APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REMOTE ELECTRICAL CABLE MONITORING

• US 20110210844A1
• Filed: 03/01/2010
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nstar Electric & Gas Corporation (Eversource Energy)
• Original Assignee: Nstar Electric & Gas Corporation (Eversource Energy)
• Inventors: Dey, Swapan Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,482,400 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/521
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1445 with detection of interference with a cable tethering an article, e.g. alarm activated by detecting detachment of article, breaking or stretching of cable furniture, e.g. shelves for displaying merchandise, incorporating tethers to prevent theft A47F7/024, A47F5/0861
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range

Abstract

An apparatus and method for monitoring an electrical cable, wherein a sensor, which is mounted in contact with the electrical cable, monitors at least one characteristic of the electrical cable, and reports an alert when a monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies a predetermined condition. A termination unit, which is located within a predetermined distance from the sensor, receives a reported alert from the sensor and transmits the reported alert to a remote user device.

Claims

1. An apparatus for remotely monitoring an electrical cable, comprising:

a sensor, which is mounted in contact with the electrical cable, for monitoring at least one characteristic of the electrical cable, and reporting an alert when a monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies a predetermined condition; and

a termination unit, which is located within a predetermined distance from the sensor, for receiving a reported alert from the sensor and transmitting the reported alert to a remote user device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises at least one of:

an Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) of the electrical cable; and

a temperature of the electrical cable.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises an Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) of the electrical cable, and

wherein the sensor reports the alert when the monitored level of the EMF falls below a predetermined level.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises a temperature of the electrical cable, and

wherein the sensor reports the alert when the monitored level of the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a visual indicator for indicating an occurrence of the alert.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the visual indicator indicates the occurrence of the alert until being reset by a user.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the visual indicator comprises a Light Emitting Diode (LED).

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor is wirelessly connected to the termination unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional sensor, each of the at least one additional sensor being mounted in contact with the electrical cable, for monitoring at least one characteristic of the electrical cable, and reporting an alert when the monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies a predetermined condition.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one additional sensor is connected to the termination unit in a daisy chain configuration through the sensor.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the reported alert transmitted to the remote user device by the termination unit includes an indication of which of the sensor and the at least one additional sensor is reporting the alert.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the termination unit comprises a wired network connector for connecting the termination unit to a network, and

wherein the reported alert is transmitted to the remote user device via the network.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the termination unit comprises a wireless network connector for connecting the terminal unit to a network, and

wherein the reported alert is transmitted to the remote user device via the network.

14. A method for remotely monitoring an electrical cable using a sensor that is mounted in contact with the electrical cable and a termination unit that is connected to the sensor, the method comprising:

monitoring, by the sensor, at least one characteristic of the electrical cable;

reporting, by the sensor, an alert when a monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies a predetermined condition;

receiving, by the termination unit, a reported alert from the sensor; and

transmitting, by the termination unit, the reported alert to a remote user device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein monitoring the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable and reporting the alert when the monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies the predetermined condition, comprises:

monitoring, by the sensor, an Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) of the electrical cable; and

reporting, by the sensor, the alert when the monitored level of the EMF falls below a predetermined level.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein monitoring the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable and reporting the alert when the monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies the predetermined condition, comprises:

monitoring, by the sensor, a temperature of the electrical cable; and

reporting, by the sensor, the alert when the monitored level of the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising activating, by the sensor, a visual indicator included in the sensor for indicating an occurrence of the alert, upon the occurrence of the alert.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the reported alert to the remote user device comprises transmitting the reported alert via a wired network.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the reported alert to the remote user device comprises transmitting the reported alert via a wireless network.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving the reported alert from the sensor comprises wirelessly receiving, by the termination unit, the reported alert from the sensor.

21. An apparatus for remotely monitoring a plurality of electrical cables, comprising:

a plurality of monitor lines for monitoring at least one characteristic of each of the plurality of electrical cables, respectively; and

a termination unit, connected to the plurality of monitor lines, for receiving a reported alert from one of the plurality of monitor lines and transmitting the reported alert to a remote user device.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of monitor lines, comprises at least one sensor, which is mounted in contact with an electrical cable from among the plurality of electrical cables, for monitoring the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable, and reporting an alert when a monitored level of the at least one characteristic satisfies a predetermined condition.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises at least one of:

an Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) of the electrical cable; and

a temperature of the electrical cable.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises an Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) of the electrical cable, and

wherein the at least one sensor reports the alert when the monitored level of the EMF falls below a predetermined level.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical cable comprises a temperature of the electrical cable, and

wherein the at least one sensor reports the alert when the monitored level of the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a visual indicator for indicating an occurrence of the alert.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the visual indicator indicates the occurrence of the alert until being reset by a user.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the visual indicator comprises a Light Emitting Diode (LED).

29. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one sensor is wirelessly connected to the termination unit.

30. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the reported alert transmitted to the remote user device by the termination unit includes an indication of which of the at least one sensor is reporting the alert.