Patents by Inventor Thomas Lee McDougall
Thomas Lee McDougall has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11972674Abstract: An electric utility meter including a Hall Effect sensor configured to sense a magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor, the controller configured to receive a signal indicative of a magnitude of the magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the sensor, determine whether the magnitude of the magnetic field exceeds a first magnitude threshold and whether a threshold flag has been set, set the threshold flag when the threshold flag has not been set and the magnitude exceeds the first magnitude threshold, determine an amount of time for which the magnitude has exceeded the first magnitude threshold when the threshold flag has been set, and generate an alert indicative of a magnetic tamper event when the amount of time exceeds a time threshold.Type: GrantFiled: April 13, 2023Date of Patent: April 30, 2024Assignee: Aclara Technologies LLCInventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, Jr., Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20240061028Abstract: An electrical meter including a housing including a socket interface operable to connect to a facility. The meter further including a sensor configured to sense a characteristic of the electrical meter. The meter further including a controller having an electronic processor and a memory. The electronic processor is configured to receive, from the sensor, a signal indicative of the electrical characteristic, determine, based on the signal, presence of a hot socket, and output an alert based on determining presence of the hot socket.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 16, 2023Publication date: February 22, 2024Inventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, JR., Curtis Whitmore Crittenden, Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20230341477Abstract: A faulty meter socket detection system configured to detect faulty sockets as evidenced by series arcs in an input current waveform or an increased temperature of the meter is disclosed. The system includes a metering circuit configured to receive an input current waveform, and a controller including a power monitoring module. The meter may also include a temperature sensor. The power monitoring module is configured detect series arc currents input current waveform data by filtering the input current waveform data to produce filtered data, performing feature recognition on the filtered data, classifying the features of the filtered data, performing temporal processing on the filtered data, (optionally) scaling the temporal processing of the filtered data, and, scoring the input current waveform based on the temporal processing of the filtered data. The temperature sensor may detect an increased temperature of the meter, which may indicate a faulty socket.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 21, 2023Publication date: October 26, 2023Inventors: Scott David Brown, Curtis Whitmore Crittenden, Gregory Paul Lavoie, Richard B. Martyn, JR., Thomas Lee McDougall, Lewis Fink, Charles Andrew Waters
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Patent number: 11789050Abstract: An electrical meter including a housing including a socket interface operable to connect to a facility. The meter further including a sensor configured to sense a characteristic of the electrical meter. The meter further including a controller having an electronic processor and a memory. The electronic processor is configured to receive, from the sensor, a signal indicative of the electrical characteristic, determine, based on the signal, presence of a hot socket, and output an alert based on determining presence of the hot socket.Type: GrantFiled: March 5, 2021Date of Patent: October 17, 2023Assignee: Aclara Technologies LLCInventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, Jr., Curtis Whitmore Crittenden, Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20230290241Abstract: An electric utility meter including a Hall Effect sensor configured to sense a magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor, the controller configured to receive a signal indicative of a magnitude of the magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the sensor, determine whether the magnitude of the magnetic field exceeds a first magnitude threshold and whether a threshold flag has been set, set the threshold flag when the threshold flag has not been set and the magnitude exceeds the first magnitude threshold, determine an amount of time for which the magnitude has exceeded the first magnitude threshold when the threshold flag has been set, and generate an alert indicative of a magnetic tamper event when the amount of time exceeds a time threshold.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 13, 2023Publication date: September 14, 2023Inventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, JR., Charles Andrew Waters
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Patent number: 11631314Abstract: An electric utility meter including a Hall Effect sensor configured to sense a magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor, the controller configured to receive a signal indicative of a magnitude of the magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the sensor, determine whether the magnitude of the magnetic field exceeds a first magnitude threshold and whether a threshold flag has been set, set the threshold flag when the threshold flag has not been set and the magnitude exceeds the first magnitude threshold, determine an amount of time for which the magnitude has exceeded the first magnitude threshold when the threshold flag has been set, and generate an alert indicative of a magnetic tamper event when the amount of time exceeds a time threshold.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 2022Date of Patent: April 18, 2023Assignee: Aclara Technologies LLCInventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, Jr., Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20220327907Abstract: An electric utility meter including a Hall Effect sensor configured to sense a magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor, the controller configured to receive a signal indicative of a magnitude of the magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the sensor, determine whether the magnitude of the magnetic field exceeds a first magnitude threshold and whether a threshold flag has been set, set the threshold flag when the threshold flag has not been set and the magnitude exceeds the first magnitude threshold, determine an amount of time for which the magnitude has exceeded the first magnitude threshold when the threshold flag has been set, and generate an alert indicative of a magnetic tamper event when the amount of time exceeds a time threshold.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 23, 2022Publication date: October 13, 2022Inventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, JR., Charles Andrew Waters
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Patent number: 11393322Abstract: An electric utility meter including a three-axis Hall Effect sensor configured to detect the presence of a magnetic field in two or more directions surrounding the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor. The controller is configured to receive a signal indicative of an abnormal magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the three-axis Hall Effect sensor, determine an amount of time for which the abnormal magnetic field has been detected, and log a magnetic field tamper event in an event log when the amount of time for which the abnormal magnetic field has been detected exceeds a threshold.Type: GrantFiled: February 4, 2021Date of Patent: July 19, 2022Assignee: Aclara Technologies, LLCInventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, Jr., Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20210278448Abstract: An electrical meter including a housing including a socket interface operable to connect to a facility. The meter further including a sensor configured to sense a characteristic of the electrical meter. The meter further including a controller having an electronic processor and a memory. The electronic processor is configured to receive, from the sensor, a signal indicative of the electrical characteristic, determine, based on the signal, presence of a hot socket, and output an alert based on determining presence of the hot socket.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 5, 2021Publication date: September 9, 2021Inventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, JR., Curtis Whitmore Crittenden, Charles Andrew Waters
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Publication number: 20210248898Abstract: An electric utility meter including a three-axis Hall Effect sensor configured to detect the presence of a magnetic field in two or more directions surrounding the electric utility meter. The electric utility meter also includes a controller having an electronic processor. The controller is configured to receive a signal indicative of an abnormal magnetic field proximate the electric utility meter from the three-axis Hall Effect sensor, determine an amount of time for which the abnormal magnetic field has been detected, and log a magnetic field tamper event in an event log when the amount of time for which the abnormal magnetic field has been detected exceeds a threshold.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 4, 2021Publication date: August 12, 2021Inventors: Thomas Lee McDougall, JR., Charles Andrew Waters