Voltage Detection Circuit for Electrical Safety Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Operators face challenges in verifying the electrical safety of equipment, requiring burdensome and costly protective equipment and time-consuming live-dead-live voltage tests, especially in harsh outdoor environments, due to the need for frequent checks of electrical equipment for hazardous voltages.
Innovation Solution
A high voltage power rail with an integral voltage hazard safety circuit, including a voltage meter with probes connected to nodes of the rail, a secondary power supply, switches, and an isolation circuit, which allows for efficient detection of voltage hazards and reduces the need for standard live-dead-live checks by providing a known voltage and indicating safe voltage ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If operators perform standard live-dead-live voltage tests using external voltmeters, then electrical safety can be verified, but the process is time-consuming and requires burdensome protective equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the voltage testing function and safety verification into the power rail itself by integrating a voltmeter and secondary power supply directly into the rail structure. This eliminates the need for separate external testing equipment and reduces testing time while maintaining safety verification reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The power rail performs its own voltage testing and safety verification through the integrated voltmeter and control circuitry. The system tests itself without requiring external operators to perform manual live-dead-live tests, thereby reducing testing time and eliminating the need for protective equipment during testing.
2Reliability
If operators wear protective equipment for voltage testing, then safety is improved, but the equipment is heavy, burdensome, and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic voltage testing and safety verification through integrated circuitry, eliminating the need for operators to wear protective equipment during testing. The power rail tests itself, removing the burden of heavy protective gear while maintaining operator safety through automated hazard detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical testing procedures requiring protective equipment with an automated electronic testing system. The integrated voltmeter and control circuitry automatically detect voltage hazards without operator intervention, substituting mechanical testing with electronic automation.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If external voltmeters are used for voltage testing, then voltage detection is possible, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The voltmeter, secondary power supply, and control circuitry are merged into the power rail structure itself. This integration reduces device complexity by eliminating separate external testing equipment while maintaining full voltage detection capability through the embedded measurement system.
Solution Approach 2:
The power rail serves multiple functions: it provides power to the electrical load and simultaneously performs voltage testing and safety verification through its integrated voltmeter. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated testing equipment, reducing overall system complexity.
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
This solution reduces the need for protective equipment and testing time, ensuring operator safety by quickly determining if equipment is in a safe voltage condition, thus allowing for safer and more efficient operation of electrical systems.
Implementation Method 1
a secondary power supply, where the second power supply is configured to provide a known voltage across the first and second nodes of the electric rail
Implementation Method 2
a voltage meter having a first probe attached to the first node of the electric rail and a second probe attached to the second node of the electric rail
Data Source
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AI summary
Electrical voltage detection circuit and methods for determining the presence or absence of voltage in electrical equipment. An isolated power supply provides power to one or more voltage detection devices configured to detect voltage on one or more busses of electrical equipment. A switch is configured to provide supply voltage from the isolated power supply to the one or more busses of electrical equipment when the switch is closed. The voltage detection devices may determine if the one or more busses of electrical equipment are de-energized by detecting the voltage on the busses when the switch is open. The integrity of the electrical equipment may be verified by detecting, with the voltage detection devices, the voltage on the busses when the switch is closed, where the expected voltage readings are based on voltages being provided to one or more busses by the isolated power supply.