Circuit breaker with independent trip and reset lockout

• US 6,717,782 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2001
• Issued: 04/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Leviton Manufacturing Company Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Leviton Manufacturing Company Incorporated
• Inventors: Ziegler, William R., Bradley, Roger M., Germain, Frantz, Herzfeld, David, Stewart, Stephen, DiSalvo, Nicholas L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Leja, Ronald W.
• Application Number:
  US09/950,733
• Publication Number:
  US 20020006022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 361/42-50, 335/18, 335/21, 335/24, 335/26, 335/202
• US Class Current: 361/42
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2083/045 Auxiliary switch opening testing circuit in synchronism with the main circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2083/201 the other abnormal electrical condition being an arc fault
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 71/524 the contact arm being pivoted on handle and mechanism spring acting between cradle and contact arm
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 71/62 with means for preventing resetting while abnormal condition persists, e.g. loose handle arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 83/04 with testing means for indicating the ability of the switch or relay to function properly
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/652 with earth pin, blade or socket
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/7137 with thermal interrupter H01R13/7132 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2103/00 Two poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/78 with additional earth or shield contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/006 the coupling part being secured to apparatus or structure, e.g. duplex wall receptacle
• CPC Class Codes: H02H 1/0015 Using arc detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H02H 3/338 also responsive to wiring error, e.g. loss of neutral, break
• CPC Class Codes: H02H 5/083 responsive to the entry or leakage of a liquid into an electrical appliance moisture alarm G08B21/20

Abstract

Resettable circuit breakers having an independent trip mechanism and a reset lockout are provided. The trip mechanism operates independently of the fault protection operations, and the reset lockout prevents the resetting of the circuit breaker if the fault protection is non-operational or if an open neutral condition exists.

Claims

1. A circuit breaker comprising:

a housing having a line phase connection and load phase connection accessible from an exterior of said housing;

a conductive path within said housing between said line and load phase connections;

a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to open said conductive path upon the occurrence of a first predefined condition;

a reset portion having an actuator extending through said exterior of said housing, wherein activation of the reset portion activates the circuit interrupting portion, and configured to close said conductive path upon actuation of said actuator; and

a reset lockout portion, responsive to activation of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing the closing of said conductive path if a second predefined condition exists.

2. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said first predefined condition includes a fault or an over-current condition.

3. The circuit breaker according to claim 2, wherein said fault includes a ground fault, an arc fault, an immersion detection fault, an appliance leakage fault or an equipment leakage fault.

4. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said second predefined condition includes said circuit interrupting portion being non-operational or an open neutral condition.

5. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, further comprising a trip portion disposed at least partially within said housing and configured to open said conductive path independently of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

6. The circuit breaker according to claim 5, wherein said trip portion comprises a trip actuator accessible from said exterior of said housing and a trip arm coupled to said trip actuator, said trip arm being configured to facilitate mechanical breaking of said conductive path if said trip actuator is actuated.

7. The circuit breaker according to claim 6, wherein said trip actuator comprises a pushbutton.

8. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said conductive path includes a pair of contacts wherein at least one of said pair of contacts is movable relative to the other such that said contacts can be moved between open and closed positions.

9. The circuit breaker according to claim 8, wherein said circuit interrupting portion includes sensing circuitry used to sense the occurrence of a ground fault and electro-mechanical linkage responsive to said sensing circuitry and used to cause said pair of contacts to open.

10. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said housing is configured and dimensioned for installation in a circuit breaker panel.

11. A circuit breaker comprising:

a housing having line and load phase connections and line and load neutral connections accessible from an exterior of said housing;

a conductive path within said housing and connected between said line and load phase connections;

a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to cause electrical discontinuity at a point along said conductive path upon the occurrence of a first predefined condition;

a reset portion which, upon activation, activates the circuit interrupting portion, and configured to reestablish electrical continuity in said conductive path; and

a reset lockout portion, responsive to activation of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing reestablishment of electrical continuity of said conductive path if a second predefined condition exists.

12. The circuit breaker according to claim 11, wherein said first predefined condition includes a fault or an over-current condition.

13. The circuit breaker according to claim 12, wherein said fault includes a ground fault, an arc fault, an immersion detection fault, an appliance leakage fault or an equipment leakage fault.

14. The circuit breaker according to claim 11, wherein said second predefined condition includes said circuit interrupting portion being non-operational, or an open neutral condition.

15. The circuit breaker according to claim 11, further comprising a trip portion having a trip actuator extending through said housing and configured to activate a trip operation causing electrical discontinuity in said conductive path in response to said trip actuator being manually actuated, said trip operation being independent of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

16. The circuit breaker according to claim 15, wherein said trip actuator comprises a pushbutton.

17. The circuit breaker according to claim 15, wherein said trip operation mechanically causes electrical discontinuity along said conductive path.

18. The circuit breaker according to claim 17, wherein said trip portion further comprises a trip arm coupled to said trip actuator that mechanically causes said electrical discontinuity along said conductive path.

19. The circuit breaker according to claim 11, wherein said circuit interrupting portion includes sensing circuitry used to sense the occurrence of a ground fault and electro-mechanical linkage responsive to said sensing circuitry and used to cause said electrical discontinuity.

20. The circuit breaker according to claim 19, wherein said reset portion comprises:

a manually operated actuator operatively coupled to said reset lockout; and

a reset enable switch assembly electrically connected to said sensing circuitry, which is capable of being activated by operation of said actuator, such that actuation of said reset enable switch assembly simulates a ground fault in said sensing circuitry so as to activate said circuit interrupting portion.

21. The circuit breaker according to claim 20, wherein said reset enable switch assembly comprises a fixed contact that is energized by said operation of said actuator to simulate the ground fault.

22. The circuit breaker according to claim 20, wherein said reset enable switch assembly comprises a pair of momentary switches which when actuated switch power supplied to said sensing circuitry from said load phase connection to said line phase connection, and simulate the ground fault.

23. The circuit breaker according to claim 20, wherein said reset enable switch assembly comprises a plurality of switch contacts that are sequentially activated to first switch power supplied to said sensing circuitry from said load phase connection to said line phase connection, and second to simulate the ground fault.

24. A GFCI circuit breaker comprising:

a housing;

a pair of input conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing;

a pair of output conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing, wherein said input phase conductor is connectable to said output phase conductor such that electrical continuity exists between said input and output phase conductors;

a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to break the continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor upon the occurrence of a ground fault;

a reset portion which, upon activation, activates the circuit interrupting portion, and configured to make electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor after a ground fault occurs; and

a reset lockout, responsive to activation of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing the making of electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor if a predetermined condition exists.

25. The GFCI circuit breaker according to claim 24, further comprising a trip mechanism disposed at least partially within said housing and configured to break the continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor independently of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

26. The GFCI circuit breaker according to claim 25, wherein said trip mechanism comprises a trip actuator accessible from said exterior surface of said housing and a trip arm extending from said trip actuator, said trip arm being configured to facilitate mechanical breaking of electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor upon actuation of said trip actuator.

27. The GFCI circuit breaker according to claim 26, wherein said trip actuator comprises a pushbutton.

28. The GFCI circuit breaker according to claim 24, wherein said predetermined condition includes said circuit interrupting portion being non-operational or an open neutral condition.

29. An AFCI circuit breaker comprising:

a housing;

a pair of input conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing;

a pair of output conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing, wherein said input phase conductor is connectable to said output phase conductor such that electrical continuity exists between said input and output phase conductors;

a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to break the continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor upon the occurrence of an arc fault;

a reset portion which, upon activation, activates the circuit interrupting portion, and configured to make electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor after an arc fault occurs; and

a reset lockout, responsive to activation of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing the making of electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor if a predetermined condition exists.

30. The AFCI circuit breaker according to claim 29, further comprising a trip mechanism disposed at least partially within said housing and configured to break the continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor independently of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

31. The AFCI circuit breaker according to claim 30, wherein said trip mechanism comprises a trip actuator accessible from said exterior surface of said housing and a trip arm extending from said trip actuator, said trip arm being configured to facilitate mechanical breaking of electrical continuity between said input phase conductor and said output phase conductor upon actuation of said trip actuator.

32. The AFCI circuit breaker according to claim 31, wherein said trip actuator comprises a pushbutton.

33. The AFCI circuit breaker according to claim 29, wherein said predetermined condition includes said circuit interrupting portion being non-operational or an open neutral condition.

34. A circuit breaker comprising:

a housing having a line phase connection and load phase connection accessible from an exterior of said housing;

a conductive path within said housing between said line and load phase connections;

a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to open said conductive path upon the occurrence of at least one of a plurality of predefined conditions;

a reset portion having an actuator extending through said exterior of said housing, wherein activation of the reset portion activates the circuit interrupting portion, and configured to close said conductive path upon actuation of said actuator; and

a reset lockout portion, responsive to activation of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing the closing of said conductive path if a second predefined condition exists.

35. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, wherein said plurality of predefined conditions include ground faults, arc faults, immersion detection faults, appliance leakage faults and equipment leakage faults.

36. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, wherein said second predefined condition includes said circuit interrupting portion being non-operational or an open neutral condition.

37. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, further comprising a trip portion disposed at least partially within said housing and configured to open said conductive path independently of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

38. The circuit breaker according to claim 37, wherein said trip portion comprises a trip actuator accessible from said exterior of said housing and a trip arm coupled to said trip actuator, said trip arm being configured to facilitate mechanical breaking of said conductive path if said trip actuator is actuated.

39. The circuit breaker according to claim 38, wherein said trip actuator comprises a pushbutton.

40. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, wherein said conductive path includes a pair of contacts wherein at least one of said pair of contacts is movable relative to the other such that said contacts can be moved between open and closed positions.

41. The circuit breaker according to claim 40, wherein said circuit interrupting portion includes sensing circuitry used to sense the occurrence of said plurality of predefined conditions and electro-mechanical linkage responsive to said sensing circuitry and used to cause said pair of contacts to open.

42. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, wherein said circuit interrupting portion comprises sensing circuitry used to sense the occurrence of said plurality of predefined conditions;

and wherein said reset portion comprises a fault simulator electrically connected to said sensing circuitry and capable of being activated by said actuator, such that activation of said fault simulator simulates one or more of said plurality of predefined conditions causing said sensing circuitry to sense the occurrence of said one or more of said plurality of predefined conditions.

43. The circuit breaker according to claim 42, wherein said plurality of predefined conditions includes ground faults, arc faults, immersion detection faults, appliance leakage faults and equipment leakage faults.

44. The circuit breaker according to claim 43, wherein said one or more of said plurality of predefined conditions comprise a ground fault and an arc fault.

45. The circuit breaker according to claim 43, wherein said one or more of said plurality of predefined conditions comprise a ground fault.

46. The circuit breaker according to claim 43, wherein said one or more of said plurality of predefined conditions comprise an arc fault.

47. The circuit breaker according to claim 34, wherein said housing is configured and dimensioned for installation in a circuit breaker panel.