Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080278871 | METHOD OF DETECTING A GROUND FAULT AND ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS EMPLOYING THE SAME - A circuit breaker includes for each neutral and phase power conductor, a current sensor sensing an alternating current flowing in a corresponding power conductor, a comparator determining whether the sensed alternating current is positive or negative, a rectifier rectifying the sensed alternating current to provide a rectified current value, and an analog-to-digital converter converting the rectified current value to a signed digital value having a positive sign. A processor cooperates with the comparators and the analog-to-digital converters and includes a routine that changes the positive sign of the signed digital value to a negative sign if the sensed alternating current is negative, adds the signed digital value for each power conductor to provide a sum, and employs the sum to determine whether to output a ground fault signal. The processor further cooperates with an operating mechanism to trip open separable contacts responsive to the ground fault signal. | 11-13-2008 |
20090154046 | TRIP UNIT AND ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS INCLUDING A MOVABLE INDICATOR TO INDICATE SELECTION OF AN ARC REDUCTION MAINTENANCE SYSTEM CURRENT CONDITION - A trip unit includes a housing having a first opening and a second opening. A sensor senses a current flowing in an electrical circuit and provides a signal representative of the current. A selector switch is disposed proximate the first opening and selects one of predetermined instantaneous current conditions and predetermined arc reduction maintenance system current conditions. A movable indicator cooperates with the selector switch, is disposed proximate the second opening, and indicates whether one of the predetermined instantaneous current conditions or one of the predetermined arc reduction maintenance system current conditions is selected by the selector switch. A trip mechanism cooperates with the sensor and the selector switch to evaluate the signal representative of the current with respect to the selected one of the predetermined instantaneous current conditions and the predetermined arc reduction maintenance system current conditions, and responsively generates a trip signal. | 06-18-2009 |
20090195337 | MANUALLY SELECTABLE INSTANTANEOUS CURRENT SETTINGS FOR A TRIP UNIT AND ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - A circuit breaker includes separable contacts, an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts, and a trip mechanism cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the contacts. The trip mechanism includes a current transformer structured to sense a current flowing through the contacts and provide a signal representative of the current. A manually operable selector selects one of a plurality of predetermined current conditions by using a plurality of different zener diodes. Each of the predetermined current conditions is greater than an arc reduction maintenance current condition of four times the maximum rated current of the trip mechanism. An instantaneous trip circuit cooperates with the current transformer and the manually operable selector to compare the signal representative of the current with respect to the selected one of the predetermined current conditions. The instantaneous trip circuit responsively causes the operating mechanism to instantaneously trip open the contacts. | 08-06-2009 |
20090326900 | SETTINGS EMULATOR FOR A CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER TRIP UNIT AND SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME - A settings emulator for a circuit breaker trip unit includes a handheld enclosure and a plurality of adjustable rotary switches mounted on the handheld enclosure. The adjustable rotary switches define a plurality of different trip settings for the circuit breaker trip unit. A communication channel is also mounted on the handheld enclosure. A microprocessor is enclosed by the handheld enclosure. The processor reads the different trip settings from the adjustable rotary switches and communicates the different trip settings through the communication channel to the circuit breaker trip unit. | 12-31-2009 |
20100085136 | ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS AND TRIP ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY THEREFOR - A trip actuator assembly is provided for an electrical switching apparatus, such as a circuit breaker. The trip actuator assembly includes a trip actuator with an actuating element, which is movable among unactuated and actuated positions corresponding to separable contacts of the circuit breaker being closeable and tripped opened in response to a trip condition, respectively. The trip actuator is disposed at a mounting portion of a frame. An interface assembly is movably coupled to the frame and includes an interface element disposed between the actuating element of the trip actuator and a portion of the circuit breaker operating mechanism. When the actuating element moves from the unactuated position toward the actuated position, it engages and moves the interface element, thereby moving the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts. The frame secures the trip actuator assembly in a desired orientation within a corresponding one of the housing compartments. | 04-08-2010 |
20120176719 | TRIP UNIT PROVIDING REMOTE ELECTRICAL SIGNAL TO REMOTELY INDICATE THAT AN ARC REDUCTION MAINTENANCE MODE IS REMOTELY ENABLED, AND ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - An electrical switching apparatus includes separable contacts; an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts; and a trip mechanism cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts. The trip mechanism includes an input structured to receive a remote signal to remotely enable an arc reduction maintenance mode, a first circuit structured to enable the arc reduction maintenance mode in response to the received remote signal, and a second circuit structured to provide an electrical signal remote from the trip mechanism in order to remotely indicate that the arc reduction maintenance mode is remotely enabled. | 07-12-2012 |
20120181152 | ACCESSORY MODULE PROVIDING A ZONE SELECTIVE INTERLOCKING INTERFACE EXTERNAL TO A TRIP UNIT, AND SYSTEM AND CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER INCLUDING THE SAME - A circuit interrupter includes a circuit breaker frame having an accessory compartment, a trip unit providing a zone selective interlocking function, and an accessory module. The accessory module includes a housing received by the accessory compartment of the circuit breaker frame, and a circuit housed by the housing. The circuit cooperates with the zone selective interlocking function of the trip unit to provide a zone selective interlocking interface external to the trip unit. | 07-19-2012 |
20140111294 | ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS INCLUDING TRANSDUCTOR CIRCUIT AND ALTERNATING CURRENT ELECTRONIC TRIP CIRCUIT - An electrical switching apparatus includes a transductor circuit that senses a direct current between at least one input terminal and at least one output terminal and outputs an alternating current proportional to the direct current between the input terminal and the output terminal. The electrical switching apparatus also includes an alternating current electronic trip circuit configured to control pairs of separable contacts to separate based on the alternating current output from the transductor circuit. The alternating current electronic trip circuit includes a rectifier circuit, an interface circuit, and a processor structured to output a control signal to control a trip actuator to cause an operating mechanism to separate the plurality of pairs of separable contacts. | 04-24-2014 |
20140118875 | CONTROL AND MONITORING UNIT FOR A CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER ELECTRONIC TRIP UNIT AND SYSTEM INCLUDING SAME - A circuit interrupter system includes a circuit interrupter including a processing unit, a serial port interface operatively coupled to the processing unit for enabling communication with the processing unit, and a USB processing unit configured to run a USB stack and operatively coupled to the serial port interface for enabling communication with the processing unit through the serial port interface, and a portable computing device selectively connectable to the USB processing unit of the circuit interrupter through a USB connection, the portable computing device being structured to function as a USB host and to implement a graphical user interface for enabling communication between the portable computing device and the processing unit of the circuit interrupter through the serial port interface and the USB processing unit when the portable computing device is connected to the USB processing unit of the circuit interrupter. | 05-01-2014 |
20140266519 | ELECTRONIC TRIP UNIT, CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER INCLUDING THE SAME, AND METHOD OF SETTING TRIP UNIT SETTINGS - An electronic trip unit having a number of trip unit settings includes: a first input member; a second input member; a multi-position selector configured to select one of plurality of positions corresponding to values of the trip unit settings; a plurality of indicators each corresponding to one of the plurality of trip unit settings; and a processor having a routine, wherein the routine of the processor is structured to, in response to actuation of the first input member, increment a ring counter value and selectively activate one of the indicators corresponding to the ring counter value; and wherein the routine of the processor is further structured to, in response to actuation of the second input member, set a value of the trip unit setting corresponding to the activated indicator based on the selected position of the multi-position selector. | 09-18-2014 |