Faulted circuit indicator apparatus with transmission line state display and method of use thereof

• US 20090115426A1
• Filed: 11/02/2007
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Original Assignee: Cooper Technologies Company (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Inventors: Muench, Frank John JR., Banting, John Fredrick
• Granted Patent: US 8,067,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/537
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2513 Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49718 Repairing

Abstract

The invention provides a faulted circuit indicator apparatus with transmission line state display, as well as methods for using the apparatus. The faulted circuit indicator has a sensor that can be electrically coupled to an electrical conductor for collecting data relating to a state of the electrical conductor. The faulted circuit indicator also has a controller that is logically coupled to the sensor for receiving data and determining whether a fault condition has occurred on the electrical conductor. The faulted circuit indicator also has one or more indicators that are logically coupled to the controller for indicating whether a fault condition has occurred as well as the state of the electrical conductor. The state of the conductor may be the voltage, the temperature, or the vibration present on the conductor.

Claims

1. A faulted circuit indicator comprising:

a sensor that can be electrically coupled to an electrical conductor for collecting data relating to at least one state of the electrical conductor;

a controller logically coupled to the sensor for receiving said data and determining whether a fault condition has occurred on the electrical conductor; and

one or more indicators logically coupled to the controller for indicating whether the fault condition has occurred and the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

2. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises at least one of a current, a voltage, a temperature, and a vibration present on the electrical conductor.

3. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein indicating the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises displaying a numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

4. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein indicating the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises displaying a non-numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

5. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing at least one of the data relating to at least one state of the electrical conductor or a record that the fault condition has occurred.

6. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to respond to reset instructions for resetting at least one of the memory and the indication that the fault condition has occurred;

and

wherein the memory can be reset separately from the indication that the fault condition has occurred.

7. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 5, further comprising a communications facility for communicating at least one of an indication of the at least one state of the electrical conductor or an indication of the occurrence of the fault condition to a location remote from the faulted circuit indicator.

8. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein indicating the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises displaying at least one of a numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor and a non-numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

9. A method for determining the state of a transmission line, comprising:

connecting a sensor to an electrical conductor for collecting data relating to at least one state of the electrical conductor;

determining the at least one state of the electrical conductor, based on said data;

determining whether a fault has occurred on the electrical conductor, based on said data;

in response to determining the at least one state of the electrical conductor, displaying an indication of the at least one state of the electrical conductor; and

in response to determining that the fault has occurred, displaying an indication that the fault has occurred.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises at least one of a current, a voltage, a temperature, or a vibration present on the electrical conductor.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises a numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises a non-numerical representation of the state of the electrical conductor.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing in a memory at least one of the state of the electrical conductor and a record that a fault condition has occurred.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of resetting the memory upon the occurrence of a first predetermined event.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of resetting the display of the indication that the fault has occurred upon the occurrence of a second predetermined event.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the at least one state of the electrical conductor comprises at least one of a numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor and a non-numerical representation of the at least one state of the electrical conductor.

17. A method for repairing a transmission line in an electrical power distribution system comprising a transmission line having at least one feeder line and a plurality of faulted circuit indicators connected to the transmission line, wherein each of the faulted circuit indicators comprises a fault indicator for indicating whether a fault condition has occurred on the transmission line and a display for indicating a state of the transmission line, the method comprising the steps of:

determining from a first faulted circuit indicator whether the fault condition has occurred;

determining from the first faulted circuit indicator and at least a second faulted circuit indicator a portion of the transmission line on which the fault condition has occurred;

disconnecting the transmission line from a first feeder line;

determining the state of the transmission line from the display of the first faulted circuit indicator; and

repairing the transmission line if the display of the first faulted circuit indicator indicates that the state of the electrical conductor is such that it is safe to do so.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the state of the transmission line comprises a current level present on the electrical conductor.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of disconnecting the transmission line from additional feeder lines, if the display of the first faulted circuit indicator indicates that the state of the electrical conductor is such that it is not safe to repair the transmission line.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of determining the state of the transmission line from the display of the first faulted circuit indicator comprises reading a numeric representation of the state of the transmission line from said display.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the faulted circuit indicators further comprises a communications facility for communicating indications of whether the fault condition has occurred to a remote location;

and

wherein the step of determining from the first faulted circuit indicator whether the fault condition has occurred comprises receiving at the remote location an indication from the first faulted circuit indicator that the fault condition has occurred.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of determining from the first faulted circuit indicator and the at least second faulted circuit indicator the portion of the transmission line on which the fault condition has occurred comprises further receiving at the remote location an indication from the at least second faulted circuit indicator that the fault has not occurred.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the faulted circuit indicators further comprises a communications facility for communicating data relating to the state of the transmission line to a remote location;

and

wherein the step of determining the state of the transmission line further comprises receiving the data relating the state of the transmission line at the remote location.