Claims:1. A circuit breaker (10) with enhanced fault management and protection settings, said circuit breaker (10) comprising:
at least one binary switch (11) adapted to modify configuration of protection settings of said circuit breaker (10);
an electronics interface (12) adapted to detect the position of said binary switch (11);
an indicator (14) to indicate state of said circuit breaker (10); and
a controller (13) adapted to change display state of the indicator (14) based on the position of said binary switch (11) detected by said electronics interface (12);
wherein said indicator (14) is adapted to the state of continuous fast blinking when protection settings of said circuit breaker (10) is modified by changing position of said binary switch (11); and
wherein said indicator (14) is adapted to the state of continuous slow blink when configuration of the protection settings of said circuit breaker (10) is complete.

2. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of binary switches (11).

3. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electronics interface (12) comprises binary switch position interface circuitry.

4. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller (13) is a microprocessor or a microcontroller.

5. The circuit breaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indicator (14) is a light emitting diode.

6. A method to change protection settings of a circuit breaker (10), circuit breaker (10) comprising at least one binary switch (11), an electronics interface (12), a controller (13) and an indicator (14), said method comprising the steps of:
detecting (S101), by the circuit breaker (10), a change in protection settings of said binary switch (11) of the circuit breaker (10);
initiating (S102), by the circuit breaker (10) a delay count in the controller (13) of the circuit breaker (10);
commencing (S103), by the circuit breaker (10), a continuous fast blinking of the indicator (14) of the circuit breaker (10); and
determining (S104), by the circuit breaker (10), state of the delay count, said delay count expires when change in protection settings is complete;
wherein if the delay count has not expired, the circuit breaker (10) detects (S101) if there is a change in the protection settings; and
wherein if the delay count has expired, the circuit breaker (10) changes (S105) the continuous fast blinking state of the indicator (14) to a continuous slow blinking state.
, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The subject matter of the present invention, in general, relates to circuit breakers and more particularly, pertains to enhanced fault management with changing operating condition.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[002] In an electronics circuit breaker, multiple binary switches e.g. dual in-line package (DIP), as illustrated in Figure 1, is used to configure protection settings for specific fault condition. Final configuration of protection settings is combination of more than one switch. To configure protection settings power supply to the electronics trip unit (ETU) of electronics circuit breakers should be disconnected.

[003] The state of the art technology does not allow a user to change the protection settings configuration based on change in operating condition without actually disconnecting the load from the system. A user has to modify the binary switch position as per the requirement in power OFF condition and then power up the device for detecting its combination. Thus method of detecting binary switch combination is restricted. If the user fails to disconnect the power supply and start changing the switch position, the electronic trip unit will detect an interim combination of binary switches even if user is in the process of changing other switches. The ETU will get configured for interim combination. In such a scenario, if this interim configuration results in a protection setting of lower threshold value than the available input current, this will lead to unwanted tripping of the circuit breaker which is undesirable.

[004] Thus, the drawback associated with the existing technology is that the user is required to disconnect the load while changing the protection settings configuration of a DIP switches, which is not be possible during critical process application.

[005] Accordingly, there is a need to allow a user to change the protection settings configuration without disconnecting the load during critical process applications in an electronics circuit breaker. Therefore, there is a need for enhanced fault management based on the change in the operating conditions.

[006] The above-described need to allow user to configure protection settings without disconnecting power supply of a circuit breaker is merely intended to provide an overview of some of the shortcomings of conventional systems / mechanism / techniques, and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems/ shortcomings with conventional systems/ mechanism /techniques and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[007] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

[008] An object of the present invention is to provide enhanced fault management based on the change in the operating conditions.

[009] Another object of the present invention is to allow a user to configure the protection settings without disconnecting power supply of a circuit breaker with predefined time for ensuring desired configuration of protection settings.

[0010] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide feedback to the user through interactive (Light Emitting Diode) LED indication about the change process implemented in ETU.

[0011] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit breaker with enhanced fault management and protection settings, said circuit breaker. The circuit breaker comprises one or more binary switch, an electronics interface, a controller and an indicator. The binary switch adapted to modify configuration of protection settings of said circuit breaker. The electronics interface adapted to detect the position of said binary switch. The controller adapted to change display state of the indicator based on the position of said binary switch detected by said electronics interface. The indicator to indicate state of said circuit breaker. In particular, the indicator is adapted to the state of continuous fast blinking when protection settings of said circuit breaker is in the process of modification by changing position of said binary switch, and the indicator is adapted to the state of continuous slow blinking when protection settings of said circuit breaker is complete.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the circuit breaker according to the first aspect, said circuit breaker comprises a plurality of binary switches.

[0013] In another possible implementation of the circuit breaker according to the first aspect, said electronics interface comprises binary switch position interface circuitry.

[0014] In yet another possible implementation of the circuit breaker according to the first aspect, said controller is a microprocessor or a microcontroller.

[0015] In yet another possible implementation of the circuit breaker according to the first aspect, said indicator is a light emitting diode.

[0016] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method to change protection settings of a circuit breaker. This method comprises the steps of detecting a change in protection settings of said binary switch of the circuit breaker; initiating a delay count in the controller of the circuit breaker; commencing a continuous fast blinking of the indicator of the circuit breaker; and determining state of the delay count, said delay count expires when change in protection settings is complete; where if the delay count has not expired, the circuit breaker detects if there is a change in the protection settings; and where if the delay count has expired, the circuit breaker changes the continuous blinking state of the indicator to a continuous slow blinking state.

[0017] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0018] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0019] Figure 1 illustrates an existing dual in-line package (DIP) switch as prior art of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 illustrates the block diagram of a binary switch interface of an electronic circuit breaker, according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 illustrates the flow chart for a method to change protection settings of a circuit breaker, according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0023] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

[0024] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0025] The terms and words used in the following description and claims 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 as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0026] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0027] 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.

[0028] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

[0029] It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or component but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

[0030] The present invention lies in providing a circuit breaker and a method to change protection settings of said circuit breaker.

[0031] In particular, the present invention describes a method and a circuit breaker that overcomes the limitations of the existing electronic circuit breakers and allows a user to configure the protection settings without disconnecting power supply of said circuit breaker with predefined time for ensuring desired configuration of protection settings. The user does not have to disconnect the load. The circuit breaker exhibits enhanced fault management based on the change in the operating conditions. The user gets feedback through interactive LED indication about the change process implemented in ETU.

[0032] The existing circuit breaker devices read the DIP switches only when the device is powered on. Thus, they require the user to disconnect power before changing a DIP switch on any device. This is a drawback as the user has to power off the device every time they need to change the DIP switch which may not be possible during critical operations.

[0033] To overcome said drawback of conventional technology, the present invention discloses a method by which, run time configuration of protection settings of electronics trip unit of electronics circuit breaker using multiple binary switches (DIP switches) is possible.

[0034] In an electronics trip unit, multiple binary switches are connected to the microprocessor or microcontroller, through a switch position interface electronic circuit. If a user needs to modify the configuration of protection settings based on the input condition and device is in running condition, then user will start modifying the binary switch position. Simultaneously user will get LED indication with specific blink pattern to indicate setting change is in progress. The microcontroller will sense change in binary combination and it will interpret the configuration.

[0035] In particular, the microcontroller will wait for definite time delay count e.g. 10 sec, before applying new configuration to protection settings of circuit breaker. This time delay count is provided to allow the user to change positions of more than one binary switch. Thus, the new configuration of protection settings of circuit breaker will not be applied when the user is in the process of changing them.

[0036] Moreover, if there is a change in the any of the switch positions before time out of the delay count, the present invention allows the time delay to be reset to its initial value. Resetting of delay count can be done for any change in binary switch position before time out. Once time delay count is elapsed, the microcontroller confirms the binary combination after interpreting the position. Then the protection settings are updated and the circuit breaker will operate as per the updated protection settings. An LED fast blink pattern changes to continuous slow blinking, indicating the user about configuration of protection settings being completed.

[0037] According to a first embodiment of the present invention, a circuit breaker (10) with enhanced fault management with changing operating condition is disclosed. Figure 2 illustrates the block diagram of this electronic circuit breaker (10). It comprises at least one binary switch (11), an electronics interface (12), a controller (13) and an indicator (14). The electronics interface (12) comprises binary switch position circuitry and this circuitry does not fall within the purview of the present invention. The controller (13) is a microprocessor or a microcontroller. The indicator (14) is preferably an LED whose blink pattern changes to continuous slow blinking, indicating the user that the configuration of protection settings is completed. This circuit breaker (10) allows a user to change the protection settings by using its binary switches (11) without disconnecting power (in run time) or input condition and without configuring protection setting based on interim switch position till user finishes the binary switch (11) position changes within specified time.

[0038] According to a second embodiment of the present invention, a method to change protection settings of a circuit breaker (10) is disclosed. This circuit breaker (10), as illustrated in Figure 2, comprises one or more binary switch (11), an electronics interface (12), a controller (13) and an indicator (14). Figure 3 illustrates the flow chart of the method for changing the operating mode of a circuit breaker. This method comprises the following steps:
Step 101: detecting, by the circuit breaker (10), a change in protection settings of said binary switch (11) of the circuit breaker (10).
Step 102: initiating, by the circuit breaker (10) a delay count in the controller (13) of the circuit breaker (10).
Step 103: commencing, by the circuit breaker (10), a continuous blinking of the indicator (14) of the circuit breaker (10).
Step 104: determining, by the circuit breaker (10), state of the delay count, said delay count expires when there is no change observed in binary switch position for specified delay count i.e., change in protection settings is complete. If the delay count has not expired, the circuit breaker (10) detects (S101) if there is a change in the protection settings.
Step 105: If the delay count has expired, the circuit breaker (10) changes the continuous fast blinking state of the indicator (14) to a continuous slow blinking state since protection settings of said circuit breaker (10) is complete.

[0039] This method allows a user to change the protection settings of an electronic circuit breaker using binary switches without disconnecting power (in run time) or input condition and without configuring protection setting based on interim switch position till user finishes binary switch position changes within specified time.

[0040] The present invention finds its application in any industry where circuit breakers use binary switch combination for configuration of protection settings or operating mode.

[0041] Some of the non-limiting advantages of the present invention are mentioned hereinbelow:
a) It allows user to configure protection settings of the circuit breaker without disconnecting power or load;
b) It minimizes the time required for modifying the protection settings of a circuit breaker as power disconnection is no longer required;
c) It avoids unwanted tripping of the circuit breaker based on interim binary switch combination;
d) It ensures safety of the user by avoiding unwanted tripping at the time of protection setting configuration; and
e) It provides a clear indication to the user about acceptability of changes in setting or error during acceptance of changes.

[0042] Although a circuit breaker and a method to change protection settings of said circuit breaker have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods as indicated, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or components or devices or methods described therein. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations to allow users to change the protection settings using binary switches without disconnecting power in run time in electronic circuit breaker.