Circuit breaker for detecting an excessive voltage and tripping responsive thereto
First Claim
1. A circuit breaker comprising:
- a line terminal adapted to receive a line voltage having a nominal voltage value and an excessive voltage value;
a load terminal;
at least one neutral terminal;
separable contacts electrically connected between said line terminal and said load terminal;
an operating mechanism for opening and closing said separable contacts; and
a trip circuit cooperating with said operating mechanism to trip open said separable contacts, said trip circuit comprising an electromagnetic assembly including a trip coil having a threshold voltage for energization, a first circuit adapted to detect a trip condition associated with said separable contacts and to responsively energize said trip coil with said line voltage, and a second circuit adapted to detect an excessive voltage condition associated with said load terminal and said at least one neutral terminal and to responsively energize said trip coil with at least said threshold voltage.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit breaker includes a line terminal adapted to receive a line voltage having a nominal voltage value and an excessive voltage value, a load terminal, one or more neutral terminals, and separable contacts electrically connected between the line and load terminals. An operating mechanism opens and closes the separable contacts. A trip circuit cooperates with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts. The trip circuit includes a solenoid having a trip coil with a threshold voltage for energization, a circuit adapted to detect an arc fault or ground fault trip condition and to responsively energize the trip coil with the line voltage, and a MOV adapted to detect an excessive voltage condition associated with the load and neutral terminals and to responsively energize the trip coil with at least the threshold voltage.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A circuit breaker comprising:
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a line terminal adapted to receive a line voltage having a nominal voltage value and an excessive voltage value;
a load terminal;
at least one neutral terminal;
separable contacts electrically connected between said line terminal and said load terminal;
an operating mechanism for opening and closing said separable contacts; and
a trip circuit cooperating with said operating mechanism to trip open said separable contacts, said trip circuit comprising an electromagnetic assembly including a trip coil having a threshold voltage for energization, a first circuit adapted to detect a trip condition associated with said separable contacts and to responsively energize said trip coil with said line voltage, and a second circuit adapted to detect an excessive voltage condition associated with said load terminal and said at least one neutral terminal and to responsively energize said trip coil with at least said threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A circuit breaker comprising:
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first and second line terminals;
first and second load terminals;
at least one neutral terminal;
first separable contacts electrically connected between said first line terminal and said first load terminal;
second separable contacts electrically connected between said second line terminal and said second load terminal;
an operating mechanism for opening and closing said first and second separable contacts; and
a trip circuit cooperating with said operating mechanism to trip open said first and second separable contacts, said trip circuit comprising an electromagnetic assembly including a first trip coil, a second trip coil, a first circuit adapted to detect a trip condition associated with at least one of said first and second separable contacts and to responsively energize said first and second trip coils, a second circuit adapted to detect an excessive voltage condition associated with said first load terminal and said at least one neutral terminal and to responsively energize said first trip coil, and a third circuit adapted to detect an excessive voltage condition associated with said second load terminal and said at least one neutral terminal and to responsively energize said second trip coil. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification