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Circuit interrupter including an electric arc monitoring circuit

  • US 5,706,159 A
  • Filed: 05/31/1995
  • Issued: 01/06/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1995
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An arc detector for producing an arc signal in response to an arc produced by the current in an electric conductor, the detector comprising:

  • a sensor coupled to the electrical conductor to produce a first signal representative of the current in the conductor, wherein the current has a plurality of frequencies;

    a transform circuit coupled to the sensor to produce a second signal having amplitudes which represent the current at the plurality of frequencies; and

    a monitoring circuit coupled to the transform circuit to monitor the amplitudes of the second signal corresponding to a range of the plurality of frequencies, and generating the arc signal when the amplitudes of the range correspond to an predetermined amplitude condition,wherein the transform circuit comprises a first variable frequency filter which has a first center frequency which changes from a first frequency to a second frequency, the plurality of frequencies being between the first and second frequencies, and the first variable frequency filter being coupled to the sensor to produce the second signal having amplitudes which represent the current at the plurality of frequencies.

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