Method and apparatus for control and fault detection of an electric load circuit
First Claim
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1. A circuit to control and monitor an electric load having a first and a second end, comprising:
- a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the electric load;
a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential;
a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches; and
a comparison circuit for detecting a fault condition in said circuit by comparing an electric potential at said first end of the electric load with a first known potential and by comparing an electric potential at said second end of the electric load with a second known potential;
wherein the comparison circuit comprises a plurality of comparators such that a first input to each of said comparators is in electrical contact with said electric load, and a second input to each of said comparators comprises the first or the second known potential; and
,wherein said each switch and the first and second known potentials are appropriately biased with an effective amount of electric potential to enable detection of a type and location of a fault condition.
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Abstract
The present invention provides an improvement over conventional electric circuit monitoring devices in that it provides a device and method to passively monitor the performance of an electrical circuit to a load device, including faults that occur intermittently. The invention is capable of identifying the location and type of malfunction in the event of a fault.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A circuit to control and monitor an electric load having a first and a second end, comprising:
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a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the electric load;
a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential;
a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches; and
a comparison circuit for detecting a fault condition in said circuit by comparing an electric potential at said first end of the electric load with a first known potential and by comparing an electric potential at said second end of the electric load with a second known potential;
wherein the comparison circuit comprises a plurality of comparators such that a first input to each of said comparators is in electrical contact with said electric load, and a second input to each of said comparators comprises the first or the second known potential; and
,wherein said each switch and the first and second known potentials are appropriately biased with an effective amount of electric potential to enable detection of a type and location of a fault condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A circuit to control and monitor an electric load having a first and a second end, comprising:
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a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the load;
a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential;
a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches; and
a comparison circuit for detecting a fault condition in said circuit by comparing an electric potential at said first end of the electric load with a first known potential and by comparing an electric potential at said second end of the electric load with a second known potential; wherein the comparison circuit corn rises a plurality of comparators such that a first in up to each of said comparators is in electrical contact with said electric load, and a second input to each of said comparators comprises the first or the second known potential; wherein said each switch and the first and second known potentials are appropriately biased with an effective amount of electric potential to enable detection of a type and location of a fault condition; wherein the load drive controller is operably counted to an external controller to receive a control signal and to send a fault detection result; and
,wherein the comparator circuit is internal to said external controller.
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16. A circuit for control and diagnosis of an electric load having a first and a second end, comprising:
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a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the electric load;
a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential;
a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches; and
a plurality of comparators, wherein a first input to each of said comparators is in electrical contact with said electric load with an appropriate bias potential, and a second input to each of said comparators comprises a first or a second known potential; and
an output from each said comparator; wherein the load drive controller is operable to control each said switch in a manner such that the output from each said comparator indicates a fault condition in said circuit; and
,wherein the load drive controller is operably coupled to an external controller, such that the load drive controller responsive to an input from said external controller, and is capable of communicating a first result indicating said fault condition to said external controller. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for controlling and monitoring an electric load, comprising:
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providing a circuit comprising an electric load with a first and a second end, a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the electric load, a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential, a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches;
activating said first and second switches;
comparing an electric potential at said first end of the electric load with a first known potential and comparing an electric potential at said second end of the electric load with a second known potential; and
obtaining an output from each said comparison;
wherein the step of activating said first and second switches comprises controlling each of said switches in a manner that will identify a type and location of a fault condition. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A method for controlling and monitoring an electric load, comprising:
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providing a circuit comprising an electric load with a first and a second end, a first switch electrically coupled between a first electric potential and said first end of the electric load, a second switch electrically coupled between said second end of the electric load and a second electric potential, a load drive controller operable to control each of said switches;
activating said first and second switches;
comparing an electric potential at said first end of the electric load with a first known potential and comparing an electric potential at said second end of the electric load with a second known potential; and
obtaining an output from each said comparison wherein the load drive controller is operably coupled to an external controller, such that the load drive controller is responsive to an input from an external controller and is able to communicate a second result indicating a type and location of said fault condition to said external controller.
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Specification