Cross Reference to Related Application

[0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 13/365,242, filed February 2, 2012, entitled "MAGNETIC FLUX CONVERSION

DEVICE," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] Embodiments herein relate to a device for producing a regulated power supply signal with a target value from a source signal on a power line.

Background

[0003] Electric power transmission lines are used to carry electricity at a high voltage from a power plant and distribute the electrical power to various locations where the power is consumed. Overhead power lines are typically strung between utility poles. Many of the utility poles have transformers mounted thereon to step down the voltage level and/or current level of the power line to a level that is usable to power electrical devices. For example, street lights are often mounted on the utility poles and powered by the electrical power carried by the power line. However, electrical devices that are placed in between utility poles must be wired to the nearest utility pole with a transformer to receive power.

[0004] Furthermore, there are many long spans of power line (such as across rivers, valleys, etc.) over which the power line extends a long distance between utility poles. It is difficult and/or impractical to place an electrical device in these long spans and power the electrical device from the power line.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings. [0006] Figure 1 illustrates a magnetic flux conversion device configured to provide power to a low voltage voltage-regulated direct current (DC) load in accordance with one embodiment;

[0007] Figure 2 illustrates a magnetic flux conversion device configured to provide power to a low voltage current-regulated DC load in accordance with another embodiment;

[0008] Figure 3 illustrates a magnetic flux conversion device configured to provide power to a high-voltage current-regulated DC load in accordance with another embodiment; and

[0009] Figure 4 illustrates a magnetic flux conversion device configured to provide power to a high-voltage voltage and current-regulated DC load in accordance with another embodiment.

Detailed Description of Disclosed Embodiments

[0010] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the

accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0011] Various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.

[0012] The description may use perspective-based descriptions such as up/down, back/front, and top/bottom. Such descriptions are merely used to facilitate the discussion and are not intended to restrict the application of disclosed

embodiments.

[0013] The terms "coupled" and "connected," along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, "connected" may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. "Coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. However, "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other.

[0014] For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form "A B" or in the form "A and/or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form "at least one of A, B, and C" means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C). For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form "(A)B" means (B) or (AB) that is, A is an optional element.

[0015] The description may use the terms "embodiment" or "embodiments," which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments.

Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," "having," and the like, as used with respect to embodiments, are synonymous, and are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.).

[0016] With respect to the use of any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0017] In various embodiments, methods, apparatuses, and systems for a magnetic flux conversion device are provided. In exemplary embodiments, a

computing device may be endowed with one or more components of the disclosed apparatuses and/or systems and may be employed to perform one or more methods as disclosed herein.

[0018] Embodiments herein provide a magnetic flux conversion device (MFCD). The MFCD may provide a regulated output signal from a conductor, such as a power line, carrying an alternating current (AC) source signal. The output signal may be regulated to have a target value that remains substantially constant, such as a target voltage value and/or a target current value. In some embodiments the regulated output signal may be a direct current (DC) signal. The MFCD may produce the regulated power output over a wide range of voltages and/or currents of the AC source signal. The output signal may be used to supply electrical power to one or more electrical devices, such as lights (e.g., street lights and/or obstruction lights), sensors,

communication devices, and/or cameras. [0019] Figure 1 illustrates a MFCD 100 in accordance with various embodiments. MFCD 100 may include magnetic laminations 104 and a secondary stage 106 configured to form a transformer 102 with a power line 101 . The power line 101 may also be referred to as the primary stage of transformer 102. In some embodiments the secondary stage 106 may include a pair of secondary inductors 1 10 and 1 12 (e.g., a first inductor 1 10 and a second inductor 1 12). In other embodiments the secondary stage 106 may only include a single secondary inductor.

[0020] In various embodiments, the power line 101 may carry an AC source signal. The source signal may create a magnetic field around the power line 101 . The secondary stage 106 may be inductively coupled to the power line 101 (e.g., through magnetic laminations 104) so that the magnetic field causes a secondary electrical signal to flow in the secondary stage 106.

[0021] The MFCD 100 may further include a regulator module 1 14 that receives the secondary electrical signal. The regulator module 1 14 may include one or more terminals, including a supply terminal 1 16, a control terminal 1 18, a common terminal 120, and/or a sense terminal 122. The regulator module 1 14 may receive the

secondary electrical signal at the supply terminal 1 16. The other terminals will be discussed in more detail below.

[0022] In some embodiments, the MFCD 100 may include a rectifier 124 coupled to the secondary stage 106 (e.g., to the first inductor 1 10). The rectifier 124 may convert the secondary electrical signal from an AC signal to a DC signal prior to passing the secondary electrical signal to the regulator module 1 14. Additionally, the MFCD 100 may include a capacitor 126 coupled between the supply terminal 1 16 and the common terminal 120 to prevent/reduce ripples in the DC secondary electrical signal.

[0023] The MFCD 100 may include a pair of output nodes 128a-b. In various embodiments, the regulator module 1 14 may produce an output signal with a target value across the pair of output nodes 128a-b. The target value may be at least one of a voltage value and a current value.

[0024] In various embodiments, the regulator module 1 14 may produce the output signal with the target value by sensing the output signal and shunting the secondary stage 106 if a value of the output signal is above the target value. In some embodiments the regulator module 1 14 may receive a first voltage at the sense terminal 122 that is indicative of the value (e.g., voltage value and/or current value) of the output signal. The regulator module 1 14 may determine if the value of the output signal is above the target value by comparing the first voltage with a reference voltage. The reference voltage may be selected so that the first voltage will be substantially equal to the reference voltage if the value of the output signal is equal to the target value. If the first voltage is above the reference value, the regulator module 1 14 may shunt the secondary stage 106.

[0025] When the secondary stage 106 is shunted, the voltage and/or current of the output signal may decrease. The transformer 102 may convert from a voltage transformer into a current generating transformer with a shorted secondary stage 106. In contrast, when the secondary stage 106 is not shunted, the secondary electrical signal will be fed to the output nodes, causing the voltage and/or current of the output signal to decrease. Accordingly, the regulator module 1 14 may repeatedly switch the secondary stage between shunted state and an active (e.g., forward) state in which the secondary stage is not shunted in order to maintain the output signal at the target value.

[0026] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 1 , the MFCD 100 may be configured to provide the output signal to power an electronic device 130 having a voltage-regulated DC load, such as a low-voltage voltage-regulated DC load. For example, the target value may be about 12 Volts (V). For a voltage-regulated load, the MFCD 100 may include a voltage divider having a first resistor 132 and a second resistor 134 coupled between the output nodes 128a-b. The voltage divider may produce the first voltage from the output signal and provide the first voltage at the sense terminal. In this case, the first voltage may be indicative of the voltage value of the output signal. For example, the voltage divider may cause the first voltage to be one-tenth of the voltage value of the output signal. In that case, the reference voltage may be set at 1 .2V in order to maintain the output signal at 12V.

[0027] The voltage divider may allow the regulator module 1 14 to operate at a lower voltage level. However, in other embodiments the regulator module 1 14 may compare the voltage level of the output voltage directly to the reference voltage.

Additionally, any suitable values for the target value, the first and second resistors 132 and 134, and/or the reference voltage may be selected based on the particular application.

[0028] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, in some embodiments, the MFCD 100 may be configured to produce the output signal with a target current value. In this case, a shunt resistor 136 may be coupled between the common terminal 120 and the sense terminal 122 to produce the first voltage, and the first voltage may be indicative of the current value of the output signal. The reference voltage may be selected so that the first voltage is substantially equal to the reference voltage when the current value of the output signal is equal to the target value.

[0029] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 4, the MFCD 100 may be configured to produce the output signal with a target voltage value and a target current value. In this case, the MFCD 100 may include a voltage divider (e.g., including first resistor 132 and second resistor 134) and a shunt resistor 136. In some embodiments, the resistance values of the first resistor 132 and second resistor 134, respectively, may be significantly greater than the resistance value of the shunt resistor 136. A diode 138 may be coupled between the shunt resistor 136 and the sense input 122 to prevent the shunt resistor 136 from interfering with the operation of the voltage divider.

[0030] In various embodiments, the MFCD 100 may include a current control device 140 to selectively shunt the secondary stage 106. For example, the current control device 140 may be a bidirectional triode thyrister (e.g., a triode for alternating current (TRIAC) as shown in Figures 1 and 2) and/or a silicon-controlled-rectifier (as shown in Figures 3 and 4). The control terminal 1 18 of the regulator module 1 14 may be coupled to a gate terminal of the current control device. The regulator module 1 14 may transmit a control signal on the control terminal 1 18 to selectively activate the current control device 140. When the current control device 140 is activated, the circuit control device 140 may create a short circuit to shunt the secondary stage 106. When the current control device 140 is not activated, the current control device 140 may form an open circuit.

[0031] In some embodiments the current control device 140 may be coupled across the second inductor 1 12. The current control device 140 may shunt the secondary stage 106 by forming a short circuit across the second inductor 1 12. When the current control device 140 is not activated, the first inductor 1 10 may be the primary source of the secondary electrical signal. This two-inductor design may provide improved performance compared with a single-inductor secondary stage 106 by decreasing variation in the output signal and/or decreasing power consumption.

[0032] In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the MFCD 100 may be configured to provide an output signal having a high voltage (e.g., for an electronic device having a high-voltage load). In these embodiments, the second inductor may be configured to provide additional voltage and/or current. A second rectifier 142 may be coupled across the second inductor 1 12 to convert the electric signal from the second inductor 1 12 from AC to DC. A high-voltage capacitor 144 may be coupled between the common terminal 120 and output node 128b to facilitate maintenance of the high voltage of the output signal. A diode 146 may be coupled between the capacitor 144 and the second inductor 1 12 to prevent the capacitor 144 from discharging when the second inductor 1 12 is shunted.

[0033] The MFCD 100 may be used to produce an output signal to supply power for a wide variety of electronic devices with different loads, such as devices having a low-voltage voltage-regulated load (as shown in Figure 1 ), a low-voltage current- regulated load (as shown in Figure 2), a high-voltage current-regulated load (as shown in Figure 3), and/or a high-voltage voltage and current regulated load (as shown in Figure 4). Furthermore, the MFCD 100 may produce the regulated output signal over a wide range of values of the input source signal. For example, in one application of MFCD 100, the MFCD 100 may harvest about 12 Watts from a 130 kiloVolts AC (KVAC) power line that may conduct currents of about 50 Amps to about 2500 Amps. Or, said differently, the MFCD 100 may harvest 12 Watts from a 6.5 Mega-Watt to 325 Mega-Watt 130 KVAC power line.

[0034] In various embodiments, the MFCD 100 may be coupled to any suitable electronic device 130 to provide power to the electronic device 130. For example, the electronic device 130 may include one or more lights (e.g., light-emitting-diode (LED) lights), sensors, communications devices, cameras, and/or other devices. In some embodiments, the lights may be used to illuminate an area around the power line 101 (e.g., a street light). In other embodiments, the lights may be used for obstruction lighting to alert flying objects, such as planes, about the location of the power line 101 . In some embodiments, the sensors may be used to measure parameters that effect performance of the power line 101 , such as temperature and/or line sag. In other embodiments, the sensors may measure any suitable parameter.

[0035] In some embodiments, the electronic device 130 may further include a communication module for transmitting and/or receiving signals (such as data and/or control signals). This may allow the electronic device 130 to transmit the data measured by the sensors and/or receive control signals to control the sensors, lights, and/or camera, for example. Additionally, the electronic device 130 may include a communication device for establishing and/or extending a communication network, such as a wireless communication network.

[0036] In some embodiments, the electronic device 130 may include an array of one or more LED lights 150 (as shown in Figures 3 and 4). In one embodiment, the array of LEDs 150 may require a current of about 300 mA for full brightness, and may require a high voltage (e.g., about 160 to about 230 VDC). Accordingly, the high- voltage current-regulated MFCD 100 shown in Figure 3 and/or the high-voltage voltage and current-regulated MFCD 100 shown in Figure 4 may be used to supply power to the LEDs 150. In other embodiments, any suitable output voltage and/or output current may be provided by the MFCD 100.

[0037] In various embodiments, the first inductor 1 10 and the second inductor 1 12 may have any suitable number of turns. The first inductor 1 10 may have the same or different number of turns as the second inductor 1 12. For example, in one

embodiment the first inductors may have about 30 turns and the second inductor 1 12 may have about 300 turns. This quantity of turns may be suitable to produce an output signal of about 12V in the configurations of MFCD 100 in Figures 1 and 2, and/or to produce an output signal of about 160-230V in the configurations of MFCD 100 in Figures 3 and 4. The number of turns may be selected depending on the desired output voltage and/or other factors.

[0038] In some embodiments, the magnetic Iaminations104 may be a single loop. The magnetic laminations 104 may be split core and may be placed around the power line 101 .

[0039] Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.