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EP-4742295-A1 - DEVICE FOR MEASURING AT LEAST ONE ELECTRICAL VARIABLE AND ASSOCIATED FUNCTIONAL DIAGNOSIS SYSTEM

EP4742295A1EP 4742295 A1EP4742295 A1EP 4742295A1EP-4742295-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a measuring device (4) for at least one electrical quantity of an electrical signal circulating in a contactor device (2), the contactor device (2) comprising, for each phase among N phases, a contact element (18) connected to a phase electrical conductor (15), the at least one electrical quantity comprising a voltage, the measuring device (4) being configured to be installed on the front of said contactor device (2), and comprising an electronic control unit (24) comprising N flexible cables (26), and for each phase: -a connection assembly (20) connected to one of said flexible cables (26), -an actuation part (22) of the connection assembly (20), configured to be moved from a free position in which the connection assembly (20) is electrically isolated from the contactor device to a blocked position in which the connection assembly (20) is in contact with one of said contact elements (18) of the contactor device.

Inventors

  • SEDITA, Thibault
  • GEFFROY, Vincent
  • Garcia, José
  • MAQUIN, Clément

Assignees

  • SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES SAS

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251107

Claims (11)

  1. A measuring device (4) for at least one electrical quantity of an electrical signal flowing in a contactor device (2) of at least one electrical conductor (15) in an electrical installation, the contactor device (2) being configured to allow or block the flow of an N-phase electric current in at least one electrical equipment, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1, connected via said at least one electrical conductor (15), the measuring device (4) comprising a housing (12) configured to be installed on the front (10) of said contactor device (2), the contactor device (2) comprising, for each phase, a contact element (18) connected to the electrical conductor (15) of said phase and accessible via the front (10) of the contactor device (2), the at least one electrical quantity comprising a voltage, the measuring device (4) being characterized in that it comprises an electronic control unit (24) comprising N flexible cables (26), and for each phase: - a connection assembly (20) connected to one of said flexible cables (26), - an actuating piece (22) of the connection assembly (20), the connection assembly (20) being partially inserted into the actuating piece (22), the actuating piece (22) being configured to be moved to pass, when the measuring device (4) is installed on the contactor device (2), from a free position in which the connection assembly (20) is electrically isolated from the contactor device (2) to a blocked position in which the connection assembly (20) is in contact with one of said contact elements (18) of the contactor device (2).
  2. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said actuating part (22) is configured to be translated along a given axis (A) and rotated a quarter turn around said axis (A) to pass respectively from the free position to the blocked position and vice versa.
  3. Measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the housing (12) comprises a hood (17), the hood (17) comprising N guide receptacles (32), the actuating part (22) being inserted into one of said guide receptacles (32) and being configured to be guided in translation in said guide receptacle (32), and wherein the actuating part (22) comprises at least one retaining lug (34), said retaining lug (34) being configured to be inserted, after translation and rotation about said axis (A), into a corresponding retaining housing (36) formed in the hood (17).
  4. Measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connection assembly (20) comprises a conductive element (38) and an insulating sleeve (42), the insulating sleeve (42) partially surrounding the conductive element (38), the conductive element (38) further comprising a test point configured to bear against the contact element (18) in the locked position.
  5. Measuring device according to claim 4, wherein each flexible ribbon (26) has an end eyelet (50) made of conductive material, arranged around the associated connection assembly (20), so as to conduct an electrical signal between said connection assembly (20) and the electronic control unit (24) when the actuating part (22) is in the locked position.
  6. Measuring device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the conductive element (38) has a shoulder (44), the insulating sheath being positioned in support of said shoulder.
  7. Measuring device according to claim 6 further comprising a first spring (46) and a second spring (48), said first spring (46) and second spring (48) surrounding the connection assembly (20) and being disposed on either side of said shoulder (44), the first spring (46) being disposed between the actuating piece (22) and said shoulder (44) of the conducting element.
  8. Measuring device according to claim 7 dependent on claim 5, wherein the second spring (48) is made of conductive material, the second spring (48) being configured to be in contact with the flexible ribbon (26) in the locked position, the second spring (48) making an electrical connection between the conductive element (38) of the connection assembly and said flexible ribbon (26).
  9. Measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further configured to perform current measurements for each electrical conductor.
  10. A measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a communication interface (72) for enabling connection to a communication network (74), the communication interface (72) being configured to transmit messages (80) containing said measurements of at least one electrical quantity to a supervisory device (82) connected to said communication network (74).
  11. A diagnostic system (60) for the operation of an electrical installation, comprising a measuring device (4) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the measuring device (4) being installed on a contact device (2) of said electrical installation, the diagnostic system (60) also comprising a monitoring device (82), the measuring device (4) being configured to transmit measurements of at least one electrical quantity said monitoring device (82) via a communication network, the monitoring device (82) comprising a controller (86) configured to perform operational diagnostic calculations based on at least one measurement of electrical quantity received.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity of an electrical signal circulating in a contactor device of at least one electrical conductor in an electrical installation. The invention also relates to a diagnostic system for the operation of an electrical installation comprising such a measuring device. The invention is in the field of the control of the operation of electrical installations, and more particularly the diagnostics of the operation of electrical installations, especially for electrical installations in industrial fields requiring the control of motors. Such electrical installations include electrical equipment such as electric motors, heating resistors, or power circuits in general. We know of contactor devices configured to allow or block the flow of an N-phase electrical signal in electrical equipment, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1. For example, N=3 in the case of an electrical installation supplied by a three-phase distribution network. A contactor device comprises a housing and connection contact terminals (or power contact terminals and auxiliary contact terminals), the various terminals being generally accessible on the front of the housing. For electrical installations, in general, several contactor devices are arranged in an electrical cabinet of chosen dimensions. To perform a diagnostic of the operation of an electrical installation, for example in order to carry out predictive maintenance of connected electrical equipment, such as electric motors, it is necessary to collect measurements of electrical quantities, in particular measurements of current consumed by loads and voltage between electrical conductors over operating periods. It is preferable to carry out electrical measurements in a non-invasive manner, that is, without having to make any modifications to the wiring in an existing electrical installation. Furthermore, since operational diagnostics require complex calculations, it is generally necessary to transmit the collected current and voltage measurements via a A communication link is required to connect to a remote computing device with sufficient processing power. For complex electrical installations, this necessitates the use of a communication link with sufficient bandwidth. To this end, the invention relates to a device for measuring at least one electrical quantity of an electrical signal circulating in a contactor device of at least one electrical conductor in an electrical installation, the contactor device being configured to allow or block the circulation of an N-phase electrical current in at least one electrical equipment, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1, connected via said at least one electrical conductor, the measuring device comprising a housing configured to be installed on the front of said contactor device, the contactor device comprising, for each phase, a contact element connected to the electrical conductor of said phase and accessible via the front of the contactor device, the at least one electrical quantity comprising a voltage. This measuring device includes an electronic control unit comprising N flexible cables, and for each phase: a set of connections linked to one of said flexible cables, an actuation piece of the connection assembly, the connection assembly being partially inserted into the actuation piece, the actuation piece being configured to be moved to pass, when the measuring device is installed on the contactor device, from a free position in which the connection assembly is electrically isolated from the contactor device to a blocked position in which the connection assembly is in contact with one of said contact elements of the contactor device. Advantageously, the installation of the proposed measuring device does not require electrical wiring, and therefore no modification to an existing electrical installation, the voltage being measured from the electrical signal captured via the connection assembly and the associated flexible ribbon cable when the actuating part is in the locked position. According to other advantageous aspects of the invention, the measuring device comprises one or more of the following features, taken individually or in all technically possible combinations. The actuating part is configured to be translated along a given axis and rotated a quarter turn around said axis to move respectively from the free position to the blocked position and vice versa. The housing comprises a cover, the cover having N guide receptacles, the actuating part being inserted into one of said guide receptacles and being configured to be guided in translation within said guide receptacle, and wherein the actuating part has at least one retaining lug, said retaining lug being configured to fit, after translation and rotation around said axis, into a corresponding retaining housing formed in the hood. The connection assembly comprises a conductive element an