Patent Grant
7903382
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to a switching device for switching off a current in a current path, and more particularly to micro-electromechanical system based switching devices.
To protect against fire and equipment damage, electrical equipment and wiring must be protected from conditions that result in current levels above their ratings. Over-current conditions are classified by the time required before damage occurs and are grouped into two categories: timed over-currents and instantaneous over-currents.
Timed over-current faults are the less severe variety and require the protective equipment to deactivate the circuit after a given time period, which depends on the level of the fault. Timed over-current faults are typically current levels just above rated and up to 8-10 times rated. The system cabling and equipment can handle these faults for a period of time but the protective equipment should deactivate the circuit if the current levels don't recede. Typically timed faults result from either mechanically overloaded equipment or high impedance paths between opposite polarity lines—line to line, line to ground, or line to neutral.
Instantaneous over-currents, also termed short circuit faults, are severe faults and involve current levels of 8-10 time rated current and above. These faults result from low impedance paths between opposite polarity lines—line to line, line to ground, or line to neutral—and need to be removed from the system immediately. Short circuit faults involve extreme currents and can be extremely damaging to equipment and dangerous to personnel. The longer these faults persist on the system the more energy is released and the more damage occurs. It is of vital importance to minimize the response time and thus the let-through energy during a short circuit fault.
A circuit breaker is an electrical device designed to protect electrical equipment from damage caused by faults in the circuit. Traditionally, most conventional circuit breakers include bulky electromechanical switches. Unfortunately, these conventional circuit breakers are large in size thereby necessitating use of a large force to activate the switching mechanism. Additionally, the switches of these circuit breakers generally operate at relatively slow speeds. Further, these circuit breakers are disadvantageously complex to build, and thus expensive to fabricate. In addition, when contacts of a switching mechanism within a conventional circuit breaker are physically separated, an arc is typically formed between the contacts and continues to carry current until the current in the circuit ceases. Moreover, energy associated with the arc is generally undesirable to both equipment and personnel,
A contactor is an electrical device that is designed to switch an electrical load ON and OFF upon command. Traditionally, electromechanical contactors are employed in control gear, where the electromechanical contactors are capable of handling switching currents up to their interrupting capacity. Electromechanical contactors may also find application in power systems for switching currents. However, fault currents in power systems are typically greater than the interrupting capacity of the electromechanical contactors. Accordingly, to employ electromechanical contactors in power system applications it may be desirable to protect the contactor from damage by backing it up with a series device that is sufficiently fast acting to interrupt fault currents prior to the contactor opening at all values of current above the interrupting capacity of the contactor.
Electrical systems presently use either a fuse or a circuit breaker to perform over-current protection. Fuses rely on heating effects (i.e., I2t) to operate. They are designed as weak points in the circuit and each successive fuse closer to the load must be rated for smaller and smaller currents. In a short circuit condition all upstream fuses see the same heating energy and the weakest one, by design the closest to the fault, will be the first to operate. Fuses, however, are one-time devices and must be replaced after a fault occurs.
Previously conceived solutions to facilitate use of contactors in power systems have include vacuum contactors, vacuum interrupters and air break contactors. Unfortunately, contactors such as vacuum contactors do not lend themselves to easy visual inspection as the contactor tips are encapsulated in a sealed, evacuated enclosure. Further, while the vacuum contactors are well suited for handling the switching of large motors, transformers and capacitors, they are known to cause damaging transient over voltages, particularly when the load is switched off.
Further, electromechanical contactors generally use mechanical switches. However, as these mechanical switches tend to switch at a relatively slow speed predictive techniques are required in order to estimate occurrence of a zero crossing, often tens of milliseconds before the switching event is to occur. Such zero crossing prediction is prone to error as many transients may occur in this time.
As an alternative to slow mechanical and electromechanical switches, fast solid-state switches have been employed in high speed switching applications. As will be appreciated, these solid-state switches switch between a conducting state and a non-conducting state through controlled application of a voltage or bias. For example, by reverse biasing a solid-state switch, the switch may be transitioned into a non-conducting state. However, since solid-state switches do not create a physical gap between contacts when they are switched into a non-conducing state, they experience leakage current. Further, due to internal resistances, when solid-state switches operate in a conducting state, they experience a voltage drop. Both the voltage drop and leakage current contribute to the generation of excess heat under normal operating circumstances, which may be detrimental to switch performance and life. Moreover, due at least in part to the inherent leakage current associated with solid-state switches, their use in circuit breaker applications is not possible.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprise a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) micro-switch array based current limiting enabled circuit interrupting apparatus. The apparatus comprising an over-current protective component, wherein the over-current protective component comprises a switching circuit, wherein the switching circuit comprises a plurality of micro-electromechanical system switching devices. The apparatus also comprises a circuit interrupting component, wherein the circuit interrupting device is in operable communication with the over-current protective component.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a method for implementing a MEMS micro-switch array based current limiting enabled circuit interrupting apparatus. The method comprises physically associating an over-current protective component with a circuit breaker component, wherein the over-current protective component comprises a plurality of micro-electromechanical system switching devices and configuring the micro-electromechanical system switches to open prior to the tripping of the circuit breaker component. The method further comprises monitoring a load current value of a load current passing through the plurality of micro-electromechanical switching system devices and determining if the monitored load current value varies from a predetermined load current value. Yet further, the method comprises diverting the load current from the plurality of micro-electromechanical switching system devices in the event that the monitored load current value varies front a predetermined load current value.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details, that the present invention is not limited to the depicted embodiments, and that the present invention may be practiced in a variety of alternative embodiments. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail.
Further, various operations may be described as multiple discrete steps performed in a manner that is helpful for understanding embodiments of the present invention. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations need be performed in the order they are presented, or that they are even order dependent. Moreover, repeated usage of the phrase “in an embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may. Lastly, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used in the present application, are intended to be synonymous unless otherwise indicated.
As illustrated in
In a presently contemplated configuration as will be described in greater detail with reference to
Turning now to
In accordance with further aspects of the present technique, a load circuit 40 may be coupled in series with the first MEMS switch 20. The load circuit 40 may include a voltage source VBUS 44. In addition, the load circuit 40 may also include a load inductance 46 LLOAD, where the load inductance LLOAD 46 is representative of a combined load inductance and a bus inductance viewed by the load circuit 40. The load circuit 40 may also include a load resistance RLOAD 48 representative of a combined load resistance viewed by the load circuit 40. Reference numeral 50 is representative of a load circuit current ILOAD that may flow through the load circuit 40 and the first MEMS switch 20.
As noted with reference to
In an exemplary embodiment, the first MEMS switch 20 may be coupled in parallel across midpoints of the balanced diode bridge 28. The midpoints of the balanced diode bridge may include a first midpoint located between the first and second diodes 30, 32 and a second midpoint located between the third and fourth diodes 34, 36. Further, the first MEMS switch 20 and the balanced diode bridge 28 may be tightly packaged to facilitate minimization of parasitic inductance caused by the balanced diode bridge 28 and in particular, the connections to the MEMS switch 20. It must be noted that, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the present technique, the first MEMS switch 20 and the balanced diode bridge 28 are positioned relative to one another such that the inherent inductance between the first MEMS switch 20 and the balanced diode bridge 28 produces a di/dt voltage less than a few percent of the voltage across the drain 22 and source 24 of the MEMS switch 20 when carrying a transfer of the load current to the diode bridge 28 during the MEMS switch 20 turn-off which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. In further embodiments, the first MEMS switch 20 may be integrated with the balanced diode bridge 28 in a single package 38 or optionally within the same die with the intention of minimizing the inductance interconnecting the MEMS switch 20 and the diode bridge 28.
Additionally, the arc suppression circuitry 14 may include a pulse circuit 52 operatively coupled in association with the balanced diode bridge 28. The pulse circuit 52 may be configured to detect a switch condition and initiate opening of the MEMS switch 20 responsive to the switch condition. As used herein, the term “switch condition” refers to a condition that triggers changing a present operating state of the MEMS switch 20. For example, the switch condition may result in changing a first closed state of the MEMS switch 20 to a second open state or a first open state of the MEMS switch 20 to a second closed state. A switch condition may occur in response to a number of actions including but not limited to a circuit fault or switch ON/OFF request.
The pulse circuit 52 may include a pulse switch 54 and a pulse capacitor CPULSE 56 series coupled to the pulse switch 54. Further, the pulse circuit may also include a pulse inductance LPULSE 58 and a first diode DP 60 coupled in series with the pulse switch 54. The pulse inductance LPULSE 58, the diode DP 60, the pulse switch 54 and the pulse capacitor CPULSE 56 may be coupled in series to form a first branch of the pulse circuit 52, where the components of the first branch may be configured to facilitate pulse current shaping and timing. Also, reference numeral 62 is representative of a pulse circuit current IPULSE that may flow through the pulse circuit 52.
In accordance with aspects of the present invention, the MEMS switch 20 may be rapidly switched (for example, on the order of picoseconds or nanoseconds) from a first closed state to a second open state while carrying a current albeit at a near-zero voltage. This may be achieved through the combined operation of the load circuit 40, and pulse circuit 52 including the balanced diode bridge 28 coupled in parallel across contacts of the MEMS switch 20.
Reference is now made to
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the soft switching system 11 may be configured to perform soft or point-on-wave (PoW) switching whereby one or more MEMS switches in the switching circuitry 12 may be closed at a time when the voltage across the switching circuitry 12 is at or very close to zero and opened at a time when the current through the switching circuitry 12 is at or close to zero. By closing the switches at a time when the voltage across the switching circuitry 12 is at or very close to zero, pre-strike arcing can be avoided by keeping the electric field low between the contacts of the one or more MEMS switches as they close; even if multiple switches do not all close at the same time. Similarly, by opening the switches at a time when the current through the switching circuitry 12 is at or close to zero, the soft switching system 11 can be designed so that the current in the last switch to open in the switching circuitry 12 falls within the design capability of the switch. As mentioned above, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to synchronize the opening and closing of the one or more MEMS switches of the switching circuitry 12 with the occurrence of a zero crossing of an alternating source voltage or an alternating load circuit current.
Turning to
Although for the purposes of description,
The exemplary MEMS switch 20 may include three contacts. In an exemplary embodiment, a first contact may be configured as a drain 22, a second contact may be configured as a source 24, and the third contact may be configured as a gate 26. In one embodiment, the control circuitry 72 may be coupled to the gate contact 26 to facilitate switching a current state of the MEMS switch 20. Also, in additional exemplary embodiments damping circuitry (snubber circuit) 33 may be coupled in parallel with the MEMS switch 20 to delay appearance of voltage across the MEMS switch 20. As illustrated, the damping circuitry 33 may include a snubber capacitor 76 coupled in series with a snubber resistor 78.
The MEMS switch 20 may be coupled in series with a load circuit 40, as further illustrated in
As previously noted, the detection circuitry 70 may be configured to detect occurrence of a zero crossing of the alternating source voltage or the alternating load current ILOAD 50 in the load circuit 40. The alternating source voltage may be sensed via the voltage sensing circuitry 80 and the alternating load current ILOAD 50 may be sensed via the current sensing circuitry 82. The alternating source voltage and the alternating load current may be sensed continuously or at discrete periods for example.
A zero crossing of the source voltage may be detected through, for example, use of a comparator such as the illustrated zero voltage comparator 84. The voltage sensed by the voltage sensing circuitry 80 and a zero voltage reference 86 may be employed as inputs to the zero voltage comparator 84. In turn, an output signal 88 representative of a zero crossing of the source voltage of the load circuit 40 may be generated. Similarly, a zero crossing of the toad current ILOAD 50 may also be detected through use of a comparator such as the illustrated zero current comparator 92. The current sensed by the current sensing circuitry 82 and a zero current reference 90 may be employed as inputs to the zero current comparator 92. In turn, an output signal 94 representative of a zero crossing of the load current ILOAD 50 may be generated.
The control circuitry 72, may in turn utilize the output signals 88 and 94 to determine when to change (for example, open or close) the current operating state of the MEMS switch 20 (or array of MEMS switches). More specifically, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to facilitate opening of the MEMS switch 20 in an arc-less manner to interrupt or open the load circuit 40 responsive to a detected zero crossing of the alternating load current ILOAD 50. Additionally, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to facilitate closing of the MEMS switch 20 in an arc-less manner to complete the load circuit 40 responsive to a detected zero crossing of the alternating source voltage.
The control circuitry 72 may determine whether to switch the present operating state of the MEMS switch 20 to a second operating state based at least in part upon a state of an Enable signal 96. The Enable signal 96 may be generated as a result of a power off command in a contactor application, for example. Further, the Enable signal 96 and the output signals 88 and 94 may be used as input signals to a dual D flip-flop 98 as shown. These signals may be used to close the MEMS switch 20 at a first source voltage zero after the Enable signal 96 is made active (for example, rising edge triggered), and to open the MEMS switch 20 at the first load current zero after the Enable signal 96 is deactivated (for example, falling edge triggered). With respect to the illustrated schematic diagram 19 of
As previously noted, in order to achieve a desirable current rating for a particular application, a plurality of MEMS switches may be operatively coupled in parallel (for example, to form a switch module) in lieu of a single MEMS switch. The combined capabilities of the MEMS switches may be designed to adequately carry the continuous and transient overload current levels that may be experienced by the load circuit. For example, with a 10-amp RMS motor contactor with a 6× transient overload, there should be enough switches coupled in parallel to carry 60 amps RMS for 10 seconds. Using point-on-wave switching to switch the MEMS switches within 5 microseconds of reaching current zero, there will he 160 milliamps instantaneous, flowing at contact opening. Thus, for that application, each MEMS switch should be capable of “warm-switching” 160 milliamps, and enough of them should be placed in parallel to carry 60 amps. On the other hand, a single MEMS switch should be capable of interrupting the amount of current that will be flowing at the moment of switching.
User input can be in the form of input from a trip adjustment potentiometer, an electrical signal from a human interface (for example, from a push-button interface), or control equipment that are routed to the user interface 115. User input is used to control the MEMS switching as well as provide user adjustability in regard to trip-time curves. The power circuit 135 performs basic functions to provide power for the additional circuits, such as transient suppression, voltage scaling & isolation, and EMI filtering.
The over-current protection device 110 further comprises logic circuitry 125; wherein the logic circuitry 125 is responsible controlling the normal operation as well as recognizing fault conditions (such as setting the trip-time curve for timed over-currents (126), allowing programmability or adjustability, controlling the closing/re-closing of specified logic (126, 128), etc . . . ). The current/voltage sensing component 127 provides the voltage and current measurements needed to implement the required logic for over-current protection operations, and for maintaining responsibility the energy diversion circuits utilize for cold switching operations, wherein the operations are accomplished using the above mentioned charging 132 and pulse circuits 133 in addition to the diode bridge 134. The MEMS protection circuitry 130 is similar in configuration and operation to the pulse circuit 52 as described above.
Lastly, the switching circuitry 120 is implemented, wherein the switching circuit comprises a switching module 122 containing the MEMS device arrays. The switching module 122 is similar in configuration and operation to the MEMS switch 20 as described above. The switching circuit 120 further being responsible for the output delivery of a three-phase load current 141 to any downstream equipment.
Within exemplary embodiments of the present invention, power for the logic circuit 125 is drawn from a phase-to-phase differential and fed through a surge suppression component 136. A main power stage component 137 distributes power at various voltages in order to feed the control logic 138, the over-current protection device charging circuits 139, and the MEMS switch gate voltages 140. A current and voltage sensor 127 feeds the timed and instantaneous over-current logic 128, which in turn controls the MEMS switch gate voltage 140 and the MEMS protection circuit's 130 triggering circuits 131.
The current/voltage sensor 127 of the over-current protection component 110 continuously monitors either a current level or a voltage level within a system. As implemented, the current/voltage detector is responsible for determining if the level of the current/voltage has varied from a predetermined value. In the event that the monitored current/voltage levels do vary from a predetermined value, a fault signal is generated at the instantaneous over-current logic 128 to indicate that a system determined variance in current/voltage level has been detected. Thereafter, the fault signal is delivered to the trigger circuit 131, wherein the trigger circuit initiates an MEMS protection pulsing operation at the MEMS protection circuit 130. The pulsing operation involves the activation of the pulse circuit 133, the activation of which results in the closing of the LC pulse circuit. Once the LC pulse circuit 133 has been closed the charging circuit 132 discharges through the balanced diode bridge 134. The pulse current through the diode bridge 134 creates a resulting short across the MEMS array switches of the switching module 122 and diverts the load current into the diode bridge and around the MEMS array (see
Within additional exemplary embodiments of the present invention the over-current protection functionality of the MEMS protection arc suppression circuitry is used in conjunction with MEMS switches and supplementary logic circuitry in such a manner as to place it in series with an existing circuit interrupting device (for example, a circuit breaker or a switch). As illustrated in
Such series-connected configurations further provide an apparatus or device with the capability to boost the interruption rating of a circuit breaker. The apparatus or device could be configured as a supplemental add-on for existing circuit interrupters or integrated within a stand-alone housing along with the circuit interrupter. In particular, this dual concept configuration eliminates the need for the implementation of isolation contactors and disconnect switches within an over-current protection device. Further, this configuration would allow users to upgrade a power systems protection capability with little maintenance and cost.
While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.
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