REMOTE ENERGY MONITORING APPARATUS AND METHOD
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote energy monitoring apparatus, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for monitoring energy which is provided to at least one energy demand device .
2. Prior Art
In a conventional power monitoring method, a remote central station senses whether an obstacle is generated in an energy demand device and displays an obstacle generation state. Accordingly, a supervisor at the remote central station notifies the obstacle generation state to a worker who resides at the energy demand device. The worker responds to the obstacle in order to resolve the problem. However, in order to monitor and control the energy, the worker should always stand by at the energy demand device. Personnel expenses increase accordingly. When contact between the remote central station and the worker not performed quickly or the worker does not perform a quick and suitable control operation, power can be lost resulting in an enormous disaster.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention, for the purpose of solving the above mentioned problems, to provide an apparatus and a method capable of monitoring energy which is
provided to at least one energy demand device and repairing an obstacle of the at least one energy demand device.
In order to attain the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a remote energy monitoring system, the system comprising: a monitoring device for monitoring energies which are provided to at least one energy demand device and outputting energy state information, and repairing an obstacle of the at least one energy demand device when an obstacle is generated at the at least one energy demand device; a server for analyzing the energy state information from the monitoring device, outputting the analyzing result, and providing energy output information according to analyzing result, and providing a control signal for the obstacle repair according to the analyzing result to the monitoring device
There is also provided a remote energy monitoring method, the method comprising the steps of: i) monitoring energies which are provided to at least one energy demand device and outputting energy information; ii) analyzing the energy state information from the energy monitoring device; iii) judging whether an obstacle is generated in the energy demand device based on the analyzing result of step ii) ; iv) generating a control signal when the obstacle is
generated in the energy monitoring device; and v) repairing a corresponding part of the energy demand device in response to the control signal.
According to the present invention, when an obstacle is generated in an energy demand device, the obstacle is controlled by a control program and is repaired by a monitoring device to prevent a disaster.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,- wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for showing a remote energy monitoring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a flow chart for illustrating a remote energy monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
* Description of main parts in drawings by numerals * 102: monitoring device 104: server 106: user terminal 108: communication terminal 110: energy demand device 112: internet
114: communication network 202: storage section
202a: energy information database
202b: an obstacle information database
202c: a control signal database
202d: a user information database
202e: error information database
202f: group information database
202g: control program 204: controller
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings .
A remote energy monitoring apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a remote energy monitoring apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The remote energy monitoring apparatus 10 includes a monitoring device 102, a server 104, a user terminal 106, and a communication terminal 108.
The monitoring device 102 monitors energies which are provided to at least one energy demand device 110 and outputs energy information according to the monitoring result. The energy information includes a voltage, a current, a valid power, an invalid power, an apparent power, a power factor, a maximal
power, an average power, a frequency, a peak load, an unbalance factor, a transformer temperature, and a transformer panel temperature. The monitoring device 102 generates an alarm for indicating the obstacle state, displays the obstacle state on a self screen, and repairs the obstacle of the at least one energy demand device 108 when an obstacle is generated at the at least one energy demand device 108.
The server 104 analyzes the energy information from the monitoring device 102 and outputs the analyzing result. The server 104 provides energy output information according to analyzing result. The server 104 provides a control signal for the obstacle repair according to the analyzinςj result to the monitoring device 102. The server 102 includes a storage section 202 and a controller 204.
The storage section 202 stores the energy state information and the analyzing result. The storage section 202 includes an energy state information database 202a, an obstacle information database 202b, a control signal database 202c, a user information database 202d, and error information database 202e, a group information database 202f, and a control program 202g. The energy state information database 202a stores energy state information from the monitoring device. The obstacle information database 202b stores obstacle information indicating a state of the obstacle when the obstacle is generated in the at least one energy
demand device 108. The control signal database 202c stores the control signal. The user information database 202d stores user information. The error information database 202e stores error information indicating a state of an error when the error is present at the energy state information. The group information database 202f stores an energy demand device list by groups when the at least one energy demand device is divided into a plurality of groups. The control program 202g stores a program for controlling an operation of the monitoring device 202.
The controller 204 judges whether an obstacle is generated in the at least one energy demand device 110 based on the analyzing result. The controller 204 controls an operation of the monitoring device 202. The controller 204 stores the analyzed energy state information in the energy state information database 202a and analyzes the user information.
The user terminal 106 requests the energy information to the server 203 through an internet 110 in order to receive the energy output information from the server 204. The user terminal 206 provides a user control signal to the server according to the energy output information in order to repair an obstacle of the at least one energy demand device 110.
The communication terminal 108 communicatively interfaces the monitoring device 102 with the server 104 through a communication network. The communication terminal 108
transmits the energy information from the monitoring device 102 to the server 104 through the communication network 114. The communication terminal 108 transmits the energy information from the server 104 to the monitoring device 102.
A remote energy monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described referring to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flow chart for illustrating a remote energy monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In step S301, the monitoring device 102 monitors energies which are provided to at least one energy demand device 110 and outputs energy information to the communication terminal 108. The communication terminal 108 transmits the energy information from the monitoring device 102 to the server through the communication network 114.
In step S302, a controller 202 of the server 104 judges whether an error is present in the energy information from the communication terminal 108.
As the result of the judgement in step S302, when the error is present in the energy information, the controller 202 stores the energy information in the error information database 202d of the storage section 204 (step S303) .
When it is judged in step S302 that the error is absent at the energy information, the controller 202 judges whether an
obstacle is generated in the at least one energy demand device 110 (step S304) .
As the result of the judgement in step S204, when the obstacle is not generated in the at least one energy demand device 110, the controller 202 stores the energy information in the energy information database 202a of the storage section 202 (step S305) and transmits it to a server user (step S306) .
When it is judged in step S204 that the obstacle is generated in the at least one energy demand device 110, the controller 202 stores an obstacle information in the obstacle information database 202b of the storage section 202 (step S307), and transmits it to a server user (step S308) .
The server 204 generates and transmits to the monitoring device 102 through the communication network 114 and the communication terminal 108 a control signal for the obstacle repair accordingly as the obstacle is generated in the at least one energy monitoring device 110 (step S309) .
The monitoring device 102 repairs a corresponding part of the at least one energy demand device 110 in response to the control signal from the server 104 (step S310).
As mentioned above, according to the present invention, when an obstacle is generated in an energy demand device, the obstacle is controlled by a control program and is repaired by a monitoring device to prevent a disaster.
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.