24 so that power is supplied to the equipment 3. The equipment 3 may have its own timer and other controls, such as thermostats, so it does not necessarily operate continuously but it is enabled to operate continuously as long as the relay 24 is closed.When the off-peak period finishes, the receiver 21 supplies another signal to the bistable 22 so that the delay unit 23 terminates supply of power to the relay 24, thereby causing it to open and preventing supply of further power to the equipment 3. Because the time switch unit 2 is controlled by external radio signals, it automatically resumes correct operation after any power interruption. It also does not require any resetting to correct for inaccuracies and it automatically takes account of changes between normal time, such as GMT, and daylight-saving time, such as BST.
The time switch may include a battery back-up to provide power to the delay unit 23 after the bistable circuit 22 has been set and in the event of interruptions to the power supply.
Alternatively, a latching relay may be used that remains closed until power is supplied to open it.
In an alternative arrangement, time switches are made by a method in which the delay unit is set in the factory with a predetermined delay that varies from unit to unit. Each time switch will come on after the same delay every day but this delay will be different from one time switch to another. Typically, each batch of 32 time switches may be set in the factory with a different delay.
When a large number of consumers have installed a group of time switches of the present invention, either with the pre-set or variable random delay the surge in demand for power at the start of the off-peak period will be spread over the period of the time delay, which may be up to about five hours. The electricity supply company will, therefore, experience a considerably reduced transient, which will be easier to handle with existing generator capacity.
It will be appreciated that some ofthe components ofthe arrangement described could be provided by a microprocessor and that the time switch unit could provide other functions such as a manual override or an override for a set time period, such as one or two hours. This enables the equipment to be turned on during peak tariff periods, if desired.

Claims (14)

1. A time switch for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, wherein the time switch also includes means for introducing a delay between receipt of a predetermined broadcast signal and the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched.
2. A time switch according to Claim 1, wherein the means for introducing a delay varies the delay from day to day.
3. A time switch according to Claim 1, wherein the delay is preset.
4. A time switch for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, wherein the time switch also includes means for varying the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched in a random fashion within a predetermined time period from day to day.
5. A time switch according to Claim 4, wherein the means for varying the time is arranged to add a delay to a predetermined time signal received by the radio receiver so that the equipment is switched on or off at some time later than the predetermined time.
6. A method of manufacturing a time switch of the kind for switching power to associated electrical equipment, the time switch including a radio receiver tuned to receive radio broadcast time signals and the time switch being controlled by the received broadcast signals, the time switch also including means for introducing a delay between receipt of a predetermined broadcast signal and the time at which power supply to the equipment is switched, wherein the method includes the step of setting a different delay in different time switches of a group such that in any group of time switches the equipment associated with those time switches will be switched on at different times.
7. A method of manufacturing a time switch substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
8. A time switch made by a method according to Claim 6 or 7.
9. A time switch substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
10. An electrical system including a power supply, a time switch according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, 8 or 9, and electrical equipment connected to the power supply via the time switch.
11. An electrical system according to Claim 10 including a plurality oftime switches or roups of time switches arranged to switch on at different times.
12. An electrical system according to Claim 10 or 11, wherein the system includes a power consumption meter arranged to monitor power consumption during two different tariff periods.
13. An electrical system substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the ccompanying drawings.
14. Any novel feature or combination of features as hereinbefore described.
GB9517981A 1994-09-14 1995-09-04 Programmable time switch Withdrawn GB2293465A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9418456A GB9418456D0 (en) 1994-09-14 1994-09-14 Time switches and systems

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9517981D0 GB9517981D0 (en) 1995-11-08
GB2293465A true GB2293465A (en) 1996-03-27

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Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9418456A Pending GB9418456D0 (en) 1994-09-14 1994-09-14 Time switches and systems
GB9517981A Withdrawn GB2293465A (en) 1994-09-14 1995-09-04 Programmable time switch

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9418456A Pending GB9418456D0 (en) 1994-09-14 1994-09-14 Time switches and systems

Country Status (1)

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GB (2) GB9418456D0 (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0846990A1 (en) * 1996-12-06 1998-06-10 Alpha Therm Ltd. A time clock arrangement
GB2335759A (en) * 1998-03-24 1999-09-29 Honeywell Control Syst Control installation for a domestic heating system

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2189585A (en) * 1986-04-21 1987-10-28 Yong Kin Michael Ong Delay switching system
EP0264053A2 (en) * 1986-10-11 1988-04-20 Deutsche Thomson-Brandt GmbH Broadcast receiving arrangement
GB2226157A (en) * 1988-12-15 1990-06-20 Turnright Controls Time controlled appliance

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2189585A (en) * 1986-04-21 1987-10-28 Yong Kin Michael Ong Delay switching system
EP0264053A2 (en) * 1986-10-11 1988-04-20 Deutsche Thomson-Brandt GmbH Broadcast receiving arrangement
GB2226157A (en) * 1988-12-15 1990-06-20 Turnright Controls Time controlled appliance

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0846990A1 (en) * 1996-12-06 1998-06-10 Alpha Therm Ltd. A time clock arrangement
GB2335759A (en) * 1998-03-24 1999-09-29 Honeywell Control Syst Control installation for a domestic heating system
GB2335759B (en) * 1998-03-24 2002-05-01 Honeywell Control Syst Control installation

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9418456D0 (en) 1994-11-02
GB9517981D0 (en) 1995-11-08

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)