CN1077329C - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

A circuit breaker includes a current detector, a trip mechanism for opening a make-break contact when an abnormal current occurs, a harmonic detector for detecting a harmonic component from an output of the current detector, a device for comparing harmonic The output of the harmonic detector and the fixed value and a comparator that generates an output when the output of the harmonic detector is greater than the fixed value, and an alarm output device for generating an alarm output according to the output of the comparator; wherein when the detected harmonic When the wave is greater than a certain value, the output of the comparator will first go to the alarm output device, which can avoid the sudden disconnection of the circuit of the power board and protect the device from the influence of harmonics.

Description

breaker

The invention relates to a circuit breaker with an alarm function, in particular to a circuit breaker suitable for alarming by detecting harmonic current.

Office automation (OA) equipment and inverter controllers generate a large amount of harmonics, and the harmonics have adverse effects on other electrical facilities and devices. As a measure to overcome these adverse effects, various types of filters or similar devices have been installed, and harmonic measurement and analysis to obtain data necessary to suppress harmonics has so far been performed at the level of measuring instruments, that is, only Display and record the measured (detected) values only. For example, such as Furuya on Kenchikusesubishi94-8: "Harmonic Countermeasures (1)", Furuya on Kenchikusesubishi94-11: "Harmonic Countermeasures (2)", Sekimoto on Kenchikusesubishi92-5, etc. The: Harmonic Analysis and Countermeasures discussed in "A Survey of the Situation of Harmonic Problems in Existing Buildings".

The above prior art only displays and records. As a result, in order to clarify the influence of the harmonics that change with the load operating conditions, it is necessary to measure and record the harmonics for a long time; human intervention. In addition, since the above-mentioned prior art harmonic detection unit is installed separately from the circuit breaker of the power receiving board or distribution board, there is a problem that a sufficiently reliable space is required to install the harmonic detection unit, which is practically impossible. Install the harmonic detection unit inside the power board.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a circuit breaker with the function of detecting the influence of harmonics and starting an alarm.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above objects, there is provided a circuit breaker comprising a power line conductor having an on-off contact, the power line conductor being connected to a power receiving system on one side and a power distribution system on the other side connected; a current detection device that detects the current in the power line; a tripping device that disconnects the on-off contact when the current is abnormal; a harmonic detection device that detects harmonic components from the output of the current detection device; the output of the harmonic detection device and A comparator for comparing a fixed value and generating an output when the output of the harmonic detection device is greater than the fixed value; and an alarm output device for generating an alarm according to the output of the comparator.

The current detected by the current detection device is converted into a form factor (hereinafter referred to as C.F.), that is, converted into an effective value/peak value or formed by an arithmetic operation device in a subsequent stage to form nth harmonics, and when the harmonic exceeds the value set by the characteristic setting block When the level is determined, an alarm is issued or the contact of the circuit breaker is opened.

According to the present invention, when the harmonic current exceeds the specified value, an alarm can be issued before the contact of the circuit breaker is disconnected, thereby avoiding sudden disconnection and protecting equipment from the influence of harmonics.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit breaker circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 .

This embodiment shows the case where the present invention is applied to a four-pole circuit breaker with a neutral line.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit breaker circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a structural diagram of a circuit breaker with this circuit. The circuit breaker of this embodiment has power supply terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4 on one side, and correspondingly has load side terminals 5, 6, 7 and 8 on the other side. Inside the housing 42. A U-phase power line conductor 24U is provided between the power-side terminal 1 and the load-side terminal 5, a V-phase power-line conductor 24V is provided between the power-side terminal 2 and the load-side terminal 6, and a V-phase power line conductor 24V is provided between the power-side terminal 3 and the load-side terminal 7. A W-phase power line conductor 24W is provided, and an N-phase power line conductor 24N is provided between the power supply side terminal 4 and the load side terminal 8 . In addition, make-break contacts 25U, 25W, 25V and 25N are interposed between these power line conductors. Under normal circumstances, the on-off contacts 25U, 25W, 25V and 25N are opened and closed by manipulating the handle 44, and the tripping action of the tripping mechanism 21 breaks them when abnormalities such as overcurrent, unbalanced current or harmonics occur. open. A tripping mechanism disclosed in JP-A-61-151945, for example, can be used as the above-mentioned tripping mechanism. And the current transformers 11, 12, 13 and 14 can be used as current detection devices on the power line conductors 24U, 24V, 24W and 24N. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the V-phase power line conductor with handle 44 and disconnect mechanism.

The output of the current transformer is supplied to a power supply circuit 16 and a signal detection circuit 17 through a rectifier 15 . The power supply circuit adjusts the output of the rectification circuit 15 to maintain a constant voltage and supplies the constant voltage to the signal detection circuit 17, the MPU 18 as an arithmetic operation device, the characteristic setter 19, the alarm display 20, the tripping mechanism 21, and the alarm output The alarm output circuit 22 of the device.

The signal detection circuit 17 receives the outputs of the current transformers 11 to 14 that have been converted into d.c. current by the rectifier 15 , and outputs a voltage signal to the MPU 18 . The current transformers 11, 12 and 13 are used when detecting overcurrent; the current transformer 14 is used when detecting unbalanced current; and the current transformers 11, 12, 13 and 14 are used when detecting harmonics. The MPU 18 includes an A/D converter 18A, an I/O unit 18C, an I/O unit 18D, and an I/O unit 18E connected to the CPU 18B, respectively. I/O unit 18C is connected to trip mechanism 21 , I/O unit 18D is connected to characteristic setter 19 and alarm display 20 , and I/O unit 18E is connected to alarm output circuit 22 . The characteristic adjuster 19 adjusts the output level of the trip signal supplied to the trip mechanism 21 . The alarm output circuit 22 is made up of a contact relay or an optical coupling element such as an optocoupler or an optical MOS relay, and sends its output to such as an indicator light, a sound or a sound generator or a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or a Alarm devices such as displays such as LEDs.

The rectifier 15, the power circuit 16, the signal detection circuit 17, the MPU 18, the characteristic setter 19, the alarm display 20 and the alarm output circuit 22 are installed on the circuit board 46, and the circuit board 46 is installed in the shell cover 43 and is located in the housing 42 The upper position so that the display signal on the alarm display can be read through the transparent part of the housing cover 43 . In the present embodiment, the output terminal 30 is a connector configured such that an output can be received from the surface of the case cover 43 .

The power line conductors 24U, 24V, 24W and 24N are connected to the power receiving system and the power distribution system, while the current transformers 11, 12, 13 and 14 detect the current flowing through the power line conductors.

Program the MPU18 as follows: Calculate the harmonic component from the detected output of the current transformers 11, 12, 13 and 14, and send an alarm output when the system harmonic current exceeds the first fixed value, and when the harmonic current exceeds the second A circuit disconnection command is issued when the value is set. The circuit disconnection action according to this command has a time characteristic that conforms to the allowable limit of harmonics of the load.

C.F. value, n-th harmonic value or neutral current value can be used for the first or second setting.

The MPU 18 calculates quantities based on harmonic component amplitudes, more specifically C.F., or uses Fourier expansion to calculate n-order harmonic content, and thus detects the presence or absence of harmonics or the magnitude of harmonics. The calculation of C.F. and n-th harmonic content is well known, and its introduction is omitted here. The MPU18 compares the calculation result about the harmonic with the preset value, if the value exceeds the fixed value, an alarm is issued by the alarm display 20, and an alarm output is provided by the alarm output circuit 22. At this time, whether to give only an alarm or to also turn off the circuit breaker may be determined according to a predetermined threshold as a second fixed value for determining whether to give only an alarm or also to turn off the circuit breaker. When disconnecting the circuit, the circuit breaker is disconnected after exceeding the specified time according to the time characteristic suitable for the allowable limit of harmonics of the load. In other words, in the present embodiment, the MPU 18 has the functions of harmonic detection means and comparison means.

According to this embodiment, by setting a plurality of settings and detecting C.F. or n-order harmonics, an alarm can be issued before the switch is opened, so it is possible to prevent sudden opening of the circuit breaker (hereinafter referred to as sudden breaker) without prior warning. disconnect). Or, by isolating devices that are sensitive or susceptible to harmonics when an alarm signal is issued, these devices can be prevented from being damaged.

Furthermore, by comparing the current in the neutral conductor 24N with the value set at the characteristic setter 19, it is possible to avoid adverse effects on the installation due to an increase in the neutral current caused by harmonics.

According to the present invention, when the harmonic current exceeds a predetermined value, an alarm signal can be sent before the circuit breaker is disconnected, so that sudden disconnection can be avoided. In addition, the installation is protected from harmonics.

Claims (4)

1. A circuit breaker with a power line conductor current detection device and a tripping device with an on-off contact, the on-off contact is connected to a power receiving system and a power distribution system, and the current detection device detects the current flowing through the power line The current of the conductor, the tripping device disconnects the on-off contact when the current is abnormal, and is characterized in that it includes: harmonic detection means for detecting harmonic components based on the output of said current detection means; Comparing means for comparing the output of the harmonic detection means with a predetermined fixed value of the harmonic detection means, and generating an output when the output of the harmonic detection means is greater than the fixed value; and alarm output means for generating an alarm output based on the output of said comparing means, Wherein, the comparison device compares the output of the harmonic detection device with its first fixed value and a second fixed value greater than the first fixed value, when the output of the harmonic detection device exceeds the first fixed value , the comparison device provides an output to the alarm output device, and when the output of the harmonic detection device exceeds the second fixed value, the comparison device provides an output to the tripping device. 2. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said harmonic detection means and said comparison means are constituted by arithmetic operation means, said arithmetic operation means are constituted so as to be adapted to the time characteristics of the harmonic permissible limit of the load Perform disconnection. 3. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said harmonic detection means and said comparison means are constituted by arithmetic operation means, said arithmetic operation means are constituted so as to be based on the harmonics of the output of said current detection means The magnitude of the component computes a value, compares this value to the specified value, and produces an output when the value exceeds the specified value. 4. The circuit breaker according to claim 3, wherein said value based on the magnitude of said harmonic component is at least one of a form factor, an n-order harmonic value, and a neutral current.

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