Electricity: measuring and testing – Measuring – testing – or sensing electricity – per se – Plural inputs
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-19
2004-02-03
Cuneo, Kamand (Department: 2829)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Measuring, testing, or sensing electricity, per se
Plural inputs
C324S074000, C340S870020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06686731
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of watthour meter testing devices and more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to a watthour meter test device and method having an optical pickup for testing electromechanical and electronic watthour meters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Metering devices are located at residential and commercial customer locations as a means for electricity providers to measure electrical consumption. Watthour meters are commonly employed to measure electrical consumption at these locations. Watthour meters are typically electronic or electromechanical.
The electromechanical watthour meter is essentially an electric motor that runs in proportion to the power being used by the customer. Electromechanical meters employ a disc that is centrally disposed in the meter such that at least a portion of the disc is visible from the face of the meter. The disc is rotated by the meter's electric motor relative to power consumption. For measurement purposes, these discs include holes extending through the discs or marks or indicia on an upper or outer peripheral edge of the disc. The electrical consumption is relative to the disc's rotation between the hole or marks over a give time-interval.
Electronic watthour meters are generally solid-state and measure electrical consumption electronically. Electronic meters are provided with an indicator light visible on the face of the meter that flashes periodically relative to electrical consumption.
Watthour meter manufacturers, as well as electric utilities, employ testing equipment to verify the accuracy of the watthour meters. For testing, a known amount of power is applied to the watthour meter and compared to that measured by the rotation of the disc.
The testing devices necessarily include a means for detecting the rotations of the disc on electromechanical watthour meters or the flashing light on electronic meters. One such detector is the C-sensor, which includes a light transmitter and receiver used to detect the hole in the discs of electromechanical watthour meters. Thus, as the disc rotates, transmitted light projects through the hole in the disc and is detected by the receiver of the C-type sensor. The power consumption measured by the disc rotation of the watthour meter and detected by the C-sensor is compared to the known power applied to the watthour meter by the watthour meter testing device. In this manner, the accuracy of the watthour meter can be determined.
C-sensors are unable to detect black marks on the upper or outer edge of the discs of electromechanical watthour meters. Instead, various methods for detecting these marks have been attempted. However, non-standardized meters are marked differently. Testing electronic watthour meters is equally challenging, since these meters are also not standardized. Also, different detection systems are necessary for different watthour meters. Present test device systems are unable to accurately discern the markings on electromechanical watthour meters, while consistently measuring electronic meters.
For this reason, a new and improved watthour meter test device and optical pickup is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As mentioned above, C-sensors are unable to detect black marks on the upper or outer edge of the discs of electromechanical watthour meters. The inventor of the present was the first to identify the problems raised by modern electric and electromechanical watthour meters that that exposes the shortcomings of present test devices. When employing transmitters to transmit a light onto the disc surface or edge such that the light is reflected from the disc, a receiver is positioned to detect the reflected light and determine the location of the black mark on the disc based upon the attributes of the reflected light signal.
However, difficulties arise when the disc is provided with numerous black marks, only one of which, such as the thickest or longest, is intended for power consumption measurement. The lack of standardization in the watthour meter industry adds to the problem, since it is the prerogative of every manufacturer to mark the discs differently. Discerning ambient light from the reflected light further magnifies the difficulty in detecting the marks on the discs. For this reason, current detection devices are incapable of accurately detecting or discerning the relevant black mark from the other marks on the disc surface or edge because of the varied sizes, placements and other factors.
Measuring electronic watthour meters requires detecting the light flashes on the face of the meter. The difficulty with testing electronic watthour meters is detecting indicator lights having non-standardized attributes, such as those having a wide color range. Discerning ambient light is similarly problematic when detecting the indicator lights on electronic watthour meters.
Considerably different detection systems are necessary to detect the holes through the discs, black marks on the discs of electromechanical watthour meters, as are system for detecting the light flashes from electronic watthour meters. Current systems are unable to accurately discern the relevant black mark on the discs of electromechanical watthour meters while consistently detecting the wide color range of lights provided on numerous electronic meters. The present invention provides a novel solution to these problems.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a watthour meter test device for testing electromechanical and electronic watthour meters. The watthour meter testing device has a housing provided with a socket adapted to receive a watthour meter. The watthour meter testing device is provided with current and voltage generators. The current generator communicates with the socket and is adapted to communicate a current to the watthour meter. The voltage generator communicates with the socket and is adapted to communicate a voltage to the watthour meter.
The watthour meter testing device further including an optical pickup and a measurement device. The measurement device is in communication with and adapted to determine the current and voltage communicated to the watthour meter. The optical pickup is in communication with the measurement device and is adapted to detect a consumption indicator on the watthour meter. The optical pickup includes a transmitter positioned to transmit a light signal to the watthour meter and a receiver positioned to detect light adjacent the watthour meter.
The watthour meter testing device also includes a switch in communication with the transmitter and the receiver. The switch has a first position to activate the transmitter to transmit the light signal to the consumption indicator of the watthour meter and activate the receiver to detect the light signal reflected from the consumption indicator of electromechanical watthour meters. The switch further having a second position to activate the receiver to detect a consumption signal from the consumption indicator of electronic watthour meters.
In one embodiment, the watthour meter test device of also includes a current communication line connected at a first end to the current generator and at a second end to the socket. The watthour meter testing device also includes a voltage communication line connected at a first end to the voltage generator and at a second end to the socket. The measuring device further communicates with the current communication line and the voltage communication line.
The optical pickup may further include a housing connected to the housing of the watthour meter test device, the housing of the optical pickup having an outer surface defining an inner retaining space. As such, at least a portion of the transmitter and at least a portion of the receiver are disposed within the inner retaining space of the housing of the optical pickup. The housing of the optical pickup also includes a first end provided with a lens to concentrate the light signal generatable by the transmitter to the consumption indicator of the watthour me
AVO Multi-Amp Corporation
Brown, Jr. J. Robert
Conley & Rose, P.C.
Cuneo Kamand
Tang Minh N.
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