Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
361045000 | With differential sensing in a single phase system | 28 |
20080225448 | Ground fault circuit interrupter - A method of preventing an overload current from a power supply to a load through a ground fault circuit interrupter includes the steps of: obtaining an interrupted fault current from a hot wire to a ground wire via a first zero-phase current inductor and a fault current from a neutral wire to the ground wire via a second zero-phase current inductor; amplifying a signal of the fault current by an Op-Amp; and determining the fault current by a programmable control module, wherein when the fault current is larger than a preset threshold, the programmable control module sends a control signal to a control switch such that the control switch electrifies a second coil of a trip breaker to drive an armature at an unlocked position, so as to separate a movable terminal with a fixed terminal for electrically disconnecting the load with the power supply. | 09-18-2008 |
20080232007 | LEAKAGE CURRENT PROTECTION DEVICE - A leakage current protection device with a single laminated magnetic core transformer that is formed by punch pressing an amorphous metal material, or a nanocrystalline soft metal material, in a high punch velocity press to form the ring laminations for the magnetic core. In a ground fault circuit interrupter, the single laminated magnetic core transformer serves as the input sensor for both the current imbalance detection circuitry and the low impedance ground fault protection circuitry. | 09-25-2008 |
20080247100 | CIRCUIT BREAKERS WITH GROUND FAULT AND OVERCURRENT TRIP - A circuit breaker apparatus may be used to interrupt overcurrent and ground fault in a circuit. The circuit breaker apparatus may include an overcurrent coil for tripping the circuit breaker apparatus, a voltage coil also for tripping the circuit breaker apparatus located proximate to the overcurrent coil, and ground fault electronics connected to the voltage coil and structured to detect a ground fault in the circuit when the ground fault exceeds a threshold level. The ground fault electronics can be structured to send a trip signal to the voltage coil when a ground fault is detected, and the voltage coil can be structured to trip the circuit breaker apparatus when it receives the trip signal from the ground fault electronics. | 10-09-2008 |
20090147418 | GROUND-FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER WITH CIRCUIT CONDITION DETECTION FUNCTION - A GFCI device with circuit condition detection function includes a leakage current detection circuit, a disconnect mechanism, a reset mechanism, a circuit condition detection and control circuit, and a selection switch. The disconnect mechanism includes a first SCR controlled by the leakage current detection circuit. The circuit condition detection and control circuit includes a first control circuit and a second control circuit. When the first control circuit is connected to an anode of the first SCR by the selection switch, it provides an intermittent simulated leakage current to the leakage current detection circuit, and the leakage current detection circuit provides a trigger signal for a control gate of the first SCR, so that the first control circuit generates an intermittent simulated leakage current. When the leakage current detection circuit is not operational to generate the trigger signal, the first control circuit generates a control signal to disable the GFCI device. | 06-11-2009 |
20090180222 | SELF FAULT-DETECTION CIRCUIT FOR GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER - A self fault-detection circuit for a ground fault circuit interrupter comprising: (i) a Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) fault detection unit for detecting a fault condition of the MOV, and sending a first trigger signal if a fault condition of the MOV is detected, (ii) a trip circuit fault detection unit for detecting a fault condition of a trip circuit, and sending a second trigger signal if a fault condition of the trip circuit is detected; and (iii) a fault reaction unit for receiving at least one of the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal, and responding to the first and second trigger signals with an action, when at least one of the first and the second trigger signals is received by the fault reaction unit, the fault reaction unit indicates that at least one fault condition exists in the ground fault circuit interrupter. | 07-16-2009 |
20090273866 | FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER WITH BI-DIRECTIONAL SENSING - A bi-directional fault circuit interrupter system having mis-wiring protection via numerous different poles. There are at least three different transformers wherein at least two of the transformers are differential transformers and at least one transformer is a neutral transformer. There is also at least one actuator which is used to switch the switches back and forth to selectively connect the electrical current to the fault circuit. | 11-05-2009 |
20090284880 | Protection Device with Lockout Test - The present invention is directed to a protective device the includes a plurality of line terminals and a plurality of load terminals. A detection circuit is coupled to the plurality of line terminals. The detection circuit is configured to generate a sensor signal in response to an electrical perturbation propagating on the plurality of line terminals and/or the plurality of load terminals. A fault detection circuit is coupled to detection circuit. The fault detection circuit is configured to generate a fault detection signal when the electrical perturbation exceeds a predetermined level. An actuation assembly is coupled to the fault detection circuit. The actuation assembly is configured to generate a trip actuation in response to the fault detection signal. A circuit interrupter assembly is coupled to the fault detection circuit. The circuit interrupter assembly includes a set of movable contacts configured to be driven into a tripped state in response to the trip actuation and driven into a reset state in response to a reset actuation. A reset mechanism is coupled to the circuit interrupter assembly. The reset mechanism is configured to provide the reset actuation in response to a user reset input. A test assembly is coupled to the plurality of line terminals and the plurality of load terminals, the detection circuit, the actuation circuit and the reset mechanism. The test assembly includes a test circuit configured to generate a simulated electrical perturbation exceeding the predetermined level in response to a user test input. The test assembly also includes a test timing mechanism coupled to the reset mechanism. The test timing mechanism is configured to drive the circuit interrupter into the tripped state and disable the reset mechanism if any one of the detection circuit, fault detection circuit, actuation assembly, or circuit interrupter assembly fail before a predetermined time elapses such that the device is permanently inoperable. | 11-19-2009 |
20100046129 | GROUND PROTECTION DEVICE FOR ELECTRONIC STABILITY AND PERSONAL SAFETY - A ground stabilization network including a circuit with an EMI filter circuit to filter out ground referenced interference and internal fault current detection circuitry with an integrated trip circuit to stop the flow of power in case of a fault condition, which might result in a safety hazard. The EMI filter circuit includes a resistor and a reactive portion, both connected in parallel between neutral or return line and ground, mounted between the trip circuit and a current sensor. The current sensor senses differences between the current in the hot or positive line and the current in the neutral/negative or return line, and causes the trip circuit to trip if a predetermined difference in current is sensed. | 02-25-2010 |
20100123983 | OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT AND ARC FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER INCLUDING THE SAME - An operational amplifier circuit is for an arc fault circuit interrupter including a current sensor having a secondary and an envelope detector circuit having an input. The operational amplifier circuit includes a band pass filter having an input structured to be electrically interconnected with the secondary of the current sensor and an output; and a rectifier circuit. The rectifier circuit includes an operational amplifier having an input electrically interconnected with the output of the band pass filter and an output, a half-wave rectifier having an input electrically interconnected with the output of the operational amplifier, an output, and a forward voltage between the input and the output of the half-wave rectifier, the half-wave rectifier output being structured to be electrically interconnected with the input of the envelope detector circuit, and a voltage compensation circuit cooperating with the input and the output of the operational amplifier to compensate for the forward voltage. | 05-20-2010 |
20100290164 | METHODS AND APPRATUS FOR GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPT DETECTION USING A SINGLE TRANSFORMER - In a first aspect, a device is provided for use with an AC power system that includes a line conductor, a neutral conductor and a transformer, the line conductor and the neutral conductor are each coupled between a source and a load, the neutral conductor is coupled to ground at the source, and the transformer includes a first primary winding coupled in series with the line conductor, a second primary winding coupled in series with the neutral conductor, and a secondary winding. The device includes a first circuit coupled to the secondary winding, wherein the first circuit provides a first detection signal if a current from the line conductor to ground exceeds a first predetermined threshold. The device also includes a second circuit coupled to the secondary winding, wherein the second circuit includes an AC signal source that provides an AC signal at a specified amplitude and a specified frequency to the secondary winding. The second circuit also provides a second detection signal if an impedance between the neutral conductor and ground is less than a second predetermined threshold. Numerous other aspects are also provided. | 11-18-2010 |
20110032646 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO MANAGE GROUND FAULT CONDITIONS WITH A SINGLE COIL - A ground fault detection device includes a sense coil including a primary winding and a secondary winding to detect current in a line conductor and a neutral conductor. It also includes a capacitor in parallel with the secondary winding and a virtual inductor to form a resonance circuit having a signal proportional to the current and being indicative of a ground fault condition | 02-10-2011 |
20110141635 | Thermally protected GFCI - An electrical device having thermal overload protection detects an abnormal temperature of the current carrying conductors, and causes a current imbalance so that a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) triggers, thereby cutting off current flow and preventing thermal overload. | 06-16-2011 |
20110149447 | AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE - An aircraft electrical appliance is provided with a ground-fault-interruption device ( | 06-23-2011 |
20110222195 | PLUG TAIL SYSTEMS - The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring system for use in an AC electrical power distribution circuit including at least one first AC power conductor disposed between an upstream AC power element and a device box and at least one second AC power conductor disposed between the device box and a downstream AC power element. The at least one first AC power conductor and the at least one second AC power conductor are routed into an interior portion of the device box and accessible via a front open face of the device box. The system includes a connector device including a connector housing having a plurality of connector contacts disposed therein. The plurality of connector contacts are coupled to termination structures configured to couple the at least one first AC power conductor and the at least one second AC power conductor to corresponding contacts of the plurality of connector contacts. An electrical wiring device includes a device housing having a front portion and a rear portion. The front portion includes at least one user-accessible control element disposed thereon. The at least one user-accessible control element is coupled to an electrical switch mechanism disposed in the device housing and coupled to a plurality of device contacts. The plurality of device contacts are accessible by way of a device connection arrangement formed in the rear portion of the device housing. The plurality of device contacts are configured to mate with the plurality of connector contacts when the connector device is coupled to the device connection arrangement. | 09-15-2011 |
20120212863 | GROUND PROTECTION CIRCUIT AND SWITCH DRIVING DEVICE USING THE SAME - A ground protection circuit ( | 08-23-2012 |
20120250193 | RESET LOCKOUT WITH GROUNDED NEUTRAL TEST - One embodiment relates to a fault circuit interrupter comprising at least one grounded neutral sensor and at least one test circuit configured to test the grounded neutral sensor. A further embodiment can also include at least one fault circuit which is configured to detect a current sent from the grounded neutral sensor. The device can also include a line side phase line, a line side neutral line, and a test line coupled to the line side neutral line and extending from a first region on the line side neutral line to a second region on the line side neutral line, with the grounded neutral sensor being positioned between the first region and the second region on the line side neutral line. This test circuit can comprise a switch, such as a manually operatable switch or it can comprise any one of solid state circuitry, a transistor, and/or a silicon controlled rectifier. The device can also include a differential sensor and at least one second test circuit configured to directly test differential sensor. The device can also include a processor in communication with any one of the above test circuits, wherein the processor is configured to initiate a self-test. At least one embodiment of the invention can also include a process for testing a fault circuit. This process includes creating a simulated grounded neutral fault, determining whether the simulated grounded neutral fault is correctly detected, and then indicating a result of the test to a user. | 10-04-2012 |
20120257315 | ARRANGEMENT FOR GROUND-FAULT DETECTION IN AN AC CIRCUIT AND POWER SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT WITH GROUND-FAULT DETECTION - The invention relates to an arrangement ( | 10-11-2012 |
20130128396 | CURRENT MEASUREMENT - The present invention relates to current measurement apparatus. The current measurement apparatus comprises first and second measurement devices with each of the first and second measurement devices being operative to measure current in a respective one of a live conductor and a neutral conductor substantially simultaneously. The current measurement apparatus is operative to make plural different determinations in dependence on the substantially simultaneous current measurements. | 05-23-2013 |
20130250459 | PROTECTION DEVICE WITH A SANDWICHED CANTILEVER BREAKER MECHANISM - The present invention is directed to a protective electrical wiring device that includes at least one first stop member disposed proximate at least one first conductor. The at least one first stop member is configured to limit the movement of the at least one first conductor when the circuit interrupting assembly moves between the reset position and the tripped position such that a gap is established between the plurality of circuit interrupting contacts in the tripped state, the gap being substantially greater than or equal to a predetermined distance. | 09-26-2013 |
20140092503 | PROCESSOR-BASED CIRCUIT INTERRUPTING DEVICES - Circuit interrupting devices are provided. One circuit interrupting device includes a fault sensor configured to output a sensor signal; a voltage sensor configured to sense a reference voltage; and a controller configured to determine an occurrence of an actual fault based on the sensor signal and the reference voltage. The circuit interrupting device further includes an amplifier configured to receive the sensor signal and the reference voltage and output an amplified signal; an analog-to-digital converter configured to receive the reference voltage and the amplified signal and output respective digital signals corresponding to the reference voltage and the amplified signal; and a line interrupt assembly configured to interrupt current flow through a conductive path when a characteristic of the sensor signal exceeds an actual fault threshold. | 04-03-2014 |
20140139956 | FAULT DETECTING DEVICE FOR AN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY - A fault detecting device having a plurality of supply conductors, including a first current transformer having a primary winding comprising at least two supply conductors and a secondary winding into which a current is induced in response to a fault current in the primary winding. A fault detection circuit connects the secondary winding to an electromechanical actuator having mechanical contacts in the supply conductors, the fault detection circuit generating an output signal to the actuator when an induced current is detected in the secondary winding, the output signal causing the actuator to open the mechanical contacts. The device further includes a second current transformer having a primary winding connected to an oscillator and a secondary winding comprising at least one supply conductor, the second current transformer arranged to induce an oscillating current into the at least one supply conductor in the event of a fault condition. | 05-22-2014 |
20140153144 | Industrial Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter - The present disclosure provides an industrial GFCI for control panels and/or industrial machines. The industrial GFCI senses when a fault condition has occurred in an associated circuit or load and quickly disconnect the circuit. In some exemplary embodiments, the industrial GFCI includes a bypass switch, which couples a load directly to a power source, bypassing fault detection. In some exemplary embodiments, the industrial GFCI also includes intelligent filtering, which discriminate between true fault events and false signals caused by environmental noise. Further, the industrial GFCI is manufactured as a part of a control panel or a piece of equipment. In certain exemplary embodiments, the industrial GFCI is manufactured as a portable kit capable of coupling to and decoupling from one or more control panels, machines, etc. | 06-05-2014 |
20140233138 | GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER - A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) includes a sense coil to determine a current flow in a power circuit coupled between a power source and a load. The GFCI also includes a switching device configured to disconnect the power source from the load. The GFCI further includes a controller that controls the switching device based on the current flow in the power circuit. The GFCI additionally includes an electrical power supply that provides electrical power to the switching device. The power supply is electrically separate and isolated from the power circuit. The GFCI may be used to monitor a power circuit connected to a tuned resonant circuit, such as a source or capture resonator of a wireless power transfer system, since inductive elements in the switching device, such as solenoids, are isolated from the power circuit and therefore cannot unbalance a tuned resonant circuit connected to the power circuit. | 08-21-2014 |
20140313624 | SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION APPARATUS - A solar energy conversion apparatus includes a solar energy conversion unit and a ground fault detection and interruption unit. The ground fault detection and interruption unit includes a switch subunit, a control subunit, and a leakage current sensing subunit. The control subunit is configured to turn off the switch subunit when the leakage current sensing subunit senses that a leakage current passing through the leakage current sensing subunit exceeds a predetermined leakage current threshold. | 10-23-2014 |
20160020597 | REINSTALLABLE CIRCUIT INTERRUPTING DEVICE WITH VIBRATION RESISTANT MISWIRE PROTECTION - A GFCI includes a latch assembly provided with a rigid electrically conducting bar connected thereto such that when a user presses a reset button the latch assembly is moved toward a pair of contacts provided as part of a reset circuit to initiate a reset operation. When the electrically conducting bar on the latch assembly connects the pair of contacts, the reset circuit is closed and an actuator is activated to place the GFCI device in the latched, reset, condition. If the GFCI device is correctly wired, the latch assembly enters the latched state. If the device is not properly wired no power is provided to the actuator and the device remains in the tripped, or open, state. | 01-21-2016 |
361046000 | With more than two wires | 3 |
20100195255 | Intrinsically Safe Communications Circuit - An electrical circuit comprising a power supply, a load, a pair of parallel positive cables between the power supply and the load, a pair of parallel negative cables between the load and the power supply, and incendive arc prevention means, comprising: monitoring means adapted to detect if the current and/or voltage in one of the pair of cables deviates from the other, and a control means adapted to fully or partially isolate the power supply from the pair of cables if the monitoring means detects that their current and/or voltage has deviated from the other, characterised in which: the electrical circuit comprises a common positive section between the power supply and the pair of positive cables, and a common negative section between the pair of negative cables and the power supply, in which a first modulation means is adapted to generate a modulated communications signal. | 08-05-2010 |
20110122536 | POWER FEED CONTROL DEVICE - A branch wire L | 05-26-2011 |
20160111866 | SELF-CALIBRATING CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER - A circuit interrupter includes phase and neutral conductive paths between a line side and a load side of the circuit interrupter. Differential and ground/neutral transformers are coupled to the phase and neutral paths. A circuit interrupter chip is coupled to the phase and neutral conductive paths, and to respective fault inputs from the transformers. A calibration circuit including a calibration resistor is coupled to a circuit interrupter controller. An interrupter circuit is configured to open the phase and neutral paths when a predetermined ground fault current condition is sensed. The circuit interrupter controller is configured to perform a self-calibration function to adjust a ground fault current trip-time response to maintain the ground fault current trip-time response within a predetermined range. Methods for using the self-calibrating circuit interrupter are also disclosed. | 04-21-2016 |