Arc fault circuit interrupter, systems, apparatus and methods of detecting and interrupting electrical faults
First Claim
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1. An apparatus to detect electrical circuit faults comprising:
- a microprocessor driven electronic circuit, said microprocessor being programed with software code to completely manage said electronic circuit, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit has a current sensor that is a power-driven and is a bi-directional Hall Effect Current Sensor Integrated Circuit comprising a Hall Current Drive with dynamic offset cancellation, gain and temperature coefficient adjustment, amplifiers, zero “
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current adjustment, analog and digital outputs, analog to digital converter, a ratio metric output voltage proportional to the current flow, stable output offset voltage and nearly zero magnetic hysteresis, said software code managed electronic circuit continuously monitoring a single or multi-phase AC, or DC, electrical circuit for fault conditions including series and parallel arcs, overcurrent, overload, short circuit, miswire, and end-of-life conditions, and said software code managed electronic circuit limiting the occurrence of nuisance tripping conditions while monitoring said electrical circuit for said faults, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit being assembled in a housing, said electronic circuit having line and load side terminals, said electronic circuit having an electromagnetic actuated circuit tripping contactor, a reset button, a test button, electronic circuit status visual indicators, electronic circuit fault detection audible indicators, and upon said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit'"'"'s detecting that one or more of said fault conditions exist, said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit then activates the electromagnetic contactor to trip open the electrical circuit and thereby isolate the monitored electrical circuit line and load connections.
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Abstract
In all electrical circuits, various arcing conditions can arise, however, the primary ones are series arcing (low current arcing), and, parallel arcing (high current arcing). An arc fault circuit interrupter (“AFCI”) that protects for both series and parallel arcing is called a combination type. An AFCI is a device that controls the effects of electrical arcing by opening a circuit through a tripping mechanism that isolates the load from the supply line upon detection of an arcing condition. In this invention, this arc fault is detected by a circuit employing a Hall-Effect sensor (“HES”) integrated circuit, and a microprocessor among other components.
30 Citations
36 Claims
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1. An apparatus to detect electrical circuit faults comprising:
- a microprocessor driven electronic circuit, said microprocessor being programed with software code to completely manage said electronic circuit, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit has a current sensor that is a power-driven and is a bi-directional Hall Effect Current Sensor Integrated Circuit comprising a Hall Current Drive with dynamic offset cancellation, gain and temperature coefficient adjustment, amplifiers, zero “
0”
current adjustment, analog and digital outputs, analog to digital converter, a ratio metric output voltage proportional to the current flow, stable output offset voltage and nearly zero magnetic hysteresis, said software code managed electronic circuit continuously monitoring a single or multi-phase AC, or DC, electrical circuit for fault conditions including series and parallel arcs, overcurrent, overload, short circuit, miswire, and end-of-life conditions, and said software code managed electronic circuit limiting the occurrence of nuisance tripping conditions while monitoring said electrical circuit for said faults, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit being assembled in a housing, said electronic circuit having line and load side terminals, said electronic circuit having an electromagnetic actuated circuit tripping contactor, a reset button, a test button, electronic circuit status visual indicators, electronic circuit fault detection audible indicators, and upon said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit'"'"'s detecting that one or more of said fault conditions exist, said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit then activates the electromagnetic contactor to trip open the electrical circuit and thereby isolate the monitored electrical circuit line and load connections. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
- a microprocessor driven electronic circuit, said microprocessor being programed with software code to completely manage said electronic circuit, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit has a current sensor that is a power-driven and is a bi-directional Hall Effect Current Sensor Integrated Circuit comprising a Hall Current Drive with dynamic offset cancellation, gain and temperature coefficient adjustment, amplifiers, zero “
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36. A method to detect electrical circuit faults comprising:
having a microprocessor driven electronic circuit, said microprocessor being programed with software code to completely manage said electronic circuit, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit has a current sensor that is a power-driven and is a bi-directional Hall Effect Current Sensor Integrated Circuit comprising a Hall Current Drive with dynamic offset cancellation, gain and temperature coefficient adjustment, amplifiers, zero “
0”
current adjustment, analog and digital outputs, analog to digital converter, a ratio metric output voltage proportional to the current flow, stable output offset voltage and nearly zero magnetic hysteresis, said software code managed electronic circuit continuously monitoring a single or multi-phase AC, or DC, electrical circuit for fault conditions including series and parallel arcs, overcurrent, overload, short circuit, miswire, and end-of-life conditions, and said software code managed electronic circuit limiting the occurrence of nuisance tripping conditions while monitoring said electrical circuit for said faults, said microprocessor driven electronic circuit being assembled in a housing, said electronic circuit having line and load side terminals, said electronic circuit having an electromagnetic actuated circuit tripping contactor, a reset button, a test button, electronic circuit status visual indicators, electronic circuit fault detection audible indicators, and upon said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit'"'"'s detecting that one or more of said fault conditions exist, said code managed microprocessor driven electronic circuit then activates the electromagnetic contactor to trip open the electrical circuit and thereby isolate the monitored electrical circuit line and load connections.
Specification