Switching power supply for use in an electronic energy meter having a wide range of input voltages
First Claim
1. A power supply for use in apparatus for electronically measuring electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said power supply comprising:
- a transformer comprising first and second windings, wherein an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages is provided to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding, said second winding defines the output of said power supply, wherein said output is regulated to provide a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage, wherein said wide range of service voltages include RMS voltages between about 96 Vrms and about 528 Vrms.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for supplying power for use in metering electrical energy over a wide range of voltages with a single meter are disclosed. The wide ranging meter includes a processing unit for processing divided input voltage and a current component in order to determine electrical energy metering values. The processing unit is operable in response to supply voltages. A power supply, receives an undivided voltage component and generates supply voltages over the wide dynamic range. It is especially preferred for the power supply to include a transformer having first, second and third windings, wherein the undivided voltage component is provided to the first winding and wherein the second winding defines the output of the power supply. A switching member is connected to the first winding for permitting and preventing the flow of current in response to a control signal. A control member generates the control signal in response to the output of the power supply. It is also preferred for the control signal to disable the switch member. It is further preferred for the power supply to include a voltage blocking clamp, connected to the transformer for blocking the voltage applied to the transformer. It is still further preferred for an oscillator to be used to generate an oscillating signal for switching the switching member ON and OFF so that the switching member is provided a substantially constant OFF time.
142 Citations
68 Claims
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1. A power supply for use in apparatus for electronically measuring electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said power supply comprising:
a transformer comprising first and second windings, wherein an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages is provided to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding, said second winding defines the output of said power supply, wherein said output is regulated to provide a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage, wherein said wide range of service voltages include RMS voltages between about 96 Vrms and about 528 Vrms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for supplying power in apparatus for electronically metering electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a transformer comprising first, second and third windings and providing an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding and wherein said second winding defines an output; permitting and preventing the flow of current through said first winding in response to a control signal thereby regulating the output to a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage; generating said control signal in response to said third winding; and wherein said wide range of service voltages include RMS voltages between about 96 Vrms and about 528 Vrms. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for supplying power in apparatus for electronically metering electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a transformer comprising first, second and third windings and providing an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding and wherein said second winding defines an output; permitting and preventing the flow of current through said first winding in response to a control signal thereby regulating the output to a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage; generating said control signal in response to said third winding; and wherein the service voltages comprise 120 Vrms, 208 Vrms, 240 Vrms, 277 Vrms, and 480 Vrms, each said service voltage having a predetermined acceptable tolerance defining a lowest tolerance below the service voltage and a highest tolerance above the service voltage, and wherein said wide range of service voltages includes at least two of said service voltages and defines a range from the lowest tolerance of the lowest of the at least two service voltages to the highest tolerance of the highest of the at least two service voltages. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A power supply for use in apparatus for electronically measuring electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said power supply comprising:
a transformer comprising first and second windings, wherein an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages is provided to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding, said second winding defines the output of said power supply, wherein said output is regulated to provide a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage, wherein said power supply is operable with both 120 Vrms and 480 Vrms standard services without modification thereto. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A power supply for use in apparatus for electronically measuring electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said power supply comprising:
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a transformer comprising first and second windings, wherein an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages is provided to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding, said second winding defines the output of said power supply, wherein said output regulated to provide a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage, wherein the service voltages comprise 120 Vrms, 208 Vrms, 240 Vrms, 277 Vrms, and 480 Vrms, each said service voltage having a predetermined acceptable tolerance defining a lowest tolerance below the service voltage and a highest tolerance above the service voltage, and wherein said wide range of service voltages includes at least two of said service voltages and defines a range from the lowest tolerance of the lowest of the at least two service voltages to the highest tolerance of the highest of the at least two service voltages. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A power supply for use in apparatus for electronically measuring electrical energy supplied by an electrical service provider, said electrical energy being specified from a wide range of service voltages supplied by electrical service providers, said power supply comprising:
a transformer comprising first and second windings, wherein an input voltage based on said wide range of service voltages is provided to said first winding so that current flows through said first winding, said second winding defines the output of said power supply, wherein said output is regulated to provide a predetermined output voltage independent of said input voltage, wherein said power supply is operable with both 120 Vrms and 277 Vrms standard services without modification thereto. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
Specification