Contactor Electronic Coil Control False Fault Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional contactors with electronic coil control face issues with false fault detection due to low power consumption, leading to unnecessary line interruption detection during start-up or pause phases, and they often result in heating and power loss when using resistors for alternative solutions.
Innovation Solution
A contactor with integrated base load and time control, where the base load is activated only during start-up or pause phases, and the clock signal is inverted to prevent false tripping, eliminating the need for additional resistors and reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If electronic coil control with current clocking is used, then energy consumption is reduced, but false fault detection occurs during start-up or pause phases
Solution Approach 1:
A base load is integrated into the contactor circuit that is activated in advance during start-up phases or pause periods when the main coil is not energized. This preliminary action ensures continuous current flow through the circuit, preventing the safety-related output assembly from falsely detecting line interruptions during these transient periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The base load acts as an intermediary element between the power supply and the safety monitoring system. By introducing this intermediate component, the system maintains a continuous current path that mediates between the intermittent nature of electronic coil control and the continuous monitoring requirements of the safety system, preventing false fault detection.
2Reliability
If resistors are connected in parallel to maintain continuous current flow, then false fault detection is prevented, but heating and power loss occur
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using resistors to maintain continuous current flow, the patent employs the base load in a periodic manner - activating it only during start-up phases or pause periods when the main coil is not energized. This periodic action prevents false fault detection only when necessary, avoiding continuous power loss and heating that would result from permanently connected resistors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the current flow parameters by activating the base load only during specific time periods (start-up and pause phases) rather than maintaining constant current flow. This parameter change approach allows the system to achieve reliable fault detection prevention while minimizing energy loss, as the base load consumes power only when the main coil is inactive.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures accurate fault detection without additional heat or power loss, maintaining low energy consumption and preventing false tripping by restricting the base load's active phase to necessary times, thus enhancing the reliability and efficiency of the contactor's operation.
Implementation Method 1
A current in the excitation coil produces a magnetic flux through a ferromagnetic core and a movably mounted ferromagnetic armature
Implementation Method 2
The armature may be reset to the starting position by spring force as soon as the coil is no longer excited
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a contactor having electronic coil control for a magnet coil, the operation of keeping the pull-in power of the magnet coil constant being formed by current clocking, and having a safety-related output assembly of a programmable logic controller for the fault diagnosis of the contactor, the safety-related output assembly determining the flow of current flowing into the contactor and detecting a fault if a limit value is undershot and switching off. In the contactor disclosed herein, a connectable base load is integrated in the contactor.