Power bus for distributed ride through capability

• US 20040085693A1
• Filed: 11/05/2002
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Square D Company (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Square D Company (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Dahlman, Mark C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,049,710 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/90
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices

Abstract

A monitoring system includes a power source, a power bus coupled to said power source, a plurality of power taps coupled to said power bus, each of said power taps having a ride-through capacitor operatively coupled thereto to provide power during brief interruptions in the power supply to said power bus by said power source.

Claims

1. A monitoring system including:

a power source;

a power bus coupled to said power source;

a plurality of power taps coupled to said power bus;

each of said power taps having a ride-through capacitor operatively coupled thereto to provide power during brief interruptions in the power supply to said power bus by said power source.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said power taps further includes a voltage regulator for converting the bus voltage of said power bus to the circuit voltage required for a circuit coupled with said power tap.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said system comprises a power monitoring system and further including a main metering system coupled with one of said power taps.

4. The system of claim 3 and further including a communication module operatively coupled with one of said power taps.

5. The system of claim 3 and further including an input/output module operatively coupled with one of said power taps.

6. The system of claim 4 and further including an input/output module operatively coupled with one of said power taps.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein said power source comprises an offline power source.

8. A method of providing power to a monitoring system comprising:

coupling a power bus to a power source;

providing a plurality of power taps on said power bus; and

operatively coupling a ride-through capacitor to each of said power taps to provide power through said power tap during brief interruptions in the power supply to said power bus from said power source.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein each of said power taps further includes a voltage regulator for converting the bus voltage of said power bus to the circuit voltage required for a circuit coupled with said power tap.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein said system comprises a power monitoring system and further including a main metering system coupled with one of said power taps.

11. The method of claim 10 and further including a communication module coupled with one of said power taps.

12. The method of claim 10 and further including an input/output module operatively coupled with one of said power taps.

13. The method of claim 11 and further including an input/output module operatively coupled with one of said power taps.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said power source comprises an offline power source.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising sizing each ride-through capacitor according to a stored energy equation.

16. A system for compensating for brief interruptions in supply power, comprising:

a base unit including a power source; and

a plurality of modules operatively coupled to said base unit via a power bus, each of said modules including a ride-through capacitor adapted to provide power through said module during brief interruptions in the power supply to said power bus from said power source.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein each of said modules further includes a voltage regulator adapted to convert the bus voltage of said power bus to the circuit voltage required for a circuit coupled with said module.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein said system is a power monitoring system and one of said modules further includes a main metering circuit operatively coupled with said ride-through capacitor.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein one of said modules further includes a communication circuit operatively coupled with said ride-through capacitor.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein one of said modules further includes an input/output circuit operatively coupled with said ride-through capacitor.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein said power source is an offline power source.

22. The system of claim 16 wherein said base unit further includes an offline converter adapted to provide electrical isolation between said base unit and said power bus.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the size of each ride-through capacitor is given by a stored energy equation.