Patent Application
20180372785
Power systems frequently generate and distribute power in the form of electricity from one or more power sources to end users, sometimes via a power distribution grid. For example, fossil fuel or nuclear power sources may generate and deliver electrical power to a distribution system, which distributes electricity via power lines constituting a grid to, e.g., residential or commercial end users. Solar power may be used similarly to generate and distribute electricity. Solar-sourced electricity commonly supplements fossil fuel- or nuclear power-sourced electricity, although in some applications solar power may be the sole source of electricity at the end user.
A power system can be said to include a power generator and a “balance of system” (BOS) comprising all components used to modify, distribute, and ultimately deliver electricity generated from the energy source to the end user. For example, in a fossil-fuel- or nuclear-sourced power system, the BOS includes such components as power lines and other cabling, insulators, connectors, etc. In a solar or photovoltaic (PV) power system, the BOS includes such components as cabling, switches, enclosures, inverters, etc.
There are a variety of industrial and commercial equipment that require the use of cables to transmit electricity, data and other information. To fit the particular application, these cables may be measured and cut to specified lengths, labeled, bundled together as groups of cables, per specifications, have connectors applied, and be packaged, often in a circular form, either on a spool or in other packaging. The finished product is commonly called a cable harness.
A cable harness should have no compromising or disabling faults, but quality control in manufacturing can be imperfect and a solution that avoids installation of a faulty cable harness is needed. Attempts at visual examination, including examination of cable insulation and connectors, enjoy some success but cannot, for example, detect unseen faults resulting from flaws in, for example, conductive material, insulation, connectors, and termination.
Furthermore, it may be desirable to scan cables of a cable harness for characteristics of the cables other than inherent faults, such as electrical resistance, capacitance, and connector integrity. Attempts at scanning cables, however, scan cables one-at-a-time, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. Embodiments disclosed herein enable scanning of cables and/or a cable harness to be performed with greater ease and efficiency.
In a first aspect, a scan apparatus comprises circuitry including a scan controller configured to control a scan of a cable harness; first and second cabling units each having one or more connectors by which the scan controller is configured to be operably coupled to the first and second cabling units to control the scan via the first cabling unit and receive an output of the scan via the second cabling unit; and an interface configured for communication of at least one of a scan result derived from the received output and a scan request input to the scan apparatus.
In a second aspect, a scan system comprises a scan apparatus including circuitry including a scan controller configured to control a scan of a cable harness; first and second cabling units each having one or more connectors by which the scan controller is configured to be operably coupled to the first and second cabling units to control the scan via the first cabling unit and receive an output of the scan via the second cabling unit; and an interface configured for communication of at least one of a scan result derived from the received output and a scan request input to the scan apparatus; a first fixture having a first connector configured to be communicably coupled to and uncoupled from the scan apparatus via the first cabling unit, and a second connector configured to be communicably coupled to and uncoupled from a first end of a cable harness; and a second fixture having a third connector configured to be communicably coupled to and uncoupled from the scan apparatus via the second cabling unit, and a fourth connector configure to be communicably coupled to and uncoupled from a second end of the cable harness.
In a third aspect, a method of scanning a plurality of cable harnesses comprises configuring a scanning apparatus having first and second cabling units to control scanning of first and second cable harnesses each having first and second ends; communicably connecting a first fixture to the first cabling unit and a second fixture to the second cabling unit; communicably connecting the first end of the first cable harness to the first fixture via respective mutually compatible first connectors; communicably connecting the second end of the first cable harness to the second fixture via respective mutually compatible second connectors; scanning the first cable harness with a first scan signal provided by the scan apparatus through the first cabling unit, the first fixture, the first cable harness, the second fixture, and the second cabling unit; disconnecting the first fixture from the first cabling unit and the second fixture from the second cabling unit; communicably connecting a third fixture to the first cabling unit and a fourth fixture to the second cabling unit; communicably connecting the first end of the second cable harness to the third fixture via respective mutually compatible third connectors; communicably connecting the second end of the second cable harness to the fourth fixture via respective mutually compatible fourth connectors; and scanning the second cable harness with a second scan signal provided by the scan apparatus through the first cabling unit, the third fixture, the second cable harness, the fourth fixture, and the second cabling unit; wherein the first connectors of the first cable harness are incompatible with the third connectors of the third fixture.
The accompanying drawings are considered illustrative of inventive concepts described throughout the disclosure. To the extent that the drawings show inventive concepts, possibly including analysis that is properly considered to be inventive activity, the drawings nevertheless are illustrative in nature and should not be considered unduly limitative in any way.
Embodiments are described herein that, for example, enable scanning of cables or a cable harness in an easier and more consistent and efficient manner than known methods, and may have notable applicability to BOS components in power distribution systems of which solar power systems are an example. Other improvements and advantages also flow from the various embodiments, whether or not specifically disclosed. All such improvements and advantages are proper considered within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments, without limitation.
Throughout the description, reference may be made to “electricity”, “current”, “electrical current”, “power”, “electrical power”, or the like. Although each of these terms may be differentiable by one of ordinary skill in the art, especially in context, one or more of these terms may be substituted for or used in combination with another herein for convenience, without limitation in terms of scope.
In a similar way, reference may be made to “test” or “scan”; “connected” or “coupled”; and “processor”, “processing device”, or “computing device”, for example, and one or more of these terms may be substituted for or used in combination with another herein for convenience without limitation in terms of scope. In addition, the singular (e.g., “processor”) may describe the plural (“processors”) in addition or alternatively as appropriate and understood by the person of ordinary skill in the art.
Therefore, a solar power system is described as a representative context for scanners and scanner assemblies according to various embodiments. Although a solar power system is illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that other power systems utilizing similar components may have similar issues addressable by the presently disclosed embodiments. For example, electrical power generated from a fossil fuel or nuclear energy may be distributed using cables or cable harnesses which would also benefit from a more efficient way to scan them for faults.
In some embodiments, the inputs to combiners 20 may be direct current (DC), single-phase alternating current (AC), or three-phase AC (summed, with optional neutral) inputs via corresponding cables 15, and combined into one or more direct current outputs via cables 25.
In one or more embodiments, scanner 400 may be configured with a scan controller and other suitable hardware and/or software to scan one or more cables 215 of cable harness 200 for any of a variety of characteristics, of which faults related to (dis)continuity, resistance, capacitance, connector polarity, and connector integrity are nonlimiting examples. To this end, scanner 400 may also include a test component comprising hardware and/or software to analyze results of the scan, determine one or more characteristics of the cables or cable harness from the analyzed output, and derive scan results from the one or more characteristics. Alternatively or in addition, some or all of the hardware/software, including a scan controller or test component, may be provided separately from scanner 400 and/or externally of scanner box 430.
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand and be able to scan, test, and devise tests for other conditions or characteristics, including conditions or characteristics other than faults and faults other than those mentioned.
Scanner 400 may further include an interface 440 configured to communicate via wires or wirelessly with a computing device such as, by way of nonlimiting example, a personal computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. using appropriate software and/or hardware. In combination with applications that may be provided for the computing device and/or scanner 400, scanner 400 may be controlled to scan cable harness 200 via the respective fixtures and/or provide results of the scan.
In accordance with features of test setup 500, cable harness 200 may be scanned for faults, indicators of faults, and/or other considerations of interest, for example. Scanner 400 may be designed with components that are chosen in accordance with the desired testing. Of note is the ease and efficiency of scanning cables 215 using test setup 500. For example, by simply connecting the ends of cables 215 to connectors 550 and 560 of fixtures 510 and 520, respectively, one or more of cables 215, or even the entire cable harness 200, can be tested by scanner 400, in contrast to the individual cable-by-cable connecting, testing, and disconnecting of the related art.
In some embodiments, cables 515 and 525 may be dedicated to scanner 400 and fixtures 510, 520 may be similar to an adapter providing a custom interface for cables 215 or cable harness 200 to communicate with scanner 400. Thus, regardless of the form of connection between scanner 400 and cables 515, 525 or between cables 515, 525 and fixtures 510, 520, one cable harness after another may be connected to fixtures 510, 520 so long as the connectors at the ends of cable harness 200 are compatible with connectors 550, 560. If a cable harness having incompatible connectors is to be scanned, another set of fixtures configured for coupling to scanner 400 via cables 515, 525 and having connectors 550, 560 compatible with the cable harness may be swapped in for fixtures 510, 520 for scanning the new cable harness. In this manner, substituting the fixtures may be sufficient to scan a variety of cable harnesses without requiring individual adapters for each cable end or substitution of cables 515, 525.
In these and other embodiments, test setup 500 may be portable and easily transported to any of a variety of sites to test cable harnesses 200. Additionally or alternatively, test setup 500 may be arranged at a single location and cable harnesses brought to the test setup for testing. For example, test setup 500 may be located where cable harnesses are conveyed in volume, such as following their assembly, with each cable harness in turn being connected to connectors 550, 560, tested, and disconnected for the next cable harness to be connected and tested. Similarly, multiple unharnessed cables may be connected and scanned simultaneously or substantially so. Additionally or alternatively, test setup 500 may be transported to a remote site such as a panel, combiner, or other installation site, at which site cables or a cable harness can be scanned as described herein.
Results of a scan may be shown via an optional display 440 illustrated with scanner box 430. For example, a graphical representation of scan results (characteristics of the cables or cable harness) may be displayed. In some embodiments, a simple light indicator of a fault (or no-fault) condition or other characteristic may be provided in the display or separately. Other result indicators will become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Although embodiments are described in which cables 215 may be electrical solar power cables, one or ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that optical cables or other cables may be tested in a similar manner with appropriate modifications to fixtures 510, 520 and/or hardware, software, or other components of scanner 400 or the system described above. Such modifications are considered within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Alternatively or additionally, scan results may be communicated via wires or wirelessly to a local or remote computing device such as a personal computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. using appropriate software and/or hardware.
One or more features and operations described herein, including but not limited to the scanning and testing operations, may be implemented using any suitable controller(s) or processor(s) and software application(s) which may be stored on any suitable storage location or computer-readable medium. One or more software applications may provide instructions that enable one or more processors or controllers to perform the operations described herein. The software application or applications may be embodied as instructions in a computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program instructions for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, semiconductor system (or apparatus or device), or propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include DVD, compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM), and compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W).
Although various features, advantages, and improvements have been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize variations and modifications to the embodiments as disclosed. All such variations and modifications that basically rely on the inventive concepts by which the art has been advanced are properly considered within the spirit and scope of the invention.
