Patents Assigned to ABB SCHWEIZ
  • Method and video communication device for transmitting video to a remote user
    Patent number: 9628772
    Abstract: A method, computer program product and video communication device are provided for transmitting video to a remote user. The video communication device includes a communication interface for providing a communication session with a device of the remote user, a camera capturing images, and a control unit configured to obtain a three-dimensional model of the location, control the camera to capture video images of the location, determine a current orientation of the video communication device, and transfer the three-dimensional model and orientation to the device of the remote user together with a video stream from the camera comprising the captured video images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Fredrik Alfredsson, Elina Vartiainen, Jonas Brönmark, Tony Tsai, Mark Billinghurst, Matthew Tait
  • Adjusting parameters of a dynamical robot model
    Patent number: 9616565
    Abstract: A method, robot arrangement and computer program product for tuning a dynamical model of an industrial robot on a foundation. The parameter determining device includes a model memory with a first dynamical model of the robot, the first dynamical model including first model parameters representing dynamical properties of the robot; and a second dynamical model of a foundation to which the robot is to be attached, the second dynamical model including second model parameters representing dynamical properties of the foundation, and a parameter adjusting unit that obtains information about dynamical properties of the foundation by ordering the actuator to move the robot and by receiving, from the detector, measurements of at least one property affected by the movement; and set at least one of the second model parameters on the basis of the dynamical properties of the foundation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Ingvar Jonsson, Stig Moberg, Sven Hanssen
  • Method and device for detection of a fault in a protected unit
    Patent number: 9618586
    Abstract: A method to facilitate fault detection in the protected unit after connection to the at least a portion of the power system. A current is sensed in the protected unit during a plurality of different time periods. Compliance of at least one of the sensed currents with a respective first current criteria is determined based on a first current threshold value. On a condition that there is determined that at least one of the sensed currents comply with the respective first current criteria, a fault in the protected unit is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Reynaldo Nuqui, Jiuping Pan, Jianping Wang
  • Voltage control system
    Patent number: 9618950
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, the invention provides a voltage control system for medium voltage applications. The voltage control system provides a booster-transformer and a feeder-transformer, each of the booster-transformer and the feeder-transformer having a respective primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the secondary winding of the feeder-transformer is electrically connected with the primary winding of the booster-transformer by an intermediate circuit. The voltage control system also includes a connection device configured to connect the secondary winding of the booster transformer with an electrical energy supply network in order that the secondary winding of the booster transformer is connected in series with a transmission line having a voltage that is to be controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Martin Carlen, Irma Buschmann, Frank Cornelius, Jens Tepper, Benjamin Weber, Yong Wang
  • Recirculating cooling unit within a housing
    Patent number: 9622378
    Abstract: A recirculating cooling unit includes a plurality of components which require supervision and maintenance. The interior of the cooling unit includes an open space, named a service area, designed to house a human working in the space, and the components are arranged so that they are accessible from the service area, and the cooling unit is provided with an opening design to allow a human to enter into the cooling unit and to enter the service area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Robert Hahn, Krister Landén, Lars Larsson, Martin Nilsson, Meho Mehmedovic
  • Storage module for a hydraulic stored-energy spring mechanism
    Patent number: 9620302
    Abstract: A storage module for a hydraulic stored-energy spring mechanism for operating a high-voltage switch, for example a high-voltage circuit breaker, having a spring element which acts to store energy and having a fluid for transmitting the energy of the spring element, by a moving storage piston, to a piston rod for operating the high-voltage switch, wherein the storage piston projects into the housing which is filled with fluid and the housing forms a pressurized storage reservoir for the fluid. The pressurized storage reservoir is connected to a hydraulic system of the stored-energy spring mechanism by at least one channel element which projects into the pressurized storage reservoir and a pressurized channel which is connected to the channel element. The storage piston closes a subregion of the channel element starting from a specific piston stroke “s”.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Matthias Schmidt, Thomas Brenneis, Jörg Knospe
  • Power electronics cooling
    Patent number: 9618244
    Abstract: An exemplary evaporating unit for cooling a heat emitting device includes a cooling circuit having a stack of evaporating units arranged alternately with heat emitting devices. Each evaporating unit is connected to a condenser and includes a first inlet channel, a first plurality of evaporation channels, and a first outlet channel. The evaporating unit is designed for pre-heating the cooling fluid flowing therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Anders Blomberg, Bruno Agostini, Jing Ni, Jürgen Hafner, Mathieu Habert
  • Circuit-breaker pole part with a flexible conductor for connecting a movable electrical contact
    Patent number: 9620316
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a pole part of a circuit-breaker arrangement having an insulation housing for accommodating a vacuum interrupter containing a pair of corresponding electrical switching contacts, wherein a fixed upper electrical contact is connected to an upper electrical terminal molded or assembled in the insulation housing and a movable lower electrical contact is connected to the insulating housing by a support plate of the insulation housing via a flexible conductor that includes a first end for attaching the flexible conductor to the lower electrical terminal and a second end for attaching the flexible conductor to the movable lower electrical contact. The second end of the flexible conductor is provided with an inside thread which is screwed to an outside thread arranged on the distal end of the movable lower electrical contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Dietmar Gentsch, Manfred Sauer
  • Medium voltage switchgear with front accessibility of current transformers mounted external to a rear of a circuit breaker compartment
    Patent number: 9620940
    Abstract: A switchgear includes a circuit breaker housing defining a circuit breaker compartment. A bushing has first and second portions and extends through an opening in a rear wall of the housing so that the first portion is disposed in the circuit breaker compartment and the second portion is disposed beyond the exterior of the rear wall and external of the circuit breaker compartment. The bushing has a hollow primary contact. A current transformer is mounted on the second portion of the bushing. A fastener structure has a portion that extends through the hollow primary contact. The fastener structure couples the primary contact to a busbar in a removable manner. When the fastener structure is decoupled from the primary contact, the bushing and the at least one current transform can be accessed from the front of the housing and moved through the opening in the rear wall, for maintenance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventor: Stefano Motta
  • Coil actuator for a switching device and related switching device
    Patent number: 9620319
    Abstract: An exemplary coil actuator for an associated switching device which can be actuated during its operation from an open position to a closed position to allow a current to flow therethrough and from the closed position to the open position to interrupt such flowing from flowing therethrough. The coil actuator includes a coil electromagnet arranged to move between a rest position and an actuating position, wherein movement from the rest position to the actuating position is suitable to cause the actuation of the switching device; and an electronic component arranged to count an operation time which is indicative of the duration of the actuation of the switching device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Fabio Mannino, Gabriele Valentino De Natale
  • Control of a stabilizing energy storage in a microgrid
    Patent number: 9620960
    Abstract: A method is performed by a control unit for controlling an energy storage configured for stabilizing a microgrid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventor: Ritwik Majumder
  • Clock synchronization for line differential protection
    Patent number: 9614577
    Abstract: A method and arrangement are provided for time synchronization between two geographically separated stationary clocks, such as first and second clocks located respectively at first and second ends of an AC power line. A first representation of an oscillating power line quantity is produced by measuring or recording the power line quantity at the first end of the power line, and time-stamping the first representation by the first clock. A second representation of the same oscillating power line quantity is produced by measuring the power line quantity at the second end of the power line, and time-stamping the second representation by the second clock. The first and second representations are compared to determine a clock offset between the first and second clocks. Based on the comparison, one or both of the first and second clocks are adjusted to reduce the determined clock offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventor: Dacfey Dzung
  • Method and system for automatically landing containers on a landing target using a container crane
    Patent number: 9611126
    Abstract: A method for automatically landing a container on a landing target using a container crane is disclosed. The container crane includes a trolley and spreader for holding and lifting the container and a crane control system for controlling movements of the container crane. A distance from the container to the landing target is measured and the container is moved towards the landing target dependent on the measured distance. A plurality of images of the landing target is made using at least one camera mounted on the spreader. The images are processed to identify one or more landing features in the images of the landing target. Distances from the container to the landing target are calculated based on a measurement of distance between the container and the landing features in the images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Björn Holmberg, Christer Johansson
  • Modular thyristor-based rectifier circuits
    Patent number: 9614457
    Abstract: Power conversion apparatus for controllably converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). An example apparatus includes multiple AC sources, galvanically isolated from one another, and multiple bridge rectifier circuits, including one or more controllable bridge rectifier circuits, where each bridge rectifier circuit has respective AC-side terminals and DC-side terminals and each bridge rectifier circuit is connected to a corresponding one of the AC sources via its AC-side terminals. The DC-side terminals are connected so that the outputs of the bridge rectifier circuits are combined in series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Zhiguo Pan, Sandeep Bala
  • Vacuum interrupter for a circuit breaker arrangement
    Patent number: 9613769
    Abstract: An exemplary vacuum interrupter for a circuit breaker arrangement including a cylindrically shaped insulating part, within which a pair of electrical contact parts are coaxially arranged and surrounded concentrically by the insulating part. The electrical contact parts can be configured to initiate a disconnection arc only between corresponding inner contact elements after starting a disconnection process, and corresponding outer contact elements can be configured to commutate the arc from the inner contact elements to the outer contact elements until the disconnection process is completed, wherein each inner electrical contact element is designed as a TMF-like contact element for generating mainly a transverse magnetic field, and each outer electrical contact element is designed as an AMF-like contact element for generating mainly an axial magnetic field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Dietmar Gentsch, Thierry Delachaux, Tarek Lamara
  • System for converting AC electrical power to DC electrical power and methods
    Patent number: 9614429
    Abstract: A system includes a first DC rail and a second DC rail, and a rectifier coupled with the first and second DC rails. A multilevel converter is also coupled with the DC rails and operable to limit input current harmonics to the rectifier. Differences between voltage phase and current phase in AC electrical power supplied to the system are compensated via closed loop control of a voltage output of the multilevel converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Jiaqi Liang, Li Qi
  • System and method for defining motions of a plurality of robots cooperatively performing a show
    Patent number: 9604361
    Abstract: A system for defining motions of a plurality of real robots cooperatively performing a show based on a description of the motions of the robots defined by animation software. The system includes at least one storage for storing a plurality of segments that describe the motions of the robots during the show, each segment includes a description of motions of one of the robots during a defined time period, and for storing a plurality of scenes, each scene specifying a plurality of segments to be executed simultaneously by the robots, and a playlist handler configured to handle creation of a playlist including a sequence of scenes and to amend the playlist according to user commands, and a user interface configured to display the playlist to a user, to allow the user to edit the playlist by amending the sequence of scenes, and to receive the user commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Magnus Gustafsson, Mark Ruth
  • Reducing peak fault output current in a DC power generation system
    Patent number: 9608551
    Abstract: Technologies for reducing peak fault output current in a DC power generation system include a generator having a reduced damper winding and a controller to control a rectifier array to generate a DC power output. In some embodiments, the generator may have no damper windings, may have damper windings including a reduced number of damper bars, and/or may have damper windings having separated end ring mounts for each damper bar. The controller is configured to control the rectifier array so as to reduce oscillations of the DC output that may be due to the reduced damper windings. To do so, the controller is configured to generate the control signal based on an oscillation component of the DC power output. For example, the controller may generate an oscillation correction signal based on the DC power output and adjust a firing angle set point of the rectifier array based on the oscillation correction signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Wen Ouyang, Jiaqi Liang, Li Qi
  • Updating data of a controller of a primary device of a power substation
    Patent number: 9609609
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments for updating a controller of a primary device of a power substation. An actual time is received from a time server via a cell phone communication network with a mobile device and the actual time is sent with the mobile device via a local wireless communication network to the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Bernhard Deck, Thomas Küng
  • Method and a control system for controlling a melting and refining process
    Patent number: 9599401
    Abstract: A method and device for controlling a melting and refining process in an electric arc furnace for melting a metal, wherein the electric arc furnace includes molten and solid metal and a slag layer on the surface of the molten metal, wherein an electromagnetic stirrer is arranged for stirring the molten metal. The method includes calculating/determining masses of the molten and solid metal at a point of time, wherein the calculation is based on initial values of the molten and solid metal, an arc power supplied to the electric arc furnace, and temperatures of the molten and solid metal, determining a stirring power based on the calculated/determined masses, and supplying the determined stirring power to the electromagnetic stirrer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Michael Lundh, Xiaojing Zhang, Jan-Erik Eriksson, Lidong Teng, Carl-Fredrik Lindberg