OPTICAL SENSOR ASSEMBLY FOR INSTALLATION ON A CURRENT CARRYING CABLE

摘要

An optical sensor assembly (10), for installation on a current carrying cable (12), senses the current in the cable and provides an electrical output indicating the current. To sense the current, a magnetic concentrator (54) is placed in close proximity to the cable and creates a magnetic field representing current in the cable. An optical current sensor (40), within the created magnetic field, exposes a beam of polarized light to the magnetic field. The beam of polarized light is rotated thereby, by Faraday effect, according to the current in the cable. The amount of rotation is analyzed and converted to electrical signals to portray the current in the cable. The electrical signals may be processed, evaluated and analyzed to provide one or more of several elements of quality of the current in the cable.