CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER DEVICE WITH SELF-TEST FUNCTION
First Claim
1. A circuit interrupter device comprising:
- a hot conducting circuit and a neutral conducting circuit for connecting to a power source;
an fault detection circuit, coupled to the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit, being responsive to at least a fault in the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit to generate a first fault detection signal;
a signal driving circuit, coupled to the fault detection circuit, being responsive to the first fault detection signal to generate a drive signal;
a disconnecting mechanism, coupled to the signal driving circuit, for disconnecting an electrical connection in the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit when the drive signal exceeds a predetermined level;
a self-test circuit, coupled to the fault detection circuit and the signal driving circuit, for generating a self-test signal according to a predetermined time period and when an alternating current of the power source passes zero points, generating an evaluation result based on the self-test signal and a feedback signal of a second fault detection signal corresponding to the self-test signal, and generating one or more error signals if the evaluation result indicates a circuit error; and
a device-state indicator circuit, coupled to the self-test circuit, for generating one or more alarms based on the one or more error signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device with self-test function includes: hot and neutral conducting circuits; an fault detection circuit responsive to a fault in the hot and neutral conducting circuits to generate a fault detection signal; a signal driving circuit responsive to the fault detection signal to generate a drive signal; a disconnecting mechanism for disconnecting electrical connections in the hot and the neutral conducting circuits when the drive signal exceeds a predetermined level; a self-test circuit for generating a self-test signal according to a predetermined time period and when an alternating current of the power source passes zero points, generating an evaluation result based on the self-test signal and a feedback signal of a fault detection signal corresponding to the self-test signal, and generating error signals if the evaluation result indicates a circuit error; and a device-state indicator circuit for generating alarms based on the error signals.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A circuit interrupter device comprising:
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a hot conducting circuit and a neutral conducting circuit for connecting to a power source; an fault detection circuit, coupled to the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit, being responsive to at least a fault in the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit to generate a first fault detection signal; a signal driving circuit, coupled to the fault detection circuit, being responsive to the first fault detection signal to generate a drive signal; a disconnecting mechanism, coupled to the signal driving circuit, for disconnecting an electrical connection in the hot conducting circuit and the neutral conducting circuit when the drive signal exceeds a predetermined level; a self-test circuit, coupled to the fault detection circuit and the signal driving circuit, for generating a self-test signal according to a predetermined time period and when an alternating current of the power source passes zero points, generating an evaluation result based on the self-test signal and a feedback signal of a second fault detection signal corresponding to the self-test signal, and generating one or more error signals if the evaluation result indicates a circuit error; and a device-state indicator circuit, coupled to the self-test circuit, for generating one or more alarms based on the one or more error signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification