JPH04216478A - Apparatus for monitoring runway lights - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take preventive maintenance disposal before the generation of fusing trouble by always monitoring the temp. of a connector part and displaying the position of the connector part at the time of the judgement of abnormality. CONSTITUTION:The lights 1 arranged along a runway at predetermined intervals are divided into groups each consisting of several lights and the respective groups are connected in series by a cable to be connected to the secondary sides of insulated transformers 2. All of the primary sides of the transformers 2 are connected in series by a cable 4 and a constant current is supplied to the transformers from a constant current control apparatus 6. One optical fiber 5 is laid in close contact with the cable 4 on the transformer primary side circuits. The optical fiber 5 are graduated to measure the distance from a reference point to a connector. When a laser pulse beam is incident to the optical fiber 5, the pulse beam advances while scattering. The scattered light toward the incident end is collected by a photodetector. When the speed of back-scattered light advancing through the fiber is known, the origin of the backscattering in the fiber is known.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a runway lighting monitoring system for detecting a disconnection point in a lighting circuit of an airport runway lighting facility.

0002

[Prior Art] Runway lights for airport runways are installed every 60 meters around the 3,000 to 4,000 meter long runway, and the number of lights on one runway is several hundred. Become. These lights are indispensable for aircraft takeoff and landing at night or under bad weather conditions, and if a certain number of lights are not lit normally, aircraft takeoff and landing will be prohibited. This lamp circuit forms a series circuit because it would be undesirable for the brightness of each lamp to vary. Total circuit length is 5,000 to 10,000 m
In order to reduce line loss, high-voltage (3 to 5 kV) power distribution is common. It would be undesirable for maintenance and safety if the lamp itself were to be charged with high voltage, and it would be undesirable for a single light bulb to break open, so it would be undesirable for the lamp itself to be charged at high voltage. An isolation transformer is installed, and the secondary side of the isolation transformer is set to several tens of volts, and several of the lights are connected together. To facilitate maintenance and inspection of the connection between this isolation transformer and the transformer primary and secondary cables, there is a plug on the transformer side.
It is a connector type in which a receptacle is attached to the cable side, and the plug and receptacle are fitted into each other for connection.

0003

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a lighting circuit, there are concerns about an increase in contact resistance due to deterioration of the connector, and furthermore, a melting of the connector portion due to generation of sparks. If such a situation occurs, the circuit will be opened, all lights will go out, and aircraft will not be able to take off or land. Furthermore, there is no quick way to investigate where the meltdown occurred, and recovery takes time. The currently available method is to divide the circuit in half, check continuity in each half, divide the abnormal one in half again, check again,
A typical method is to repeat this process while investigating the fused area, which is a difficult task that involves traveling long distances. In the future, as airports become more important and require 24-hour operation, preventive maintenance of lighting circuits will become important, and it will be necessary to know where an abnormality has occurred before a connector melts. It's coming out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a runway light monitoring system that can detect abnormalities before a melting accident occurs.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention detects the temperature of a connector portion. The melting does not occur all at once, but the generation of sparks continues intermittently, the temperature gradually increases, and finally the melting occurs.If this temperature rise is detected, an abnormality can be detected.

In order to detect temperature with a simple mechanism, the present invention uses a temperature measuring device that utilizes the temperature dependence of the intensity of Raman scattered light within an optical fiber, and uses this measured value to detect an abnormal location.

[0007]

[Operation] The optical fiber type temperature measuring device measures the temperature of the fiber over the entire length of one optical fiber.

Now, this fiber is installed as close as possible along the cable (primary side) of the lighting circuit. This fiber should also run along the connector section. This allows the temperature of the cable and connector parts to be detected. By inputting data on where the connector is located on the optical fiber into the monitoring device, the temperature of the connector can be detected. Since the temperature of the connector section is influenced by the surroundings, a rise in the temperature of the connector section is detected by taking the difference between the temperature of the cable section near the connector and the temperature of the cable section near the connector. An alarm is output when this temperature rise value exceeds a certain value, or when the temperature rise gradient over time exceeds a certain value, or when the temperature rise value is significantly different from the temperature rise values of other connector parts. However, by displaying or printing the relevant connector location, the operator can be informed of the abnormal connector location.

[0009]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to FIG.

[0010] The runway light circuit extends 60m around the runway.
A circuit in which light sources 1 such as incandescent light bulbs installed at regular intervals are divided into groups of several, the light sources in each group are connected in series with cables, and connected to the secondary side of an isolation transformer 2, which consists of several dozen isolation transformers. are installed at various locations, all of the primary sides of the transformers are connected in series with a cable 4, and a constant current is supplied by a constant current control device 6. At this time, the transformer and the cable are connected by a waterproof connector 3 (an example is shown in FIG. 2) called a plug or receptacle. One optical fiber 5 is laid in close contact with the cable in the primary circuit of the transformer. At this time, the optical fibers are laid so that they are in close contact with all the connectors, and scales are placed on the optical fiber cables at regular intervals in advance so that the length of the fiber installation from the base point on the fiber to each connector can be measured. The measured distances are stored in the connector position storage memory 9 of the monitoring device 8 for all connectors. The base point of the optical fiber 5 is connected to a temperature measuring device 7 . The temperature measuring device 7 includes a laser pulse light generator, a backscattered light receiver, a received light data processing device, and the like.

In this configuration, when laser pulse light is input into the optical fiber, the pulse light advances to the fiber end while emitting scattered light to the surroundings. Of this scattered light, the light that travels backward, that is, toward the incident end, is caught by a light receiving device. If the speed of the backscattered light traveling inside the fiber is known, if you measure the time with the time of incidence as 0, you can find out at what position in the fiber the light that arrives at the receiver after a certain amount of time has elapsed. I understand.

On the other hand, backscattered light is affected by molecular motion at the point where the scattering occurs. Among the scattered light, the intensity of what is called Raman scattered light is affected by molecular motion, that is, temperature, at the light emitting point, and the temperature at the light emitting point can be determined from this intensity. In this way, the temperature measuring device 7 continuously measures the fiber temperature over the entire length of the optical fiber.

The monitoring device 8 receives a temperature signal from the temperature measuring device 7. The data in the connector position storage memory 9 in the monitoring device 8 is compared with the input temperature signal data to determine the temperature of the connector and the cable in its vicinity. This difference is used to calculate the temperature rise in the connector section and exclude the influence of ambient temperature.

When sparks are generated due to deterioration of the connector, the temperature of the connector increases due to this energy.

[0015] The abnormality determination criterion 10 includes a temperature rise limit value,
The rising temperature gradient limit value and the temperature deviation limit value are stored in advance.

[0016] The temperature rise value exceeds the limit value, the temperature rise gradient over a certain period of time exceeds the limit value, the distribution of temperature rise values of all connectors is taken, and the deviation value exceeds the limit value. is determined to be abnormal, and the position of the connector is displayed on the monitoring device CRT11.

[0017]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to constantly monitor the temperature of the connector, determine whether there is any abnormality in the increased value, and when it is determined that there is an abnormality, the position of the connector can be displayed. Be able to perform preventive maintenance measures (inspections, repairs). Moreover, the abnormal position display can shorten the time required for preventive maintenance processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example configuration diagram of a plug and a receptacle that constitute a connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Light source, 2...Insulation transformer, 3...Connector, 4...Light circuit cable, 5...Optical fiber, 6...Constant current control device, 7...Temperature measuring device, 8...Monitoring device, 9...Connector part position storage memory, 10 ...Abnormality judgment criteria storage memory, 11...
C.R.T.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A transformer for runway lights and a cable for passing current through the transformer are connected by a connector, a plurality of the transformers are connected in series by the cable, and a constant current is supplied by a constant current control device. In a runway lighting circuit, one optical fiber is installed along a connector and a cable, and a temperature measuring means is used to measure the temperature over the entire length of the fiber by injecting pulsed light into the fiber at regular intervals and using the backscattered light. a storage means for storing a value of the fiber length measured in advance for all connectors from a certain point of the fiber to each connector; and inputting a temperature signal over the entire length of the fiber from the temperature measuring device and inputting the temperature signal over the entire length of the fiber and reading the data from the storage means. Temperature rise calculating means for calculating the temperature of the fiber in all connector parts and in the vicinity of the connector and calculating the temperature rise in the connector part based on the temperature difference between the connector part and the connector vicinity; and temperature determination means for determining whether the temperature rise value is within an allowable range. 1. A runway light monitoring device, characterized in that it monitors the temperature rise of all connector parts and detects a connector causing an abnormality.