Apparatus, system and method for a UPS

• US 8,552,584 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2012
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Cohen, Daniel C., Colucci, David A., Melanson, Mark R., Spitaels, James S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Deberadinis, Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US13/453,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20130076132A1
• Time in Patent Office: 533 Days
• Field of Search: 307/65, 307/29
• US Class Current: 307/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 9/062 for AC powered loads

Abstract

According to one aspect of the invention, a UPS includes an input configured to be coupled to an AC power source, a DC power source, an output configured to receive power from at least one of the AC power source and the DC power source, a first switched receptacle outlet coupled to the output and configured to be coupled to a first electrical load and a second receptacle outlet coupled to the output and configured to be coupled to a second electrical load. According to some embodiments, the UPS also includes a control unit configurable to provide a first configuration associated with the first switched receptacle outlet, where the first configuration is employed by the control unit to control a connection of the first switched receptacle outlet to the output independent of the second receptacle outlet.

Claims

1. A UPS, comprising:

a first input configured to be coupled to a first power source;

a second input configured to be coupled to a second power source;

an output configured to provide power derived from at least one of the first power source and the second power source;

a first outlet coupled to the output and configured to be coupled to a first electrical load;

a second outlet coupled to the output and configured to be coupled to a second electrical load;

a control unit configurable to receive information related to the first electrical load and information related to the second electrical load, to control output power from the first outlet based on the information related to the first electrical load and a status of the UPS, and to control output power from the second outlet based on the information related to the second electrical load and a status of the UPS.

2. The UPS of claim 1, further comprising a housing enclosing the UPS, wherein each of the first outlet and the second outlet are located at an exterior surface of the housing.

3. The UPS of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first outlet and the second outlet includes a plurality of outlets.

4. The UPS of claim 1, further comprising a communications interface coupled to the control unit.

5. The UPS of claim 4, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive communications from a network using a web-based protocol.

6. The UPS of claim 4, wherein the second outlet is a switched receptacle outlet, and wherein the control unit is configured to control a switching state of the second receptacle outlet independent of a status of the first electrical load.

7. The UPS of claim 1, wherein the second power source includes a battery, and wherein the status of the UPS is evaluated at least in part by a capacity of the battery.

8. The UPS of claim 1, wherein the information related to the first electrical load includes an on/off status of the first electrical load.

9. The UPS of claim 1, wherein the second outlet is a switched receptacle outlet, wherein the UPS further comprises:

a first switching device coupled to the output and the first outlet; and

a second switching device coupled to the output and the second outlet,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control an operation of the first switching device and an operation of the second switching device.

10. The UPS of claim 9, wherein the control unit generates a signal based at least in part on the information received from the first electrical load, and wherein the signal is received by the first switching device which acts to operate the first switching device to disconnect the first outlet from the output following receipt of the signal.

11. A method of independently controlling at least a first power outlet included in a UPS relative to a second power outlet included in the UPS, the first power outlet coupled to an output of the UPS and supplying power to a first electrical load and the second power outlet coupled to the output of the UPS and supplying power to a second electrical load, the method comprising acts of:

configuring the UPS to operate to turn off power to the first power outlet based on a first condition that is independent of the second power outlet and the second electrical load, where the first condition is based on a status of the UPS and a status of the first electrical load.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising an act of configuring the UPS to turn off power to the second power outlet based on a second condition independent of the first power outlet and the first electrical load.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the UPS includes an AC input configured to receive power from an AC power source, and wherein the status of the UPS includes an availability of the AC power at the AC input.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of configuring includes an act of configuring the UPS over a network using a web-based protocol.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising an act of communicating status information from the first electrical load to the UPS over the network.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the UPS includes an interface, and wherein the act of configuring includes an act of employing the interface to configure the UPS.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising acts of:

configuring the UPS to turn off power to a first plurality of power outlets based on the first condition, wherein the first power outlet is included in the first plurality of power outlets;

configuring the UPS to turn off power to a second plurality of power outlets based on a second condition, wherein the second power outlet is included in the second plurality of power outlets, and wherein the second condition is independent of a status of the first electrical load.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the UPS includes a DC power source, and wherein the method further comprises an act of determining whether each of the first condition is met and the second condition is met based at least in part on an expected runtime of the UPS supplying power to the first electrical load and the second electrical load from the DC power source.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the UPS includes a battery, and wherein the first condition includes a charge state of the battery.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the UPS is configured over a network using a web-based protocol.