Lightning strike counter and surge protection device

Abstract

This disclosure provides a lightning strike counter and a surge protection device. The lightning strike counter includes: a data acquisition unit coupled to a surge protection circuit of a surge protector and adapted to acquire surge signals from the surge protection circuit; a control unit coupled to the data acquisition unit and awakened when the data acquisition unit acquires a surge signal or meets a predetermined wake-up time condition, to count surge pulses related to the surge signal; a self-holding display unit coupled to the control unit and adapted to update display content based on a refresh signal from the control unit, the display content including at least the number of surges counted by the control unit; and a power supply unit coupled to the data acquisition unit, the control unit, and the self-holding display unit, supplying power to the data acquisition unit, the control unit, and the self-holding display unit. This reduces the power consumption of the lightning strike counter and extends its service life.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to the field of electrical equipment, and particularly to lightning strike counters and surge protection devices. Background Technology

[0002] A surge protector is an electrical device installed in a circuit to provide safety protection for various electronic devices, instruments, and communication lines. A surge protector can conduct and divert current when a spike current or voltage occurs in an electrical circuit or communication line, thereby preventing damage to other equipment in the circuit from the surge.

[0003] A counter is a device coupled to a surge protector and used to record the number of times the surge protector has operated. Maintenance personnel can use the counter's output to analyze surge conditions in the line and predict the remaining life of the surge protector. Utility Model Content

[0004] In a first aspect of this disclosure, a lightning strike counter is provided. The lightning strike counter includes: a data acquisition unit coupled to a surge protection circuit of a surge protector and adapted to acquire a surge signal from the surge protection circuit; a control unit coupled to the data acquisition unit and awakened when the data acquisition unit acquires a surge signal or meets a predetermined wake-up time condition, for counting surge pulses associated with the surge signal; a self-holding display unit coupled to the control unit and adapted to update display content based on a refresh signal from the control unit, the display content including at least the number of surges counted by the control unit; and a power supply unit coupled to the data acquisition unit, the control unit, and the self-holding display unit, and supplying power to the data acquisition unit, the control unit, and the self-holding display unit.

[0005] In some embodiments, the acquisition unit includes: a current sensor, at least partially surrounding a surge protection circuit, and adapted to generate an induced voltage during a surge current passing through the surge protection circuit; and a comparator, disposed between the current sensor and a control unit, and including: a comparison input coupled to a power supply unit to establish a comparison voltage at the comparison input; a sampling input coupled to the current sensor; and an output coupled to the control unit, and adapted to output a surge signal to the control unit during a period when the induced voltage of the current sensor exceeds the comparison voltage.

[0006] In some embodiments, the acquisition unit further includes a capacitor disposed between the sampling input terminal and the control unit, and adapted to be controlled by the control unit to output an induced voltage after the control unit acquires the surge signal for a predetermined time.

[0007] In some embodiments, the self-holding display unit includes: a display; and a driver coupled to the display and coupled to a control unit and a power supply unit, the driver being adapted to update the display content on the display according to a refresh signal from the control unit.

[0008] In some embodiments, the display is a bistable cholesteric liquid crystal display.

[0009] In some embodiments, the lightning strike counter further includes a voltage detection unit disposed between the power supply unit and the control unit to detect the voltage of the power supply unit, and wherein the display content also includes the remaining power of the power supply unit.

[0010] In some embodiments, the control unit further includes an enable interface coupled to the voltage detection unit and adapted to control the activation and deactivation of the voltage detection unit.

[0011] In some embodiments, the power supply unit includes a CR2477 battery.

[0012] In some embodiments, the lightning strike counter further includes a reset button coupled to the control unit and adapted to be triggered to cause the control unit to perform a reset operation.

[0013] According to the lightning strike counter provided in this embodiment, by coupling the acquisition unit to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector, the surge protector is turned on during a surge, allowing the acquisition unit to acquire the surge signal in the surge protection circuit. After the surge signal is sent to the control unit, the control unit is awakened and sends a refresh signal to the self-holding display unit. The self-holding display unit can refresh the display content according to the refresh signal after receiving it. In this way, the lightning strike counter can count the surge pulses occurring in the line. The control unit can remain in sleep mode under normal conditions, and the self-holding display unit can maintain the display content without being powered by the power supply unit. In this way, the energy consumption of the lightning strike counter can be reduced, and the service life of the lightning strike counter can be extended.

[0014] In a second aspect of this disclosure, a surge protection device is provided. The surge protection device includes: a surge protector; and a surge protection circuit coupled to the surge protector according to a lightning strike counter provided in the first aspect of this disclosure.

[0015] It should be understood that the content described in this content section is not intended to limit the key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to restrict the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0016] The above and other features, advantages, and aspects of the embodiments of this disclosure will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements, wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a surge protection device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown; and

[0018] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a lightning strike counter according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0019] Embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While some embodiments of this disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that this disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of this disclosure. It should be understood that the accompanying drawings and embodiments of this disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0020] It should be noted that the headings of any section / subsection provided herein are not limiting. Various embodiments are described throughout this document, and embodiments of any type may be included under any section / subsection. Furthermore, embodiments described in any section / subsection may be combined in any way with any other embodiments described in the same section / subsection and / or different sections / subsections.

[0021] In the description of embodiments of this disclosure, the term "comprising" and similar terms should be understood as open-ended inclusion, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "at least partially based on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "some embodiments" should be understood as "at least some embodiments". Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below. The terms "first", "second", etc., may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

[0022] As briefly mentioned above, in order to accurately analyze the surge situation in the line and predict the availability of surge protectors, maintenance personnel usually need to use a counter to count the number of surges that occur in the line.

[0023] Traditional surge counters use continuous sampling and display to count the number of surges detected by the surge protector. This sampling and counting method consumes a lot of energy, requiring a large, high-capacity battery to maintain the counter's long-term normal operation. However, this further results in a large counter size, leading to poor compatibility with surge protectors of different specifications.

[0024] The embodiments disclosed herein provide a lightning strike counter and surge protection device to solve or at least partially solve the aforementioned problems or other potential problems existing in the conventional technology.

[0025] According to some embodiments of the lightning strike counter disclosed herein, by coupling the acquisition unit to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector, the acquisition unit can acquire the surge signal in the surge protection circuit during a surge. After the surge signal is sent to the control unit, the control unit is awakened and sends a refresh signal to the self-holding display unit. The self-holding display unit can refresh the displayed content according to the refresh signal.

[0026] In this way, the lightning strike counter can count the surge pulses that occur in the line (that is, count the number of times the surge protector operates), which makes it easier for maintenance personnel to determine the surge situation of the line in a timely and accurate manner, and to predict the service life of the surge protector based on the number of times the surge protector operates, so as to maintain or replace the surge protection device when the service life reaches the expected value, thereby improving the convenience of line operation and maintenance.

[0027] Furthermore, the control unit can remain in sleep mode under normal conditions, and the self-holding display unit can maintain its display content without being powered by the power supply unit. This reduces the energy consumption of the lightning strike counter and extends its service life.

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a surge protection device 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 As shown, the surge protection device 100 includes a surge protector 110 and a lightning strike counter 120. The surge protector 110 is disposed between the power supply terminal of the electrical equipment and the ground wire, and the surge module of the surge protector 110 is adapted to conduct during a surge current at the power supply terminal to guide the surge current through the surge protection circuit (also referred to as the PE line) to the ground wire. The lightning strike counter 120 is coupled to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector 110 and is adapted to sense the current flowing through the surge protection circuit, thereby counting surge pulses in the surge protection circuit.

[0029] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a lightning strike counter 120 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2As shown, the lightning strike counter 120 generally includes a data acquisition unit 1, a control unit 2, a self-holding display unit 3, and a power supply unit 4. The data acquisition unit 1 is coupled to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector 110 and acquires the surge signal from the surge protection circuit. The data acquisition unit 1 can send the surge signal to the control unit 2, and after receiving the surge signal, the control unit 2 sends a refresh signal to the self-holding display unit 3. The self-holding display unit 3 updates the display content according to the refresh signal, and the display content includes at least the count of surge pulses.

[0030] Control unit 2 can remain in sleep mode under normal conditions. Once it receives a surge signal, it is awakened from sleep mode. At this time, control unit 2 can count the surge pulses in the surge protection circuit based on the surge signal and generate a refresh signal based on the counting result. Furthermore, control unit 2 can also be awakened when a predetermined wake-up time condition is met. For example, the user can configure control unit 2 (e.g., an internal timer) to wake it up every 24 hours. Even if no surge occurs in the surge protection circuit, control unit 2 can still generate refresh information to update the display content of the self-holding display unit 3.

[0031] After the control unit 2 generates the refresh information, it can enter sleep mode again. In some embodiments, a predetermined wake-up condition can be set so that the control unit 2 enters sleep mode again after the predetermined wake-up condition is met. The wake-up condition may include a wake-up time condition. For example, the user can set the wake-up time condition to 3 seconds, and the control unit 2 can re-enter sleep mode after being woken up for 3 seconds. It should be understood that the wake-up time condition should be set sufficiently to allow the control unit 2 to generate a refresh signal and enable the self-holding display unit 3 to update the displayed content.

[0032] By keeping the control unit 2 in sleep mode under normal conditions and waking it up upon receiving a surge signal or meeting a predetermined wake-up time condition, and performing at least the counting of surge pulses, the power consumption of the control unit 2 is greatly reduced, extending the operating time of the lightning strike counter 120 without the need for an additional power supply or a large-capacity battery.

[0033] Furthermore, the self-holding display unit 3 can display the content shown before power supply even without external power. Specifically, after receiving a refresh signal from the control unit 2, the self-holding display unit 3 can update the display content with the power provided by the power supply unit 4. After the display content of the self-holding display unit 3 is updated, it disconnects the power supply from the power supply unit and maintains the current display content. This also reduces the energy consumption of the lightning strike counter 120.

[0034] In some embodiments, the power supply unit 4 includes a battery. The power supply unit 4 supplies power to the control unit 2, the self-holding display unit 3, and the sampling unit via the battery. In some embodiments, the battery may be any suitable coin cell battery with high capacity or other small-volume battery, and this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0035] In some specific embodiments, the battery can be a CR2477 battery. Therefore, on the one hand, the high capacity of the CR2477 battery can meet the long-term use requirements of the lightning strike counter 120. On the other hand, the small size of the CR2477 battery allows the lightning strike counter 120 to be kept within a smaller size range, thus facilitating compatibility between the lightning strike counter 120 and various surge protectors 110, improving the overall compactness of the surge protection device 100. In some other embodiments, the battery can also be a CR3677 battery.

[0036] In some exemplary applications, the lightning strike counter 120 using a CR2477 battery can last for up to 10 years at 40°C. At 60°C, the lightning strike counter 120 using a CR2477 battery can last for up to 5 years. In some embodiments, the self-holding display unit 3 includes a display 31 and a driver 32 connected in series. The driver 32 is coupled to the control unit 2 and the power supply unit 4.

[0037] Specifically, in order to ensure that the driver 32 can obtain a stable operating voltage (e.g., 2.4V-3.5V) even when the voltage of the power supply unit 4 drops, the power supply unit 4 can supply power to the driver 32 through a boost circuit.

[0038] Meanwhile, the control unit 2 can send a refresh signal to the driver 32 via a serial communication bus, such as a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) or an Integrated Circuit Interconnect Bus (I2C). The driver 32 is adapted to receive the refresh signal from the control unit 2 and drive the display 31 to display the corresponding content.

[0039] In some embodiments, the display 31 may be a bistable cholesteric liquid crystal display (BCD). Since this display 31 does not require refreshing and does not require a backlight, the power consumption of the self-holding display unit 3 can be effectively reduced, which is beneficial to extending the service life of the lightning strike counter 120.

[0040] In some embodiments, the display 31 can also be an electronic ink (E-ink) display. Such a display can present images by relying on the movement of charged particles within a microcapsule or microcup structure, consuming power only when refreshing the displayed content, and consuming zero power during static display. This reduces the power consumption of the self-holding display unit 3, thereby extending the operating time of the lightning strike counter 120 without requiring an additional power supply or a large-capacity battery.

[0041] In some embodiments, the acquisition unit 1 includes a current sensor 11 and a comparator 12. The current sensor 11 includes a coil, which is at least partially wound around a surge protection circuit. If a surge current occurs in the surge protection circuit, the current sensor 11 can correspondingly sense an induced voltage. The comparator 12 is arranged between the control unit 2 and the current sensor 11, and includes a comparison input 121, a sampling input 122, and an output 123. The comparison input 121 is coupled to a power supply unit 4, so that the power supply unit 4 can provide a predetermined comparison voltage (e.g., 3V) to the comparison input 121. The sampling input 122 is coupled to the current sensor 11, and the induced voltage sensed by the current sensor 11 can act on the sampling input 122. The output 123 of the comparator 12 is coupled to the control unit 2. If the induced voltage sensed by the current sensor 11 exceeds the comparison voltage of the comparison input 121 (e.g., greater than 3V), the output 123 of the comparator 12 can send a high-level surge signal to the control unit 2. The cooperation between the current sensor 11 and the comparator 12 can filter out some interference voltages sensed by the current sensor 11, thereby improving the accuracy of counting.

[0042] In some embodiments, the acquisition unit 1 further includes a capacitor 13, which is arranged between the sampling input terminal 122 and the control unit 2. The capacitor 13 can store the induced voltage sensed by the current sensor 11. At the same time, the capacitor 13 can also output the induced voltage under the control of the control unit 2 (e.g., release the induced voltage to ground). In this way, on the one hand, the capacitor 13 stores the induced voltage, which can help the control unit 2 stably capture surge pulses in the surge protection circuit. On the other hand, when the control unit 2 acquires a surge signal, the control unit 2 can control the capacitor 13 to output the induced voltage, so that the voltage at the sampling input terminal 122 of the comparator 12 returns to zero, thereby facilitating the detection of the next surge pulse.

[0043] In some embodiments, the lightning strike counter 120 further includes a voltage detection unit 5. The voltage detection unit 5 is arranged between the power supply unit 4 and the control unit 2, and can detect the voltage of the power supply unit 4 (e.g., the voltage of the battery in the power supply unit 4). The control unit 2 can determine the remaining power of the power supply unit 4 based on the detected voltage. The control unit 2 can also add the remaining power of the power supply unit 4 to a refresh signal, so that the display content of the self-holding display unit 3 can display the remaining power status of the power supply unit 4.

[0044] In some embodiments, the control unit 2 further includes an enable interface 21, which is coupled to the voltage detection unit 5 and used to control the start-up and shutdown of the voltage detection unit 5. Specifically, when the control unit 2 is woken up, it can send a start command to the voltage detection unit 5 through the enable interface 21. The voltage detection unit 5 starts up and acquires the voltage from the power supply unit 4. If the control unit 2 reaches the wake-up time, it can send a shutdown signal to the voltage detection unit 5 through the enable interface 21. The voltage detection unit 5 can stop working based on the shutdown signal, thereby reducing energy consumption.

[0045] In some embodiments, the lightning strike counter 120 further includes a reset button 6 coupled to the control unit 2. The control unit 2 can also be woken up when the reset button 6 is triggered and perform a reset operation. The reset operation may include resetting the surge count information to zero.

[0046] Table 1 shows the energy consumption of the lightning strike counter 120 in some specific application scenarios.

[0047] Table 1

[0048] Acquisition Unit 0μA 3mA, 3s Control Unit 1μA 2mA, 3s Self-holding display unit 0μA 7mA, 3s total 1μA 12mA, 3s

[0049] As shown in Table 1, for illustrative purposes only, in some specific application scenarios, the operating current of the lightning strike counter 120 in sleep mode can be controlled at 1μA. When the control unit 2 is awakened and the lightning strike counter 120 enters the working state, the acquisition unit 1 operates at a working current of 3mA for 3 seconds, the control unit 2 operates at a working current of 2mA for 3 seconds, and the self-holding display unit 3 operates at a working current of 7mA for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds of operation, the lightning strike counter 120 can switch back to sleep mode. In this way, the power consumption of the lightning strike counter 120 can be significantly reduced, thereby extending the operating time of the lightning strike counter 120 without connecting an additional power supply or using a large-capacity battery.

[0050] Various implementations of this disclosure have been described above. These descriptions are exemplary and not exhaustive, nor are they limited to the disclosed implementations. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described implementations. The terminology used herein is chosen to best explain the principles, practical applications, or improvements to technology in the market, or to enable others skilled in the art to understand the various implementations disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A lightning strike counter, characterized in that include: The acquisition unit (1) is coupled to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector (110) and is adapted to acquire the surge signal of the surge protection circuit; The control unit (2) is coupled to the acquisition unit (1) and is awakened when the acquisition unit (1) acquires a surge signal or meets a predetermined wake-up time condition, so as to count the surge pulses related to the surge signal; A self-holding display unit (3) is coupled to the control unit (2) and adapted to update the display content based on a refresh signal from the control unit (2), the display content including at least the number of surges counted by the control unit (2); as well as The power supply unit (4) is coupled to the acquisition unit (1), the control unit (2) and the self-holding display unit (3), and supplies power to the acquisition unit (1), the control unit (2) and the self-holding display unit (3).

2. The lightning counter of claim 1, wherein, The acquisition unit (1) includes: A current sensor (11) is at least partially surrounded in the surge protection circuit and adapted to generate an induced voltage during a surge current in the surge protection circuit; and A comparator (12) is disposed between the current sensor (11) and the control unit (2), and includes: The comparison input terminal (121) is coupled to the power supply unit (4) to establish a comparison voltage at the comparison input terminal (121); The sampling input terminal (122) is coupled to the current sensor (11); and The output terminal (123) is coupled to the control unit (2) and is adapted to output the surge signal to the control unit (2) during the period when the induced voltage of the current sensor (11) exceeds the comparison voltage.

3. The lightning counter of claim 2, wherein, The acquisition unit (1) also includes: A capacitor (13) is arranged between the sampling input terminal (122) and the control unit (2) and is adapted to be controlled by the control unit (2) to output the induced voltage after the control unit (2) acquires the surge signal for a predetermined time.

4. The lightning counter according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The self-holding display unit (3) includes: Display (31); and A driver (32) coupled to the display (31) and to the control unit (2) and the power supply unit (4), the driver (32) being adapted to update the display content on the display (31) according to the refresh signal of the control unit (2).

5. The lightning counter of claim 4, wherein, The display (31) is a bistable cholesteric liquid crystal display.

6. The stroke counter according to any of claims 1-3 and 5, characterized in that, Also includes: A voltage detection unit (5) is arranged between the power supply unit (4) and the control unit (2) to detect the voltage of the power supply unit (4), and The displayed content also includes the remaining power of the power supply unit (4).

7. The stroke counter of claim 6, wherein, The control unit (2) further includes an enable interface (21) coupled to the voltage detection unit (5) and adapted to control the start-up and shutdown of the voltage detection unit (5).

8. The lightning counter of any of claims 1-3, 5, and 7, wherein, The power supply unit (4) includes a CR2477 battery.

9. The lightning counter of any of claims 1-3, 5, and 7, wherein, Also includes: A reset button (6) is coupled to the control unit (2) and is adapted to be triggered to cause the control unit (2) to perform a reset operation.

10. A surge protection device, comprising: Surge protector (110); as well as The lightning strike counter (120) according to any one of claims 1-9 is coupled to the surge protection circuit of the surge protector (110).

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