Arcing fault detector with multiple channel sensing and circuit breaker incorporating same
First Claim
1. Apparatus for detecting arcing faults in an electric power system subject to power line carrier signals, said apparatus comprising:
- sensing means sensing current in said electric power system and generating a sensed current signal;
multichannel bandpass filtering means bandpass filtering said sensed current signal with assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands; and
output means generating an arcing fault signal only when all channels of said multichannel bandpass filtering means detect a signal in the assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands simultaneously.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Arcing faults are detected by a multi-channel arc fault detector in which each channel includes a bandpass filter having an assigned discrete passband which is non-overlapping with the passband of any of the other bandpass filters. Thus, the detector can discriminate an arcing fault which produces white noise and therefore generates an output from all of the bandpass filters simultaneously from a carrier signal which will only produce an output from one bandpass filter. The output of the individual bandpass filters can be ANDed, for example, by comparators with a common pull up resistor, or by analog multipliers. The output of the arcing fault detector can be used to trip a circuit breaker.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. Apparatus for detecting arcing faults in an electric power system subject to power line carrier signals, said apparatus comprising:
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sensing means sensing current in said electric power system and generating a sensed current signal; multichannel bandpass filtering means bandpass filtering said sensed current signal with assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands; and output means generating an arcing fault signal only when all channels of said multichannel bandpass filtering means detect a signal in the assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands simultaneously. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14)
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11. A circuit breaker for providing protection in an electric power system subject to power line carrier signals, said circuit breaker comprising:
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separable contacts connected in said electric power system; an operating mechanism opening said separable contacts in response to a trip signal; and trip means includes an arcing fault detector comprising; sensing means sensing current in said electric power system and generating a sensed current signal; multichannel bandpass filtering means bandpass filtering said sensed current signal with assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands; and output means generating a trip signal only when all channels of said multichannel bandpass filtering means detect a signal in the assigned, distinct non-overlapping passbands simultaneously. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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Specification