Power management and automation system
First Claim
1. A power management and automation system for controlling power to a plurality of appliances in a facility, comprising:
- a circuit breaker arrangement, responsive to a circuit breaker control signal, through which power is provided to at least a first one of the plurality of appliances;
a power switching circuit, responsive to an appliance control signal, for switching power to at least a second one of the plurality of appliances at its point of use;
a programmable controller for generating commands to indicate when power to the respective ones of the plurality of appliances should be provided;
a circuit breaker control module, responsive to the programmable controller, for generating the circuit breaker control signal; and
a point of use control module includingprocessing means, responsive to the programmable controller, for generating the appliance control signal for the power switching circuit, andmanually operable switch means for providing an override power switching function which allows a user to control the power switching circuit independently of the programmable controller.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automation and energy management system includes an automation panel box which may be positioned adjacent to a circuit breaker panel box. The automation panel box includes one or more circuit breaker control modules, one or more device control modules and a power module for providing power to the control modules. The circuit breaker control module provides signals to operate motorized circuit breakers, so as to turn on or off the power to a device being managed and the device control module provides signals to control individual appliances. Each of the two control modules is capable of controlling up to eight different circuit breakers or eight different individual devices and each includes a manual override button for each breaker or device controlled, which override button can be manually pressed by a person desiring to override the automation and energy management control. In addition, each of the modules includes status terminals for receiving status signals from the devices being controlled to indicate whether control is to occur or to be overridden. A facility computer generally communicates with the modules over a bus and issues commands to cause certain automatic functions or energy management to occur. The signals on the status lines can override the facility computer signals and the actuation of one of the reset buttons can override either the status signals or the facility controller.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A power management and automation system for controlling power to a plurality of appliances in a facility, comprising:
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a circuit breaker arrangement, responsive to a circuit breaker control signal, through which power is provided to at least a first one of the plurality of appliances; a power switching circuit, responsive to an appliance control signal, for switching power to at least a second one of the plurality of appliances at its point of use; a programmable controller for generating commands to indicate when power to the respective ones of the plurality of appliances should be provided; a circuit breaker control module, responsive to the programmable controller, for generating the circuit breaker control signal; and a point of use control module including processing means, responsive to the programmable controller, for generating the appliance control signal for the power switching circuit, and manually operable switch means for providing an override power switching function which allows a user to control the power switching circuit independently of the programmable controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
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6. A module for use in an energy management system in which the operation of an appliance is managed by controlling the application of power thereto, said management being determined by a programmed controller which provides signals manifesting the programmed management of said appliance, said system including means for providing a command signal, at least one state of which manifests a command to alter the preprogrammed management of said appliance whenever a certain event has occurred, said module comprising:
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a controller terminal coupled to receive said controller signals; an input terminal coupled to receive said command signal; means to receive data manifesting the state of a manually operable override switch; an output terminal coupled to remove the application of power from being applied to said appliance; and means, responsive to the state of said override switch and to signals provided to said input terminal and said controller terminal, for providing an output signal to said output terminal to manage said appliance, the state of said output signal being determined in a priority order of said override switch state, said command signal state and said controller signals manifestation.
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8. A modular power and automation system for monitoring and controlling a plurality of different devices in a facility comprising:
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a plurality of remote signal providing means, each for providing a remote signal manifesting an existing event associated with one of said devices; controller means for providing command signals to a communications bus manifesting that control is to occur for one of said devices; a plurality of controller modules for providing an output signal to control one of said devices, each module including user actuated reset switch means for generating a reset signal when actuated and each module being connected within a common enclosure to respond to said communication bus signals and to selected ones of said remote signals, each module further including means for prioritizing the state of said output signal in order of the ordered response to the provision of said reset signal, said remote signal and said command signals provided thereto. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A power management and automation system for controlling power to a first set and a second set of appliances, comprising:
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a circuit breaker arrangement, responsive to a plurality of circuit breaker control signals, through which power is provided to the first set of appliances; a power switching circuit, responsive to a plurality of appliance control signals, for switching power to the second set of appliances at their point of use; a programmable controller for generating commands to indicate when power to the selected ones of the appliances should be provided; a circuit breaker control module including a plurality of input terminals, each responsive to an externally provided breaker signal from means associated with said first set of appliances being operationally controlled; processing means, responsive to the programmable controller and the breaker signals, for generating the circuit breaker control signals, and manually operable switch means for providing an override power switching function which allows a user to control the circuit breaker arrangement independently of the commands generated by the programmable controller; a point of use control module including a plurality of input terminals, each responsive to an externally provided point of use signal from means associated with said second set of appliances being operationally controlled; processing means, responsive to the programmable controller and the point of use signal, for generating the appliance control signal for the power switching circuit, and manually operable switch means for providing an override power switching function which allows a user to control the power switching circuit independently of the commands generated by the programmable controller.
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Specification