System for controlling power distribution to customer loads

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The foregoing and other objects of the invention are attained in accordance with one aspect of the present invention through the provision of a system for permitting an electric power utility to control the distribution of its power along its power lines from a substation to a plurality of customer loads, which comprises a master control station including first programmable digital data processor means and input/output devices under the control of an operator for generating master control signals, at least one substation injection unit located at the substation and in communication with the master control station and operating under the control of second programmable digital data processor means for injecting in response to certain of the master control signals pulse code signals onto the power lines, and a plurality of remote receiver units each connected to a particular load device and to the power lines for receiving the pulse code signals, each of the remote receiver units responsive to one of the pulse code signals for connecting or disconnecting its load from the power lines.
The substation injection unit more particularly comprises means for converting the frequency of a standard three-phase power line voltage signal generated at the substation to a preselected frequency desired for the pulse code signals, means responsive to the second data processor means for controlling the output of the frequency converting means to generating said pulse code signals, and means for injecting the pulse code signals onto the power lines for transmission to the remote receiver units.
In accordance with more specific aspects of the present invention, the frequency converting means comprises three-phase rectifier means including a plurality of conduction controlled solid state devices under the control of the second data processor means for receiving the three-phase power line voltage signal and for developing a DC voltage signal of a predetermined level, and three-phase inverter means including a plurality of conduction controlled solid state devices also under the control of the second data processor means for receiving the DC voltage signal from the rectifier means and for converting same to the pulse code signal at the preselected frequency