Intelligent power management control system
First Claim
1. A power management control system, comprising a circuit breaker having movable contacts connectable across a line side and a load side of a circuit, said circuit breaker including a communications interface electrically coupled across said contacts such that said communications interface communicates signals between the line side and the load side when said contacts are open.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An intelligent power management system that includes a circuit breaker containing a PLC module that spans open contacts of the circuit breaker to provide a communication path for PLC messages between the line and load sides of the circuit when the contacts are open. The contacts are motorized to permit remote operation through PLC messaging. Coupled to the PLC module is a controller, which controls the opening and closing of the motorized contacts under user control or via an adaptive load management algorithm that reduces peak power consumption and adapts a set of loads to changed power supply conditions. The controller can also dynamically alter operational current and fault threshold levels on a real-time basis based upon circuit requirements or environmental conditions. The algorithm runs a state machine and also manages loads in a limited power source environment such as when loads are powered by a generator.
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Citations
73 Claims
- 1. A power management control system, comprising a circuit breaker having movable contacts connectable across a line side and a load side of a circuit, said circuit breaker including a communications interface electrically coupled across said contacts such that said communications interface communicates signals between the line side and the load side when said contacts are open.
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15. A method of facilitating communication across open contacts of a circuit breaker comprising:
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connecting a communications interface across contacts of said circuit breaker such that said communications interface is connectable between the line side of a circuit to which said circuit breaker is to be connected and the load side of said circuit; and
configuring said communications interface to pass signals between the line side and the load side of said circuit regardless of whether said contacts are open or closed. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A power management control system, comprising:
a circuit breaker having movable contacts connectable across a line side and a load side of a circuit, said circuit breaker including;
a PLC module electrically coupled across said contacts such that said PLC module communicates PLC messages between the line side and the load side when said contacts are open, a controller operatively coupled to said PLC module, said controller being programmed to;
receive and transmit said PLC messages through said PLC module between the line side and the load side of said circuit, cause said movable contacts to move between an open position and a closed position, and dynamically alter a property of said circuit breaker, said circuit breaker further including a voltage supply connected to said controller. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. A power management control system, comprising:
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a distribution panel;
a transfer switch in said distribution panel, said transfer switch having a switch selectable between at least two power sources;
at least one circuit breaker in said distribution panel, said at least one circuit breaker having contacts connectable across a line side and a load side of a circuit, said contacts being movable between an open position and a closed position; and
a controller operatively coupled to said transfer switch and to said at least one circuit breaker, said controller including programmed instructions to cause said transfer switch to select one of said at least two power sources and to cause said contacts to be moved between said open position and said closed position. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for adaptively managing a plurality of loads, comprising:
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prioritizing, using a controller coupled to a plurality of circuit breakers connectable to a respective plurality of loads, at least some of the loads connectable to said circuit breakers based on at least one criterion; and
causing contacts of at least one of said plurality of circuit breakers to be remotely moved between an open position and a closed position based on said prioritizing. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification