Title of Invention

GROUP ENERGY METERING SYSTEM

Abstract

A Group Energy Metering System used for measurement of energy of multiple consumers by a single unit with one incoming cable of 2 core for single phase and similarly one cable of 3 or 4 core for 3 phase connection. Load is connected through Terminal Block. The system has two individual units Energy Measurement Unit & Display Unit which can be arranged jointly combined or separately through wired or wireless technique. The micro controller based DATA CONCENTRATOR receives data from measurement section for all meters. The received data is processed and concentrated at one point for subsequent requirement. Data downloading facility is from both measurement & display units using MRI through wired or wireless technique. Individual load can be connected or disconnected remotely through GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication. Display Unit is capable of showing different parameters of all the meters simultaneously or one consumer at a time in auto/ manual scrolling fashion. It eliminates jumbling up of cables, reduces external wiring, provides streamlined connections, saves space, eliminates reversal of load connection. It is very convenient, tamper proof, pilfer proof and easy to install & maintain. Non-metallic housing is provided for protection against electric shock.

Full Text

DETAILS OF ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATION EXPANSION OF ABBREVIATION ADC Analog to Digital Converter AMR Automatic Meter Reader ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CPLD Complex Programmable Logic Device CT Current Transformer FRAM Ferro Electric Random Access Memory (Non Volatile) GSM Global Service Mobile kWh Kilo Watt Hour LCD Liquid Crystal Display MD Maximum Demand MOV Metal Oxide Varistor MRI Meter Reading Instrument Ph Phase PLCC Power Line Carrier Communication RF Radio Frequency RS 232 Recommended Standard Communication Connector Technique RS 485 Recommended Standard Communication Connector Technique RTC Real Time Clock FIELD OF INVENTION: - The Invention describes Group Energy Metering System. The conventional system of measurement of Electrical Energy is individual metering i.e. individual Energy Meter being provided to each consumer. The Meter is to record electrical energy consumption for individual consumer exclusively. The installation in case of single phase supply is carried out by connecting phase & neutral of mains supply to corresponding terminals in the meter terminal block (i.e. Supply Side). The load of the consumer is connected from the load side of terminal block in the same manner i.e. Phase & Neutral outgoing. Similarly for 3 phase supply system, i.e. 3 phases & neutral are connected to the incoming side terminal of the meter and corresponding 3 phases & neutral available in the outgoing terminals are connected to the load of the consumer. PRIOR ART:- l)ue to passage of time, the dwelling pattern has changed from individual houses to "Residential Flats". Now-a-days even small scale manufacturing & service industries are operating at "Flatted Factories". Thus it is obvious that there are large number of individual customers in one premises now. So with the existing system of metering the incoming supply cables (phases & neutral) are to be connected separately to each and every meter and outgoing cables to the consumer load individually. This makes the cabling system very lengthy, clumsy, jumbled up, cumbersome. Fig. 1 & 2 respectively show an example of existing layout for 4 nos. of Single Phase and 4 nos. of Three Phase Meter installation & its complexicity. Even physical placement of Energy Meters becomes difficult due to lack of available space. Problem With Prior Art:- 1. Space requirement will be high due to installation of so many individual meters. Most houses and factory units do not have enough space to accommodate multiple meters & its wiring. 2. Jumbling of cables for large number of connections. 3. The system is unsafe. Often open cable joints can be seen. 4. The connections become untidy because of so many cables. 5. Identification of particular cable for repair / replacement becomes difficult because of so many wires. 6. Occasionally it can cause hazard due to birds or lizards etc. 7. Pilferage becomes easy due to open wiring. The whole metering setup is open to tampering. How this invention seeks to solve the problems:- The invention relates to a group energy metering system wherein a number of users can be metered from one group metering of multiple number of consumers. In this design a group metering will register energy consumption of one or multi number of consumers. The input of power is at one place, which will feed supplies to all the individual units and register the consumption of energy for each consumer. For registration of energy consumption separate display or a common display is provided to display the consumption of individual unit one after the other in a sequential order. The invented design concept is shown in fig 3, fig 4 and fig 5 for Single Phase, Three Phase or combination of single phase and three phase system respectively, housing multi numbers of individual meters inside. Objects of the present invention are: 1. It is with an object to provide Group Metering in one meter. 2. The group energy metering system will eliminate jumbling up of cables. 3. External wiring drastically reduced & connection streamlined. 4. Sizeable reduction of space on providing Group Metering in one Meter instead of each individual meter separately. 5. An improved system of metering as in the system, the incoming terminal is common or separate depending on use. Terminals for outgoing connections are marked separately. 6. The system will be free from the risk of bird & lizard etc. 7. Reversal of load connection is eliminated. This Group Energy Metering System according to the present invention, is very convenient, space saving, tamper proof and easy for installation & maintenance. Since many apparently different embodiments of the present invention could be made without departing from scope and spirit thereof, it is intended that the description of the invention stated herein be interpreted as being illustrative only and not limiting in any manner whatsoever. FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION:- Group energy metering system can have following arrangements, as required: (i) One I oint Unit:- Refer l'ig-6, Comprising of measurement unit & display unit combined together. (ii) Two Separate Individual Units:- Refer Fig-7, Comprising of individual measurement unit & display unit separately. The functional description is as under: Measurement Unit The measurement unit electronics is broadly divided into three sections namely: 1) Power Supply Section 2) Energy Measurement Section 3) Controller Section Power Supply Section This section takes mains supply from the incoming bus bar to generate ripple free low voltage DC to cater to the requirement of both measurement unit and display unit. It employs very good quality transformer, bridge rectifier, voltage regulator and necessary filter circuit to achieve the goal. Suitable X 2 -type capacitor and MOV protects the total system from sudden appearance of high voltage and surges in the incoming mains supply. Energy Measurement Section This section measures power consumption of 2 numbers or more of consumers individually. The electrical energy delivered to consumer's load is passed through the primary of a C.'T or a shunt, which produces scaled down voltage, proportionate to consumer current, across the designed circuitry. This provides current signal. The voltage signal appearing between line and neutral is scaled down to produce suitable voltage using potential divider method. This provides voltage signal. Now these signals are fed to energy measurement ASIC. Inside ASIC these signals are converted to digital signal by ADC and then multiplied to derive instantaneous power. The instantaneous power is integrated over a time to arrive at corresponding energy value. In this technique of power measurement, except for ADC section all other signal processing are carried in the digital domain. This approach provides superior stability and accuracy over extremes in environment condition and over time. The ASIC gives instantaneous active power information which is used for meter calibration. It also provides average active power information which is being used by the controller section for calculating KWh, MD etc. Controller Section This section, on receipt of active power information from measurement section, calculates kWh, MD etc. It uses latest state of the art micro controller a long with very powerful CPLD, logic circuitry, FRAM (extremely long life memory), R'l'C with Li-primary battery and RS-232 (serial ports). The processed data is sent to display unit using one serial port. Another serial port is provided for data downloading using MRI. Display Unit This is a separate micro -controller based unit with display driver, LCD - glass, serial ports and associated electronics. The signal received from the measurement unit through serial port is processed to display kWh, MD, Date, Time etc in a scrolling fashion in the LCD. The LCD is having 2 or more rows of multi digits multi segment displays to display individual kWh, MD alongwith current date and time in a automatically/manual scrolling mode. The other serial port is for data down loading using MRI. Statement of invention:- Accordingly the invention describes Group Energy Metering System for metering of multi number of meters where outgoing terminals are marked separately and incoming terminals are common. The system is applicable for Electronic kWh Type, Trivector Type with AMR facilities. The invention totally eliminates the scope of power pilferage as there is no existence of incoming terminal block for individual meter. This eliminates the reversal of load connection. The group energy metering system is having one common Terminal Block lor input Power Supply to the system. The supply to individual customer load is from physically separated properly earmarked (for each customer) Terminal Block having provision for connection of customer load (1 Ph, 3 Ph or combination of 1 Ph & 3 Ph). The consumer supply can be routed directly or through Latching Relay for connection or disconnection of load as required. Hence the scope of manipulation with input supply and load supply connection terminals is totally ruled out. Thus the invention completely stops pilferage of power. For single phase connection, number of cables on the incoming side is only one cable of 2 core for single phase & similarly one cable of 3 core / 4 core for 3 phase connection for multi meters. The group energy metering system has other distinct features as under: -Common mains supply to the system can be Single Phase (Phase & Neutral) or Three Phase (3 phase, 4 wire/3 phase, 3 wire) -Energy supply to consumer load can be Single Phase, Three Phase or combination of Single & Three Phase. -The System developed using the concept of split metering i.e. Energy Measurement Unit & Display Unit for energy registration etc are two individual units which can be arranged jointly combined or separately. Interconnection between these two units can be wired using serial communication cable or wireless using RF communication technology. -The Energy Measurement unit is having micro controller based state of the art DATA CONCENTRATOR. Data received from measurement section for all meters are processed and concentrated at one point for subsequent requirement. -System is with facility for data downloading via wired serial communication from measurement unit or display unit using MRI. -Data downloading can be carried out wireless using GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication. -Power can be supplied to individual consumer using suitable Latching Relay. This enables connecting or disconnecting the consumer load by giving command through GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication remotely as required. -GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication system can be an integral part of system or it can be separate. -Display Unit is capable of showing different parameters of all the meters simultaneously (i.e. for example : if the unit has 10 meters, the display will show 10 individual meter data simultaneously). -Display can show measured parameters of all the meters, one consumer at a time in auto/ manual scrolling fashion. - The group energy metering system is housed in Engineering plastic cover to provide protection against electric shock I CLAIM:- 1. Group energy metering system for measuring energy consumption of plurality of load centres : - Plurality of current sensors connected at both phase and neutral terminal of every output. - Plurality of voltage sensors connected across the outgoing terminals of individuals load centres. - One common terminal block for input supply and separately marked outgoing terminals; characterized in that. - Common mains supply to the system can be Single Phase (Phase & Neutral) or Three Phase (3 phase, 4 wire/3 phase, 3 wire). - Energy supply to consumer load can be Single Phase, Three Phase or combination of Single & Three Phase. - The System developed using the concept of split metering i.e. Energy Measurement Unit & Display Unit for energy registration etc are two individual units which can be arranged separately or jointly combined. Interconnection between these two units can be wired using serial communication cable or wireless using RF communication technology. Power can be supplied to individual consumer using suitable Latching Relay which enables connecting or disconnecting the consumer load by giving command through GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication remotely as required. Energy measurement electronic circuitry to receive inputs from said current and voltage sensor means and to generate energy consumption data. The Energy Measurement unit is having micro controller based state of the art DATA CONCENTRATOR. Data received from measurement section for all meters are processed and concentrated at one point for subsequent requirement. Processing means to process data received from said energy measurement circuitry, to load & retrieve said data at electronic memory device and also to control plurality of electronic devices, and generate pulse for calibration of the device. Memory connected with the processing means to store said data. - Means for storing & retrieving data loaded at said memory device. - System is with facility for data downloading via wired serial communication from measurement or display unit using MR1. - Data downloading can be carried out wireless using GSM /CDMA/ PLCCy RF communication. - GSM/CDMA/PLCC/RF communication system can be an integral part of system or it can be separately connected to the main equipment. - Display Unit is capable of showing different parameters of all the meters at a time simultaneously ((i.e. for example : if the unit has 10 meters, the display will show 10 individual meter data simultaneously) in manual/auto scrolling fashion. - Display can show measured parameters of all the meters one by one in auto scrolling fashion. 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said processing means is connected to display unit consisting of memory means, display driver and LCD display. 14 3. The device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said LCD display is connected to processing means and display driver. 4. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processing means is connected to real time clock & battery. 5. The device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said processing means is connected to serial communication port to transfer data to the serial communication port of the display unit and to external processing means. 6. Group Energy Metering System as claimed in any of the preceding claims for measuring energy consumption of plurality of consumer connections.

Documents:

1507-del-2006-abstract.pdf

1507-del-2006-claims.pdf

1507-del-2006-correspondence-others.pdf

1507-del-2006-description (complete).pdf

1507-del-2006-drawings.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-1.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-18.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-2.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-3.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-5.pdf

1507-del-2006-form-9.pdf