Processor controlled circuit breaker trip system having an intelligent rating plug
First Claim
1. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current in a current path, a rating plug circuit comprising:
- a circuit board;
resistor means, connected to the circuit board, for establishing a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current;
a connector, having a plurality of conductive contact points, for interconnecting the circuit board with the tripping system; and
coding means, coupled to the conductive contact points, for establishing a code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current;
wherein the code is capable of being read by the processor via the connector to analyze the current path.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rating plug circuit is used in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current from a current path. The rating plug circuit includes a printed circuit board and a resistor that is connected to the printed circuit board for establishing a designated voltage in the presence of a predetermined amount of sensed current. A connector, having a plurality of conductive contact points, interconnects the printed circuit board with the tripping system, and a plurality of printed circuit paths are included on the printed circuit board to provide a binary code at the contact points. The binary code indicates the value of the resistor and is read by the processor to analyze the current in the current path.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current in a current path, a rating plug circuit comprising:
-
a circuit board; resistor means, connected to the circuit board, for establishing a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current; a connector, having a plurality of conductive contact points, for interconnecting the circuit board with the tripping system; and coding means, coupled to the conductive contact points, for establishing a code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current; wherein the code is capable of being read by the processor via the connector to analyze the current path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. For use in a fault-powered, processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current in a current path, a rating plug circuit comprising:
-
a printed circuit board; resistor means, connected to the printed circuit board, for establishing a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current; a connector, having a plurality of conductive contact points, for interconnecting the printed circuit board with the tripping system; and a plurality of printed circuit paths disposed on the printed circuit board and connected to various ones of the conductive contact points of the connector for establishing a binary code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current; wherein the binary code is capable of being read by a processor via the connector to analyze the current path.
-
-
5. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current from a current path, a method for establishing a current rating for the tripping system comprising the steps of:
-
defining a plurality of printed circuit paths to various conductive contact points on a printed circuit board; connecting a resistor to the printed circuit board to establish a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current; opening selected ones of the plurality of printed circuit paths to establish a binary code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current; interconnecting the printed circuit board with the tripping system using a connector having a plurality of conductors connected to the conductive contact points; using logic means, coupled to the plurality of printed circuit paths, to establish logic high and logic low levels on the conductive contact points indicating said binary code; using the resistor to scale the sensed current; and using a processor to read said logic high and low level to obtain said binary code and analyze the sensed current having been scaled by the resistor. - View Dependent Claims (6)
-
-
7. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current from a current path, a method for manufacturing a rating plug circuit, comprising the steps of:
-
defining a plurality of printed circuit paths to various conductive contact points on a printed circuit board; connecting an electrical connector to the contact points on the printed circuit board; connecting a resistor having a selected value to the printed circuit board; and opening selected ones of the plurality of printed circuit paths to provide a code indicating the selected value of the resistor. - View Dependent Claims (8)
-
-
9. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current in a current path, a rating plug circuit comprising:
-
resistor means for establishing a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current; a connector for interconnecting the rating plug circuit with the tripping system; and coding means, coupled to said connector, for establishing a code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current, the code capable of being read by the tripping system via said connector. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. For use in a processor-based circuit breaker tripping system having a current sensor for sensing current in a current path, a rating plug circuit for setting a current rating for the tripping system, comprising:
-
a circuit board; resistor means, connected to the circuit board, for establishing a voltage in a predetermined ratio to the amount of sensed current so as to establish a maximum allowable continuous current passing through the current path; a connector, having a plurality of conductive contact points, for interconnecting the circuit board with the tripping system so as to establish a maximum current rating for the tripping system, such that an absence of the rating plug circuit from the tripping system causes the tripping system to revert to a minimum current rating; and coding means, coupled to the conductive contact points, for establishing a code representing said predetermined ratio of said voltage to the sensed current; wherein the code is capable of being read by the processor via the connector to analyze the current path. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification