Patent Application
20140077950
A security device for use in connection with the utility industry is disclosed, and, more particularly, a notification device and methodology that is operable to detect a utility cover open condition and communicate same to a network.
Utility theft continues to increase with the depressed state of our economy and due to increasing energy costs to the public and industry. Both residential and commercial utility losses are growing drastically each year, with commercial and industrial losses far outpacing theft occurring in residential settings. It is estimated that losses due to utility theft exceed one billion dollars each year, thus making this a costly problem for utility providers, who in turn, tend to pass these losses on to users of our utilities.
The problem with utility theft is exacerbated by the problem with the reduction in our work force as this has hampered aggressive investigation of reported thefts. A further problem with the reduction of the work force is that there are fewer on-site visits for every meter in the field. With fewer eyes in the field to identify theft and even respond to thefts that have been reported, utility providers are being negatively impacted by these factors.
Existing technologies in the field unfortunately are passive in that they often require workforce in the field in order to investigate utility theft. The investigation often results in a finding that the utility meter box has been broken into via destructive means. Such meter boxes often use passive designs that tend to mechanically lock down the cover of the meter box. Examples of passive designs include gang-socket locking bars, padlocks on meter boxes, and hardened cover locks. These passive locking designs fail to capture evidence of the theft event nor do they notify the utility that a theft has occurred. Another problem with such passive designs is that they fail to provide any intelligence about the length of time in which the meter has been improperly accessed.
It would be desirable to provide an improved notification system and methodology for detecting when a utility device has been tampered with improperly. It would be desirable to provide such a device and methodology that can be retrofit to existing meter boxes without additional tools, without any outside additional power, and that uses a low power wireless chip that makes the device operable to communicate with other systems. One such example could be to provide a security notification device for use in detecting when a cover of a meter box has been tampered with, the security notification device comprising: a housing having a first portion and a second portion; a switch positioned relative to one of these portions; a circuit board located within the housing; and a power supply positioned within the housing. Other examples will become apparent from reading the disclosure below.
With reference to
The cover access notification device 12 may be secured by various methods to the back wall 56 of the meter box 14, or to the bottom wall 54 of the meter box. It will be appreciated that the cover access notification device 12 could be positioned at a variety of locations relative to the meter box 14. Because the cover access notification device 12 senses the movement of the cover 48, it will be important that the device 12 be positioned relative to the cover 48 so as to sense certain conditions. For example, one such condition could be the condition of the cover of the meter box 14 being tampered with by an intruder. It will be appreciated that the device 12 could be secured to the meter box 14 by various methodologies, including, but not limited to, through the use of magnets, fasteners, adhesives, brackets, or the like. If magnets are employed, the device 12 could have magnets to be part of the construction of the device 12 which would allow the device 12 to be easily maneuvered and repositioned. Thus, device 12 can be temporary, permanent, and/or removable as well as repositionable. The device 12 is preferably made of durable, weather resistant material, such as metal, plastic, or other desirable material.
With reference to
The top housing 74 includes a pair of upstanding side walls 80, a first vertical wall 82 with an aperture 84, a second vertical wall 86, and a base 88 and a shelf 90. The flange 68 depends from the shelf 90 at an angle approximately to 45 degrees from the second vertical wall 86. The opening 92 should be sufficient to be able to receive the lip 64 of the bottom wall.
The switch 72 includes a pair of contacts 94 and a body 96 that is operable to be received within aperture 84. A clip 98, secured to the body 96, is received within recess 100 so as to orient the contacts 94 properly relative to terminals 102 on the circuit board assembly 78. The switch 72 further includes a face 104 that is operable to impinge upon the outer surface of first vertical wall 82. The clip 98 further aids in securing the switch 72 in place relative to the top housing 74. The switch 72 further includes a plunger 106 that is operable to move axially relative to the body 96 upon contact by an object. It will be appreciated that the switch is of the type that is operable to generate signals upon a sensed condition, such as when the cover of a meter box has been tampered with by an intruder.
The bottom housing 76 includes a top surface 108, wings 110, a bottom surface 112 and side members 114. The top surface 108 has an L-shaped notch member 116 on both sides of the top surface 108, which runs substantially the entire width of the top surface 108. The notch members 116 are operable to mate with a groove 118 that extends a substantial portion within side wall 80 of the top housing 74. Thus, the top housing 74 and the bottom housing 76 are operable to slide together due to this tight fitting arrangement so as to create a sealed device 12.
Wings 110 each have inwardly depending members 120 that are operable to flex outwardly while the bottom housing 76 is slid inward relative to the top housing 74. Each wing has an inner surface 122 that is operable to engage an outside surface 124 of the first vertical wall 82. Once the wings 110 lock into place relative to the first vertical wall 82, the two housings are then selectively and firmly held together, thus creating a selective locking engagement system.
To disengage the bottom housing 76 from the top housing 74, the consumer may press members 120 to an outward position, which causes the wings 110 to likewise move outwardly. This action frees the bottom housing 76 from the top housing 74 so that they may be slid away from one another. By separating the housings 74 and 76, the consumer will have access to the inside compartment that is formed by the housings. Once the compartment is open, the battery 130 may be changed and other servicing of the circuit board may take place if so desired.
The bottom housing 76 further includes a pair of slots 126 extending a substantial distance of the length of the bottom housing. Each slot 126 is operable to receive the thickness of the circuit board 132, thus allowing the circuit board 132 to slide within and relative to the side members 114. This prevents the board from shifting and creates a locking arrangement for the housing 76 and the circuit board assembly 78.
The circuit board assembly 78 includes a battery holder 128, a power supply 130, a board 132, a computer chip 134, a crystal 136 and the pair of switch connectors or terminals 102. The circuit board could also have a built in antenna 138 making the device 12 operable for communicating wirelessly to a network 10.
The chip 134 is mounted to the circuit board 132 and is preferably a fully integrated chip for ultra-low power wireless communication applications. The chip 134 is preferably IEEE standard 802.15.4 compliant with secure encrypted data flow. The chip may have a wi-fi interface and integrated antenna 138 that is operable to function in a crowded wireless environment. Other characteristics of the chip 134 could include a radio transceiver, an integrated real-time medium access control processor, an integrated microcontroller, a security engine, an event scheduler, an advanced power management feature, memory and an extensive set of peripherals including keyboard scanner and an IR signal generator. It will be appreciated that the chip 134 may have some or all of the above-referenced features, yet may have yet additional features. The chip 134 may have a low battery detection feature which allows detection of the low battery condition and a resulting signal being transmitted informing a user that a low battery condition is present. The circuit is designed such that the circuit draws minimal current when the cover 48 is closed yet begins to draw greater power when the switch 72 senses a cover open condition, or the like.
The circuit board 132 has a pair of notches 140 at opposite sides which aid in locking the circuit board assembly 78 relative to the bottom housing 76. With reference to
With reference to
One of the methods of operating a smart grid network 10 utilizing the unique device 12 will now be presented. The device 12 communicates to a residential meter node 16 or a commercial meter node 20 that can be mounted to a meter box 14. A transceiver within the computer chip 134 communicates wirelessly via antenna 138. When the cover 48 of the meter box 14 has been tampered with, or otherwise repositioned, one of four messages 154 can be sent through the smart grid network 10. One such message 154 could be a signal indicating that the cover 48 has been removed, or lifted, or pried open or reinstalled, or that the battery or power supply 130 needs to be replaced. Other messages 154 could be transmitted. This arrangement allows the meter nodes 16 or 20 to communicate to the low voltage transformer sensor node 18 via power line communications, radio frequency signals, or other means. The low voltage transformer sensor node 18 then sends a signal via the WAN 22 to the MAS 24 across the utility enterprise service bus 26, which in turn transmits a signal to the revenue protection system 42, or to other systems such as 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and/or 40. The revenue protection system 42 is operable to store all communications it receives and generate a data base of prior signals being sent from the device 12. Such data could include, but not be limited to, the aforementioned door open conditions, the location of the device 12, the date and time of the transmission of such signals coming from the device 12, and other desired data that an operator of a network 10 may desire to accumulate, process and/or otherwise observe.
The device 12 is stand alone and operates using its own power supply 130 and requires no outside power. It will be appreciated that the circuit board 132 could have the antenna 138 built within its construct, and thus separate and apart from the computer chip 134.
The mounting of the device 12 is preferably such that the top housing 74 should be positioned within the meter box 14 so that the bottom wall lip 64 is positioned far within the notch that is created by the flange 68 and the second vertical wall 86. The flange 68 presents a barrier or a deterrent from unwanted obstacles such as a screwdriver 70 from being wedged underneath the cover 48. This limits access to the switch 72 so that undesirables do not impermissible tamper with the switch, or the cover of the meter box. But, if the cover 48 is tampered with, the device 12 senses same and notifies the network 10 and those within the network can take measures to address the tamper condition.
It will be appreciated that the aforementioned devices and methods may be modified to have some parts and/or steps removed, or may have additional parts or steps added, all of which are deemed to be within the spirit of the examples herein. Even though the present examples have been described in detail with reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that various modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the scope of the examples as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and the drawings are to be regarded as an illustrative thought instead of merely a restrictive thought of the scope of what is to be protected.
