Circuit tracking and positioning device

Abstract

A circuit tracking and positioning device comprises: a power supply unit 1, a no fuse circuit breaker finder 2, and a central processor 3. The power supply unit has a voltage regulating circuit to generate a stabilized voltage power supply 10 and a precision power supply 12 with high current supply capability. The fuseless circuit breaker finder amplifies a pulse signal received from a transmitter (4, figure 2) to form an amplified pulse signal, performs signal shaping on the amplified pulse signal and compares the amplified pulse signal with a reference voltage to eliminate noise and obtain a first DC voltage value. The central processor is coupled to the fuseless circuit breaker finder to convert the first DC voltage signal into a digital numerical value to determine a signal strength of the transmitter. The invention is used in electrical testing e.g. of a network of wired electrical sockets.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the Invention The invention relates to a tracking and positioning device, and more particularly to a circuit tracking and positioning device. (b) Description of the Prior Art Generally, the most common way for electrical technicians to perform power distribution maintenance on sockets or wires is to manually disconnect the no fuse breaker and then use a voltmeter to measure whether there is voltage at the socket. But this method is obviously not efficient. Therefore, several types of socket wiring testers are available on the market, such as the circuit identification device disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 11,199,574. The circuit identification device comprises a signal generator and a signal receiver. The single generator transmits a signal to a wire after being plugged into a live socket. The signal receiver then receives the various electric waves from the signal generator and converts them into digital signals. The digital signals are cross-checked and compared with preset data. Thus, the position of the circuit breaker correspondingly connected to the tested socket can be correctly found to control the socket circuit. Conventional socket wiring testers use the combination of signal generator and signal receiver to check the wiring, usually through a light or sound to indicate whether the target is found, and the signal strength (level) is displayed by at least one LED lighting up or by the volume level of the buzzer. However, when there are multiple sockets electrically connected to and corresponding to multiple circuit breakers arranged adjacent to one another, the conventional socket wiring testers cannot find out which of the circuit breakers adjacent to one another is connected to the corresponding circuit breaker of the tested socket. This is because the voltage signals of the adjacent circuit breakers have similar values, and it is difficult to distinguish at least two voltage signals with little difference. For better distinguishing, indicator lights with more levels or liquid crystal displays (LCD) can be used. However, products designed in this way require larger volumes and higher costs. Additionally, power consumption is another issue with handheld devices. Therefore, there is still room for improvement, and there is a need to provide a novel socket wiring tester capable of providing and switching between a general test mode and an advanced comparison mode to quickly and accurately check the wiring. The detailed features and advantages of the invention will be described in detail in the following embodiments. The content is sufficient to enable any person having ordinary skill in the art to understand the technical content of the invention and implement it accordingly, and in accordance with the content, the claims and the drawings disclosed in this specification, any person having ordinary skill in the art can easily understand the related objects and advantages of the invention. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A main object of the invention is that a circuit tracking and positioning device of the invention provides power to a socket through an AC power and via an electrical panel. A signal transmitter operates through power supply of the socket and generates a specific signal. A sensing circuit senses the specific signal sent by the signal transmitter from the power supply of the socket through a loop connected between the AC power socket and a building's electrical panel. A user moves a hand-held receiver to a no fuse breaker (NFB) of the electrical panel to search for the specific signal sent by the transmitter. With a smaller signal, a relationship between the socket where the transmitter is plugged in and the NFB loop via a wire can be more accurately found, so as to find out which NFB is used as connectivity control of the socket. In order to achieve the above object, the invention is a circuit tracking and positioning device comprising a power supply unit having a voltage regulating circuit capable of generating a stabilized voltage power supply and a precision power supply with high current supply capability; a no fuse circuit breaker finder electrically connected to the power supply unit and receiving the precision power supply, wherein the no fuse circuit breaker finder amplifies a pulse signal received from a transmitter to form an amplified pulse signal, performs signal shaping on the amplified pulse signal and compares the amplified pulse signal with a reference voltage to eliminate noise and obtain a first DC voltage value; and a central processor electrically connected to the power supply unit, the central processor is coupled to the no fuse circuit breaker finder to obtain the first DC voltage value and convert the first DC voltage value into a digital numerical value to determine a signal strength of the transmitter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the no fuse circuit breaker finder comprises a current magnetic field sensor receiving the pulse signal, a front-end amplifier circuit coupled to the current magnetic field sensor, amplifying the pulse signal and obtaining the amplified pulse signal, a gain control circuit coupled to the central processor and capable of performing gain adjustment on the amplified pulse signal to complete pre-signal amplification, a signal coupling circuit coupled to the gain control circuit for coupling and bias clamping the amplified pulse signal that has completed pre-signal amplification, a secondary signal buffer or re-amplification circuit coupled to the signal coupling circuit and performing secondary signal amplification or buffering on the amplified pulse signal that has completed coupling and bias clamping, a signal regulating circuit coupled to the signal buffer or re-amplification circuit and integrating the amplified pulse signal into a noise-free integral signal, an integral signal re-amplification circuit coupled to the signal regulating circuit and amplifying the integral signal, and an integrator converting the amplified integral signal into a DC average value, and then the central processor converts the DC average value into a digital numerical change to determine a signal strength. According to one embodiment of the invention, further comprising a pulse signal trigger comparator (pulse trigger) coupled to the signal regulating circuit and obtaining the noise-free integral signal, converting the integral signal into a square wave pulse signal and sending the square wave pulse signal to the central processor (MCU) to obtain a time interval of triggering the pulse signal. According to one embodiment of the invention, further comprising a non-contact voltage (NCV) detector for receiving a power line signal (electric field) generated as an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform from a live wire and electrically connected to the power supply unit, the noncontact voltage (NCV) detector amplifying and buffering the AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, and then converting a peak value of the sine wave into a second DC voltage value. According to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the noncontact voltage (NCV) detector comprises a sensor for receiving the power line signal that is an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, a front-end amplifier circuit (MOSFET common source amplifier) coupled to the sensor and amplifying the AC voltage through a voltage dividing bias circuit, a common drain buffer (MOSFET common drain amplifier / source follower) coupled to the front-end amplifier circuit and buffering the amplified AC voltage to connect to a next level circuit, a unity gain buffer or amplifier coupled to the common drain buffer and only amplifying the AC voltage, and a peak value detection circuit performing peak voltage processing on the sinusoidal waveform voltage signal and obtaining the relatively flat second DC voltage value, and then coupled to the central processor to convert the second DC voltage value into a digital numerical value for determining a DC voltage value representing a sine wave peak value for confirming a power line signal strength of the live wire. According to one embodiment of the invention, further comprising a sine wave to square wave converter circuit (Square_Trig) coupled to the unity gain buffer or amplifier and obtaining an amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, converting the amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform into a square wave, outputting the square wave to the central processor and reading a signal frequency of the AC voltage, wherein the AC voltage signal frequency is transmitted to the central processor, the central processor calculates the AC voltage signal frequency and the time interval of triggering the pulse signal and obtains a comparison signal for comparing with the pulse signal output by the transmitter and determining a correctness. According to one embodiment of the invention, further comprising a signal display unit coupled to the central processor. According to one embodiment of the invention, wherein the signal display unit can be a button controller, an LED / LCD display or a buzzer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block system diagram according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a block system diagram of a no fuse circuit breaker finder of the invention. FIG. 3 is a block system diagram of a non-contact voltage (NCV) detector of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation mode of the invention. Any person having ordinary skill in the art can easily understand the other advantages and efficacies of the invention from the content disclosed in this specification. It should be explained that the structures, proportions and sizes depicted in the accompanied drawings in this specification are only used to match with the content disclosed in the specification for understanding and reading by those skilled in the art, and are not intended to limit the conditions that can be implemented by the invention, and therefore are not technically significant. Any structural modifications, changes in proportional relationship or adjustment of sizes without affecting the efficacies generated and the objects achieved by the invention, should still fall within the scope covered by the technical content disclosed by the invention. At the same time, the terms such as "one", "two", "above", etc. cited in this specification are only for clarity of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the invention, changes or adjustments in their relative relationships, without substantial changes to the technical content, should also be regarded as the scope of the invention that can be implemented. Please refer to FIG. 1 for a block system diagram according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The invention is a circuit tracking and positioning device, mainly using signal comparison as a line hunting method to clearly determine a signal strength of each line. It is different from the conventional method of self-searching for signals on multiple lines. If the signals are similar, displaying through light indicators will be very unclear and cannot judge effectively. Main structures of the circuit tracking and positioning device of the invention comprise a power supply unit 1, a no fuse circuit breaker finder 2, and a central processor 3. Wherein the power supply unit 1 has a voltage regulating circuit capable of generating a stabilized voltage power supply 10 and a precision power supply 12 with high current supply capability. Wherein the no fuse circuit breaker finder 2 is electrically connected to the power supply unit 1 and receives the precision power supply 12, amplifies a pulse signal received from a transmitter 4 to form an amplified pulse signal, performs signal shaping on the amplified pulse signal and compares the amplified pulse signal with a reference voltage to eliminate noise and obtain a first DC voltage value. The central processor 3 is electrically connected to the power supply unit 1 and coupled to the no fuse circuit breaker finder 2 to obtain the first DC voltage value and convert the first DC voltage value into a digital numerical value to determine a signal strength of the transmitter 4. Please refer to FIG. 2 as well for a block system diagram of the no fuse circuit breaker finder of the invention. The no fuse circuit breaker finder 2 specifically comprises a current magnetic field sensor 20, a front-end amplifier circuit 21, a gain control circuit 22, a signal coupling circuit 23, a secondary signal buffer or re-amplification circuit 24, a signal regulating circuit 25, an integral signal re-amplification circuit 26, and an integrator 27. Wherein the current magnetic field sensor 20 mainly receives the pulse signal sent by the transmitter 4 through a socket and a power distribution loop, and then amplifies the pulse signal through the front-end amplifier circuit 21 and obtains the amplified pulse signal. The gain control circuit 22 is coupled to the central processor 3 and capable of performing gain adjustment on the amplified pulse signal to complete pre-signal amplification. The gain adjustment can be selected by a user through a button switch, and changes can be controlled by the central processor 3. The signal coupling circuit 23 is coupled to the gain control circuit 22 for coupling and bias clamping the amplified pulse signal that has completed presignal amplification. The secondary signal buffer or re-amplification circuit 24 performs secondary signal amplification or buffering on the amplified pulse signal that has completed coupling and bias clamping. Noise may be contained after secondary signal amplification or buffering is performed on the pulse signal, because a time interval of the pulse signal is very short, maybe only 10us, a time width is not easy to be determined, and an interval between signal transmission can be several AC cycles. Therefore, the signal regulating circuit 25 is used to shape the amplified pulse signal into a noise-free integral signal, and the integral signal is compared with a reference voltage threshold preadjusted when the pulse signal is inputted. A significance of setting the reference voltage threshold is to avoid an amplitude height of the noise. By only allowing the pulse signal to pass through and charging and discharging the integrator 27 through the signal regulating circuit 25, the pulse signal is converted into an electric charge of the integrator 27, which is charged and discharged. A recharged waveform after capacitance discharging is similar to the shape of a sawtooth wave. An area of a sawtooth wave defect represents characteristics of electric charge loss of the integrator 27 caused by an intensity of the pulse signal. Therefore, the discharged charge will also be integrated and obtained through the integrator 27. Further, the pulse signal coming from the previous stage is integrated to avoid the influence of noise. After the pulse signal is integrated by the signal regulating circuit 25, the loss of an integral area is equal to the pulse signal being intensified, and the increase in an integral area is equal to the pulse signal being weakened. The larger a resistance of a comparator further prolongs a time for the loss of an integral area, further converting a strength of the signal into an obvious change in an integral area of the integrator 27. The signal comparator circuit used in the signal regulating circuit 25 can be a non-inverting signal comparator, and the comparator that needs to be used is an open drain comparator. Generally, the comparator is designed as an open loop, and a hysteresis function can be designed through the circuit. If the signal contains noise or sudden signal changes, as long as it does not exceed a predetermined voltage range (between VTL and VTH), output of the comparator will not change state immediately, thus contributing to an effect of noise elimination. Different from the non-inverting signal comparator, if the signal comparator circuit used in the signal regulating circuit 25 is an inverting signal comparator, and the comparator with an output open drain structure is also used, an output mode of the inverting comparator will be reversed from that of the non-inverting comparator. When the pulse signal enters the comparator output end, the integrator 27 will be charged. At this time, the resistor of the integrator 27 will discharge the capacitor. Since the integrator 27 needs to be integrated when the pulse signal occurs, and discharging should not be too fast when the pulse signal disappears, in order to obtain a more obvious increase in an integral area, it is required to change a ratio of a resistance of the integrator 27. The signal regulating circuit 25 is electrically connected to a pulse signal trigger comparator 28 (pulse trigger), which triggers the central processor 3 when a pulse occurs. Each time the transmitter 4 transmits a signal, the central processor 3 is triggered once, and the central processor 3 records a triggered time interval. If 5 AC cycles are used as an example, when the 5 AC cycles are triggered once, it will match a time interval of transmission of signal by the transmitter 4, which means that the signal is correct. If it is incorrect, it means that the detected loop noise is large and it is easy to trigger the pulse signal trigger comparator 28 by mistake. The central processor 3 is capable of adjusting a reference voltage of the no fuse circuit breaker finder 2 to eliminate signals being triggered mistakenly, so that an integral signal without noise can be obtained by detection in a smarter and more accurate way. The integral signal is converted into a square wave pulse signal and sent to the central processor 3 to obtain a time interval of triggering the pulse signal. After obtaining the aforementioned integral signal and reamplifying it through the integral signal re-amplification circuit 26, the obtained signal will present a sawtooth waveform, and a sawtooth waveform signal is re-amplified to make the signal more obvious and eliminate burrs or transient response of the sawtooth wave. Through the above-mentioned non-inverting comparator, loss area of the sawtooth wave is an integral area loss of the integrator 27. After the integrator 27 performs low-pass filtering and voltage stabilization, a voltage on the capacitor will become a DC average value. The integral loss area will be large, a DC voltage level will drop, and a DC voltage value is averaged and sent to the central processor 3 to be converted into a digital numerical change to determine a signal strength, and is controlled and displayed on a signal display unit 7 (which can be a button controller, an LED / LCD display or a buzzer). The signal display unit 7 is a button controller, which can be used for power supply / NFB mode gain adjustment or NFB / NCV mode switching. LED / LCD display: power indicator light, NFB mode / CMP (comparison mode) indicator light, NCV mode indicator light, signal strength indicator light, 4 gain-level indicator lights (shared NCV voltage range indicator lights). Wherein the signal strength indicator light is presented in an analogy: the method uses PWM to control a brightness of the indicator light, PWM is switched on and off at different intermittent times to achieve indicating with light off (no signal), slow flashing (weak signal), fast flashing (strong signal), and constant lighting up (strongest signal), and different signal strengths can be indicated by a single light indicator. The NCV voltage range indicator lights use four light indicators to indicate voltage ranges. For example, indicator light 1 indicates a voltage of 24VAC-60VAC, indicator light 2 indicates a voltage of 0VAC-120VAC, indicator light 3 indicates a voltage of 120VAC~180VAC, indicator light 4 indicates a voltage above 180VAC. Buzzer: PWM controls a sound level of the buzzer, PWM is switched on and off at different intermittent times to achieve prompting with no sound (no signal), slow sound frequency (weak signal), fast sound frequency (strong signal), and continuous sound (strongest signal), and different signal strengths can be indicated by a single buzzer sound. Please refer to FIG. 3 as well for a block system diagram of a non-contact voltage (NCV) detector of the invention. Further comprising a non-contact voltage (NCV) detector 5, mainly used for non-contact voltage detection, with a function for detecting an electric field signal of an AC voltage. The non-contact voltage (NCV) detector 5 is commonly used for detecting voltages from 24VAC to hundreds of VAC, which is non-contact type to avoid the risk of electric shock. The non-contact voltage (NCV) detector 5 in the invention is used to receive a power line signal (electric field) generated as an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform from a live wire and is electrically connected to the power supply unit 1. The non-contact voltage (NCV) detector 5 amplifies and buffers the AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, and then converts a peak value of the sine wave into a second DC voltage value. Wherein the non-contact voltage (NCV) detector 5 comprises a sensor 50, a front-end amplifier circuit 51 (MOSFET common source amplifier), a common drain buffer 52 (MOSFET common drain amplifier / source follower), a unity gain buffer or amplifier 53, and a peak value detection circuit 54. Wherein the sensor 50 is used to receive the power line signal that is an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform. The front-end amplifier circuit 51 is coupled to the sensor 50 and amplifies the AC voltage through a voltage dividing bias circuit. The common drain buffer 52 is coupled to the front-end amplifier circuit 51 and buffers the amplified AC voltage to connect to a next level circuit. The unity gain buffer or amplifier 53 is coupled to the common drain buffer 52 and reamplifies the AC voltage, and then sends the AC voltage to a sine wave to square wave converter circuit 55 (Square_Trig). The peak value detection circuit 54 is coupled to the unity gain buffer or amplifier 53 and performs peak voltage processing on the sinusoidal waveform voltage signal and obtains the relatively flat second DC voltage value, and then coupled to the central processor 3 to convert the second DC voltage value into a digital numerical value for determining a DC voltage value representing a sine wave peak value for confirming a power line signal strength of the live wire. On the other hand, the sine wave to square wave converter circuit 55 is coupled to the unity gain buffer or amplifier 53 and obtains an amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, converts the amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform into a square wave, outputs the square wave to the central processor 3 and reads a signal frequency of the AC voltage. The central processor 3 simultaneously receives the signal 5 frequency of the AC voltage from the sine wave to square wave converter circuit 55 and a time interval of triggering the pulse signal from the pulse signal trigger comparator 28, and then compares with a transmission interval that matches the transmitter 4. If the calculated transmission interval matches the transmission interval of the 10 transmitter 4 (within error), it means that the signal is less interfered by noise and a determined position is more accurate; if the calculated transmission interval does not match the transmission interval of the transmitter 4, the central processor 3 can automatically adjust the reference voltage to avoid the noise and confirm whether a matched 15 transmission interval can be found.

Claims

1. A circuit tracking and positioning device comprising:a power supply unit having a voltage regulating circuit capable of generating a stabilized voltage power supply and a precision power supply with high current supply capability;a no fuse circuit breaker finder electrically connected to the power supply unit and receiving the precision power supply, wherein the no fuse circuit breaker finder amplifies a pulse signal received from a transmitter to form an amplified pulse signal, performs signal shaping on the amplified pulse signal and compares the amplified pulse signal with a reference voltage to eliminate noise and obtain a first DC voltage value; anda central processor electrically connected to the power supply unit, the central processor being coupled to the no fuse circuit breaker finder to obtain the first DC voltage value and convert the first DC voltage value into a digital numerical value to determine a signal strength of the transmitter.

2. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the no fuse circuit breaker finder comprises a current magnetic field sensor receiving the pulse signal, a front-end amplifier circuitcoupled to the current magnetic field sensor, amplifying the pulse signal and obtaining the amplified pulse signal, a gain control circuit coupled to the central processor and capable of performing gain adjustment on the amplified pulse signal to complete pre-signal amplification, a signal coupling circuit coupled to the gain control circuit for coupling and bias clamping the amplified pulse signal that has completed pre-signal amplification, a secondary signal buffer or re-amplification circuit coupled to the signal coupling circuit and performing secondary signal amplification or buffering on the amplified pulse signal that has completed coupling and bias clamping, a signal regulating circuit coupled to the signal buffer or re-amplification circuit and integrating the amplified pulse signal into a noise-free integral signal, an integral signal re-amplification circuit coupled to the signal regulating circuit and amplifying the integral signal, and an integrator converting the amplified integral signal into a DC average value, and then the central processor converts the DC average value into a digital numerical change to determine a signal strength.

3. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a pulse signal trigger comparator (pulse trigger) coupled to the signal regulating circuit and obtaining the noise-freeintegral signal, converting the integral signal into a square wave pulse signal and sending the square wave pulse signal to the central processor (MCU) to obtain a time interval of triggering the pulse signal.

4. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a non-contact voltage (NCV) detector for receiving a power line signal (electric field) generated as an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform from a live wire and electrically connected to the power supply unit, the non-contact voltage (NCV) detector amplifying and buffering the AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, and then converting a peak value of the sine wave into a second DC voltage value.

5. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the non-contact voltage (NCV) detector comprises a sensor for receiving the power line signal that is an AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, a front-end amplifier circuit (MOSFET common source amplifier) coupled to the sensor and amplifying the AC voltage through a voltage dividing bias circuit, a common drain buffer (MOSFET common drain amplifier / source follower) coupled to the front-end amplifier circuit and buffering the amplified AC voltage to connect to a next level circuit, a unity gain buffer or amplifier coupled to the commondrain buffer and only amplifying the AC voltage, and a peak valuedetection circuit performing peak voltage processing on the sinusoidal waveform voltage signal and obtaining the relatively flat second DC voltage value, and then coupled to the central processor to convert the second DC voltage value into a digital numerical value for determining a DC voltage value representing a sine wave peak value for confirming a power line signal strength of the live wire.

6. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a sine wave to square wave converter circuit (Square_Trig) coupled to the unity gain buffer or amplifier and obtaining an amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform, converting the amplified AC voltage sinusoidal waveform into a square wave, outputting the square wave to the central processor and reading a signal frequency of the AC voltage, wherein the AC voltage signal frequency is transmitted to the central processor, the central processor calculates the AC voltage signal frequency and the time interval of triggering the pulse signal and obtains a comparison signal for comparing with the pulse signal output by the transmitter and determining a correctness.

7. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a signal display unit coupled to the central processor.

8. The circuit tracking and positioning device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the signal display unit is a button controller, an LED / LCD display or a buzzer.

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