Electrical sensor for a two-wire power cable

• US 8,970,206 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Cheng, Shih-Hsien, Du, Ming-Jhe, Cho, Lien-Yi, Chen, Yung-Chang, Cheng, Yu-Ting
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tung X
• Application Number:
  US13/616,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20130187635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 324/126, 324/117.H, 324/117.R, 324/127, 32476201-7621
• US Class Current: 324/126
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 15/181 using coils without a magnetic core, e.g. Rogowski coils

Abstract

The invention discloses an electrical sensor for a two-wire power cable. The sensor includes: a flexible substrate joined onto the power cable or the protective jacket thereon; an inductive coil formed on the flexible substrate; a pair of metal electrodes formed on the flexible substrate and at the opposite sides of the power cable, respectively; and a readout circuit formed on the flexible substrate, electrically connected to the inductive coil so as to measure the current in the power cable, and electrically connected to the metal electrodes so as to measure the voltage in the power cable.

Claims

1. An electrical sensor for a two-wire power cable, comprising:

a flexible substrate, joined onto the power cable or the protective jacket thereon;

an inductive coil formed on the flexible substrate;

a pair of metal electrodes, composed of a first electrode and a second electrode, formed on the flexible substrate and at the opposite sides of a cross-section of said power cable; and

a readout circuit, formed on the flexible substrate, electrically connected to the inductive coil for measuring current in the power cable, and electrically connected to the pair of metal electrodes for measuring voltage in the power cable.

2. The electrical sensor of claim 1, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged for allowing an accommodation space to be formed therebetween and used for receiving the two-wire power cable therein.

3. The electrical sensor of claim 2, wherein each of the two metal electrodes further includes a plurality of electrode units which are disposed respectively at different axial positions on the power cable.

4. The electrical sensor of claim 1, wherein the first and the second electrode are arranged respectively on the flexible substrate.

5. The electrical sensor of claim 4, wherein the cross section of each of the two metal electrodes is shaped like an arc, while allowing the concaves of the two arc-shaped metal electrodes to be arranged facing toward each other.

6. The electrical sensor of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate is made of a bendable and stretchable material for allowing the same to tightly attach onto the power cable or the protective jacket of the same.

7. The electrical sensor of claim 1, wherein the inductive coil is a metal coil of at least one loop.

8. The electrical sensor of claim 7, wherein the metal coil is symmetrically arranged centering the two-wire power cable.

9. The electrical sensor of claim 7, wherein the metal coil further comprises:

a magnetic conductive material that is used for enhancing the magnetic coupling efficiency of the inductive coil.

10. The electrical sensor of claim 7, wherein the line width of the metal coil measured in a level direction parallel to the power cable is larger than the line width measure in a vertical direction perpendicular to the power cable.

11. The electrical sensor of claim 1, wherein the readout circuit is a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit.