Electricity: power supply or regulation systems – External or operator controlled – Phase controlled switching using electronic tube or a three...
Patent
1992-06-18
1994-09-06
Voeltz, Emanuel T.
Electricity: power supply or regulation systems
External or operator controlled
Phase controlled switching using electronic tube or a three...
307116, 307117, 361179, 361180, G05F 316, H03K 1730
Patent
active
053451660
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a detector comprising a sensor associated with an electronic processor circuit and a voltage regulator and switching device for switching a load under the control of the output of the processor circuit, a power supply being connected in series with the load to supply power thereto and to the detector.
Detectors of this kind are known as "two-wire" detectors because they are connected to the load and to the supply by only two conductors so that they are supplied with power in series with the load. Examples include proximity or like detectors generating an oscillation whose magnitude to be detected modifies the characteristics.
To improve the performance of a detector of this kind attempts are made to minimise the residual current that it draws when it is not carrying the load current ("off" state) and the voltage drop that it generates when it carries the load current ("on" state). It is also beneficial to regulate the voltage supplied to the sensor by the supply in the on and off states and in particular during transient phases during which the detector changes from the on state to the off state or vice versa.
A particular object of the invention is to ensure in a detector of this type satisfactory regulation of the voltage supplied to the processor circuit in the various operating states using simple electronic means.
Another object of the invention is to reduce the power dissipation of said electronic means and, in some cases, to enable them to protect the detector against overcurrents.
To achieve these results, the invention proposes a detector comprising a sensor associated with an electronic processor circuit and a voltage regulator and switching device adapted to be connected via two terminals of the detector to a load circuit comprising a load in series with a voltage source, the device being controlled by the processor circuit to open and close the load circuit according to the state of the sensor and also regulating the supply voltage of the processor circuit, the regulator and switching device comprising two switching devices associated with respectively series and parallel regulator means, the two switching means: of the detector and of which one end and an intermediate point are connected to terminals of the processor circuit, and activates the parallel type regulator means regulating the voltage across the processor circuit and, in a second state of the sensor, the switching device activates the series type regulator means regulating the voltage across the processor circuit and disables the parallel type regulator means.
According to the invention, this device is characterised in that the switching means comprise two variable gain amplifier-switches in series, one amplifier-switch additionally providing the series regulator function and the other amplifier-switch additionally providing the parallel type regulator function.
In the on state, which represents the first state of the sensor, the amplifier-switch which operates as a parallel regulator carries the same current as the amplifier-switch providing series type regulation. The latter is chosen and adapted so that its voltage drop is as small as possible.
The amplifier-switch providing series regulation preferably comprises an insulated gate transistor. This transistor provides series regulation in the second state of the sensor by virtue of the connection of its gate to a threshold device such as a Zener diode biased by a resistor connected to the supply voltage. In the first state of the sensor the first switch is caused to conduct either by turning on the insulated gate transistor using appropriate means or by turning on a thyristor shunting said transistor.
The amplifier-switch providing parallel regulation is advantageously of the bipolar type whose control terminal (base) is controlled by the output of a differential amplifier comparing a fraction of the voltage across the processor circuit with a reference voltage.
A non-limiting example of one embodiment of the invention will now be described with refe
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Charrier Pierre
Leonard Didier
Drucker William A.
Telemecanioue
Voeltz Emanuel T.
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