The present invention relates to couplers for use in transmitting intrinsically safe high frequency signals into hazardous areas, such as for use through the wall of a hazardous area enclosure.
In the prior art, the couplers that have been used for transmitting intrinsically safe signals into hazardous areas have used a Zener diode array, which is suitable for transmitting DC signals, but which has a high capacitance, on the order of nanofarads, which results in the circuit shunting alternating current signals to ground. This prevents those couplers from being able to be used to transmit intrinsically safe alternating current signals, and in particular high frequency signals such as Ethernet signals.
The present invention has circuitry that uses a different diode arrangement, which has a much lower capacitance, on the order of picofarads (one thousand times less than the prior art Zener diode arrangements). This arrangement permits alternating current signals, including high frequency signals such as Ethernet signals, to pass through while shunting to ground any signal greater than the clamping voltage of the diodes. Thus, it allows for the transmission of intrinsically safe high frequency signals.
In this particular embodiment, the cable is a CATS/5e industrial Ethernet cable for use in transmitting Ethernet signals, on the order of 10 MHz to 1 GHz and 1-3V. It is understood that the cable will be whatever is suitable for the type of signal being transmitted. It is contemplated that a similar arrangement may be used for transmitting signals of 1 MHz to 1 GHz and up to 30V, with the cables being selected to be suitable for carrying the signals.
Each of the hazardous area couplers 10 provides a pre-formed product that incorporates the electrical isolation and physical protection required for a hazardous area coupler. The TVS (Transient Voltage Suppression) diode arrays in the electrical circuitry in each coupler 10 ensure that the maximum voltage of the circuit output will not exceed the clamping voltage of the diodes, which is greater than the voltage levels of the high frequency signal.
In this particular embodiment, the clamping voltage of the diodes is 3.7 volts. A typical Ethernet signal is 1.5 to 2.5 volts, so this array will permit the Ethernet signal to pass through. Obviously, if higher voltage signals are intended to be allowed to pass through, diodes with a higher clamping voltage would be selected. Current limiting resistors control the current through the circuit, limiting the current to the output of the circuit and to the diodes. A quick blow fuse is provided in case of an excess of current. The electrical circuitry is on a circuit board assembly which is installed inside a one-piece hollow fitting and then is encapsulated in a potting material, which seals the electronics from the atmosphere, makes the entire unit tamperproof, prevents the escape of flammable gases, and protects against certain defined chemicals and solvents as well as providing the strength to pass the required 6000 psi hydrostatic test.
As shown in
The outer surface of the housing 22 has opposed flat surfaces 28, which permit a user to grasp the housing 22 with an open-end wrench, in order to thread the housing 22 into the wall of the hazardous area enclosure 16.
The open right end 34 of the housing 22 is enclosed by an end cap 36, which is mechanically secured to the housing 22 by means of a dowel pin 38, which extends through a hole 40 in the housing 22 and into a circumferential groove 42 in the end cap 36 to ensure that the end cap 36 remains on the housing 22.
A receptacle 44 is threaded through the end cap 36 and is sealed against the inner end of the end cap 36 by means of an O-ring 46. In this particular embodiment, which is intended for use with Ethernet signals, an M12 receptacle is used. The M12 receptacle 44 will mate with a M12 male connector at the end of the CAT5 cable 20 at its outer end, and its inner end is connected to the circuit board 48.
At the other end of the circuit board 48 are connected a grounding pigtail cable 50 and a signal cable 52, both of which project out the end 32 of the housing 22 into the non-hazardous area, where the grounding pigtail cable 50 is grounded to a protective earth ground, and the signal cable 52, which in this embodiment is a Cat5 cable, has a suitable male connector (in this particular embodiment RJ-45 style) that can then be connected to a device with the signal bus protocol inside the non-hazardous area 14.
As can be seen in
From the receptacle 44, each of the lines 60, 62, 64, 66 goes to a suitable resistor 70 (in this embodiment 20 ohm), to an array of diodes 72, to a fuse 74, to another resistor 76 (in this embodiment 10 ohm), to the respective connecting pins of the RJ-45 style connector at the end of the pigtail 52.
Each of the arrays of diodes 72 includes three TVS diode arrays connected together in parallel. Each TVS diode array (D1-D12) in this particular embodiment has a capacitance of 1.2 picofarads, so each array 72 of three TVS diode arrays connected in parallel has a capacitance of 3.6 picofarads. Each of the TVS diode arrays includes eight diodes, so there are twenty-four diodes in each of the diode arrays 72. Each of the arrays 72 is grounded, as shown in the schematic of
It should be noted that the TVS (Transient Voltage Suppression) diode arrays have not been used for this purpose in the past. Instead, their purpose has been to protect an electronic device from being damaged by fast spikes of voltage transients on the order of several micro-seconds, such as a static electric discharge.
In this particular embodiment, the housing 22 is made of stainless steel.
The TVS diode arrays (D1-D12) that are used in this particular embodiment are part number PLC496, a 500 Watt, ultra low capacitance TVS array supplied by ProTek Devices in Tempe, Ariz., US. The pin arrangement of each of these arrays is shown in
A coupler 10 is used at each end where a separate supply voltage is connected to the signal source device in order to have proper protection. The high frequency signal has transmit Tx and receive Rx lines, each of which is protected by the circuitry.
In assembling the couplers 10, the receptacle 44 is threaded into the end cap 36, the circuit boards 48, 48A, 48B, with connectors and wires 50, 52 are inserted into the hollow interior of the housing 22 through the open right end 34, and then the end cap 36 is pinned to the housing 22 by means of the dowel pin 38. Next, the potting material 30 is injected from the open left end 32 and is allowed to cure. At that point, the couplers 10 are complete.
In this case, the coupler 10A is manufactured by inserting the circuit boards from the open left end 32A, screwing in the grounding screw 38A, and then injecting the potting material 30 and allowing it to cure.
In this particular embodiment, the housing 22A is made of coated aluminum.
Other structural changes could be made to the couplers, and various combinations of couplers could be used as needed.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/858,814, filed Jul. 26, 2013, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20150029625 A1 | Jan 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61858814 | Jul 2013 | US |