Release position information monitoring system based on Hall sensor

Abstract

The utility model relates to a Hall sensor-based release position information monitoring system, the system comprises an electronic release and a reading module, the electronic release comprises a release and a printed circuit board, and the Hall sensor, a release micro-control unit and a power supply module are arranged on the printed circuit board. The output end of the Hall sensor is connected to the input end of the release micro-control unit, the power supply end and the grounding end of the Hall sensor are respectively connected to the output voltage end and the output ground end of the power supply module, and the Hall sensor is configured to sense the magnetic induction intensity around the release and output a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic induction intensity. A first output end of the release micro-control unit is connected to an input end of the reading module, a power supply end and a grounding end of the release micro-control unit are respectively connected to an output voltage end and an output ground end of the power supply module, and the release micro-control unit is configured to receive a voltage signal and determine position information of the release based on the voltage signal. The reading module is configured to read position information of the release.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a system for monitoring the position of a trip unit. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a monitoring system for the position of a trip unit based on a Hall sensor. Background Art

[0002] In the field of power systems, trip units are common modules and are widely used in electronic devices such as circuit breakers and transformers. Therefore, it is important to accurately and timely monitor the status of trip units. Taking the trip unit in a circuit breaker as an example, when the circuit breaker is operating, if the trip unit malfunctions, for example, the iron core of the trip unit does not move or does not move in place, it will cause the circuit breaker to be unable to close or open properly, thereby triggering a fault in the power system and posing a safety hazard. Therefore, when an electronic device including a trip unit malfunctions, it is very important to timely determine whether the fault is caused by the trip unit in the electronic device.

[0003] In the prior art, the current of the trip unit is usually monitored by a Hall current sensor to determine whether the trip unit is operating normally. However, this method can only determine whether the iron core of the trip unit moves, but cannot determine the specific position of the iron core of the trip unit. For example, if the iron core of the trip unit moves, but the movement is not in place, it will also cause the trip unit to be unable to operate normally, thereby causing a fault in the electronic device including the trip unit, and such a cause of the fault cannot be identified by the existing method. In addition, for the trip unit, since pulse width modulation (PWM) will affect the current waveform of the trip unit, resulting in the Hall current sensor being unable to collect the true current waveform, the current waveform of the trip unit cannot be effectively monitored.

[0004] Therefore, a monitoring system for the position of a trip unit based on a Hall sensor is needed. This system can both avoid the drawbacks of traditional current monitoring and can determine the position information of the trip unit in real time, so as to determine whether the fault of the electronic device is caused by the trip unit refusing to operate or not operating in place. Summary of the Utility Model

[0005] In view of the deficiencies of the above prior art, the present disclosure proposes a monitoring system for the position of a trip unit based on a Hall sensor. By using a Hall sensor to sense the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit when it operates and generate a Hall voltage, and then determining the position information of the iron core of the trip unit based on the Hall voltage. Through this system, it can be determined whether the trip unit is operating normally, so as to determine whether the electronic device including the trip unit has a fault or abnormality, achieving the purpose of health monitoring of the electronic device.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a trip position information monitoring system based on a Hall sensor is provided. The system includes an electronic trip and a reading module. The electronic trip includes a trip and a printed circuit board, on which a Hall sensor, a trip microcontroller unit, and a power module are arranged. The output end of the Hall sensor is connected to the input end of the trip microcontroller unit, and the power supply end and the ground end of the Hall sensor are respectively connected to the output voltage end and the output ground end of the power module. The Hall sensor is configured to sense the magnetic induction intensity around the trip and output a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic induction intensity. The first output end of the trip microcontroller unit is connected to the input end of the reading module, and the power supply end and the ground end of the trip microcontroller unit are respectively connected to the output voltage end and the output ground end of the power module. The trip microcontroller unit is configured to receive the voltage signal and determine the position information of the trip based on the voltage signal, and the reading module is configured to read the position information of the trip

[0007] In some embodiments, the enable end of the Hall sensor is connected to the second output end of the trip microcontroller unit, and the Hall sensor is further configured to perform sensing based on the received enable signal.

[0008] In some embodiments, the position information of the trip indicates the distance that the iron core of the trip moves when current flows through compared to when no current flows through.

[0009] In some embodiments, the trip microcontroller unit is further configured to pre-store the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip and the position information of the trip.

[0010] In some embodiments, the trip microcontroller unit is further configured to determine the magnetic induction intensity around the trip based on the voltage signal; and determine the position information of the trip based on the magnetic induction intensity and according to the correspondence.

[0011] In some embodiments, the trip microcontroller unit is further configured to store the voltage signal into a data buffer when the received voltage signal exceeds a first threshold.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first threshold is at least associated with the power supply voltage value and the model of the Hall sensor.

[0013] In some embodiments, the trip microcontroller unit is further configured to store the data in the data buffer into a memory when the number of consecutive received voltage signals exceeding the first threshold exceeds a second threshold, and clear the data buffer when the number of consecutive received voltage signals exceeding the first threshold does not exceed the second threshold.

[0014] In some embodiments, the Hall sensor is a Hall linear sensor.

[0015] In some embodiments, the reading module includes a host computer.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first output terminal of the trip unit microcontroller is a serial port, and the input terminal of the trip unit microcontroller is an analog-to-digital conversion port. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become clearer and easier to understand from the following description of embodiments in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a trip position monitoring system based on a Hall sensor according to the present utility model is shown;

[0019] Figure 2 A view showing the internal structure of an electronic trip according to the present utility model is shown;

[0020] Figure 3 A view showing the internal structure of a trip according to the present utility model is shown;

[0021] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip and the position information of the trip according to the present utility model is shown;

[0022] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing the hardware connection of the modules on the printed circuit board of an electronic trip according to the present utility model; and

[0023] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method executed by a trip position monitoring system based on a Hall sensor according to the present utility model is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be implemented in many different forms. The described embodiments are only used to make the present disclosure thorough and complete and to fully convey the concept of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. The features of the described embodiments may be combined or replaced with each other, unless explicitly excluded or excluded according to the context.

[0025] In the embodiments of the present utility model, unless otherwise clearly stated, "connection" and "switching on" do not necessarily mean "direct connection" or "direct contact", but only require electrical connection. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. or similar expressions herein are only used for descriptive and distinguishing purposes and do not represent any priority or order, and should not be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance of the corresponding components, nor does it represent whether the described parameter values are the same or different.

[0026] Figure 1 Shows a schematic diagram of a trip unit position monitoring system based on a Hall sensor.

[0027] As Figure 1 shown, the trip unit position monitoring system based on a Hall sensor may include an electronic trip unit 101 and a reading module 102. The electronic trip unit 101 may include a trip unit and a printed circuit board on which a Hall sensor, a trip unit microcontroller unit MCU, and a power module are arranged. The specific structure of the electronic trip unit 101 will be described in conjunction with Figure 2 this.

[0028] The electronic trip unit 101 may be included in an electronic device such as a circuit breaker, a transformer, etc. When the electronic device is operating, the iron core of the trip unit included in the electronic trip unit 101 needs to move into place, for example, extend a specific length or move a specific position relative to when the electronic device is not operating, so as to ensure that the electronic device can operate normally. Taking a circuit breaker including the electronic trip unit 101 as an example, when the circuit breaker is operating, if the length that the iron core of the trip unit extends reaches 6.5 mm, it can be determined that the iron core has moved into place, otherwise it is considered that the iron core has not moved into place. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, the electronic trip unit 101 may be included in any suitable electronic device, and for different electronic devices, the threshold for determining whether the iron core of the trip unit starts to move is also correspondingly different.

[0029] When the position of the trip unit iron core moves, it will cause a change in the magnetic field around the trip unit. The Hall sensor can sense the magnetic induction intensity in real time and generate a Hall voltage accordingly. A suitable Hall sensor can be selected based on the change range of the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit. Still taking a circuit breaker including the electronic trip unit 101 as an example, when the circuit breaker is operating, the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit included in the electronic trip unit 101 is usually between 40 mT and 80 mT, so correspondingly, the model of the Hall sensor that can be selected is TMAG5253. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, the electronic trip unit 101 may be included in any suitable electronic device, and for different electronic devices, when the electronic device is operating, the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit included in the electronic trip unit 101 is also correspondingly different.

[0030] The trip unit microcontroller can receive voltage signals from the Hall sensor and determine the position information of the trip unit. The trip unit microcontroller can pre-store the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit and the position information of the trip unit. In addition, the trip unit microcontroller can determine the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit corresponding to the received voltage signal. After obtaining the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit, the trip unit microcontroller can accordingly determine the position information of the trip unit corresponding to the magnetic induction intensity according to the pre-stored correspondence. This will be described in conjunction with Figure 4 to specifically describe the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit and the position information of the trip unit.

[0031] The reading module 102 can read the position information of the trip unit. Specifically, the reading module 102 can read the position information of the trip unit from the trip unit microcontroller in the electronic trip unit 101. In some embodiments, the reading module 102 can be a host computer. In other embodiments, the reading module 102 can be a circuit breaker monitoring module. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the reading module 102 can be any device suitable for reading position information.

[0032] In some embodiments, the system may further include a display module for displaying the read position information of the trip unit. The display module can include any device suitable for displaying information, such as a display.

[0033] Figure 2 A view showing the internal structure of the electronic trip unit is shown.

[0034] Figure 2 The electronic trip unit 200 in Figure 1 can be the Figure 2 electronic trip unit 101. As Figure 3 shown, the electronic trip unit 200 can include a trip unit 201, a printed circuit board 202, and a back cover 203. As described above, when the device including the electronic trip unit 200 operates, the iron core of the trip unit 201 included in the electronic trip unit 200 will act, resulting in a change in the magnetic field around the trip unit 201. Reference will be made to

[0035] to specifically describe the internal structure of the trip unit 201 and the action of the iron core. Figure 1 The printed circuit board 202 is arranged with a Hall sensor, a trip unit microcontroller, and a power module. As described above for Figure 5 the Hall sensor can sense the change in the magnetic field around the trip unit and output it as a voltage, and the trip unit microcontroller can receive the voltage and determine the position information of the trip unit based on the voltage, that is, the distance that the iron core in the trip unit moves. Reference will be made to

[0036] Figure 3 shows the internal structure of the release.

[0037] Figure 3 The release 300 in Figure 2 can be the release 201 of Figure 3 As shown, the release 300 includes a static iron core 301, a moving iron core 302, and a thimble 303. When the device including the electronic release works, the moving iron core 302 and the thimble 303 in the release 300 will act, that is, displace relative to when the device is not working. For example, it extends a certain length. In this application, we refer to the displacement of the moving iron core 302 in the release 300 as the position information of the release, and a monitoring system for the position information of the release based on a Hall sensor is involved to monitor the position information of the release. Figure 3 also exemplarily shows the displacement of the moving iron core 302 that can be monitored by the monitoring system.

[0038] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release and the position information of the release.

[0039] As Figure 4 shown, the blue curve represents the magnetic induction intensity around the release, and the orange curve represents the position of the release. The correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release and the position can be pre-stored in the release microcontroller unit. When the release microcontroller unit receives a voltage signal and converts it into a magnetic induction intensity, it can determine the position of the release corresponding to the magnetic induction intensity according to the pre-stored correspondence.

[0040] In some embodiments, the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release and the position information of the release can be obtained through simulation experiments when designing the system. Specifically, when designing the system, a displacement sensor can be used to sense the position of the release, and a Hall sensor can be used to sense the magnetic induction intensity around the release. The release microcontroller unit can receive and store the sensed position of the release and the magnetic induction intensity around the release at the same time, and accordingly determine the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release and the position and store the correspondence. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any other suitable sensor can be used to determine the position information of the release, and any suitable method can be adopted to obtain the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release and the position information of the release.

[0041] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware connection of the modules on the printed circuit board of the electronic release. Figure 5 The printed circuit board 500 in Figure 2of the printed circuit board 202, and the release 505 can be Figure 2 the release 201 in Figure 3 or the release 300 in. As Figure 5 shown, a Hall sensor 501, a release micro control unit 502, and a power module 503 are arranged on the printed circuit board 500.

[0042] As Figure 5 shown, the power supply terminal VCC of the Hall sensor 501 is connected to the output voltage terminal Vout of the power module 503, the ground terminal GND of the Hall sensor 501 is connected to the ground terminal GND of the power module 503, and the output terminal OUT of the Hall sensor 501 is connected to the input terminal IN of the release micro control unit 502. In some embodiments, an amplifier may also be arranged on the printed circuit board 500, and the output terminal OUT of the Hall sensor 501 may be connected to the input terminal IN of the release micro control unit 502 via the amplifier, and the amplifier may amplify the output of the Hall sensor 501 by an appropriate multiple. In some embodiments, the amplifier may amplify the output of the Hall sensor 501 by 11 times. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the amplification factor of the amplifier may be appropriately set according to the applicable scenario.

[0043] The power supply terminal VCC of the release micro control unit 502 is connected to the output voltage terminal Vout of the power module 503, and the ground terminal GND of the release micro control unit 502 is connected to the ground terminal GND of the power module 503. The release micro control unit 502 may pre store the correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the release 505 and its position information. In some embodiments, the release micro control unit 502 may receive a voltage from the Hall sensor 501 via the input terminal IN, and determine the magnetic induction intensity around the release 505 based on the received voltage. Subsequently, based on the determined magnetic induction intensity and according to the pre stored correspondence, the position information of the release 505 is determined and output. The output of the release micro control unit 502 can be read by the reading module 506. Specifically, the first output terminal OUT1 of the release micro control unit 502 may be connected to the input terminal of the reading module 506 for sending the determined position information of the release 505 to the reading module. In some embodiments, the first output terminal OUT1 of the release micro control unit 502 may be a serial port with serial communication function.

[0044] In some embodiments, the trip microcontroller unit 502 may further include a second output terminal OUT2, and the enable terminal EN of the Hall sensor 501 may be connected to the second output terminal OUT2 of the trip microcontroller unit 502 to receive an enable signal. Based on the received enable signal, the Hall sensor 501 may start performing a sensing operation. In some embodiments, the second output terminal OUT2 of the trip microcontroller unit 502 may be a general-purpose input / output terminal GPIO.

[0045] In some embodiments, a control module 504 may also be arranged on the printed circuit board 500. The third output terminal OUT3 of the trip microcontroller unit 502 may be connected to the input terminal IN of the control module 504. The trip 505 may be connected to the power supply voltage via the control module 504. The power supply voltage connected to the trip 505 is typically one of 220V, 110V, 48V, and 24V.

[0046] In some embodiments, the model of the trip microcontroller unit 502 may be ATSAML10D15A. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the model of the trip microcontroller unit 502 may be appropriately selected according to the application scenario.

[0047] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method performed by a trip position monitoring system based on a Hall sensor is shown.

[0048] As Figure 6 shown, in step 601, the trip microcontroller unit may receive a voltage signal. The voltage signal is the Hall voltage output by the Hall sensor, and this voltage signal corresponds to the magnetic induction intensity around the trip.

[0049] In some embodiments, the Hall sensor starts sensing the magnetic induction intensity around the trip based on the enable signal received from the trip microcontroller unit and generates a voltage signal.

[0050] In step 602, the trip microcontroller unit may determine whether the received voltage signal exceeds a first threshold. In some embodiments, when the power supply voltage provided by the power supply module to the Hall sensor and the trip microcontroller unit is 3.3V, the first threshold may be set to 0.5V or 1V. However, the present application is not limited thereto, and the first threshold may be appropriately set according to the applicable scenario.

[0051] In step 603, when the trip microcontroller unit determines that the received voltage signal exceeds the first threshold, the voltage signal may be stored in the data buffer. In addition, the trip microcontroller unit may continue to receive subsequent voltage signals from the Hall sensor.

[0052] In step 604, the trip microcontroller unit determines whether the number of times it continuously receives voltage signals exceeding the first threshold exceeds the second threshold.

[0053] In step 605, when the trip microcontroller unit determines that the number of times it continuously receives voltage signals exceeding the first threshold does not exceed the second threshold, it clears the data buffer and determines that the previously received voltage signals exceeding the first threshold are interference signals.

[0054] In step 606, when the trip microcontroller unit determines that the number of times it continuously receives voltage signals exceeding the first threshold exceeds the second threshold, it can store the continuously received voltage signals in the memory. The trip microcontroller unit can convert the stored multiple voltage signals into corresponding magnetic induction intensities and determine the position information of the trip according to the pre-stored correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip and the position information of the trip. In some embodiments, the second threshold may be 10 times. However, the present application is not limited thereto, and the second threshold can be appropriately set according to the applicable scenario.

[0055] In step 607, the reading module in the system can read the determined position information of the trip from the trip microcontroller unit.

[0056] In some embodiments, the position information of the trip determined by the trip microcontroller unit can be visually presented. For example, the system can further include a display module for displaying the position information.

[0057] In some embodiments, it can be determined whether the trip is working properly based on the position information of the trip. When the position of the trip exceeds a specific threshold, it can be considered that the trip is working properly. The specific threshold can be appropriately set according to the application scenario.

[0058] The system disclosed by the present utility model senses the magnetic induction intensity around the trip through a Hall sensor to convert the magnetic induction intensity into a voltage signal, determines the position information of the trip through the trip microcontroller unit based on the pre-stored correspondence between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip and the position information of the trip, and reads the position information through the reading module, thereby determining whether the trip is working properly, so as to achieve the purpose of monitoring whether the electronic device including the trip is working properly.

[0059] It should be noted that, for clarity and conciseness, only parts related to the embodiments of the present utility model are shown in the drawings, but those skilled in the art should understand that the devices or components shown in the drawings may include other necessary units.

[0060] The block diagrams of the circuits, devices, apparatuses, equipment, and systems involved in the present utility model are only exemplary examples and are not intended to require or imply that the connection, arrangement, and configuration must be carried out in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As those skilled in the art will recognize, these circuits, devices, apparatuses, equipment, and systems can be connected, arranged, and configured in any manner as long as the desired purpose can be achieved. The quantities involved in the present utility model are merely illustrative.

[0061] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, apparatuses, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments and will not be elaborated herein.

[0062] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and apparatuses can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communication connection of the apparatuses or units can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0063] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units. They can be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0064] In addition, in each embodiment of the present utility model, the functional units can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0065] Those skilled in the art should understand that the above specific embodiments are only examples and not limitations. Various modifications, combinations, partial combinations, and substitutions can be made to the embodiments of the present disclosure according to design requirements and other factors as long as they are within the scope of the appended claims or their equivalents, that is, they belong to the scope of the rights to be protected by the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A trip position information monitoring system based on a Hall sensor, characterized in that, It includes an electronic trip unit and a reading module, wherein, the electronic trip unit includes a trip unit and a printed circuit board, and a Hall sensor, a trip unit microcontrol unit and a power module are arranged on the printed circuit board, an output end of the Hall sensor is connected to an input end of the trip unit microcontrol unit, a power supply end and a ground end of the Hall sensor are respectively connected to an output voltage end and an output ground end of the power module, and the Hall sensor is configured to sense a magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit and output a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic induction intensity; a first output end of the trip unit microcontrol unit is connected to an input end of the reading module, a power supply end and a ground end of the trip unit microcontrol unit are respectively connected to an output voltage end and an output ground end of the power module, and the trip unit microcontrol unit is configured to receive the voltage signal and determine position information of the trip unit based on the voltage signal; and the reading module is configured to read the position information of the trip unit.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein: an enable end of the Hall sensor is connected to a second output end of the trip unit microcontrol unit, and wherein, the Hall sensor is further configured to perform the sensing based on an enable signal received.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein: the position information of the trip unit indicates a distance that the iron core of the trip unit moves when current flows through relative to when no current flows through.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The trip unit microcontrol unit is further configured to: pre-store a correspondence relationship between the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit and the position information of the trip unit.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein The trip unit microcontrol unit is further configured to: determine the magnetic induction intensity around the trip unit based on the voltage signal; and determine the position information of the trip unit according to the correspondence relationship based on the magnetic induction intensity.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein The trip unit microcontrol unit is further configured to: when the received voltage signal exceeds a first threshold, store the voltage signal into a data buffer.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein: the first threshold is at least associated with a power supply voltage value and a model of the Hall sensor.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein The trip unit microcontrol unit is further configured to: when the number of times of continuously receiving voltage signals exceeding the first threshold exceeds a second threshold, store the data in the data buffer into a memory; and when the number of times of continuously receiving voltage signals exceeding the first threshold does not exceed the second threshold, clear the data buffer.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein: the Hall sensor is a Hall linear sensor.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein: the reading module includes a host computer.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein: the first output end of the trip unit microcontrol unit is a serial port, and the input analog-to-digital conversion port of the trip unit microcontrol unit.

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