Utility meter adapter
First Claim
1. An adapter coupleable to a utility meter having a meter gear and a dial, said adapter comprising:
- a cover having a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of said cover to a rear side of said cover, each boss spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said cover; and
a battery chamber formed by a bracket and the cover, said battery chamber adapted to receive a battery;
a passageway connected to said battery chamber, said passageway adapted to be sealed to weatherproof said battery;
a recess formed by said bracket;
a meter dog mounted in said bracket coupleable to said meter gear; and
a dial dog mounted in said recess and rotationally coupleable to said meter dog, said dial dog having a magnet mounted thereon to convert rotations associated with the meter gear into magnetic pulses.
18 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An adapter module mounts on a utility meter having one or more meter dials. The adapter module has a cover and a mating bracket. The cover includes a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of the cover to a rear side of the cover. The bosses are spaced a predetermined distance from a cover perimeter to provide space for ribs inside the adapter to provide extra support. The cover also has a tamper-proof magnet housing extending from the rear side of said cover and a front battery chamber portion to receive a battery. The mating bracket has a rear battery chamber which, in combination with the front battery chamber, houses one or more batteries. The bracket also has a printed circuit board (PCB) chamber which is adapted to receive a PCB with electronics on-board. The bracket also has a recess which receives a dial dog. The dial dog has a gear for driving original dials of the meter. The dial dog is driven by a meter dog, which in turn is connected to a gear on the original meter. The dial dog has a magnet mounted therein to convert the gear rotations into magnetic pulses detectable by the electronics on the PCB. The magnetic pulse information is captured, digitized and transmitted to a remote location for processing.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An adapter coupleable to a utility meter having a meter gear and a dial, said adapter comprising:
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a cover having a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of said cover to a rear side of said cover, each boss spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said cover; and a battery chamber formed by a bracket and the cover, said battery chamber adapted to receive a battery; a passageway connected to said battery chamber, said passageway adapted to be sealed to weatherproof said battery; a recess formed by said bracket; a meter dog mounted in said bracket coupleable to said meter gear; and a dial dog mounted in said recess and rotationally coupleable to said meter dog, said dial dog having a magnet mounted thereon to convert rotations associated with the meter gear into magnetic pulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An adapter coupleable to a utility meter, said adapter comprising:
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a cover having a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of said cover to a rear side of said cover, each boss spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said cover; and a battery chamber formed by a bracket and the cover, said battery chamber adapted to receive a battery; a recess formed by said bracket; and a dial dog mounted in said recess and rotationally coupleable to a meter dial, said dial dog having a breakable arm which is adapted to break and disengage said dial dog from the meter dials if the meter dials on the utility meter seize.
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14. A method for retrofitting a utility meter having a dial interface with an adapter module having a battery chamber;
- a cover having a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of said cover to a rear side of said cover, each boss spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said cover;
a recess formed by said bracket;
a meter dog mounted in said bracket coupleable to a meter gear; and
a dial dog mounted in said recess and rotationally coupleable to said meter dog, said dial dog having a magnet mounted thereon to convert rotations associated with the meter gear into magnetic pulses, comprising;coupling said adapter module to said dial interface; secuing said adapter module to said utility meter; and weatherproofing the battery chamber of said adapter module. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
- a cover having a plurality of bosses extending from a front side of said cover to a rear side of said cover, each boss spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said cover;
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24. A method for retrofitting a utility meter having a dial interface and a dial with an adapter module having a battery chamber, comprising:
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moving the dial from the utility meter to the front of the adapter module; coupling said adapter module to said dial interface using a dial dog, the dial dog having a breakable arm which is adapted to disengage the dial dog from the dials when the dials on the adapter module seize; securing said adapter module to said utility meter using a plurality of support structures spaced a predetermined distance from a perimeter of said adapter; and weatherproofing the battery chamber in said adapter module using a sealable passageway.
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Specification