Circuit interrupter with improved surge suppression
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device for protecting a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) during an over voltage condition wherein a first mode of protection comprises:
- a low pass filter circuit having a capacitor coupled in series with a solenoid coil of the GFCI, said low pass filter connected across the power inputs of the GFCI to pass low frequency voltage signals to the GFCI circuit while blocking high frequency signals.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A suppression and protection circuit is used in conjunction with a circuit interrupter. In one configuration, a voltage clamping device such as a metal oxide varistor is utilized in a ground fault circuit interrupter product for handling transient surges and overvoltage conditions and is placed in series with a solenoid coil. The suppression and protection circuit includes a crowbar device across the line such as a header spark gap to prevent overvoltages, and a low pass filter such as an LC filter for suppressing transient surges.
73 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A device for protecting a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) during an over voltage condition wherein a first mode of protection comprises:
a low pass filter circuit having a capacitor coupled in series with a solenoid coil of the GFCI, said low pass filter connected across the power inputs of the GFCI to pass low frequency voltage signals to the GFCI circuit while blocking high frequency signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15)
-
11. A device for protecting a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) from harmful power conditions comprising:
-
a surge protector connected between phase and neutral line conductors of the GFCI; and
a low pass filter connected in parallel with the surge protector, said low pass filter comprises a zener diode coupled in series with the solenoid coil of the ground fault circuit interrupter. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
-
14. A method of protecting a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) from harmful power conditions on phase and neutral line conductors, comprising the step of:
connecting a capacitor in series with the solenoid coil of the GFCI to form a low pass filter coupled across the line conductors. - View Dependent Claims (16)
Specification