IN-CABINET THERMAL MONITORING METHOD AND SYSTEM
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An electrical component cabinet comprising:
- a housing providing fire resistant walls enclosing a housing volume;
at least one internal component mounting panel within the housing volume for an attachment of electrical components thereto;
a thermographic camera attached to a housing wall opposite the mounting panel for imaging electrical components attached to the mounting panel, the thermographic camera sensitive in a light frequency of 3-15 μ
m;
a remote monitoring station; and
an electrical connection between a thermographic camera and the remote monitoring station relaying thermographic images of components attached to the internal component mounting panel to the remote monitoring station for monitoring thereof.
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Abstract
Thermographic imaging equipment is incorporated directly into cabinets housing electrical switchgear to provide for dedicated, nearly continuous monitoring of the contained equipment. A mechanical scanning technique may allow low-cost sensors to provide essentially continuous thermographic monitoring. Dedicated thermal imaging equipment allows automatic analysis through predefined temperature threshold maps.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An electrical component cabinet comprising:
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a housing providing fire resistant walls enclosing a housing volume; at least one internal component mounting panel within the housing volume for an attachment of electrical components thereto; a thermographic camera attached to a housing wall opposite the mounting panel for imaging electrical components attached to the mounting panel, the thermographic camera sensitive in a light frequency of 3-15 μ
m;a remote monitoring station; and an electrical connection between a thermographic camera and the remote monitoring station relaying thermographic images of components attached to the internal component mounting panel to the remote monitoring station for monitoring thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A thermographic monitoring system comprising:
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a thermographic camera providing a means for attachment of the thermographic camera to an interior wall of an electrical cabinet for imaging a mounting panel within the electrical cabinet having electrical components attached thereto, the thermographic camera providing a mechanically scanned thermally sensing element; a remote monitoring station communicating with the thermographic camera for receiving from the thermographic camera thermographic images of electrical components attached to the mounting panel, wherein the remote monitoring station provides at least one mask corresponding to a thermographic image from the thermographic camera, the mask providing temperature thresholds for different mask regions; and wherein the remote monitoring station automatically compares temperatures of the thermographic image within the different mask regions to the temperature thresholds associated with the mask regions to generate an alarm when the temperature thresholds are exceeded for a given mask region. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An electrical components cabinet comprising:
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a housing providing fire resistant walls enclosing a housing volume; at least one internal component mounting panel within the housing volume; electrical components attached to the mounting panel and selected from the group consisting of;
circuit breakers, disconnects, contactors, overload relays, switches, and motor starters;a thermographic camera attached to a housing wall opposite the mounting panel for imaging electrical components attached to the mounting panel, the thermographic camera sensitive in an infrared region of 3-15 μ
m;a remote monitoring station; and an electrical connection between a thermographic camera and the remote monitoring station relaying thermographic images of components attached to the internal component mounting panel to the remote monitoring station for monitoring thereof, wherein the remote monitoring station provides substantially continuous thermal monitoring of multiple points electrical components.
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Specification