WO2023279287A1

WO2023279287A1 - Sensing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023279287A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/104989
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shihan Zhang; Ruiying HUANG; Deguang LAI; Xinghai HU
Original assignee: Abb Schweiz Ag
Priority date: 2021-07-07
Filing date: 2021-07-07
Publication date: 2023-01-12
Also published as: CN117597758A

Abstract

A sensing apparatus for use with a circuit breaker is provided. The sensing apparatus comprises a first pressing element (21) and a second pressing element (22) arranged opposite to each other and forming a space therebetween; and a pressure sensor (10) embedded within the space and configured to be squeezed by the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) when a pressing force is applied onto the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) by a spring (3) of a moving contact (2) of the circuit breaker (4). The pressing force exerted on the moving contact (2) by the spring (3) of the circuit breaker (4) can be measured in a convenient manner.

Description

SENSING APPARATUS

FIELD

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of electrical equipment, and in particular, to a sensing apparatus for use with a circuit breaker.

BACKGROUND

In the field of power transmission, a switchgear is a commonly used equipment. A circuit breaker is an important equipment to ensure the safety of the switchgear. The circuit breaker may be coupled to the switchgear. During the normal operation of switchgear, the circuit breaker may be used to switch on and switch off the electric current in the circuitry. When danger such as a short circuit occurs, the circuit breaker can cut off the circuit to ensure the safety of the switchgear.

A moving contact may be used to facilitate the connection between the circuit breaker and the switchgear. A pressing force may be exerted by a spring of the moving contact to allow the moving contact to be firmly coupled to a stationary contact of the switchgear. With the use of the circuit breaker, the pressing force may not be sufficient to couple the moving contact of the circuit breaker to the stationary contact of the switchgear. Damage may occur if the moving contact and the stationary contact are not firmly coupled to each other. Thus, how to measure the pressing force exerted on the moving contact by the spring is crucial for ensuring the safety of the switchgear.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for easily measuring the pressing force exerted on the moving contact.

In an aspect, there is provided a sensing apparatus for use with a circuit breaker. The sensing apparatus comprises a first pressing element and a second pressing element arranged opposite to each other and forming a space therebetween; and a pressure sensor embedded within the space and configured to be squeezed by the first pressing element and the second pressing element when a pressing force is applied onto the first pressing element and the second pressing element by a spring of a moving contact of the circuit breaker.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the measurement of the pressing force exerted on the moving contact by the spring of the moving contact can be carried out easily and reliably.

In some example embodiments, the sensing apparatus further comprises a tubular housing having a first end and a second end opposite to first end, the first pressing element and the second pressing element are arranged at the first end of the tubular housing, each of the first pressing element and the second pressing element comprises a mounting part accommodated in the tubular housing and a sensing part protruding out of the tubular housing and configured to be pressed by the moving contact. With these example embodiments, the size of the sensing apparatus can be made smaller.

In some example embodiments, a radial dimension of the mounting part is equal to or smaller than that of the sensing part. With these example embodiments, the dimension of sensing apparatus can be designed in a reasonable manner.

In some example embodiments, the sensing apparatus further comprises a user interface arranged at the second end of the tubular housing and configured to receive a user input and/or display a result measured by the pressure sensor. With these example embodiments, the user can interact with the sensing apparatus in a straightforward manner.

In some example embodiments, the sensing apparatus further comprises a handle coupled to an outer surface of the tubular housing. With these example embodiments, the sensing apparatus can be easily manipulated by the user.

In some example embodiments, the sensing apparatus further comprises a battery arranged within the tubular housing and configured to supply power to the pressure sensor. With these example embodiments, the sensing apparatus can be powered in a reliable manner.

In some example embodiments, the sensing apparatus further comprises a transmitter module arranged within the tubular housing and configured to transmit a result measured by the pressure sensor. With these example embodiments, the result can be utilized in various manners.

In some example embodiments, the transmitter module is configured to transmit the result via at least one of WiFi or Bluetooth. With these example embodiments, the result can be transmitted conveniently.

In some example embodiments, each of the first pressing element and the second pressing element is of a half cylindrical shape. With these example embodiments, the sensing apparatus can be used in various scenarios.

In some example embodiments, each of the first pressing element and the second pressing element is hollow. With these example embodiments, the weight of the sensing apparatus can be kept low.

In some example embodiments, each of the first pressing element and the second pressing element is of a plate shape. With these example embodiments, the sensing apparatus can be used in more scenarios.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other objectives, features and advantages of the example embodiments disclosed herein will become more comprehensible. In the drawings, several example embodiments disclosed herein will be illustrated in an exemplary and in a non-limiting manner, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective of a circuit breaker in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 3 illustrates an exploded view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a front view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with another example embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 illustrates a working status of the sensing apparatus of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with a further example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to apply such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It should be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As described above, it may be difficult for the user to know the pressing force exerted on the moving contact by the spring of the circuit breaker conventionally. As a result, the spring may be loose to cause the circuit breaker to detach from the switchgear.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the user can easily monitor the connecting status between the circuit breaker and the switchgear. If the spring is found loose, then the pressing force exerted on the moving contact may not be enough, the spring or the moving contact should be replaced in time to avoid serious accidents. The above idea may be implemented in various manners, as will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.

Example embodiments will be described in more details hereinafter in accordance with Figs. 1-7.

With reference to Fig. 1, a circuit breaker 4 is illustrated. The circuit breaker 4 may be coupled to switchgear to establish an electrical connection with the switchgear. A moving contact 2 of the circuit breaker 4 may be coupled to a stationary contact of the switchgear. A spring 3 on the moving contact 2 is used to exert a pressing force to ensure a reliable connection between the moving contact 2 and the stationary contact. As illustrated, a sensing apparatus 1 may be inserted into the moving contact 2 to sense the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2.

The spring 3 as illustrated in Fig. 1 is a ring spring. It is to be understood that this is merely an example, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the present disclosure. Although six moving contacts 2 are illustrated in Fig. 1, it is to be understood that this is merely an example. In other example embodiments, other numbers of the moving contacts are possible as well.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the sensing apparatus 1 includes a first pressing element 21 and a second pressing element 22 which are arranged opposite to each other. With reference to Fig. 3, a space is formed between the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 to accommodate a pressure sensor 10. The pressure sensor 10, which is embedded within the space, can be squeezed by the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22. When the sensing apparatus 1 is being used, the spring 3 applies a pressing force onto the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 to allow the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 to squeeze the pressure sensor 10. In this way, the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 can be measured easily.

According to example embodiments to the present disclosure, if the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 by the spring 3 needs to be measured, the user can simply use the sensing apparatus 1 to sense the pressing force and no additional modification to the circuit breaker 4 is required. Therefore, the damage due to the loosening of the spring 3 can be avoided.

In some example embodiments, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the sensing apparatus 1 further includes a tubular housing 30 to accommodate the pressure sensor 10. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the tubular housing 30 has a first end 11 and a second end 12 opposite to each other. The first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 are arranged at the first end 11 of the tubular housing 30. The first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 each include a mounting part 23 and a sensing part 24. The mounting part 23 is housed within the tubular housing 30. The sensing part 24 protrudes out of the tubular housing 30 and may be pressed by the moving contact 2. In this way, the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 can be attached to the tubular housing 30 reliably.

In some example embodiments, the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 are removably coupled to the tubular housing 30 and can be replaced to adapt to different types or dimensions of the moving contact 2.

With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the dimension of the mounting part 23 matches with the dimension, for example the inner diameter, of the tubular housing 30 to allow the mounting part 23 to be well fit into the tubular housing 30. The dimension of the sensing part 24 matches with the dimension of the moving contact 2. If other moving contact 2 with different types or dimensions are to be measured, the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 may be replaced. In this manner, only the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 need to be changed. The cost of the sensing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

For example, as illustrated in Fig. 5, each of the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 may be of a plate shape. This type of sensing apparatus 1 may be used with a tension spring 3 as illustrated in Fig. 6. When the sensing apparatus 1 is being used, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 by the tension spring 3 will cause the moving contact 2 to squeeze the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 to press the pressure sensor 10 (not shown in Fig. 6) embedded in the space formed by the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22. In this way, the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 can be measured.

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7, in the illustrated embodiment, each of the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 may be of a half cylindrical shape. With these embodiments, the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 by the spring 3 in a ring form can be measured.

It is to be understood that even though two pressing elements of a half cylindrical shape are illustrated in the figures, the sensing apparatus 1 may include other numbers of pressing elements. For example, the sensing apparatus 1 may include four pressing elements and each of the pressing elements is of quarter cylindrical shapes.

In some example embodiments, as illustrated in Fig. 7, the first pressing element 21 and the second pressing element 22 may be hollow. In this way, the sensing apparatus 1 can be made lighter. Therefore, the sensing apparatus 1 can be operated by the user much easier.

In some example embodiments, a radial dimension of the mounting part 23 may be equal to or smaller than that of the sensing part 24. With these embodiments, the dimension of the sensing apparatus 1 can be adapted to different size and types of the moving contact 2. Therefore, the usage scope of the sensing apparatus 1 can be expanded.

In some example embodiments, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the sensing apparatus 1 may further include a user interface 80 arranged at the second end 12 of the tubular housing 30. As illustrated, the user interface 80 may include a button 82 to receive a user input. Moreover, the interface 80 may further include a screen 84 to display a result measured by the pressure sensor 10. With these embodiments, the user can operate the sensing apparatus 1 and see the result in an intuitive manner.

In some example embodiments, as shown in Figs. 2-7, the sensing apparatus 1 further includes a handle 70 coupled to an outer surface of the tubular housing 30. In some example embodiments, the handle 70 may be fixedly coupled to the tubular housing 30. In this way, the handle 70 can be operated by the user to put the sensing apparatus 1 to desired locations.

In some example embodiments, as shown in Fig. 3, the sensing apparatus 1 further includes a battery 50 arranged within the tubular housing 30 and configured to supply power to the pressure sensor 10. The battery 50 may be housed within a holder 52. In this way, the battery 50 can be firmly secured to ensure stable power output.

In some example embodiments, as shown in Fig. 3, the sensing apparatus 1 may further include a transmitter module 60 arranged within the tubular housing 30 and configured to transmit a result measured by the pressure sensor 10.

In some example embodiments, the transmitter module 60 is configured to transmit the result via at least one of WiFi or Bluetooth. With reference to Fig. 3, in some example embodiments, the transmitter module 60 may be provided on a printed circuit board 40. With these example embodiments, once the results are obtained by the pressure sensor 10, they can be transmitted immediately to a remote processor and then be processed accordingly.

Compared with the conventional solutions, the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 can be measured without additional operation to the circuit breaker 4 and the switchgear. When the user operates the handle 70 to put the sensing apparatus 1 to measure the pressing force exerted on the moving contact 2 by the spring 3, the result obtained by the pressure sensor 10 may be displayed on the screen 84 of the user interface 80 or transmitted to the receiver via the transmitter module 60. Besides, the user is allowed to interact with the user interface 80 to input the user instruction.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A sensing apparatus (1) for use with a circuit breaker (4) , comprising:

a first pressing element (21) and a second pressing element (22) arranged opposite to each other and forming a space therebetween; and

a pressure sensor (10) embedded within the space and configured to be squeezed by the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) when a pressing force is applied onto the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) by a spring (3) of a moving contact (2) of the circuit breaker (4) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 1, further comprising:

a tubular housing (30) having a first end (11) and a second end (12) opposite to first end (11) ,

wherein the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) are arranged at the first end (11) of the tubular housing (30) ,

wherein each of the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) comprises a mounting part (23) accommodated in the tubular housing (30) and a sensing part (24) protruding out of the tubular housing (30) and configured to be pressed by the moving contact (2) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 1, wherein a radial dimension of the mounting part (23) is equal to or smaller than that of the sensing part (24) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 2, further comprising:

a user interface (80) arranged at the second end (12) of the tubular housing (30) and configured to receive a user input and/or display a result measured by the pressure sensor (10) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 2, further comprising:

a handle (70) coupled to an outer surface of the tubular housing (30) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 2, further comprising:

a battery (50) arranged within the tubular housing (30) and configured to supply power to the pressure sensor (10) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 2, further comprising:

a transmitter module (60) arranged within the tubular housing (30) and configured to transmit a result measured by the pressure sensor (10) .
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 7, wherein

the transmitter module (60) is configured to transmit the result via at least one of WiFi or Bluetooth.
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 1, wherein

each of the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) is of a half cylindrical shape.
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 9, wherein

each of the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) is hollow.
The sensing apparatus (1) of claim 1, wherein

each of the first pressing element (21) and the second pressing element (22) is of a plate shape.