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Electricity meter with power supply load management

  • US 7,348,769 B2
  • Filed: 03/01/2006
  • Issued: 03/25/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2002
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method of managing the load on a power supply in an electricity meter having a power supply operable to convert service line power to regulated dc power using circuitry including a storage capacitor having an unregulated voltage across its terminals, metering circuits coupled to the power supply output and utilizing a controller to acquire data and memory to store data, and a plurality of peripheral devices each configured to be selectively coupled to the power supply output when mounted within the meter, the method comprising the steps of:

  • sensing the presence of the unregulated voltage;

    selecting one of the plurality of peripheral devices and mounting the selected peripheral device in the meter;

    comparing using the controller the sensed unregulated voltage to a threshold value;

    deciding using the controller whether to couple the selected peripheral device to, or decouple the selected peripheral device from, the power supply based on the outcome of the comparing step;

    coupling the selected peripheral device to, or decoupling the selected peripheral device from, the power supply based on the outcome of the deciding step; and

    repeating the comparing, deciding and coupling or decoupling steps.

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