Circuit interrupter apparatus with an integral trip curve display
First Claim
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1. A circuit interrupter apparatus, comprising:
- interrupting means disposed in a normally conducting electrical circuit and effective for interrupting current flow through said electrical circuit upon reception of a trip signal;
conditioning means coupled to said electrical circuit to conditions a current value proportionate to such current flow, said conditioning means producing a conditioned signal representative of the magnitude of said current value;
operating means effective to derive at least one operating characteristic from said conditioned signal, said operating means further being effective to compare said at least one operating characteristic to a corresponding at least one preselected tripping parameter as represented in a trip curve and generating said trip signal when said at least one operating characteristic is at least equal to said corresponding at least one tripping parameter;
selecting means coupled to said operating means for selectively adjusting said at least one tripping parameter, said selecting means including at least one controller positioned along at least one portion of said trip curve which is associated with said at least one preselected tripping parameter;
display means selectively connectable to said operating means and disposable in proximate relation to said trip curve for selectively displaying said at least one operating characteristic, said display means further including indicating means for identifying the unit of measurement of said operating characteristic that has been displayed; and
,an indicating element associated with each of said at least one controller having a unit of measure disposed thereon and effective such that the setting of said at least one preselected tripping parameter is observable thereby, said indicating element being effective in conjunction with said display means at times when said display means has been selectively coupled to said operating means, to allow visual correlation of said at least one operating characteristic with said at least one tripping parameter and, at other times, to independently indicate a value associated with said at least one preselected tripping parameter.
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Abstract
A circuit interrupter includes a circuit arrangement for sampling a conditioned current value and determining operating characteristics related to the current flow through an electrical circuit. Also included is a circuit arrangement for comparing the operating characteristics to preselectable tripping parameters and initiating a trip condition when an operating characteristic exceeds a corresponding tripping parameter. Additionally, a fault indicating and selecting arrangement which utilizes a trip curve graph to assist in the operation of the circuit interrupter, is also included.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A circuit interrupter apparatus, comprising:
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interrupting means disposed in a normally conducting electrical circuit and effective for interrupting current flow through said electrical circuit upon reception of a trip signal; conditioning means coupled to said electrical circuit to conditions a current value proportionate to such current flow, said conditioning means producing a conditioned signal representative of the magnitude of said current value; operating means effective to derive at least one operating characteristic from said conditioned signal, said operating means further being effective to compare said at least one operating characteristic to a corresponding at least one preselected tripping parameter as represented in a trip curve and generating said trip signal when said at least one operating characteristic is at least equal to said corresponding at least one tripping parameter; selecting means coupled to said operating means for selectively adjusting said at least one tripping parameter, said selecting means including at least one controller positioned along at least one portion of said trip curve which is associated with said at least one preselected tripping parameter; display means selectively connectable to said operating means and disposable in proximate relation to said trip curve for selectively displaying said at least one operating characteristic, said display means further including indicating means for identifying the unit of measurement of said operating characteristic that has been displayed; and
,an indicating element associated with each of said at least one controller having a unit of measure disposed thereon and effective such that the setting of said at least one preselected tripping parameter is observable thereby, said indicating element being effective in conjunction with said display means at times when said display means has been selectively coupled to said operating means, to allow visual correlation of said at least one operating characteristic with said at least one tripping parameter and, at other times, to independently indicate a value associated with said at least one preselected tripping parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A circuit interrupter apparatus, comprising:
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interrupting means disposed in a normally conducting electrical circuit and effective for interrupting a current flow through said electrical circuit upon reception of a trip signal; conditioning means coupled to said electrical circuit to condition a current value proportionate to such current flow, said conditioning means producing conditioned signal representative of the magnitude of said current value; operating means effective to derive at least one operating characteristic from said conditioned signal, said operating means further being effective to compare said at least one operating characteristic to a corresponding at least one preselected tripping parameter as represented in a trip curve and generating said trip signal when said at least one operating characteristic is at least equal to said corresponding at least one preselected tripping parameter; selecting means coupled to said operating means for selectively adjusting said at least one preselected tripping parameter, said selecting means including at least one controller positioned along at least one portion of said trip curve which is associated with said at least one tripping parameter; and said at least one tripping parameter representable by said trip curve being selectable in any combination from among a group of exemplary tripping parameters including a ground fault tripping parameter, a long delay tripping parameter and a short delay tripping parameter, said at least one controller having at least one controller for each of said exemplary tripping parameters and being positionable along each portion of said trip curve such that, in any combination of said exemplary tripping parameters, said at least one controller occupies the same position immediately adjacent the corresponding portion of said trip curve. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification