DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a circuit breaker or molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) and, more particularly, for providing a communication between an electronic trip unit (ETU) of a molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) and supplementary modules of the MCCB.

BACKGROUND

A circuit breaker is an extremely important device that position in the power supply, the distribution network to ensure safe, reliable and economic operation of important equipment or devices and personal safety as well as electricity production and life of the people. In order to ensure the safety of the equipment, the breaker must be in continuous communication with the equipment. To achieve the communication plurality of supplementary devices / module are mounted on the breaker. The supplementary modules are being used in conjunction with the main protection and the control unit to offer advanced protection to the devices. The mounting of these modules is external to the molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) or breakers i.e. on the DIN rail provided on the side plates of the panel of the MCCB.

There are some drawbacks of the existing techniques used for mounting that somehow affects continuous communication with the equipment the few of them are listed below:

1. Additional wire harness like cable assemblies, connectors, crimps etc., and hardware like washer, nut, and screw etc., is required for mounting and establishing the connectivity between the add-on modules and the main protection unit.
2. The modules contain many bulkier components.
3. The wire line in the breaker cannot be designed arbitrarily long since the electrical properties (e.g. signal reflections) set physical limits in combination with the transmission speed. And hence depending on the transmission speed they may not exceed a certain length.
4. In order to optimise the signal quality, the ends of the bus line must be "terminated" with load resistors.
5. A cable end which is not correctly terminated can make the entire bus inoperative, especially with a high transmission speed.
6. The maintenance and replacements of the mountings is a tedious job.
7. Additional wire harness which may reflect in chances of bad connectivity due to lose contact, rupturing of insulation and the like.
8. Additional hardware implies increase in cost also shielding of wires is necessary which increases cost.
9. External mounting tends to probe into electromagnetic compatibility and Electromagnetic Interference problems.
10. The mountings occupy more space.
11. The external mounting tends to probe into EMI/EMC problems.

Thus due to above mentioned drawbacks, there exists a need for an improved communication system in order to avoid all the mentioned drawbacks and to provide a continuous communication between the trip unit and the equipment.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a can interface between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the subject matter.

In one implementation, a CAN interface between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker and the supplementary modules of the MCCB, to avoid at least one drawback mentioned in the above section, is disclosed

In one implementation, a CAN bus (for controller area network) is used to enable the communication between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker and the supplementary modules of the MCCB. The CAN bus is a vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other within a vehicle without a host computer. The CAN bus is a message-based protocol. The present invention uses CAN interface to communicate supplementary modules of MCCB with electrical trip unit (ETU) of MCCB.

In one implementation, the present invention provides a flexible insertion and extraction of modules in the MCCB that enable the continuous communication between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker and the supplementary modules of the MCCB.

In one implementation, the invention requires no additional internal wiring, and hence the wiring complexity is low.

In one implementation, the present invention provides an economical and easy to manage twisted wire pair serves as the transmission medium.

In one implementation, the CAN interface / stations used in the present invention may be subsequently added to and removed from the existing CAN bus relatively easily. Only the connection to the bus line must be made or disconnected. This aspect plays a significant role, especially with trouble shooting and repairs.

In one implementation, the present invention provides an ease of maintenance /replacement, the cost reduction and the module is light weight.

In one implementation, the present invention all the stations can communicate unconstrainedduring the breakdown of a CAN station as the system has no immediate impact on the CAN bus.

Accordingly, in one implementation, a system (100) for providing a communication between an electronic trip unit (ETU) (102) of a moulded case circuit breaker (MCCB) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB is disclosed. The system (100) comprises of the ETU (102) communicably coupled to a controller area network (CAN) communication module (104) having a controller area network (CAN) trans-receiver IC (118), wherein the CAN communication module (104) is configured to provided the communication between the ETU (102) and the at least one module (120) of the MCCB.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of the entire system with ETU and their supplementary module is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure in unnecessary detail.

The terms and words used in the following description are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

In one implementation, a can interface between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker is disclosed.

In one implementation, a CAN bus (for controller area network) is a vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other within a vehicle without a host computer. The CAN bus is a message-based protocol. The invention uses CAN interface to communicate supplementary modules of MCCB with ETU of MCCB.

Referring now to figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of the entire system (100) with ETU (102) and the supplementary modules (120) is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

In one implementation, a system (100) for providing a communication between an electronic trip unit (ETU) (102) of a moulded case circuit breaker (MCCB) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB is disclosed. The system (100) comprises of the ETU (102) communicably coupled to a controller area network (CAN) communication module (104) having a controller area network (CAN) trans-receiver IC (118), wherein the CAN communication module (104) is configured to provided the communication between the ETU (102) and the at least one module (120) of the MCCB.

In one implementation, the CAN trans-receiver IC (118) is configured to transmit and receive at least one message between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB.

In one implementation, the at least one module (120) is selected from a group of modules comprising a temperature module (110), a digital module (112), an earth leakage module (114), a relay module (116), and the combination thereof.

In one implementation, the CAN trans-receiver IC (118) configured to transmit and receive the at least one messages between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB using a controller area network (CAN) bus (108) coupled to the wherein the CAN communication module (104).

In one implementation, the at least one module (120) is communicably coupled to the CAN bus (108).

In one implementation, the ETU (102) is communicably coupled to the CAN communication module (104) using at least one connector (106) selected from a group comprising of a flat ribbon cable with polarized pokayoke connector. The at least one connector (106) may be used to avoid wrong insertion of cable assembly.

In one implementation, the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) communicates by transmission and reception of queries like exchange of data, protection settings etc., between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB using a controller area network (CAN) bus (108).

In one implementation, the ETU (102) is connected to the CAN communication module (104) via a FRC cable assembly (106). The CAN module (104) consists of a CAN trans-receiver IC (118) which helps in the transmission and reception of messages between ETU (102) and its supplementary modules (120) via the CAN bus (108). The ETU (102) can communicate four different modules (120). They are:
1. Temperature module (110)
2. Earth leakage module (114)
3. Relay module (116)
4. Digital module (112)

In one implementation, the temperature module (110) is configured to indicate the temperature of circuit breaker’s terminals. It monitors the temperature of breaker terminal and compare with the set temperature by customer. When temperature exceeds than the set temperature, it sends query to ETU for raising Alarm indication. The temperature protection range is from 85 C to 115 C.

In one implementation, the relay module (116) is configured to indicate alarm condition raised by ETU through any lamp, buzzer, hooter connected at relay module’s potential free contacts in system. Relay module has 4 potential free relay contacts (2 change over contacts and 2 NO) which are configurable. The rating of the relay is 240VAC/24V DC, 6A. With the help of this, user can set interlocks in the distribution system.ETU sends operating commands as per set configuration to operate relay and change the position of changeover contacts.

In one implementation, the digital module (112) provides a separate digital Input and output contacts. Each DI/O offers 4 Digital Inputs and 4 Relay Outputs. To enable DI/O module, the module settings in the EUT needs to be accessed and corresponding parameters can be set. I/P’s and O/P’s are configurable to Boolean logic equations. Total 16 combinations of these equations are possible to assign.

Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features:

One feature of the invention is that, the proposed invention increases the life of product. This change would not call for any change in application logic. This change would not call for product redesigning and hence no effect to ongoing production of the product.

Apart from above mentioned features, the invention has some unique features. The features are listed below:

1. The wiring complexity is low.
2. An economical and easy to manage twisted wire pair serves as the transmission medium.
3. CAN stations can be subsequently added to and removed from the existing CAN bus relatively easily. Only the connection to the bus line must be made or disconnected. This aspect plays a significant role, especially with trouble shooting and repairs.
4. The breakdown of a CAN station has no immediate impact on the CAN bus. All the other stations can communicate unconstrained.

Although a can interface between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker is been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods or devices described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations a can interface between an electrical trip unit of a circuit breaker is disclosed. ,CLAIMS:1. A system (100) for providing a communication between an electronic trip unit (ETU) (102) of a moulded case circuit breaker (MCCB) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB, the system (100) comprising:
the ETU (102) communicably coupled to a control area network (CAN) communication module (104) having a control area network (CAN) trans-receiver IC (118), wherein the CAN communication module (104) is configured to provide the communication between the ETU (102) and the at least one module (120) of the MCCB.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the CAN trans-receiver IC (118) is configured to transmit and receive at least one message between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 and 2, wherein the at least one module (120) is selected from a group of modules comprising a temperature module (110), a digital module (112), an earth leakage module (114), a relay module (116), and the combination thereof.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 to 3, wherein the CAN trans-receiver IC (118) configured to transmit and receive the at least one messages between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB using a control area network (CAN) bus (108) coupled to the wherein the CAN communication module (104).

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 to 4, wherein the at least one module (120) is communicably coupled to the CAN bus (108).

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 to 5, wherein the ETU (102) is communicably coupled to the CAN communication module (104) using at least one polarized poka yoke connectors connected at the both end of (106) a flat ribbon cable assembly.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 to 6, wherein the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) communicates by transmission and reception of at least one message between the ETU (102) and at least one module (120) of the MCCB using a controller area network (CAN) bus (108).