Circuit Breaker With Bistable Display
First Claim
1. An electronic circuit breaker, comprising:
- a microcontroller that receives power derived from a line current that passes through the circuit breaker when the circuit breaker is in an on state;
a trip mechanism that trips the circuit breaker in response to detection of at least one fault condition on a line to which the circuit breaker is connected;
a trip solenoid that causes the trip mechanism to trip the circuit breaker in response to receiving a trip signal from the microcontroller; and
a bi-stable display electrically coupled to the microcontroller, the microcontroller being programmed to modify the bi-stable display when the trip signal is sent to the trip solenoid, wherein the bi-stable display shows a fault-type indication indicative of one of a plurality of fault types causing the circuit breaker to trip and continues to display the fault-type indication after the circuit breaker has tripped.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit breaker is disclosed that has a bi-stable display that maintains an indication of a fault condition after power is interrupted to the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker has a microcontroller that receives power derived from a line current that passes through the circuit breaker or the line voltage when the circuit breaker is in an on state. The bi-stable display is electrically coupled to and controlled by the microcontroller. A tripping mechanism trips the circuit breaker in response to detection of a fault condition. The tripping mechanism trips the circuit breaker in response to receiving a trip signal from the microcontroller. The microcontroller is programmed to modify the bi-stable display when sending the trip signal to the electronic switching device. The bi-stable display shows an indication of one of the several fault types that would have caused the circuit breaker to trip. The bi-stable display continues to display the fault-type indication after the circuit breaker has tripped and power is interrupted to the microcontroller.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An electronic circuit breaker, comprising:
-
a microcontroller that receives power derived from a line current that passes through the circuit breaker when the circuit breaker is in an on state; a trip mechanism that trips the circuit breaker in response to detection of at least one fault condition on a line to which the circuit breaker is connected; a trip solenoid that causes the trip mechanism to trip the circuit breaker in response to receiving a trip signal from the microcontroller; and a bi-stable display electrically coupled to the microcontroller, the microcontroller being programmed to modify the bi-stable display when the trip signal is sent to the trip solenoid, wherein the bi-stable display shows a fault-type indication indicative of one of a plurality of fault types causing the circuit breaker to trip and continues to display the fault-type indication after the circuit breaker has tripped. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A circuit breaker, comprising:
-
a load connector; a power connector; a trip mechanism having an on condition allowing current between the load connector and the power connector and a trip condition interrupting current between the load connector and the power connector, the trip condition triggered in response to detection of a fault condition on a line to which the circuit breaker is connected; a controller coupled to the trip mechanism; a bi-stable display coupled to the controller, the controller sending a signal to the bi-stable display to indicate the fault condition when the trip condition is detected, the bi-stable display continuing to indicate the fault condition after the circuit breaker has tripped and the signal has terminated. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of maintaining an indication of a fault on current flowing through a circuit breaker coupled between a power source and a load, the method comprising:
-
detecting a fault on the current; identifying one of a plurality of fault types that caused the fault; displaying an indication of the fault type on a bi-stable display; and maintaining the indication of the fault type on the bi-stable display after power is interrupted to the bi-stable display. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification