GB2417331A

GB2417331A - Utility meter and consumption controller

Info

Publication number: GB2417331A
Application number: GB0418340A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sanjaya Singhal
Original assignee: Polymeters Response International Ltd
Current assignee: Secure Meters UK Ltd
Priority date: 2004-08-17
Filing date: 2004-08-17
Publication date: 2006-02-22
Also published as: GB0418340D0

Abstract

A metering apparatus 13 for monitoring consumption of a utility, which may be gas or electricity, by a plurality of users comprises a single sensor responsive to one parameter of the utility; a plurality of further sensors responsive to another parameter of the utility; and a plurality of switching means 16a-16d responsive to said further sensors to control supply of the utility to individual users. The control of the supply may include connection and disconnection and may be operated remotely via a signal over the utility supply line or internally with reference to stored data.

Description

241 733 1

UTILITY MONITORING APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a utility monitoring apparatus. In particular the present invention is an improved utility metering apparatus particularly suited for small dwellings.

Current domestic metering systems utilise meters which are capable of being read manually by a user or an inspector who visits a dwelling. Utility providers may also estimate the amount of utility such as gas or electricity that a user utilises if an accurate reading is not provided by a user. The total amount charged to a user will be based on this estimation. However, this type of charging can be inaccurate.

Further, a problem arises in dwellings where it is difficult to collect payment of utility, where access to a particular dwelling by an inspector is restricted or dangerous.

In these circumstances, it is desirable to provide an improved metering device and system which obviates the need for manual inspection of utility meter and allows control of the system from a remote location.

Accordingly, the present invention provides apparatus for monitoring consumption of a utility by a plurality of users comprising: a single sensor responsive to one parameter of the utility; a plurality of further sensors responsive to another parameter of the utility, and a plurality of switching means equal in number to the plurality of further sensors and responsive to a respective one of the further sensors for controlling supply of the utility to an individual user.

The apparatus may be adapted to operate with any type of utility, particularly electricity or gas.

In the case of the electricity utility, the switching means is preferably an electrical switch which is capable of both disconnecting and reconnecting the utility provided to the user. In the case of the gas utility, the switching means may be a valve which performs the same function as the electrical switch. Thus, in both cases the switch is resettable.

In the case of electricity, the operation of the apparatus is applicable to a single phase or a multiple phase voltage supply. The apparatus may require a voltage sensor per phase if using a multiple phase voltage source. For the gas utility, there may be only one gas flow supply line in contact with the single sensor.

In addition, the apparatus is preferably enclosed in one casing thus enabling all individual user connections to originate from a central location.

Moreover, the system may include means for communicating with a utility supplier over the utility supply line which provides the utility and this enables the switching means to be controlled from the remote location.

Further, the apparatus may include means for time averaging the power so as to avoid the power being disconnected due to current spikes.

In order that the present invention be more readily understood, a preferred embodiment will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 shows a metering apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig 2 shows a schematic view of the dwelling control unit in Fig 1.

A metering apparatus 10 in a preferred embodiment is described with reference to Fig 1 and Fig 2. The metering apparatus will be hereinafter described to operate with the electricity utility which receives a single phase voltage supply. However, it will be apparent to a skilled person that the apparatus may be configured to operate with other types of utilities if required such as gas, and for multiple phases to be received by the apparatus.

The apparatus 10 according to the preferred embodiment comprises: a communication channel 15 which is a single phase power line 15; a metering device 12; and a dwelling control unit 13.

The communication channel 15 is a power line which delivers electricity to an area and the power line is input into the metering device 12 which is a conventional meter. It is utilised for energy auditing and not for billing purposes.

A host system (not shown) is typically operated by the utility provider and is located at a remote location to the metering apparatus 10. The host system is configured to communicate with the metering apparatus 10 through the communication channel 15.

In particular, the communication channel 15 is configured to enable unidirectional communication from the host system (not shown) to the metering apparatus 10. This means that in addition to energy being provided to the utility system through the channel 15, data signals may be sent from the host system to the metering apparatus 10 to cause certain actions to be performed by the apparatus 10.

Moreover, the signal is sent from the utility provider at a zero crossing point. This allows the signal to be easy to interpret and decode at the metering apparatus 10.

The output of the metering device 12 is connected to a dwelling control unit 13 which includes a plurality of switches 16 each allocated to a particular user.

The dwelling control unit 13 further includes a sensing unit 14 containing a single voltage sensor (not shown) arranged to sense the voltage received from the utility supplier. In addition, the dwelling control unit is arranged to determine the amount of current which is being utilised by a particular dwelling. For this purpose, the sensing unit 14 also comprises a current measuring circuit (not shown) which is capable of measuring the current for each of the signal paths connected to each of the switches.

Fig 2. shows a schematic view of one the dwelling control unit 13 for a single phase 1 S. In this particular embodiment, the control unit 13 outputs four signal paths.

It controls four switches, 16a,16bl6c,16d and the setting of each switch will determine whether power is output from the signal paths. It will be appreciated that the number of switches controlled by the control unit 13 may vary.

This type of arrangement is particularly useful in a block of apartments where a floor of the block of apartments may contain a plurality of apartments each being connected to the same exterior power line. Thus, a dwelling control unit may be positioned on one floor of the block of flats and arranged to control the electricity delivered to each of the plurality of apartments on that particular floor. According to the arrangement in Fig 2, the dwelling control unit 13 controls four switches 16a,16b,16c,16d and thus four separate apartments which receive a respective signal path from the metering apparatus 10.

Now referring to the operation of the switch which will be described with reference to switch 16a for the purpose of clarity. The switch 16a is operable to enable or disable current flow into an apartment to which the switch is assigned to control. For example, it is preferably configured such that when it is in the closed position, current is supplied to an apartment and when the switch is in the open position, current is not supplied to the apartment.

The switch 16a is controlled by the controller 14 in dwelling control unit 13 and the position (open or close) will depend on a signal received from the remote host system by the controller 14 and/or a predetermined condition.

lO The signal received from the host system may be an instruction to disconnect the power provided to a particular flat thereby causing the controller 14 in the dwelling control unit to disconnect the particular switch assigned to the particular flat.

Alternatively, the signal may be such as to cause reconnection of the power to a particular flat.

Moreover, the controller 14 may be set to a predetermined condition for one or more of the switches 16 to which it is connected. That is, it may be set to a particular current amount which is allowed to be used by a particular apartment and may depend on the payment which has been made on behalf of the apartment. For example, a fixed monthly charge is paid by a particular apartment which provides the apartment with a certain amount of energy for that particular month. For this purpose, the controller 14 will be provided with a power threshold level for one or more users and on detection of the threshold being exceeded, the controller will disconnect the relevant switch for the user.

In addition, dwelling control unit 13 may be provided with a timer (not shown) which may be set to cause one or more switches to reclose after a certain time period.

It will be appreciated from the above, that the apparatus 10 can be encased is one metering box. Accordingly, the box may be located in a dwelling or near a dwelling and all individual connections originate from the single box.

In a modification to the preferred embodiment, a multiple phase supply may be input into the metering apparatus 10, and the voltage sensor in the dwelling control unit may require a voltage sensor per phase. For example, in an e-phase system, n voltage sensors are required. In addition there will be n x m current sensors if there are m utility consumers per phase.

Consequently, with the utility apparatus 10, one needs to measure Just one voltage sensor per phase and multiple current sensors in the same enclosure instead of multiple voltage and multiple current as is conventionally done.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. Apparatus for monitoring consumption of a utility by a

plurality of users comprising: a single sensor responsive to one parameter of the utility; and a plurality of further sensors responsive to another parameter of the utility, and a plurality of switching means equal in number to the plurality of further sensors and responsive to a respective one of the further sensors for controlling supply of the utility to an individual user.
2. The apparatus according to claim I wherein the switching means is capable of disconnecting or reconnecting the utility provided to a particular user.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 further comprising a communication means arranged to receive a signal for a utility supplier via a utility supply line which causes at least one of the plurality of switching means to be disconnected or reconnected.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein each pulse of the received signal has been sent by the utility supplier at a zero crossing point of the utility supply.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3 further comprising a means for storing a utility threshold value for at least one user wherein the switching means is operable to disconnect the utility to the user if the threshold value is exceeded.
6. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.