Electricity: measuring and testing – Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components – Of individual circuit component or element
Patent
1994-07-27
1996-03-19
Wieder, Kenneth A.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components
Of individual circuit component or element
324 731, 324546, 324726, 340646, G01R 3106
Patent
active
055005985
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to apparatus for testing wound components such as a transformer.
BACKGROUND ART
In order to test thoroughly a wound component such as a transformer, it is necessary to measure a variety of parameters such as: the winding resistance (of both the primary and secondary windings), the turns ratios, the winding inductance or magnetising current and the interwinding capacitance. It is also usual to test the insulation at both high and low voltage levels, These parameters are conventionally measured by sequentially connecting the transformer to a series of separate pieces of test equipment each of which is dedicated to testing one particular parameter. Such testing thus requires several, usually expensive and relatively large pieces of equipment, to test fully the transformer. At each stage, the transformer has to be electrically connected to the relevant test equipment, the test carried out, then electrically disconnected and moved on to the next piece of test equipment and the operation repeated for each test to be carried out. This procedure is time consuming and error prone as wires may be wrongly connected, measuring equipment mis-read, results incorrectly recorded etc.
Apparatus has also been provided for automatically and sequentially connecting a transformer to a plurality of separate pieces of test equipment using a matrix of relays under the control of a computer. This automates the connecting and disconnecting of the various pieces of test equipment but a separate piece of equipment is still required to carry out each test. This means that a benchful of equipment is still required to test a component which itself may be relatively small, e.g. with maximum dimensions in the order of 10-20 cms. The lengthy leads required to connect the different pieces of equipment also makes some measurements difficult, e.g. high frequency tests with leads over 2 m in length. This form of test apparatus is also still relatively slow, e.g. taking 30 seconds or more to test a transformer fully, and is of necessity relatively expensive.
This invention aims to provide test apparatus which is much more compact than such known arrangements yet is able to carry out all the tests required quickly and accurately.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for testing a wound component comprising a plurality of connectors for connecting to the component to be tested; signal generating means selectively connectable to one or more of the connectors for applying a variety of different test signals to the component to be tested; measuring means selectively connectable to measure a variety of different outputs from the component to be tested; and control means for controlling which of the connectors are connected to the signal generating means and the connection of the measuring means to one or more outputs of the component being tested, for controlling the signals applied by the signal generating means to the selected connectors and for controlling the function of the measuring means, whereby the same signal generating means and measuring means can be used to carry out a variety of different forms of test on the component to be tested, the signal generating means being connected to the measuring means and being arranged to provide a synchronising signal thereto and the measuring means being arranged to calculate the phase relationship between signals measured at different times by comparing the phase relationships of those signals with the synchronising signal. Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the subsidiary claims of the specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The invention will now be further described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1(A) is a schematic diagram of a conventional arrangement for testing a transformer and FIG. 1(B) is a schematic diagram of a corresponding arrangement using apparatus according to the
REFERENCES:
patent: 3732489 (1973-05-01), Nelson et al.
patent: 3932811 (1976-01-01), Branch
patent: 4525789 (1985-06-01), Kemper et al.
Do Diep
Logsdon Bruening
Voltech Instruments Limited
Wieder Kenneth A.
Ziesenheim Webb
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