GB2507350A

GB2507350A - Electrical Appliance Tester and Method of Testing an Electrical Appliance

Info

Publication number: GB2507350A
Application number: GB201219428A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony Barker; Stephen Geoffrey Butler Rudd; Andrew David Teasdale
Original assignee: SEAWARD ELECTRONICS Ltd
Current assignee: SEAWARD ELECTRONICS Ltd
Priority date: 2012-10-29
Filing date: 2012-10-29
Publication date: 2014-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 2032-10-29
Also published as: GB2507350B; GB201219428D0

Abstract

An appliance tester 1 for testing an electrical appliance having a unique identifier is disclosed, together with a method of testing an electrical appliance. The appliance tester 1 comprises a processor 4, a memory 5, a display 3 and a user interface 6. The appliance tester carries out an electrical safety test on the appliance to obtain electrical safety test data relating to the appliance and stores this test data in the memory 5 with reference to the appliance unique identifier. The appliance tester further comprises a digital camera 2 and obtains image data from the digital camera during appliance testing. This image data is also stored in the tester memory 5 with reference to the appliance unique identifier so that the image data and the test data are linked in the memory. The invention allows risk assessment and/or visual inspection records, including photographic evidence, to be linked to electrical safety test results and as means of demonstrating compliance at the time of the test and at any time after the event.

Description

Electrical Appliance Tester and Method of Testing an Electrical Appliance The present invention relates to a portable appliance tester and to a method of testing an electrical appliance.

The Electricity at Work Regulations (1989) require that electrical appliances are subjected to a program of ongoing tests and maintenance to ensure that they remain safe for use through their life cycle. The person responsible for the safety of electrical appliances within an organisation, normally referred to as the duty holder, must be able to demonstrate that reasonably practicable steps have been taken to prevent danger.

It is normal practice for any maintenance regime to include periodic visual inspections of the electrical appliance to look for defects which may compromise the electrical safety. This program of visual inspection is generally combined with electrical tests to facilitate the detection faults that may not be apparent during a visual inspection. Dedicated test instruments are readily available for the purpose of performing electrical safety tests; such instruments are commonly referred to as portable appliance testers.

The frequency at which these periodic safety inspections and tests are carried out should be proportionate to the risk. The relative level of risk, and therefore the inspection frequency, is determined by the duty holder through risk assessment. The risk assessment should take into account factors such as the construction of the electrical appliance, the environment in which it is used, the frequency of use, the user of the equipment and the results of any previous inspection and testing.

Risk assessments generally involve the observation of a location where the electrical appliance is situated and an attempt to determine the probability of an event occurring such as, for example, the appliance becoming damaged, and the severity of harm that might arise due to the occurrence of such an event.

One method of carrying out a risk assessment is to use a pre-prepared form to record the event that may occur, the probability of occurrence and the severity of harm. A score may be attributed to the severity of harm and used along with the probability of occurrence to assign and record a numerical value for the relative level of risk. Risk assessments are by their very nature subjective and when using this assessment method it can be difficult to demonstrate the reasoning behind a judgement at a later date.

One method of carrying out a visual inspection is to use a pre-prepared form to record the feature or aspect of the electrical appliance that is being inspected and whether or not it meets acceptable standards, or whether damage is evident which may compromise the electrical safety. Visual inspections can also be subjective and when using this inspection method it can be difficult to demonstrate the reasoning behind a judgement at a later date.

On the other hand, numerical measurements of safety-related electrical parameters, such as continuity resistance of the protective conductor or insulation resistance, can be readily compared with numerical limits of acceptability to make objective decisions as to the electrical safety at the time of test. This data can be easily recorded as a means of demonstrating compliance at a later date if needed.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved electrical appliance tester and assessment method.

In accordance with a first aspect, the invention provides an appliance tester for testing an electrical appliance having a unique identifier, the appliance tester comprising a processor, a memory, a display and a user interface, wherein the appliance tester is configured to carry out one or more electrical safety tests on the appliance to obtain electrical safety test data relating to the appliance and to store the test data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier, the appliance tester further comprising a digital camera and being further configured to obtain image data from the digital camera during appliance testing and to store the image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the image data and the test data are linked in the memory.

In accordance with a second aspect, the invention provides a method of testing an electrical appliance having a unique identifier using an appliance tester, the appliance tester comprising a processor, a memory, a display and a user interface, the method comprising carrying out one or more electrical safety tests on the appliance to obtain electrical safety test data relating to the appliance, and storing the test data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier, wherein the appliance further comprises a digital camera and the method further comprises obtaining image data from the digital camera during appliance testing, and storing the image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the image data and the test data are linked in the memory.

The appliance tester display may be a simple LED or array of LEDs, but preferably the display is a graphical display which can display at least text but preferably also graphs, data and/or images. A preferred display is an LED or LCD panel. Preferably, the electrical safety test data is displayed on the appliance tester display during the safety test.

In a preferred embodiment, the appliance tester is configured to carry out an assessment protocol in which the processor displays one or more information requests on the display, receives input data from the user interface or image data from the digital camera in response to the information request and stores the input data and/or image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the input data and/or image data is linked to the test data in the memory.

The assessment protocol referred to above may be a risk assessment protocol or a visual inspection protocol. The tester may also be configured to carry out both a risk assessment protocol and a visual inspection protocol. In essence, at least in preferred embodiments, the appliance tester contains a built-in risk assessment and/or visual assessment tool which presents the user with a series of questions to aid the risk assessment and/or visual inspection of an electrical appliance.

Photographic evidence can be recorded during a risk assessment or visual inspection using the digital camera provided in the appliance tester.

The electrical appliance has a unique identifier. This may be a serial number, asset number, location or other identifier which has been previously allocated to the electrical appliance itself, in which case the operator will need to enter the identifier when commencing the test (e.g. by entering or scanning the code) so that the correct identifier can be used to store the data. Alternatively, if a pre-assigned identifier is not available or is not to be used, a unique identifier may be allocated by the appliance tester itself.

In at least preferred embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of capturing and recording risk assessments and visual inspection results when performed as part of an in-service inspection and test regime of an electrical appliance, Specifically, the invention relates to a method of performing and recording a risk assessment, performing and recording a visual inspection, performing and recording electrical safety tests, and storing the various data obtained by using an identifier which is unique to the appliance under test.

The ability to link the data obtained from each of these parts of the overall appliance test together is considered to be key in providing simpler data storage and handling, including post-test data retrieval. The storage and linking of image data to the appliance data record also enables the assessment to be more objective by providing a means to demonstrate the reasoning behind a judgement at a later date.

In summary, the invention allows risk assessment and/or visual inspection records, including photographic evidence, to be linked to electrical safety test results and as means of demonstrating compliance at the time of testing and at any time after the event.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying Fig. 1 which shows a schematic diagram of a portable appliance tester in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a portable appliance tester 1 for testing various parameters relating to the electrical safety of an appliance (not shown). Parameters which may be tested include, but are not limited to, resistance of the protective conductor, insulation resistance, protective conductor current, touch current and operating speed of RCD protection devices.

Appliance tester 1 is controlled by a distributed processor architecture consisting of a (RTM) microprocessor 4, such as an ARM926 processor, which manages the user interface, data processing/storage, visual inspection and risk assessment tasks.

Photographic evidence is obtained via an internal camera module 2 interfaced to the microprocessor 4 via a USB communications bus. A LED flash and dynamic image brightness adjustment ensures a clear photographic record of the appliance under test and the location. The microprocessor 4 transfers real-time video to the graphical display 3 until the operator requests an image capture via the keyboard 6, at which point the microprocessor will store the image in the internal flash memory 5.

Electrical measurements, risk assessment forms, visual inspection forms and images captured during risk assessments and/or visual inspection are shown on graphical display 3. Information to identify the appliance under test, including but not limited to the site, location and asset ID number is entered using the onboard keyboard 6. Measurement results and photographic evidence and details of the appliance under test are stored in the onboard flash memory 5. Test results, appliance details (RIM) and images can also be transferred via the integrated Bluetooth moduleS to a mobile telecommunications device or via the USB port 7 to a USB flash memory device or PC. (RTM)

A PlC microcontroller 9 manages the electrical test and battery management functionality. Internal voltage source, current source and measurement circuitry are shown generally as 10. The appliance is connected via test socket 11.

Power management circuitry and algorithms enable particular aspects of the invention, such as the camera module or electrical test functionality, to be selectively powered down to conserve battery life and increase energy efficiency.

Claims

Claims 1. An appliance tester for testing an electrical appliance having a unique identifier, the appliance tester comprising a processor, a memory, a display and a user interface, wherein the appliance tester is configured to carry out one or more electrical safety tests on the appliance to obtain electrical safety test data relating to the appliance and to store the test data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier, the appliance tester further comprising a digital camera and being further configured to obtain image data from the digital camera during appliance testing and to store the image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the image data and the test data are linked in the memory.
2. The appliance tester of claim 1, in which the test data is displayed on the appliance tester display during the safety test.
3. The appliance tester of claim 1 or 2, in which the appliance tester is configured to carry out an assessment protocol in which the processor displays one or more information requests on the display, receives input data from the user interface or image data from the digital camera in response to the information request and stores the input data and/or image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the input data and/or image data is linked to the test data in the memory.
4. The appliance tester of claim 3, in which the assessment is a risk assessment protocol.
5. The appliance tester of claim 3, in which the assessment is a visual inspection protocol.
6. A method of testing an electrical appliance using an appliance tester in accordance with any preceding claim.
7 A method of testing an electrical appliance having a unique identifier using an appliance tester, the appliance tester comprising a processor, a memory, a display and a user interface, the method comprising: carrying out one or more electrical safety tests on the appliance to obtain electrical safety test data relating to the appliance, and storing the test data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier, wherein the appliance further comprises a digital camera and the method further comprises: obtaining image data from the digital camera during appliance testing, and storing the image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the image data and the test data are linked in the memory.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying test data on the appliance tester display during the safety test.
9. The method of claim 7 or 8, further comprising carrying out an assessment protocol comprising: displaying one or more information requests on the display receiving input data from the user interface or image data from the digital camera in response to the information request, and storing the input data and/or image data in the memory with reference to the appliance unique identifier such that the input data and/or image data is linked to the test data in the memory.
10. The method of claim 9, in which the assessment protocol is a risk assessment protocol.
11. The method of claim 9, in which the assessment protocol is a visual inspection protocol.
12. An appliance tester substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.