Faulted circuit indicator with end-of-life display and discharge

• US 8,274,394 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2009
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Incorporated
• Inventors: Feight, Laurence V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Jack
• Application Number:
  US12/405,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20090231150A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,288 Days
• Field of Search: 340/636.1, 340/664, 324/127
• US Class Current: 340/636.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/08 Locating faults in cables, transmission lines, or networks
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 35/00 Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass

Abstract

A faulted circuit indicator (FCI) for providing an indication of a fault on a monitored conductor, determining whether the FCI is near the end of its useful life (or entered into an end-of-life mode) and altering an operation of the FCI if the useful life of the FCI has reached a select threshold. The operation alteration may include an alteration of the display and/or deactivation of certain features and/or functions of the FCI. Thus, the useful life of the FCI will be increased. Further, utility personnel will be more likely to notice that the FCI is in end-of-life mode. The FCI may also include a battery discharge module and a thyristor for discharging the battery for disposal upon decommissioning of the FCI.

Claims

1. A faulted circuit indicator for providing an indication of a fault on a monitored conductor, the faulted circuit indicator comprising:

an acquisition circuit in communication with the monitored conductor for receiving power system information from the monitored conductor;

a processing circuit for receiving the power system information, determining whether a fault has occurred and providing an indication thereof;

a display for displaying that a fault has occurred upon receipt of the indication of a fault from the processing circuit;

a battery for providing power to the display; and

an end-of-life module operating on the processing circuit for determining whether the faulted circuit indicator operates within an end-of-life mode and altering an operation of the faulted circuit indicator when operating within the end-of-life mode, wherein the end-of-life mode is determined when the useful life of the battery is below a select threshold.

2. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein the end-of-life module alters the operation of the display.

3. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein the end-of-life module alters features of the faulted circuit indicator.

4. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, wherein the end-of-life module alters functions of the faulted circuit indicator.

5. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 2, wherein the end-of-life module increases a time between pulses of the display.

6. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 2, wherein the end-of-life module decreases intensity of the display.

7. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 2, wherein the display includes a plurality of light emitting diodes and the end-of-life module reduces a number of the plurality of light emitting diodes used to display a fault.

8. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 2, wherein the display includes a light emitting diode and the end-of-life module causes each flash of the light emitting diode to include a series of pulses.

9. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 2, wherein the display includes a plurality of light emitting diodes and the end-of-life module reduces a rate at which the light emitting diodes are flashed to indicate a fault.

10. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 3, wherein the end-of-life module alters a backfeed display feature of the faulted circuit indicator.

11. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 4 wherein the end-of-life module alters a radio-frequency communication function of the faulted circuit indicator.

12. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, further comprising a communications circuit in communication with the processing circuit and end-of-life module and configured to communicate that the faulted circuit indicator has entered an end-of-life mode.

13. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, further comprising a battery discharge module and a silicon controlled rectifier in communication with the battery and the battery discharge module, wherein the battery discharge module is configured to discharge the battery through the silicon controlled rectifier.

14. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 1, further comprising a memory module, wherein the memory module comprises an indication of the initial storage capacity of the battery and a second indication of the remaining storage capacity of the battery.

15. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 14, wherein the end-of-life module further comprises a battery tracking module in communication with the processor and the memory, wherein the battery tracking module is configured to recognize an operation of the display and cause the memory to update the second indication by reducing the second indication by a predetermined amount depending on the recognized operation of the display.

16. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 15, wherein the end-of-life module is configured to determine whether the faulted circuit indicator operates within an end-of-life mode depending on the second indication.

17. A faulted circuit indicator for providing an indication of a fault on a monitored conductor, the faulted circuit indicator comprising:

an acquisition circuit in communication with the monitored conductor for receiving power system information from the monitored conductor;

a processing circuit for receiving the power system information, determining whether a fault has occurred and providing an indication thereof;

a display for displaying that a fault has occurred upon receipt of the indication of a fault from the processing circuit; and

a battery for providing power to the display;

a battery discharge module and a thyristor in communication with the battery and the battery discharge module, wherein the battery discharge module is configured to discharge the battery through the thyristor.

18. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 17, further comprising a reed switch in communication with the battery discharge module and configured to provide a discharge command to the battery discharge module upon detection of a unidirectional magnetic field for a predetermined length of time.

19. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 17, further comprising an end-of-life module operating on the processing circuit for determining whether the faulted circuit indicator operates within an end-of-life mode and altering an operation of the faulted circuit indicator when operating within the end-of-life mode.

20. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 17, wherein he thyristor is a silicon controlled rectifier.

21. A faulted circuit indicator for providing an indication of a fault on a monitored conductor, the faulted circuit indicator comprising:

an acquisition circuit in communication with the monitored conductor for receiving power system information from the monitored conductor;

a processing circuit for receiving the power system information, determining whether a fault has occurred and providing an indication thereof;

a display for displaying that a fault has occurred upon receipt of the indication of a fault from the processing circuit;

a battery for providing power to at least the display; and

an end-of-life module operating on the processing circuit for determining the useful life of the faulted circuit indicator, wherein if the useful life of the battery is below a select threshold, said end-of-life module alters an operation of the faulted circuit indicator and said display reflects the altering of the operation.

22. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 21, wherein the end-of-life module alters the operation of the display if the useful life of the faulted circuit indicator is below a select threshold.

23. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 21, wherein the end-of-life module alters features of the faulted circuit indicator if the useful life of the faulted circuit indicator is below a select threshold.

24. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 21, wherein the end-of-life module alters functions of the faulted circuit indicator if the useful life of the faulted circuit indicator is below a select threshold.

25. The faulted circuit indicator of claim 21, wherein the useful life of the faulted circuit indicator is calculated using the battery life as a function of power dissipated or consumed due to exposure to an ambient temperature, detection of a fault or use of the display.