KR19990077043A - Modular core self-powered powerline sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The modular core self-drive power line sensor 10 is a. A plurality of modular core elements (18, 20, 22) disposed about the power line (12); A plurality of interconnected windings (24, 26, 28) disposed around the respective modular core elements (18, 20, 22); And at least one sensor (36) for sensing conditions around or within the power line, said a. A winding layer energized by the power line; And a controller (106) responsive to the sensor (36) and receiving a signal indicative of the sensed condition to be powered by the windings (24, 26, 28).

Description

Modular core self-powered powerline sensor

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 604,357, filed February 21, 1996, Serial No. 08 / 232,702, filed April 25, 1994,

A.c. in both overhead and underground underground and high and primary fields. Monitoring the power line can be useful for troubleshooting equipment and a.c. It is an important issue for electrical construction to anticipate a power outage that results from overloading on the power line and potentially resulting in loss of service to a large number of customers. Power outages and potential loss of significant customers increase during peak periods when power usage is at its maximum and continued power supply is at threshold. A power outage caused by broken lines and overloaded lines will require the cost of repairing transformers and other equipment, and will result in loss of revenue for the risk and loss services to the utility's employees, There is a costly sacrifice for. If the power line is underground, the result of an unexpected power outage as a result of a faulty or overloaded power line becomes even worse. Replacing a damaged underground conductor requires a lot of time and increased safety precautions due to the fact that most of the work required is cramped, somewhat wet and occurs under always worse conditions than ideal conditions. As a result, repairing such damaged underground cables is even costly, time consuming, and dangerous.

Therefore, to better anticipate such unforeseen outages as a result of a failed or overloaded equipment, a. A.c. that detects electrical conditions such as power, voltage and current in monitoring power lines and related equipment such as transformers and switches. Powerline sensors are very useful for power companies. If the utility can monitor conditions on the power line, companies can perform power line replacements that can be weakened as a result of ongoing maintenance and overloading and failures, thereby increasing the frequency of unexpected power outages Lower. By repairing and maintaining such equipment, the power company can significantly reduce power outage time for the user. The cost associated with replacing or repairing a damaged cable is reduced, as the cost of repairing or replacing a damaged cable is significantly increased over maintenance or replacement of regular business hours due to overtime pay.

However, conventional commercial power line sensors generally require an infringing electrical connection to the monitored power circuit. This type of installation is costly for utilities, potentially dangerous to the installer, and can cause service interruption to the user. Due to these limitations, powerline sensors have not been used extensively in power companies.

The sensor disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 232,702, filed April 25, 1994, overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art system. The sensor is a. A thin but relatively wide core layer of a high permeability ferromagnetic material surrounded by an insulating rubber layer of the power line is used. Wherein the plurality of windings is substantially a. Wind around the core layer to be parallel to the power line. The a.c. A.c. of the power line applies power to the sensor and controller and a.c. It is used to sense the current in the power line and to induce current in the winding, as well as to measure a non-referenced voltage level. Because the sensor is small, it can be readily installed in a limited volume and on very closely spaced lines. In addition, it operates without invasive contact with the power line and is therefore stably, easily and quickly installed. However, the sensor has disadvantages.

Above all, the sensor is a. It does not efficiently extract power from the power line. To extract the power more efficiently, the core layer should be in the shape of a donut, and the thickness of the core layer cross section should be approximately equal to its width. However, to keep the size small, the sensor has a core layer cross-section that is relatively larger than its thickness. This prevents the sensor from efficiently extracting power from the power line and thus can not extract enough voltage to drive it from the power line with low line current. To extract more power, the width of the core layer should be increased, but at the same time the cross-sectional thickness must be balanced to maximize efficiency. In order to achieve the required power demand, the thickness of the core layer cross-section must be increased to a point where the small size shape is no longer retained and can no longer be placed in a limited volume and in close proximity on a spaced line.

In addition, since the width of the core layer of the sensor is non-elastic, it is difficult to provide a part of the power line having the curvature of the radius.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a. And to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that detects conditions in and around the power line.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of making a. And to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that efficiently maximizes power extraction from a power line.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a modular core self-powered power line sensor capable of extracting power from a power line having an extremely low line current.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a highly flexible modular core type self-powered power line sensor.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a. To provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that is activated by low power directly derived from the power line.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a. And a modular core type self-powered power line sensor capable of delivering sensed conditions inside and around the power line.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a. And to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor capable of transmitting and receiving a communication signal with a remote base station via a power line.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that is fast, easy and safe to install without interrupting the power application service or affecting the power application service to the user.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor which can be installed on power lines of various sizes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that can be installed in a limited volume and on closely spaced cables.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a modular self-powered power line sensor that is small in size and light in weight.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting a. And to provide a modular core type self-powered power line sensor that is mechanically supported by a power line.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive removable modular core type self-powered power line sensor.

The present invention relates to a. A plurality of small modular core elements disposed around the power line, each core element having a. A core having a plurality of windings for extracting power from the power line, the cores of the respective modular core elements being interconnected; By means of means for sensing conditions inside or around the power line, and means for controlling the power to be applied by the windings and responsive to said sensing means and receiving a signal indicative of the sensed condition, a. A very small form of self-powered power line sensor can be implemented that can efficiently extract sufficient power for power line operation.

The present invention features a modular core self-powered power line sensor. The current extraction device of the sensor is a. And a plurality of modular core elements disposed about the power line. a.c. There is a winding layer that is energized by a power line, and includes a plurality of windings disposed around each modular core element. The windings of each modular core element are interconnected. Current and voltage sensors and a.c. Other means of sensing conditions around or within the power line are powered by the windings if they require power. The controller, which is powered by the windings, receives (and transmits) a signal indicative of the sensed condition in response to the sensing means.

In a preferred embodiment, the modular core element of the current extraction device has a small toroidal shape and is made of a ferromagnetic material with high magnetic permeability. The widths of the core elements are approximately equal to their cross-sectional thickness. The modular core element is equipped with a power line sensor and has a. And may include gaps that are forced apart to be removed from the power line. The windings of each modular core element are electrically interconnected in series or in parallel, and the windings are a. It is energized by the operation of the contactless transformer with the power line.

The voltage sensor is a. A first and second spaced apart plates positioned proximate to the power line and a dielectric disposed between the plates, the a. And a capacitor for capacitively sensing the voltage on the power line. The dielectric may be air. The first and second spaced plates have a. And may be coaxially disposed around the power line. The current sensor is an inductor comprising a plurality of windings and an insulating material disposed around the first and second plates. Other sensors are a.c. It can be used to detect various other conditions around or inside the power line.

The a.c. And means for transmitting a signal indicative of the condition sensed through the power line. The transmitting means transmits the signal to the remote base station. The transfer means is a. Through the operation of the communication core element and the contactless transformer disposed around the power line, the a.c. And a plurality of windings disposed about the communication core element for coupling the signal to the power line. The control means is a. Means for transmitting a signal indicative of the sensed condition via a power line, wherein the means for transmitting comprises a. And may be interconnected with a capacitor to capacitively couple the signal to a power line. The control means comprises means for receiving a communication signal from a remote base station and the receiving means can be interconnected to the capacitor for capacitively coupling the communication signal from the power line. The control means is a. And means for receiving a communication signal from the remote base station transmitted via the power line. The receiving means comprises a. Communication signals from the communication core element and the remote base station disposed around the power line are transmitted to a. And a plurality of windings disposed around the communication core element for coupling from the power line. The control means sends a signal indicative of the sensed conditions to the a.c. Means for transmitting via a power line and means for receiving a communication signal transmitted from a remote base station, wherein the transmitting means and the receiving means transmit the signal transmitted by the controlling means to a.c. Capacitively coupled to the power line, and a. And are interconnected to the capacitors for capacitively coupling signals from the power lines. Wherein the control means further comprises means for receiving a communication signal from a remote base station, wherein the winding on the communication core element is connected to the a.c. through the operation of a contactless transformer. The communication signal from the power line can be coupled. The control means includes means for statistically manipulating a received signal indicative of a sensed condition over a predetermined time period to set a nominal condition level and means for detecting a change from the nominal level. The sensed condition is a voltage. The means for statistically operating comprises means for averaging the received signal over the predetermined time period.

The above-described techniques of the present invention can be easily understood by considering the following detailed description with reference to the drawings.

The present invention relates to a modular core self-powered power line sensor, and more particularly to a sensor capable of efficiently extracting power from a power line having an extremely low level of line current.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a three-dimensional view of a modular core self-powered power line sensor according to the present invention; FIG.

Figure 1B schematically illustrates the interconnection of windings around the modular core element of Figure 1;

1C is a three-dimensional view of the sensing device of the modular core type self-powered power line sensor shown in FIG. 1A;

Figure 2 shows the modular core self-powered power line sensor of Figure 1 with protective covering surrounding the modular core and electronic components disposed between the windings of the sensor and the protective covering.

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a sensor and base station coupled to a power line; Fig.

Fig. A.c. to measure changes from nominal conditions around and within the power line. 3 is a flowchart of software used by the microcontroller of FIG. 3 to set the nominal level based on the time of the sensed condition around and within the power line.

a.c. A modular core self-powered power line sensor 10 according to the present invention disposed about a power line 12 is shown in FIG. The power line 12 includes a conductive wire 14 (or a single core) and an insulating rubber layer 16. A.c. The power line 12 is a cable type commonly used in the field of low-voltage power distribution as an underground cable; However, this is not an essential limitation of the present invention, and the sensor 10 can be used in the low-voltage field of the working wire by using an insulated or non-insulated cable and can be used in the high-voltage field of the working transmission line and the underground wire.

Power extraction

The sensor 10 includes a small modular core element 18,20,22 which forces the gaps 19,21,23 for installing the core element on the power line 12, And is thereby disposed around the power line 12 by causing the gaps to resiliently return to their original position to secure the core element in place. The core element is formed of a ferromagnetic material having a magnetically high permeability such as steel, and is generally coated with an insulating material.

The core elements 18, 20, 22 have the shape of a donut shape and have a cross-sectional thickness T approximately equal to the width W, generally about 1/2 inch. Thus, as described in the background of the present invention, they are approximately a. And has a configuration for extracting the most efficient power from the power line 12. Also, as described in the Background of the Invention, using a single core system, a. The width of the core must be increased to increase the amount of power extraction from the power line, and the cross-sectional thickness of the core is increased in a balanced manner to maintain efficiency. However, since the cross-sectional thickness increases to maintain efficiency, the size of the sensor becomes so large that it can not be applied on a limited volume and on closely spaced lines. According to the invention, the core consists of a large number of (in this case three) modular core elements. This maintains the efficiency of the sensor by making the cross-sectional thickness of the core elements approximately equal to their width, and by using a large number of core elements, the power extraction is increased while the cross-sectional thickness of the sensor is limited .

The size setting of the core elements 18, 20, 22 for optimized power extraction maximizes the coupling between a plurality of windings (secondary windings) on the core and a power line cable (primary winding) through the center of the core While minimizing losses.

The three basic losses actually found are the losses due to the resistance of the secondary winding, the losses due to magnetic leakage inductance and the losses due to induced eddy currents in the core material. Other losses exist and can affect performance in an increased or decreased range depending on the detail design. However, the above three losses are the major losses observed.

In an embodiment of the tested sensor, the core comprises a design made of a tape wound magnetic steel material. By winding, the core is made by winding spiral continuous steel strips and forming a toroidal shape very similar to a roll of conventional tape. The advantage of this manufacturing method is that it is relatively easy and inexpensive, which allows the use of selectively oriented magnetic steel to have a high magnetic permeability aligned with the length of the steel strip. When the oriented steel strip is wound into the toroidal shape, the highest magnetic permeability is approximately located along the circular path of the toroidal core body. Thus, the best magnetic permeability path is aligned with the path of the magnetic flux generated by the current flowing along the primary conductor through the center of the toroidal core. If the core is made of a magnetic material coated using an electrically insulating coating, it forms a core structure that effectively limits the flow of eddy currents through the core along a path oriented in an outward radial direction from the center of the primary winding. However, such a structure tends not to define eddy currents flowing along the passages in the core parallel to the primary windings, and eddy currents induced in the core by the primary winds tend to form along these parallel paths. If the helical core is electrically separated into a number of parallel cores to ignore the eddy current path in the core parallel to the primary winding, such eddy currents are substantially reduced with their associated loss (inefficiency), ignoring the other issue.

The cross section of the core is optimized to optimize loss and minimize coupling between the primary and secondary windings. A typical core has an inner radius (R ₁ ), an outer radius (R ₂ ) and a width (W). The core section thickness (T) is the difference between R ₁ and R ₂ .

T = R ₂ - R ₁ (1)

The coupling between the primary and secondary windings can be characterized by leakage flux at the core. The secondary winding resistance and leakage inductance can be characterized by the length of each secondary wrap on the core or the core cross-sectional circumference (2T + 2W). By maximizing line-speed leakage and minimizing the core cross-section circumference, the core size setting can be optimized. For a range of expected sizes for the sensor, the optimized core size setting requires a ratio of W to T (W / T) in the range of approximately 1 to 3. [ As described above, the tested embodiment of the sensor uses three cores 18, 29, 22 each having a W / T ratio of approximately one.

A winding layer comprising windings 24,26 and 28 surrounds each core element 18,20,22 of a number of turns with a wire such as a 28 gauge magnetic wire and forms a series To each other. Alternatively, the windings may be connected in parallel. A.c. of the power line 12; The power includes current in the windings (24, 26, 28) by the operation of the contactless transformer. A suitable ratio of windings is a.c. The desired current is selected to be induced in the winding when the power line is energized. The number of turns of the winding depends on the current induced in the winding and the a.c. Is determined by the ratio of the current in the power line 12 and the upper limit is to the point where the core elements 18, 20, 22 contain the induced linear flux density at or below the saturation level. In order to extract sufficient power to drive the sensor 10 using a low line current of about 20 amps, the general number of windings for each core element is 75. By increasing the core element or windings or both, the sensor 10 will extract more power, and thus lower a.c. It also operates on line current.

Voltage sensing

The sensor 10 further includes a voltage and current sensing device 36 in Figures 1A and 1B. The voltage is a.c. A capacitor 37 having a first inner surface conductor 38 spaced apart from the insulating layer 16 of the power line 12 and an outer surface conductor 40 spaced from the inner surface conductor 38, Lt; / RTI > Both conductors have a. Concentrically disposed about the power line 12 and includes a dielectric 42 such as air or a foam core therebetween. The capacitor 37 is a receiver for capacitively coupling a high frequency power line communication signal from the power line 12 and has an a.c. And is used to sense the capacitively coupled voltage from the power line 12. Because the capacitors 37 are arranged concentrically around the power line 12, the capacitors tend to ignore the power effects in the other power lines than the power line 12 spaced close to the power line 12 have.

The inner surface conductor 38 may be electrically connected to additional coaxial plates 39 and 41 in order to further reduce undesirable effects and / or noise of the external electromagnetic field, for example from other electromagnetic field sources or adjacent power lines. And the coaxial plates 39 and 41 are spaced outside the plate 38 in the same manner as the plate 40 and between the plate 39 and the plate 38 and between the plate 38 and the plate 41. [ The same dielectric is used. Each of the additional plates 39 and 41 is approximately one half of the surface area of the outer coaxial plate 40 and is electrically connected to the illustrated inner coaxial plate 38. [ Thus, any external signal will tend to be taken out equally by both the inner coaxial plate and the outer coaxial plate, and is not provided as a difference value between the inner surface conductor 38 and the outer surface conductor 40 . There may be only one coaxial plate, for example, a plate 39 having the same surface as the outer plate 40. Alternatively, there are three coaxial plates, each having a surface area of 1/3 of the outer plate 40. In general, if there are n plates, the surface area of each plate is 1 / n of the surface area of the outer plate 40.

Current sensing

An inductor 43 having a plurality of current measuring windings 44 wound around the toroidal insulating material 45 (e.g., foam) is disposed around the capacitor 37. [ a.c. The current from the power line 12 is a. And current flowing in the winding 44 in proportion to the current flowing through the power line 12. [ Since the inductor 43 is wound around an insulating material made of air or a foam material, the inductor is not saturated as in a typical core core. As a result, the sensed current becomes more linear, which makes it more accurate and easier to interpret for interpretation.

The insulating material 45 acts like an outer appearance for the windings 44, so that the material has a low magnetic permeability such as air. The insulating material 45 may have a high permeability but it is not necessary to include the gap so that the apparent material 45 is not magnetically saturated and the current sensed by the inductor 43 does not become linear, Or to control the magnetic permeability. Nonlinear current measurements can be sensed and accurately interpreted by the inductor 43, but this requires somewhat greater complexity in other sensor elements.

Voltage and current sensing device 36 also has a. Equipment on power line 12 and a.c. And a gap (46) formed to remove it from the power line (12). Although the voltage sensing device (capacitor 37) and voltage current sensing device (inductor 43) and sensing device 36 are shown disposed at the same location near the power line 12, However, They may be disposed adjacent to each other, and may be disposed apart from each other.

Communication

The communication device 48 is connected to the sensor 10 via a communication core element 50 and a contactless transformer. And a plurality of windings 52 for non-invasively transmitting communication signals to the power line 12. [ It is preferable to use the capacitor 37 of the sensor 36 as a high frequency communication receiver in addition to using the communication device 48 as a high frequency communication transmitter and being used as a voltage sensor. May be used as a transmitter or a receiver, or may be used as a transceiver. Thus, non-invasive coupling of communication signals to or from a power line according to the present invention is generally described as reactive coupling to include both capacitive and inductive coupling techniques.

In Fig. 2, the sensor 10 generally comprises a protective covering 62, which is an electrical insulator. The coverings 62 are generally formed of rubber and attached to the windings by self-curing tape, adhesive or other suitable means. The retaining ties 63 and 64 removably secure the power line sensor 10 in place around the power line. The coverings 62 perform an additional function of efficiently holding a plurality of electronic components 66 mounted on the flexible PCB 68 between themselves and the surface of the windings. The electrical connections between the windings (FIG. 1B) and the electrical components are not shown in this figure and are made by electrical connections schematically shown in FIG. The electronic component 66 essentially includes various types of sensors for sensing various phenomena such as temperature, pressure, radiation, humidity, etc., a. A power supply that is powered by windings 24, 26, 28 energized by a non-contact transformer with power line 12, a microcontroller, and other components described in detail below with respect to FIG. 3 .

2 is shown as being fixed to the flexible circuit board 68, this is not essential and the sensor may be located outside the circuit board 68 and between the protective covering 62 and the windings And the sensors may be placed outside the protective covering 62 to sense a particular type of phenomenon around the protective covering 62. [

A modular core self-powered power line sensor 10 is schematically illustrated in system 11 of FIG. The power to the modular core self-powered power line sensor 10 is a.c. by the windings 24, 26, 28 shown in this figure as a single winding for simplicity. Power line 112, which may be a single phase power line, which may be part of a single phase or multiphase power transmission or distribution system. The windings are connected by lines 103 and 104 to a power supply 102 disposed on the flexible circuit board 68. a.c. The power supply 102, which may be a dc regulator integrated circuit, provides 5V dc to the microcontroller 106 and also provides ± 12V and + 5V outputs for use by one or more sensors or other electronic components.

The microcontroller 106 is an 8-bit embedded controller having an analog-to-digital converter. Although the sensors 108-112 are shown interconnected to the microcontroller 106, a variety of sensors may be used. The sensors 108-110 are disposed on the flexible circuit board 68 while the sensors 111, 112 are disposed on the outer protective covering 62. Only one sensor, i.e., sensor 112, is powered by power supply 102 and the remaining sensors do not require external power for operation. These sensors include a.c. And provides an analog or digital signal to the microcontroller 106 indicating certain conditions that are sensed around or within the power line 12. In addition to these sensors, a capacitor 37 that acts as a voltage sensor and an inductor 43 that acts as a current sensor are shown.

The capacitor 37 is interconnected to a signal conditioner 116 that amplifies and filters the sensed signal to match the input needs of the microcontroller 106 by lines 114 and 115. The signal from the voltage sensor 37 is a capacitively coupled voltage representing an instantaneous voltage on the a.c. power line 12. The voltage sensor 37 does not provide the absolute voltage read to the microcontroller 106 because there is no reference voltage. However, an average or nominal level may be determined by monitoring the instantaneous voltage level supplied by the capacitor 37 during the time period, and the change from the nominal voltage level may be instantaneous from the capacitor 37 after the nominal level is set Can be determined from the input. The microcontroller 106 performs statistical calculations of the non-reference voltage input signals, such as weights, and determines the change from these other types of statistical measurements.

The current sensing is a. Is conducted by an inductor (43) which induces a current proportional to the line current inside itself. The induced current is provided to a current extraction signal conditioner 117 which amplifies and filters the signal before applying a signal to the microcontroller 106.

The sensors 108-110 are located on the flexible circuit board 68 and the sensors 111,112 are located on the outside or the protective covering 62. [ Such sensors can, for example, detect temperature, pressure, gas, humidity, radiation or light (visible or infrared). In fact, a sensor for detecting any phenomenon can be used. Certain sensors, such as temperature sensors or radiation sensors, may be provided directly on the flexible circuit board 68; Other sensors, such as sensors 111, 112 for sensing gas or light, may be located outside the protective covering 62 and operated.

The sensors 108-112 and the voltage and current sensor 36 continue to sense various conditions around the a.c. power line and a.c. power line and provide the microcontroller 106 with analog and digital signals representative of the sensed conditions. These signals provided by the sensors are converted to digital signals by the microcontroller 106, if necessary, to generate communication data indicative of the sensed conditions and these communication data are transmitted to a power line carrier And is supplied to the electronic device 120. The power line carrier electronics 120 then sends a transfer pulse from the microcontroller 106 of the sensor 10 to a. Supplies the encoded data to an output driver 122, which is used to transmit a low-voltage, high-current pulse to the windings of the communication device 48 for non-invasive coupling to the power line 12. [ For local readout of the power line state, a storage device 129 is connected to lines 118 and 119. The storage device 129 may be located at a convenient location near the power line.

Alternatively, the output from the driver 122 may be provided through the lines 124 and 125 to the inner surface and the outer surface conductors 38 and 40 of the capacitor 37 of Figure 1, as shown in phantom have. In this configuration, the signal transmitted from the microcontroller 106 is capacitively coupled to the a.c. power line 12 and the driver 122 should be configured to provide high voltage, low current output pulses. The current driver 122 is preferably configured to drive the windings 52 of the communication device 48. The driver 122 may be a high-voltage amplifier (inverting or non-inverting).

The data transmitted from the microcontroller 106 is transmitted to each particular individual sensor 108-112, 37, and 43 on the power line sensor 10, which represents the identification code identifying the power line sensor 10 and the type of data being transmitted ). ≪ / RTI > That is, the transmitted data includes information about the source of the transmission data (multiple power line sensors may be used at various locations in the power company's distribution system) and transmitted data, which may be data for voltage, current, And the like. Transmission and identification codes and interesting data may occur periodically on a time basis when a particular threshold value is detected or according to any desired criterion. The communication code follows the selected normal communication system details or protocol. This protocol is based on the Open Syatem Interconnect (OSI) communication standard model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Other communication codes suitable for powerline communication may also be used.

The data transmitted from the sensor 10 is received by the remote base station 126. The base station 126 is a part of a power line distribution or transmission system and typically includes a direct electrical connection (not shown) connected to a power line 12 'in a phase different from that of the power line 12' RTI ID = 0.0 > 127 < / RTI > However, connection to the power line may be accomplished by operation of a capacitive coupling or contactless transformer as described above for the sensor 10. For example, the inductor 43 'may be used to connect to the power line with non-invasive inductive coupling and / or the capacitor 37' may be coupled to the power line by non-invasive capacitive coupling . The transmitted data is supplied to the computer 132 via a standard power line carrier modem 130 that matches the communication module of the sensor 10. The base station 126 may also transmit data from the computer 132 to the a.c. power line 12 via the power line carrier modem 130. Thus, for example, instead of manually waiting for transmission from the power line sensor, base station 126 may poll any other power line sensor and modular core, self-powered power line sensor 10 on the system for required sensor information can do. Moreover, the power line sensor can be reprogrammed for base station 126.

The encoded communication data sent from the remote base station 126 is preferably a. And is received by capacitors 37 by capacitive coupling from power line 12. These high frequency communication signals are provided to the high-pass filters 134 and 136, and are passed through the filters to the power line carrier electronics 120. The power line carrier electronics 120 decodes the communication signal and sends it to the microcontroller 106 on line 119.

Alternatively, the windings 52 of the communication device 48 may be used to receive communication signals from the remote base station 126. [ This is accomplished by providing lead lines 138 and 139 (shown in phantom) interconnecting the windings 52 to the high pass filters 134 and 136.

Although it is desirable to use non-invasive powerline communication between the sensor 10 and the base station 126, this is not a necessary limitation in the present invention. RF, telephone line modem, cable TV, cellular phone, infrared fiber optic cable, non-power line communication such as microwave or ultrasonic communication or direct contact power line communication may be used.

The microcontroller 106 performs analog-to-digital conversion on the sensed condition, adjusts and updates the memory location that stores the previously sensed condition, and performs a numeric computation, such as a moving time average measurement, And controls the communication between the modular core self-driving power line sensor 10 and the base station 126.

The microcontroller 106 may provide the actual instantaneous value for a particular sensing condition, i.e., the actual temperature or radiation readings, to the base station 126. However, it is also possible to provide the base station 126 with specific conditions to be sensed that vary from the nominal level, as well as indicating values indicating these variations. As described above, voltage sensing is required for this type of data transfer since there is no reference level for the sensed voltage that can be compared to determine the absolute voltage. Therefore, the sensed voltage is compared to the nominal level to determine the change in sensed voltage from the nominal level and transmitted to the base station 126. The nominal level may be an average voltage level, or other types of statistical manipulation types, such as weights, are performed on the sensed data voltage and compared to the nominal level to determine a change from the nominal level. Moreover, although this process does not need to be performed with all types of sensors (since multiple sensors provide values for the conditions being sensed), they can be used with any sensed condition. This is therefore monitored for changes from some nominal value, since the monitored condition in many cases is not monitored for the actual value.

To detect and transmit a change from the nominal level of the sensed condition, the microcontroller 106 operates according to the flowchart of FIG. At step 152, a modular core, a self-powered power line sensor is installed and conditions (voltage, current, temperature, radiation, etc.) are continuously and instantaneously obtained at step 154. Any statistical operation type, such as the weight of the condition sensed for time period t in step 156, or a time-based average for the instantaneous value is performed to determine the nominal level for the condition in the a.c. power line. At this point the initial computation is complete, where the nominal value for the desired statistical manipulation type is determined. The calculation process may take from several seconds to several weeks or even months to obtain an accurate nominal level reading. After the initial calculation process is complete, at step 158, the instantaneous value obtained at step 154 is compared to the nominal level. After the initial nominal level is determined, it is recalculated continuously with new instantaneous sensor data. In step 160, it is determined whether the instantaneous value changes from the nominal level and whether there is a change, and in step 162 the degree of change is transmitted to the remote base station. Regardless of whether a change has been detected, the system returns to step 154 where another instantaneous value is obtained and the process continues until the sensor is removed from the ac power line or the determination for the particular condition being sensed is no longer It continues until it is not necessary.

Although the feature structure of the present invention is illustrated with reference to the drawings, this is shown for convenience as a respective feature structure and may be combined with any other feature structure in accordance with the present invention

Other embodiments falling within the scope of the following claims are also possible for those skilled in the art.

Claims (49)

a.c. A plurality of modular core elements disposed about a power line; A plurality of windings disposed around each of the modular core elements and interconnected with each other; A winding layer energized by the power line; The a.c. Means for sensing conditions on the power line; And And a control means for receiving a signal indicative of the sensed condition, energized by the windings and responsive to the sensing means. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein the modular core element is toroidal. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein the modular core element is small in size. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein the modular core element is formed of a ferromagnetic material having a high permeability. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1 wherein the width of each core element is equal to its cross-sectional thickness. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the modular core element is configured such that the power line sensor is installed in an a.c. power line and the a.c. And a forcibly spaced gap to enable removal from the power line. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 11. < / RTI > The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein the windings of each modular core element are interconnected in series or in parallel. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of windings is a. Powered power line sensor, characterized in that the power is energized by the operation of a non-contact transformer with the power line. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the condition detecting means comprises: a. And a means for sensing a voltage on the power line. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the voltage sensing means comprises a dielectric disposed between an inner and an outer spaced plate located near the ac power line and the spaced inner and outer plates, And a capacitive sensing capacitor. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > A < / RTI > 11. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 10, wherein the dielectric is air. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the spaced apart inner and outer plates have a. Wherein the power line is coaxially disposed around the power line. 11. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 10, further comprising n attachment plates connected to said inner coaxial plate to reduce noise. 14. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 13, wherein the n additional plates have a surface area that is 1 / n of the surface area of the outer plate. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein said sensing means comprises means for sensing current in said a.c. power line. 16. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 15, wherein the sensing means comprises an inductor. 17. The inductor according to claim 16, wherein the inductor comprises a. And a plurality of current measurement windings wound around insulating material disposed around the power line. 18. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 17, wherein the insulating material has a low permeability. 18. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 17, wherein the insulating material is foam. 18. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 17, wherein the insulating material is a toroidal type. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the condition detecting means comprises: a. And a means for sensing a plurality of conditions for the power line. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 1, wherein said control means comprises means for transmitting a signal indicative of a sensed condition via said a.c. power line. 23. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 22, wherein said transmitting means transmits said signal to a remote base station. 24. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 23, wherein the transmitting means transmits the signal to a storage device located near the power line. 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the transmitting means comprises: a. A plurality of windings disposed around the communication core element for coupling the signal to the ac power line through a communication core element disposed around the power line and through a contactless transformer operation, Driving power line sensor. 11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the control means comprises: Means for transmitting a signal indicative of a condition sensed via a power line, wherein said transmitting means transmits said signal to said a. C. Wherein the capacitors are interconnected with the capacitors to capacitively couple the capacitors to the power lines. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein said control means comprises means for receiving a communication signal from a remote base station, said receiving means being interconnected to said capacitor for capacitively coupling a communication signal from said power line Modular core type self-powered powerline sensor. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control means comprises: a. And means for receiving a communication signal transmitted from the remote base station via the power line. 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the receiving means comprises a communication core element disposed about the ac power line and a plurality of windings disposed around the communication core element for coupling a communication signal from the remote base station in the ac power line. And a power supply line connected to the power supply line. 11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the control means comprises: Means for transmitting said signal indicative of a condition sensed via a power line and means for receiving a communication signal transmitted from said remote base station, said transmitting means and receiving means for transmitting said signal transmitted by said controlling means to said a. Capacitively coupled to the power line, and a. Wherein the capacitors are interconnected to the capacitors for capacitively coupling signals from the power lines. 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the control means further comprises means for receiving a communication signal from a remote base station, wherein a plurality of windings on the communication core element are connected to the a.c. through the operation of the contactless transformer. And coupling the communication signal from the power line. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control means comprises means for statistically processing a received signal representative of said sensed condition for a predetermined period of time to set a nominal condition level and means for detecting a change from said nominal level Modular core type self-powered powerline sensor. 33. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 32, wherein the sensed condition is a voltage. 33. The modular core self-powered power line sensor of claim 32, wherein said statistical processing means comprises means for averaging received signals for said predetermined period of time. a.c. A plurality of modular core elements disposed about a power line; A plurality of windings disposed around each modular core element and interconnected with each other; A winding layer energized by the power line; The a.c. Means for sensing conditions on the power line; And Receiving a signal indicative of the sensed condition energized by the windings and responsive to the sensing means; And a control means for transmitting the received signal via a power line and receiving a communication signal transmitted from the base station. A voltage sensing capacitor comprising a pair of spaced apart inner and outer plates disposed about the power line and a dielectric medium disposed between the plates; And And a current sensing inductor including an insulating material disposed around the power line and a plurality of windings wound around the insulating material. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the capacitor further comprises n additional plates connected to the inner plate, wherein the surface area of each plate is 1 / n of the surface area of the outer plate to reduce noise. Device. 37. The sensing device of claim 36, wherein the inner and outer plates are toroidal. 37. The sensing device of claim 36, wherein the insulating material has a low permeability. 40. The sensing device of claim 39, wherein the insulating material is foam. 40. The sensing device of claim 39, wherein the insulating material is a donut shape. 37. The sensing device of claim 36, wherein the inductor is disposed on the capacitor. 43. The sensing device of claim 42, wherein the winding is wound onto the capacitor. a.c. A plurality of modular core elements disposed about a power line; And And a winding layer comprising a plurality of windings disposed about each modular core element and energized by the power line, wherein the windings of each modular core element are interconnected. 45. The power extraction apparatus of claim 44, wherein the modular core element is toroidal. 45. The power extraction device of claim 44, wherein the modular core element is small in size. 45. The power extracting apparatus of claim 44, wherein the modular core element is formed of a ferromagnetic material having a high permeability. The power extracting apparatus as claimed in claim 44, wherein a width of each of the core elements is equal to a thickness of a cross section. 45. The modular core element of claim 44, wherein the modular core element comprises a power line sensor. And a gap forcibly spaced so as to be provided on the power line and removed from the power line.