| PEPPERL + FUCHS GMBH Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20130082678 | ELECTRONIC POWER CONDITIONER CIRCUIT - An electronic power conditioner circuit for use in an I EC 61 158 Fieldbus network comprising a series element, a capacitor and a resistor formed as a gyrator circuit, and a biasing circuit, in which said biasing circuit supplies a control voltage and/or current to a control terminal of the series element, and in which said biasing circuit is adapted to set said control voltage and/or current such that a voltage drop across the series element is maintained at a pre-determined level. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130063847 | FAULT PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR IEC 61158 FIELDBUS SPUR AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME - A fault protection circuit for use on a spur of an IEC 61158 Fieldbus network comprising a fast acting current limiter adapted to limit the spur current to the level of a reference current when the spur current reaches said reference current, control means adapted to monitor the spur AC and/or DC current and/or voltage, and isolation means adapted to apply a shunt short circuit isolation to said spur upon receipt of an activation signal from the control means, in which the control means is adapted to control the level of the reference current, and in which when said control means detects one or more pre-determined fault conditions on said spur it activates the isolation means and lowers the level of reference current. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20120299601 | METHOD OF TESTING A SPUR SHORT CIRCUIT PROTECTION SYSTEM AND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD - A method of testing a short circuit protection system applied to a spur of an electric circuit, in which the short circuit protection system comprises a current limiting means which applies a current limit to said spur if the current thereon exceeds a spur current trip level, in which the electric circuit comprises a power supply and an isolation means adapted to fully or partially isolate the power supply from the electric circuit if the current thereon exceeds a power supply trip level for longer than a dead-band period, in which said method comprises the following steps: i) applying a test current demand to said short circuit protection system which has a current and duration sufficient for said spur current trip level to be exceeded, but a current insufficient for said power supply trip level to be exceeded and/or a duration insufficient to exceed said deadband period, ii) detecting if the current limiting means applies said current limit or not during said test current demand. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120224291 | ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH SURGE PROTECTION MONITORING - An electrical circuit comprising a power supply, a load and a surge protection device adapted to protect said load and/or power supply from electrical fast transient events according to the requirements of IEC 61000-4-2 or 4 and which comprises a stress threshold, in which the electrical circuit further comprises a monitoring device adapted to monitor the current in said surge protection device and detect the breaching of said threshold by electrical fast transient events. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120118047 | IEC 61158-2 ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH WATER DETECTION MEANS COMPRISING A PHYSICAL LAYER ATTRIBUTE MODIFIER - An electrical circuit confirming to the IEC 61158-2 standard comprising a power supply, a device as a load thereof, and monitoring means adapted to monitor one or more physical layer attributes of the electrical circuit, in which the device comprises an enclosure, device function electronics disposed therein and two terminals connecting said device function electronics to said electrical circuit, in which water detection means is disposed inside said enclosure, and comprises water detection probes and a physical layer attribute modifier mounted across said electrical circuit in parallel with said device function electronics, and in which when said water detection probes detect water said physical layer attribute modifier makes a modification to a physical layer attribute of the electrical circuit, which modification is detectable by said monitoring means. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20110279939 | ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH REDUNDANT TRUNK - An electrical circuit comprising a power supply, a load, first and second trunks disposed therebetween and control means adapted to control the electrical status of the first and second trunks, in which the control means comprises monitoring means adapted to monitor the current and/or voltage of the first and second trunks and to detect current and/or voltage events which are indicative of faults occurring thereon, and isolation means adapted to isolate the first or second trunk when the monitoring means detects a current and/or voltage event which is indicative of a fault occurring thereon, in which the first and second trunks are electrically connected and arranged in parallel such that the power supplied to the load is distributed substantially equally between them, and in which the control means comprises compensation means adapted to prevent the isolation means from isolating one of said first or second trunks when a current and/or voltage event which is indicative of a fault occurs thereon which is caused by a fault occurring on the other of the first or second trunks. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110264396 | ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT WITH PHYSICAL LAYER DIAGNOSTICS SYSTEM - An electrical circuit has a power supply, one or more devices and a diagnostics system. The diagnostics system includes a monitoring means adapted to monitor physical layer characteristics of the electrical circuit, a database containing circuit design data for the electrical circuit, and comparator means adapted to diagnose the status of the monitored physical layer characteristics of the electrical circuit by comparing them with the circuit design data. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110190955 | Electrical Communications Circuit With Spur Diagnostics - An electrical communications circuit comprising a power supply, a trunk section, a spur section, isolation means disposed between the trunk section and the spur section, diagnostics apparatus connected to the trunk section and a field device connected to the spur section, in which the field device is adapted to send data signals over the communications circuit, which data signals comprise one or more core functions, in which the communications circuit and/or the data signals function under one or more pre-determined normal operating parameters, in which the diagnostics apparatus is adapted to detect one or more pre-determined breaches of said normal operating parameters, in which a spur diagnostics module is connected to the spur section and is adapted to monitor electrical characteristics of the spur section, in which the spur diagnostics module comprises interference means adapted to interfere with the communications circuit and/or the data signals sent thereon such that said one or more pre-determined breaches of the normal operating parameters are detectable by the diagnostics apparatus, but such that said one or more core functions of the data signals are not effected, and in which the spur diagnostics module is adapted to activate said interference means when it detects one or more pre-determined electrical events in the spur section. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20100315257 | PORTABLE DATA MEDIUM AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING CONFIGURATION DATA FROM AN EXTERNAL COMPUTER TO A SENSOR - The present invention is directed to a portable data medium and method for transferring configuration data from an external computer to a sensor. The portable data medium includes: a first connector for connecting the data medium to an external computer, a read-write memory for buffering the configuration data, which memory cooperates with the first connector, wherein the first connector transfers the configuration data from the external computer to the read-write memory; wherein in the read-write memory there is stored a configuring software program, which can be uploaded into an RAM of the external computer when the data medium is connected to the external computer; the configuring software program permits compilation of the configuration data for the sensor at least one of automatically and interactively by a user; for the purpose of connecting the data medium to the sensor, a second connector is present which cooperates with the read-write memory and transfers the configuration data from the read-write memory to a memory of the sensor when the data medium is connected to the sensor; and an independent power supply is present for supplying the data medium with electrical energy. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100268496 | SENSOR FOR USE IN AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING CONFIGURATION DATA FROM AN EXTERNAL COMPUTER TO A SENSOR - The present invention is directed to a sensor for use in automation technology and a method for transferring configuration data from an external computer to a sensor. The sensor includes: a sensor element for measuring a physical variable; a control/evaluation unit for controlling the sensor element, for processing a measuring signal from the sensor element, and for outputting an output signal to a computer interface; wherein the control/evaluation unit includes a memory for storing at least configuration data and program data, the control/evaluation unit cooperating, in an operating mode, with the computer interface for connecting the sensor to a peripheral unit, and wherein the sensor is supplied with electrical energy by the peripheral unit, in the operating mode; wherein the computer interface is adapted for use in a configuring mode for direct connection of the sensor to an external computer; the sensor is supplied with electrical energy by the external computer via the computer interface, in the configuring mode; and the computer interface is adapted to transfer, in the configuring mode, configuration data differentially between the sensor and the external computer through two wires of a data line at a bandwidth of more than 1 MBit/s. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100264971 | Square Waveform Shaping Device - A data signal generation device comprising a microprocessor and a digital potential divider, in which the microprocessor is adapted to generate a square wave output signal, and in which the digital potential divider is adapted to receive said square wave output signal, and to ramp up and down an output signal voltage and/or current according to state transitions in said square wave output signal. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100250911 | SENSOR FOR USE IN AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A SENSOR - The present invention is directed to a sensor for use in automation technology for detecting a measurand, particularly for detecting objects or articles, and a method for configuring a sensor. The sensor includes: a sensor element for measuring a physical variable; a first connecting means for connecting the sensor to a peripheral unit in an operating mode; and a control/evaluation unit for controlling the sensor element, for processing a measured signal from the sensor element and for outputting an output signal to the first connecting means, which control/evaluation unit has a memory for the storage of at least configuration data and program data of the sensor; wherein a second connecting means connects the sensor to an external computer for a configuring mode; in the memory of the control/evaluation unit there is stored configuring software, which can be uploaded into a RAM of an external computer when the sensor is connected to the external computer; and the configuring software is adapted for automatic configuration of the sensor or interactive configuration thereof by a user. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100185415 | DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM FOR A MODULAR FIELDBUS BOARD - A diagnostic system for a modular fieldbus board carrying a number of fieldbuses connected to a bulk power supply. A monitoring transceiver means is adapted in use to one or more of the number of fieldbuses by means of two or more common mode and/or differential mode signal injection and/or signal detection points, which points are dispersed between the bulk power supply and the fieldbus trunk. The monitoring transceiver means can detect one or more fieldbus physical layer characteristics between two of the two or more of said points. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100117902 | SLOT ANTENNA AND RFID METHOD - The invention relates to a slot antenna, more particularly to a transmitting antenna for RFID, comprising an antenna contour board having a plurality of antenna slots and at least one control circuit for enabling the antenna contour board to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic radiation. The slot antenna is characterized in that in at least one antenna slot of the antenna contour board there is inserted a circuit board carrying a control circuit. The invention further relates to an RFID method involving the use of the slot antenna of the invention. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20090184588 | Switchgear for Protecting Dangerous Machines - A modular switchgear includes a connecting device having a plurality of positions; a plurality of output modules coupled to the connecting device, each of the output modules having a switching device, the switching device configured to set a number representing a position on the connecting device; and a plurality of input modules coupled to the connecting device, each input module having a position on the connecting device; wherein each input module is associated with the output module having its position set on a specific output module and ending with the next higher designated position set on a different output module minus | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090115538 | Oscillator Circuit and Method for Influencing, Controlling, or Regulating the Frequency of an Oscillator - An oscillator circuit according to the invention comprises an oscillator with a toggle circuit having an output and an inverting input, whereby the output is connected to the inverting input via a feedback resistor, the inverting input is connected, for example, to the ground, via a first oscillator capacitor, and also connected, for example, to the ground, via a second oscillator capacitor and via a control resistor whose value can be adjusted or electrically controlled, so that the frequency of the oscillator can be varied by increasing or decreasing the value of the control resistor. In order to control the value of the control resistor, preferably a modulated 1-bit signal is used that is integrated by an integrator. Preferably, the oscillator is an integral part of a closed-loop control circuit in which the frequency of the oscillator forms the actual value and a predefined target frequency forms the target value. | 05-07-2009 |
