WO2017021717A1 - Notification d'état de défaut d'appareil électrique - Google Patents

Notification d'état de défaut d'appareil électrique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017021717A1
WO2017021717A1 PCT/GB2016/052357 GB2016052357W WO2017021717A1 WO 2017021717 A1 WO2017021717 A1 WO 2017021717A1 GB 2016052357 W GB2016052357 W GB 2016052357W WO 2017021717 A1 WO2017021717 A1 WO 2017021717A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
electrical appliance
electrical
user
socket
fault state
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2016/052357
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Jeff Taylor
George STRETTON
Martin Harrison
Original Assignee
Imagination Technologies Limited
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
Priority claimed from GB1513620.3A external-priority patent/GB2540972A/en
Priority claimed from GB1513622.9A external-priority patent/GB2540973B/en
Application filed by Imagination Technologies Limited filed Critical Imagination Technologies Limited
Priority to EP16747604.3A priority Critical patent/EP3329289A1/fr
Publication of WO2017021717A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017021717A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
    • G01R31/50—Testing of electric apparatus, lines, cables or components for short-circuits, continuity, leakage current or incorrect line connections
    • G01R31/66—Testing of connections, e.g. of plugs or non-disconnectable joints
    • G01R31/68—Testing of releasable connections, e.g. of terminals mounted on a printed circuit board
    • G01R31/69—Testing of releasable connections, e.g. of terminals mounted on a printed circuit board of terminals at the end of a cable or a wire harness; of plugs; of sockets, e.g. wall sockets or power sockets in appliances

Definitions

  • Some electrical socket adapters allow a user to remotely enable or disable power to an appliance plugged into the adapter.
  • Such electrical socket adapters typically plug into an electrical socket and then the appliance is plugged into the adapter. Since the electrical socket adapter lies between the electrical socket and the appliance it can enable or disable power to the appliance.
  • the electrical socket adapter may have the ability to wirelessly receive (e.g. via a wireless network) enable or disable commands from an application running on an internet-connected device, such as a smart phone or a computer.
  • Described herein are methods of notifying a user that an electrical appliance is in a fault state that include predicting that the electrical appliance is to be activated at a particular time; and prior to the particular time, determining from an electrical power circuit associated with the electrical appliance whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated. If it is determined that the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated a determination is made whether the user is proximate the electrical appliance. If it is determined that the user is proximate the electrical appliance then the user is notified that the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated.
  • a first aspect provides a computer-implemented method of notifying a user that an electrical appliance is in a fault state, the method comprising: predicting that the electrical appliance is to be activated at a particular time; prior to the particular time, determining from an electrical power circuit associated with the electrical appliance whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated; in response to determining the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated, determining whether the user is proximate the electrical appliance; and in response to determining the user is proximate the electrical appliance, notifying the user that the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated.
  • a second aspect provides a system for notifying a user that an electrical appliance is in a fault state, the method comprising: a device configured to determine, from an electrical power circuit associated with the electrical appliance, whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated; and a processor in communication with the device, the processor configured to: predict that the electrical appliance is to be activated at a particular time; prior to the particular time, determine from the device whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated; in response to determining the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated, determine whether the user is proximate the electrical appliance; and in response to determining the user is proximate the electrical appliance, notify the user that the electrical appliance is in a fault state and cannot be activated.
  • the methods described herein may be performed by a computer configured with software in machine readable form stored on a tangible storage medium e.g. in the form of a computer program comprising computer readable program code for configuring a computer to perform the constituent portions of described methods or in the form of a computer program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform all the steps of any of the methods described herein when the program is run on a computer and where the computer program may be embodied on a computer readable storage medium.
  • tangible (or non-transitory) storage media include disks, thumb drives, memory cards etc. and do not include propagated signals.
  • the software can be suitable for execution on a parallel processor or a serial processor such that the method steps may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously.
  • the hardware components described herein may be generated by a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer readable program code.
  • HDL hardware description language
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system in which the electrical socket adapters described herein may be used;
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example method of detecting an electrical appliance is in a fault state using current monitoring
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example method of detecting an electrical appliance is in a fault state by sensing whether the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter;
  • FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an example electrical socket adapter when the electrical appliance is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter;
  • FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 5 when the electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter;
  • FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 5;
  • FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the electrical socket adapter of FIG. 6.
  • FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an example method of notifying a user that an electrical appliance is in a fault state.
  • some embodiments described herein relate to devices for detecting a fault state with an electrical appliance.
  • the device is situated between the electrical appliance and an electrical power supply so as to be able to enable or disable the supply of electricity to the electrical appliance.
  • the device may take the form of an electrical socket adapter that can be inserted into an electrical power socket and can receive the electrical plug of the electrical appliance.
  • the device may be integrated into an electrical power socket.
  • the device may be configured to detect a fault state with the electrical appliance by, for example, monitoring the electrical current drawn by the electrical appliance when enabled and/or detecting when the electrical appliance is plugged into the device (e.g. when the device is implemented as a stand-alone electrical socket adapter) or the electrical socket (e.g. when the device is integrated into an electrical socket).
  • the device will be described below in the form of an electrical socket adapter, but, as noted above, the device may alternatively be integrated into, or form part of, an electrical socket (e.g. an electrical wall socket).
  • an electrical socket e.g. an electrical wall socket
  • the pin sockets referred to below will be the pin sockets of the electrical wall socket itself instead of the pin sockets of the electrical socket adapter.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 in which the electrical socket adapters described herein may be used.
  • the system 100 comprises an electrical socket adapter 102 which can be plugged into an electrical wall socket 104 and can receive an electrical plug 106 of an electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 is configured to control the supply of power or electricity from the mains power supply to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may have the ability to enable and disable the supply of electricity to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical power circuit for the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical power circuit comprises the mains wiring 103, the electrical wall socket 104, the electrical socket adapter 102, the electrical plug 106 and the wiring between the electrical plug 106 and the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 comprises one or more sensors 1 10 for detecting that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state from the electrical power circuit.
  • the term "fault state” is used herein to mean that the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it cannot operate normally. Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to detect a fault state by monitoring the electrical current drawn by the electrical appliance 108 and/or detecting whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • Example methods for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • Example sensors 1 10 for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described in reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises a wireless module 1 12 that enables the electrical socket adapter 102 to wirelessly communicate with other devices with wireless capability, such as, but not limited to, a wireless bridge 1 14.
  • the wireless bridge 1 14 may have the ability of receiving communications via one wireless protocol (e.g. BluetoothTM) and re-transmitting the communications over another wired or wireless protocol (e.g. Wi-FiTM or EthernetTM). This allows the electrical socket adapter 102 to communicate, via the wireless bridge 1 14, with devices that are not connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102 or do not support the same wireless protocol as the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the wireless bridge 114 may allow the electrical socket adapter 102 to communicate with a server 1 16 and/or an end-user device 1 18.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use the wireless module 1 12 to provide information about the electrical socket adapter 102 to the server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use the wireless module 112 to provide the server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18 with information about the amount of current drawn by the electrical appliance 108 and notify the server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18 of a fault with the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to only notify the user of a fault state when the user is in a position to rectify or resolve the fault (e.g. when the user is in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108).
  • An example method for notifying the user that an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state will be described with reference to FIG. 9.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also be configured to receive information from other devices via the wireless module 1 12.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to receive instructions or commands from the server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18 to enable or disable the electrical appliance 108.
  • the user may be able to, via the end-user device 1 18 send commands or instructions to the server 1 16 (which are relayed to the electrical socket adapter 102 at the appropriate time) to enable or disable the electrical appliance 108, or to set-up a schedule for when the electrical appliance 108 should be enabled and/or disabled.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may receive instructions or commands directly from the user via the end-user device 1 18. In response to receiving a command the electrical socket adapter 102 may enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108.
  • FIG. 1 shows that the electrical socket adapter 102 is in communication with the end-user device 1 18 via the wireless bridge 1 14.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be able to communicate with the end-user device 1 18 directly (e.g. they may be part of the same wireless network), or the end-user device 1 18 may be remotely located and the electrical socket adapter 102 may communicate with the end-user device 1 18 over a data communications network, such as data communications network 120.
  • FIG. 1 shows the server 1 16 remotely located to the electrical socket adapter 102 via a data communications network 120.
  • the server 1 16 may be part of the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102 so they can communicate directly, or the server 1 16 may be able to communicate with the electrical socket adapter 102 via the wireless bridge 1 14 directly.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the example electrical socket adapter 102 comprises one or more processors 202 to control operation of the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processors 202 may be microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processors for processing computer executable instructions to control the operation of the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processors 202 may include one or more fixed function blocks (also referred to as accelerators) which implement a part of the operation/control of the electrical socket adapter 102 in hardware (rather than software or firmware).
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise platform software comprising an operating system 201 or any other suitable platform software may be provided at the electrical socket adapter 102 to enable application software 203 to be executed on the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storage media such as memory 205 and communications media.
  • Computer storage media i.e. non-transitory machine readable media
  • memory 205 includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.
  • Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information for access by a computing device.
  • communication media may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.
  • computer storage media does not include communication media.
  • the computer storage media i.e. non- transitory machine readable media, e.g. memory 205
  • the storage may be distributed or located remotely and accessed via a network or other communication link (e.g. using wireless module 1 12).
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises the wireless module 1 12 described with reference to FIG. 1 .
  • the processor 202 controls the wireless module 1 12 to send and receive information to/from other devices wirelessly.
  • the wireless module 1 12 may support any suitable wireless protocol, such as, but not limited to, BluetoothTM, Wi-FiTM or Near Field Communication (NFC).
  • the wireless module 1 12 may be used to send information about the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. information on current draw and fault status) to other devices (e.g. server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18) and receive commands from other devices (e.g. server 1 16 and/or end-user device 1 18) to, for example, enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 also comprises an electricity or power switch 204 controlled by the processor 202.
  • the electricity or power switch 204 is used to connect or disconnect the electrical appliance 108 to the mains power supply.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to receive a command via the wireless module 1 12 from another device to enable or disable power to the electrical appliance 108 plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processor 202 may enable or disable the power switch 204 to enable or disable the power to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise a current monitor 206 controlled by the processor 202.
  • the current monitor 206 is connected to the mains power supply and has the ability to monitor the amount of current drawn by an electrical appliance 108 plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the current monitor 206 may be configured to continuously monitor the current draw or the current monitor 206 may be configured to only monitor the current draw when the current monitor 206 receives a command from the processor 202. In either case, the current monitor 206 may be configured to actively (e.g. periodically) provide the processor 202 with information on the current draw; or the current monitor 206 may be configured to passively provide information on the current draw to the processor 206 (e.g. in response to a request from the processor 202 for the information).
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also comprise a plug sensor 208 to detect when an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect that an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 when it detects that an object is proximate to, or within a distance from, the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. is flush with the electrical socket adapter 102).
  • the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect when a pin from the electrical plug 106 is inserted into the adapter 102 using, for example, a beam- break sensor.
  • the plug sensor 208 may be configured to determine an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 by detecting movement of the shutters of the ground and/or neutral pin sockets.
  • some sockets have shutters attached to the receptacles to ensure that objects other than electrical plug pins are not inadvertently inserted into the socket.
  • the shutters move to enable the pins to be inserted.
  • the shutters may slide away to the side or fold away as flaps.
  • Example plug sensors 208 will described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.
  • the processor 202 may also receive input from one or more other input modules 210.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a manual control button located on the electrical socket adapter 102 that allows a user to manually input information into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a display module 212 for displaying information to the user. Such a display module 212 may aid a user in manually inputting information to the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may also have a sensor that is capable of reading an RFID tag or the like so that the electrical socket adapter 102 can not only confirm that an electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102, but it can also confirm that the correct or expected electrical appliance is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processor 202 is configured to analyze the information received from one or more of the other components of the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine when a fault state has occurred with the electrical appliance 108 connected to or plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. The processor 202 may then notify the user, via the wireless module 1 12 of the fault state.
  • a fault state is when the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it is not able to operate normally.
  • Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to detect a fault state from the current draw information gathered by the current monitor 206 and/or information received from the plug sensor 208.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state if it is not drawing any current and/or the electrical appliance 108 is not drawing a "normal" amount of current for the electrical appliance 108.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state if the information received from the plug sensor 208 indicates that the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102. Example methods for detecting a fault state are described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • the processor 202 may have the ability to predict when the electrical appliance 108 connected to the electrical socket adapter 102 will be activated. The prediction may be based on a schedule that has been set-up by the user. For example, if an electrical appliance 108 is scheduled to be activated at a specific time on a specific day of the week (e.g. Tuesday), then the processor 202 can accurately predict that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated at the particular time on the particular day.
  • the prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on historical usage.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to generate data on the use of the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. when it is turned on (e.g. when it draws current) and for how long) which is used to generate a historical record of the usage of the electrical appliance 108.
  • the record may be stored in a memory component (e.g. memory 205) of the electrical socket adapter 102 or a remote device accessible to the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processor 202 uses the historical record to predict when the electrical appliance 108 will next be activated.
  • the processor 202 may analyze the historical record to determine that the electrical appliance 108 has historically been activated within a certain- time period on a particular day (e.g. day of the week, or day of a month)
  • the prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on the type of electrical appliance.
  • the processor 202 may assume that the light switch is going to be operated at a particular time of day.
  • the processor 202 may assume that a light switch is likely to be activated around sunset.
  • Other electrical appliances may similarly be expected to be used at certain times of the day. For example, a coffee machine may be expected to be used in the morning and an oven may be expected to be used in the evening. Accordingly, knowledge of the type of the device can be used to further improve the prediction of when the electrical appliance is likely to be activated.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in fault state a predetermined period of time before the electrical appliance 108 is predicted to be activated. This allows the user to be informed of, and rectify, a fault prior to the desired or predicted activation time.
  • the predetermined period of time may be a fixed proportion of the interval between predicted activations. For example, if the fixed proportion is 10% then an electrical appliance that is predicted to be activated every 24 hours may be tested to determine if it is in a fault state 2.4 hours before the next predicted activation. In other cases, the predetermined period of time may be fixed (e.g. 4 hours).
  • the user may also have the option of setting the time at which the processor 202 determines whether the electrical appliance is in a fault state. This may allow the user to ensure that the electrical appliance is not tested or activated at an inappropriate time (e.g. to ensure lights are not turned on in the middle of the night).
  • the processor 202 may be configured to only notify the user of the fault state when the user is in a position to rectify the fault (e.g. when they are in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108).
  • the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of a fault state when they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108. Not only does this not unnecessarily waste resources, but it also increases the chances that the user will rectify the fault upon receiving the notification.
  • the user is notified of the fault state as soon as it is detected, it may be a long time before the user is in a position to rectify the fault and by this time the user may have forgotten about the fault.
  • the user is notified of the fault when they are proximate to the electrical appliance, and thus can fix the fault, the user is much more likely to fix the fault.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 by detecting that a device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 1 18) is connected to the same wireless network (e.g. the same Wi-FiTM network) as the electrical socket adapter 102 (via wireless module 1 12).
  • the device associated with the user e.g. end-user device 1 18
  • the device associated with the user may be configured to store information identifying the wireless network the electrical socket adapter 102 is connected to (e.g. SSID (service set identifier) for a Wi-FiTM network), and send a message to the electrical socket adapter 102 when the device detects, using the stored information, that it is connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • SSID service set identifier
  • the device associated with the user may be configured to periodically ping the electrical socket adapter 102 without using any external connection (e.g. using internal IP addresses); or alternatively the processor 202 may be configured to periodically ping the device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 1 18) without using any external connection (e.g. using internal IP addresses).
  • the processor 202 may be configured to periodically ping the device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 1 18) without using any external connection (e.g. using internal IP addresses).
  • these may be used to detect the device associated with the user is connected to the same wireless network as the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect the user's location from positioning information (e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) information) received from the end-user device 1 18.
  • positioning information e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) information
  • the processor 202 may also be able to detect the user's location via a direct short-range communication (e.g. Bluetooth LETM or NFC) between the end-user device 1 18 and the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • a direct short-range communication e.g. Bluetooth LETM or NFC
  • the user may be notified of a fault state when the user is in a place where they are in a position to remedy the fault.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of the fault if the processor 202 has detected the user is in a place where they may have access to new lamp (e.g. a hardware store).
  • one or more of the functions described above as being performed or executed by the processor 202 of the electrical socket adapter 102 may be performed or executed by another device or processor, such as server 1 16.
  • the server 1 16 may predict when the electrical appliance 108 may next be activated and prior to the activation may send a request to the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may respond to the server 1 16 with the state (fault or normal state) of the electrical appliance 108.
  • the server 1 16 may determine whether the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 and send a notification to the user of the fault state if they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a first example method 300 for detecting an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state.
  • a fault state is detected by monitoring the current usage of the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 enables or provides power to the electrical appliance 108 by connecting the electrical appliance 108 to the mains power supply (e.g. activating the power switch 204).
  • the method 300 then proceeds to block 304 where the electrical socket adapter 102 monitors the current flow to the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. via current monitor 206). After a predetermined amount of time (or after other criteria are met), the electrical socket adapter 102 disables or deactivates the electrical appliance 108 by breaking the connection between the electrical appliance 108 and the mains power supply (e.g.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may store or have access to historical information (e.g. historical information stored on the server 1 16) on current draw by the electrical appliance 108. This information may be used to generate a current draw profile for the electrical appliance 108 that may be used to detect the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state.
  • the method 300 may proceed to block 312 where the electrical socket adapter 102 compares the current draw observed at block 304 to the current draw profile to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 drew a "normal" amount of current relative to the current draw profile for the electrical appliance 108. If the current drawn is "normal” (e.g. it matches the current draw profile) then the method 300 ends 314. However, if the current drawn is not "normal” (e.g. it does not match the current draw profile) then the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state 316. The user can then be notified as appropriate.
  • historical information e.g. historical information stored on the server 1 16
  • This information may be used to generate a current draw profile for the electrical
  • the electrical appliance 108 is a light switch that is used to control six lamps in a kitchen, then it will have typical or normal power consumption (i.e. current drawn) when it is operating normally. If one of the bulbs fails then the energy consumption (i.e. current drawn) will drop. In this case the current drawn will not match the current draw profile indicating a fault state.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may further be able to estimate the specific fault based on the measured current draw as compared to the current draw profile (i.e. the difference between the measured current draw and the current draw profile). For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be able to determine that one of the bulbs has failed. This can be used to notify the user of the specific fault (e.g. bulb blown and/or the number of bulbs blown).
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to disable power to the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. disable the power switch 204) until the fault has been rectified to ensure that the faulty electrical appliance 108 does not cause damage to itself or anyone else (e.g. a user who is trying to replace the bulb). This would prevent a user from trying, for example, to replace the bulb in a circuit when the power is live. Once the user has corrected the fault, the user may notify the electrical socket adapter 102 so that the electrical socket adapter 102 can know it is safe to enable/provide power to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to determine whether or not to disable power to the electrical appliance based on the type or level of the fault. For example, the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to disable power to the electrical appliance if it is a major fault (e.g. 75% or more of the bulbs are blown), but to leave power to the electrical appliance enabled if it is a minor fault (e.g. 25% or less of the bulbs are blown).
  • a major fault e.g. 75% or more of the bulbs are blown
  • a minor fault e.g. 25% or less of the bulbs are blown
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may activate the appliance 108, to determine whether it is in a fault state, at a time that is unexpected to the user. The user may find it un-nerving for an electrical appliance 108 to be activated suddenly for a short period of time without warning. To avoid this, the current draw reading from the most recent monitoring may be used instead. For example, if no current was drawn during the last current monitoring session the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to assume that the current draw is the same and notify the user the next time it is appropriate (e.g. the next time they are in close proximity to the electrical appliance 108).
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a second example method 400 for determining an electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state.
  • a fault state is identified by determining that the electrical appliance 108 is not physically plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 senses the presence of an object to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 may comprise a proximity sensor to detect when the appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • a close proximity sensor may be positioned on the front of the electrical socket adapter 102 and configured to detect when an object (e.g. plug) is flush with the front face of the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 allows the plug sensor 208 to be kept away from any live parts of the electrical socket adapter 102, but could potentially give a false reading if a foreign object was placed in front of the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. leaned against the front of the electrical socket adapter 102). It also may incorrectly determine that a plug was not present if an usual shaped plug was inserted.
  • the plug sensor 208 may use the pins of the electrical plug 106 to detect when the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 may comprise a beam-break sensor positioned in the electrical socket adapter 102 so that a pin of the electrical plug 106 breaks the light beam when it is inserted in the adapter 102.
  • Beam-break sensors are simple, cheap and reliable, and using the pins of the electrical plug 106 themselves avoids false detections.
  • the beam- break sensor has to be placed in close proximity to live elements. This could cause an electrical safety issue, or the beam-break sensor could be damaged by the insertion of the electrical plug 106 in the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the plug sensor 208 may use the shutters that are present over the sockets for the ground and/or neutral pins to detect when the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • sockets for receiving neutral and ground pins of an electrical plug 106 typically comprises shutters over the openings to ensure that objects other than the neutral and ground pins are not inadvertently inserted into the sockets.
  • the shutters are moved to an open position to enable the pins to be inserted.
  • the shutters may slide away to the side, or fold away as flaps.
  • a beam-break sensor can be positioned in the electrical socket adapter 102 so that when a particular shutter (e.g. the shutter for the neutral pin or the shutter for the ground pin) moves to the open position the beam is broken. This ensures that the plug sensor 208 only detects the electrical appliance 108 has been plugged into the adapter 102 when an electrical plug 106 is actually inserted. It also keeps the plug sensor 208 away from the live or active elements that may be wiggled or moved as the electrical plug 106 is inserted or removed.
  • a particular shutter e.g. the shutter for the neutral pin or the shutter for the ground pin
  • the plug sensor 208 may be configured to detect movement of both the shutter for the neutral pin and the shutter for the ground pin.
  • the plug sensor 208 may have two beam-break sensors. The first beam-break sensor is positioned so that when the neutral pin shutter moves to the open position the beam of the first beam-break sensor is broken and the second beam-break sensor is positioned so that when the ground pin shutter moves to the open position the beam of the second beam-break sensor is broken. This can be used as a safety feature to detect when an object has been inserted into only one of the sockets (e.g. the ground pin socket or the neutral pin socket, but not both).
  • Block 404 it is determined whether the object has been sensed. If the object has been sensed then it is presumed that the electrical appliance 108 has been plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and the method 400 proceeds back to block 402 where it senses the presence of an object. If, however, the object has not been sensed then it is presumed that the electrical appliance 108 has not been plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and a fault state has occurred 406. The user can then be notified as appropriate.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to use a combination of methods 300 and 400 to detect a fault state.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may be configured to first detect whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 using, for example, the method 400 of FIG. 4, and only if the electrical appliance 108 is detected to be plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 is the current monitored, for example, by method 300 of FIG. 3.
  • Using the two fault detection methods together may enable the electrical socket adapter 102 to provide more information to the user about the specific fault. For example, if it is known that the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 and yet the electrical appliance 108 draws no current when power is supplied to it, then this may indicate that the electrical appliance 108 is switched off, or that a fault state has occurred such as a blown fuse or light bulb (e.g. in the case of a lamp). Without this ability to know whether the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102, then this fault state cannot be distinguished from the fault state where the appliance is plugged in.
  • FIGS. 5-8 illustrates an example electrical socket adapter 102 configured to detect whether an electrical appliance 108 is plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 using the shutter for the earth or ground pin socket.
  • FIGS. 5 and 7 show a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter 102 sliced down the middle when the electrical plug 106 of the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; and
  • FIGS. 6 and 8 show a cross-sectional view of the electrical socket adapter 102 sliced down the middle when the electrical plug 106 of the electrical appliance 108 is plugged into or inserted into the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • the example electrical socket adapter 102 comprises an electrical socket 502 for receiving an electrical plug 106 of an electrical appliance 108.
  • the electrical socket 502 comprises a live pin socket 504 for receiving the live pin 506 of the electrical plug 106; a ground or earth pin socket 508 for receiving the ground or earth pin 510 of the electrical plug 106; and a neutral socket (not shown) for receiving the neutral pin (not shown) of the electrical plug 106.
  • the example electrical socket adapter 102 also includes a shutter 512 for the ground or earth pin socket 508 to ensure that foreign objects (e.g. objects other than a ground or earth pin) are not inserted into the ground or earth pin socket 508.
  • the shutter 512 is biased, by a spring 514, into a closed position (see FIGS. 5 and 7) where the shutter 512 obstructs or blocks the ground or earth pin socket 508.
  • the ground or earth pin 510 moves (e.g. slides) the shutter 512 into an open position (see FIGS. 6 and 8) where the shutter 512 no longer obstructs or blocks the ground or earth pin socket 508.
  • a sensor 516 is inserted in the electrical socket adapter 102 to detect whether an electrical plug 106 is inserted in the electrical socket adapter 102 based on the position of the shutter 512.
  • the sensor 516 is positioned so that when the shutter 512 is in the closed position (FIGS. 5 and 7) the sensor 516 detects an electrical plug has not been inserted, but when the shutter 512 is in the open position (FIG. 6 and 8) the sensor 516 detects an electrical plug has been inserted.
  • the sensor 516 may be any suitable type of sensor for detecting the presence or absence of objects.
  • the sensor 516 may be a proximity sensor that detects when an object (e.g. the shutter 512) is placed near the sensor 516.
  • the sensor 516 may be a beam-break sensor that is comprised of transmitter and a receiver (which may be referred to as the first and second component of the sensor respectively).
  • a beam break sensor senses the presence or absence of an object based on whether the receiver can receive communications from the transmitter (e.g. whether the receiver can receive the beam of light transmitted by the transmitter).
  • the beam-break sensor may, for example, be a through beam sensor, a retro- reflective sensor, or a diffuse sensor.
  • a through beam sensor comprises a transmitter and a receiver in separate housings with the transmitter providing a continuous beam of light to the receiver. When an object interrupts the light path between the transmitter and the receiver the receiver outputs information indicating an object has been detected.
  • a through beam sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the shutter 512 blocks communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the shutter 512 does not block communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver thus the receiver can receive communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter.
  • a retro-reflective sensor comprises a transmitter and receiver in the same housing.
  • the transmitter emits a continuous beam of light which is reflected off a reflector back to the receiver.
  • the receiver outputs information indicating an object has been detected.
  • a retro-reflective sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the shutter blocks or breaks communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the transmitter does not block or break communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter to the receiver thus the receiver can receive communications (e.g. light) from the transmitter.
  • a diffuse sensor similar to a retro-reflector sensor, comprises a transmitter and receiver in the same housing.
  • the transmitter emits a continuous beam of light, which, when the target object is in position, is reflected back to the receiver.
  • a diffuse sensor is used in the electrical socket adapter 102, when the shutter 512 is in one position (e.g. the open position) the transmitter cannot receive communications from the transmitter because the shutter is not positioned to reflect light from the transmitter to the receiver; and when the shutter 512 is in the other position (e.g. the closed position) the receiver can receive communicates from the transmitter because the shutter 512 is positioned to reflect light from the transmitter to the receiver.
  • a flange 517 may be added to, or form part of, the shutter 512 and it is the flange 517 that interacts with the sensor 516 (e.g. breaks the beam) when the shutter 512 is in the open position (FIG. 6 and 8).
  • a flange 517 may be added to a standard shutter 512 to provide a greater surface area to interact with the sensor 516 (e.g. break the beam) and/or to provide more flexibility in positioning the sensor 516.
  • the flange 517 of FIGS. 5 to 8 is shown as being rectangular, but it will be evident to a person of skill in the art that different sized and shaped flanges 517 may be used.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 further comprises an electrical plug 518 for inserting into an electrical wall socket.
  • the electrical plug 518 comprises a live pin 520, a ground pin 522 and a neutral pin (not shown).
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 is configured so that when an electrical plug 106 is inserted in the electrical socket 502 of the electrical socket adapter 102 an electrical connection is made between the pins 506, 510 of the electrical plug 106 and the corresponding pins 520, 522 of the electrical plug 518 of the electrical socket adapter 102. This allows power to be provided from an electrical wall socket to the electrical device 108 via the electrical socket adapter 102 when the electrical socket adapter 102 is plugged into the electrical wall socket.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 of FIGS. 5-8 is an example only and various changes may be made to the electrical socket adapter 102 without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
  • the sensor 516 may be placed in another suitable position.
  • the sensor 516 may alternatively be positioned so that it detects and object when the shutter 512 is in the open position and does not detect an object when the shutter 512 is in the closed position.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 for an electrical socket adapter 102 to notify the user that an electrical appliance 108 is a fault state when the user is in a position to rectify the error condition (e.g. when the user is proximate the electrical appliance 108).
  • the method 900 begins at block 902 where the processor 202 predicts that the electrical appliance 108 connected to the electrical socket adapter 102 will be activated at a particular time.
  • the particular time may, for example, be a specific date, hour and minute; or may be time period on a specific date.
  • block 902 may be triggered when the processor 202 predicts that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated in 15 minutes or within the next 15 minutes.
  • the prediction may be based on a schedule that has been set-up by the user. For example, if an electrical appliance 108 is scheduled to be activated at a specific time on a specific day of the week (e.g. Tuesday), then the processor 202 can accurately predict that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated at the particular time on the particular day.
  • a schedule that has been set-up by the user. For example, if an electrical appliance 108 is scheduled to be activated at a specific time on a specific day of the week (e.g. Tuesday), then the processor 202 can accurately predict that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated at the particular time on the particular day.
  • the prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on historical usage.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to generate data on the use of the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. when it is turned on (e.g. when it draws current) and for how long) which is used to generate a historical record of the usage of the electrical appliance 108.
  • the processor 202 uses the historical record to predict when the electrical appliance 108 will next be activated.
  • the processor 202 may analyze the historical record to determine that the electrical appliance 108 has historically been activated within a certain- time period on a particular day (e.g. day of the week, or day of a month)
  • the prediction may alternatively, or in addition, be based on the type of electrical appliance 108.
  • the processor 202 may assume that the light switch is going to be operated at a particular time of day (e.g. after sunset). Once the processor 202 has predicted that the electrical appliance 108 will be activated within a predetermined time of the current time, the method 900 proceeds to block 904.
  • the processor 202 determines whether the electrical appliance 108 is operating normally or whether there is a fault state with the electrical appliance 108.
  • a fault state is when the electrical appliance 108 is in a state where it is not able to operate normally.
  • Fault states may include, but are not limited to, the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. electrical plug 106) not being plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102; the electrical appliance 108 being switched off or otherwise disabled so that it cannot be remotely enabled; and the electrical appliance 108 having another fault (e.g. it has a blown fuse) that does not allow it to operate normally.
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state from the current draw data gathered by the current monitor 206 and/or information received from the plug sensor 208. For example, the processor 202 may be configured to detect that the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state if it is not drawing any current and/or the electrical appliance 108 is not drawing a "normal" amount of current for the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. in accordance with method 300). In other examples, the processor 202 may be configured to detect a fault state if the information received from the plug sensor 208 indicates that the electrical appliance 108 is not plugged into the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. in accordance with method 400).
  • the processor 202 determines that the electrical appliance 108 is operating normally (i.e. there are no fault states) then the method 900 ends 906. If, however, the processor 202 determines that there is a fault state with the electrical appliance 108 then the method 900 proceeds to block 908.
  • the processor 202 determines whether the user is in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108 and thus can rectify or remedy the fault state.
  • the processor 202 may detect the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 by detecting that a device associated with the user (e.g. end-user device 1 18) is connected to the same wireless network (e.g. the same Wi-FiTM network) as the electrical socket adapter 102 (e.g. via wireless module 1 12).
  • the processor 202 may be configured to detect the user's location from positioning information (e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) information) received from the end-user device 1 18.
  • the processor 202 may also be able to detect the user's location via a direct short-range communication (e.g. Bluetooth LETM or NFC) between the end-user device 1 18 and the electrical socket adapter 102.
  • a direct short-range communication e.g. Bluetooth LETM or NFC
  • the method 900 proceeds to block 910 where the processor 202 notifies the user of the fault state of the electrical appliance 108. Since rectifying a fault state of an electrical appliance 108 often requires the user to be near the electrical appliance 108 (e.g. to plug it in, turn it on, replace a fuse etc.), notifying the user when they are in close proximity of the electrical appliance 108 increases the chances that the user will rectify the fault upon receiving the notification. In particular, if the user is notified of the fault state as soon as it is detected, it may be a long time before the user is in a position to rectify the fault and by this time the user may have forgotten about the fault. In contrast, if the user is notified of the fault when they are near the electrical appliance 108, and thus can fix the fault, the user is much more likely to fix the fault.
  • the method 900 may end or the method 900 may proceed to block 912.
  • the processor 202 determines whether the user is in a location where they are in a position to remedy or aid in the remedy of the fault state. For example, if the processor has detected that a lamp has blown in the electrical appliance 108, the processor 202 may be configured to notify the user of the fault if the processor 202 has detected the user is in a place where they may have access to a new lamp (e.g. a hardware store). [0094] If the processor 202 determines that the user is in a location whether they are in a position to remedy, or aid in the remedy of, the fault state then the method 900 proceeds to block 914 where the processor 202 notifies the user of the fault state of the electrical appliance 108. If, however, the processor 202 determines that the user is not in a location whether they are in a position to remedy, or aid in the remedy of, the fault state then the method ends at block 916.
  • a new lamp e.g. a hardware store
  • method 900 has been described as being executed by the electrical socket adapter 102, in other examples a portion of the method 900 may be executed by another device, such as server 1 16.
  • the server 1 16 may predict when the electrical appliance 108 may next be activated and prior to the activation may send a request to the electrical socket adapter 102 to determine whether the electrical appliance 108 is in a fault state using one or more of the methods described above.
  • the electrical socket adapter 102 may respond to the server 1 16 with the state (fault or normal state) of the electrical appliance 108.
  • the server 1 16 may determine whether the user is proximate to the electrical appliance 108 and send a notification to the user of the fault state if they are proximate to the electrical appliance 108.
  • the term 'processor' and 'computer' are used herein to refer to any device, or portion thereof, with processing capability such that it can execute instructions.
  • the term 'processor' may, for example, include central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs or VPUs), physics processing units (PPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose processors (e.g. a general purpose GPU), microprocessors, any processing unit which is designed to accelerate tasks outside of a CPU, etc.
  • CPUs central processing units
  • GPUs or VPUs graphics processing units
  • PPUs physics processing units
  • DSPs digital signal processors
  • general purpose processors e.g. a general purpose GPU
  • microprocessors any processing unit which is designed to accelerate tasks outside of a CPU, etc.
  • a remote computer may store an example of the process described as software.
  • a local or terminal computer may access the remote computer and download a part or all of the software to run the program.
  • Non-transitory media can be volatile or non-volatile.
  • volatile non-transitory media include semiconductor-based memory, such as SRAM or DRAM.
  • technologies that can be used to implement non-volatile memory include optical and magnetic memory technologies, flash memory, phase change memory, resistive RAM.
  • logic refers to structure that performs a function or functions.
  • An example of logic includes circuitry that is arranged to perform those function(s).
  • circuitry may include transistors and/or other hardware elements available in a manufacturing process.
  • transistors and/or other elements may be used to form circuitry or structures that implement and/or contain memory, such as registers, flip flops, or latches, logical operators, such as Boolean operations, mathematical operators, such as adders, multipliers, or shifters, and interconnect, by way of example.
  • Such elements may be provided as custom circuits or standard cell libraries, macros, or at other levels of abstraction. Such elements may be interconnected in a specific arrangement.
  • Logic may include circuitry that is fixed function and circuitry can be programmed to perform a function or functions; such programming may be provided from a firmware or software update or control mechanism.
  • Logic identified to perform one function may also include logic that implements a constituent function or sub-process.
  • hardware logic has circuitry that implements a fixed function operation, or operations, state machine or process.
  • Any reference to 'an' item refers to one or more of those items.
  • the term 'comprising' is used herein to mean including the method blocks or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and an apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements and a method may contain additional operations or elements.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Remote Monitoring And Control Of Power-Distribution Networks (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne des procédés de notification à un utilisateur qu'un appareil électrique est dans un état de défaut, qui consistent à prédire que l'appareil électrique doit être activé à un instant particulier ; et avant l'instant particulier, déterminer à partir d'un circuit d'alimentation électrique associé avec l'appareil électrique si l'appareil électrique est dans un état de défaut et ne peut pas être activé. S'il est déterminé que l'appareil électrique est dans un état de défaut et ne peut pas être activé, une détermination est faite pour savoir si l'utilisateur est à proximité de l'appareil électrique. S'il est déterminé que l'utilisateur est à proximité de l'appareil électrique, alors l'utilisateur est notifié que l'appareil électrique est dans un état de défaut et ne peut pas être activé.
PCT/GB2016/052357 2015-07-31 2016-07-29 Notification d'état de défaut d'appareil électrique WO2017021717A1 (fr)

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EP16747604.3A EP3329289A1 (fr) 2015-07-31 2016-07-29 Notification d'état de défaut d'appareil électrique

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GB1513622.9 2015-07-31
GB1513620.3A GB2540972A (en) 2015-07-31 2015-07-31 Electrical socket adapter
GB1513622.9A GB2540973B (en) 2015-07-31 2015-07-31 Electrical appliance fault state notification
GB1513620.3 2015-07-31

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