Electricity energy monitor
First Claim
1. An electric energy monitor device for measuring the electrical energy usage of an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source, the electrical load having a line cord comprising the load conductors, the line cord terminating in a plug having blades terminating the load conductors for connection to an electrical receptacle coupled to the power source, the device comprising:
- a body, the body being configured to allow at least one blade to pass through at least one opening in the body into the electrical receptacle,at least one current sensor for detecting a level of current, the current sensor being housed in the body and the current sensor comprising an inductor having at least one complete electrical turn in inductive communication with the load conductor when the blade extends through the opening in the body into the electrical receptacle such that an output voltage of the current sensor is a function of the level of current in the load conductor,a controller for receiving signals from the current sensor, and transmitting data either to a display for displaying data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to both, the controller being housed in the body.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electric energy monitor or meter for efficient measuring and recording electrical energy usage data relating to a particular appliance or circuit. One embodiment comprises a thin-profile monitoring device through which an electrical conductor, for example the normal line cord plug of an appliance or the output wire from a circuit breaker to the load, is inserted. A display may be provided to show the accumulated energy usage. In other embodiments a device of the invention can be installed in a light switch, appliance, plug, or receptacle. Data can also be transmitted by various means to a computing device such as a personal computer or the like. The device of the invention allows for interaction with Internet-based information dissemination or gathering, meter distribution by means of incentive or promotional give-away, and control of energy usage through connection to an energy management system.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. An electric energy monitor device for measuring the electrical energy usage of an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source, the electrical load having a line cord comprising the load conductors, the line cord terminating in a plug having blades terminating the load conductors for connection to an electrical receptacle coupled to the power source, the device comprising:
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a body, the body being configured to allow at least one blade to pass through at least one opening in the body into the electrical receptacle, at least one current sensor for detecting a level of current, the current sensor being housed in the body and the current sensor comprising an inductor having at least one complete electrical turn in inductive communication with the load conductor when the blade extends through the opening in the body into the electrical receptacle such that an output voltage of the current sensor is a function of the level of current in the load conductor, a controller for receiving signals from the current sensor, and transmitting data either to a display for displaying data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to both, the controller being housed in the body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An electric energy monitor device for measuring the electrical energy usage of an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source via a switch, the device comprising:
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a body, the body being configured as a cover plate for the switch box and configured to allow at least one load conductor to pass through at least one opening in the body to a switch, at least one current sensor for detecting a level of current, the current sensor being housed in the body and the current sensor comprising an inductor having at least one complete electrical turn in inductive communication with the load conductor extending through the opening in the body to the switch such that an output voltage of the current sensor is a function of the level of current in the load conductor, a controller for receiving signals from the current sensor, and transmitting data either to a display for displaying data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to both, the controller being housed in the body.
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27. A current monitoring device for measuring a current drawn by an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source, the electrical load having a line cord comprising the load conductors, the line cord terminating in a plug having blades terminating the load conductors for connection to an electrical receptacle coupled to the power source, the device comprising:
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a body, the body being configured to allow at least one blade to pass through at least one opening in the body into the electrical receptacle, at least one current sensor for detecting a level of current, the current sensor being housed in the body and the current sensor comprising an inductor having at least one complete electrical turn in inductive communication with the load conductor when the blade extends through the opening in the body into the electrical receptacle such that an output voltage of the current sensor is a function of the level of current in the load conductor, a controller for receiving signals from the current sensor, and transmitting data either to a display for displaying data relating to current drawn by the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to current drawn by the load, or to both, the controller being housed in the body. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A voltage monitoring device for measuring a voltage of an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source, the electrical load having a line cord comprising the load conductors, the line cord terminating in a plug having blades terminating the load conductors for connection to an electrical receptacle coupled to the power source, the device comprising
a body, the body being configured to allow at least two blades to pass through at least two openings in the body into the electrical receptacle, at least one voltage sensor for detecting a level of voltage between at least two load conductors which have an electrical potential drop representing the voltage drop across the load, wherein the body houses the voltage sensor and is configured to allow at least two blades terminating the at least two load conductors to respectively extend through the at least two openings in the body, the blades when extending through the at least two openings in the body being in conductive communication with voltage sensing conductors coupled to the voltage sensor, to sense a potential drop across the load, and a controller for receiving signals from the voltage sensor, and transmitting data either to a display for displaying data relating to the voltage of the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to the voltage of the load, or to both, the controller being housed in the body.
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30. A method of measuring electric power used by an electrical load powered by load conductors connected to a power source, the electrical load having a line cord comprising the load conductors, the line cord terminating in a plug having blades terminating the load conductors for connection to an electrical receptacle coupled to the power source, via a device comprising a body, the body being configured to allow at least one blade to pass through at least one opening in the body into the electrical receptacle, at least one current sensor for detecting a level of current, the current sensor being housed in the body and the current sensor comprising an inductor having at least one complete electrical turn in inductive communication with the load conductor when the blade extends through the opening in the body into the electrical receptacle such that an output voltage of the current sensor is a function of the level of current in the load conductor, and a controller housed in the body, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. passing at least one load conductor through the body to the power source, b. receiving at the controller signals from the current sensor, and c. transmitting data from the controller either to a display for displaying data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to a remote data processing device for recording data relating to electrical energy usage of the load, or to both. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification