GFCI that cannot be reset until wired correctly on line side and power is applied
DCFirst Claim
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1. A protection device comprising:
- line, load and user accessible face terminals;
a latching mechanism movable between a closed state providing electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals and an open state disconnecting electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals;
a miswiring protection circuit adapted to open-circuit when power is applied to the line terminals; and
an initial reset prevention mechanism movable between a first position preventing said latching mechanism from being set in said closed state and a second position permitting said latching mechanism to be set in said closed state when said miswiring protection circuit is open-circuited.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for preventing the miswiring of a protection device. The protection device includes line terminals and load terminals. The protection device further includes a latching mechanism, adapted to move between a closed state which establishes electrical contact between said line and load terminals, and an open state which prevents electrical contact between said line and load terminals; and an initial reset prevention mechanism, adapted to prevent said latching mechanism from being set in said closed state until power is applied to said line terminals.
66 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A protection device comprising:
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line, load and user accessible face terminals; a latching mechanism movable between a closed state providing electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals and an open state disconnecting electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals; a miswiring protection circuit adapted to open-circuit when power is applied to the line terminals; and an initial reset prevention mechanism movable between a first position preventing said latching mechanism from being set in said closed state and a second position permitting said latching mechanism to be set in said closed state when said miswiring protection circuit is open-circuited. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of preventing miswiring of a protection device having line, load and face terminals, the method comprising the steps of:
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moving a latching mechanism between a closed state establishing electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals, and an open state prevents electrical contact between said line, load and face terminals; conducting current in a miswiring protection circuit configured in a conductive path between a solenoid of the protection device and one of the line terminals; preventing said latching mechanism from remaining in said closed state when an initial reset prevention mechanism is in a first position; generating an open-circuit in said miswiring protection circuit when AC power is applied to the line terminals; moving the initial reset prevention mechanism to a second position when AC power is applied to the line terminals; and permitting said latching mechanism to be set in said closed state when the initial reset prevention mechanism is in the second position. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A protection device comprising:
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phase line, load and face terminals; neutral line, load and face terminals; a latching mechanism movable between a closed state establishing one or more of electrical contact between said phase line, load and face terminals and electrical contact between said neutral line, load and face terminals, and an open state disconnecting one or more of electrical contact between said phase line, load and face terminals and disconnecting electrical contact between said neutral line, load and face terminals; the latching mechanism including, a first switch assembly being in a phase current path between the phase line and phase load terminals and having a first switch contact, a second switch contact, and third and fourth dual-switch contacts disposed between said first and second switch contacts for selectively opening or closing the phase current path, the first and second switch contacts and the third and fourth dual-switch contacts being aligned in a single axis, and a second switch assembly being in a neutral current path between the neutral line and neutral load terminals and having a fifth switch contact, a sixth switch contact, and seventh and eighth dual-switch contacts disposed between said fifth and sixth switch contacts for selectively opening or closing a second conductive path, the fifth and sixth switch contacts and the seventh and eighth dual-switch contacts being aligned in a single axis. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A protection device comprising:
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hot line and load terminals; neutral line and load terminals; a sensor electrically coupled to the line and load terminals via a plurality of current paths, said sensor capable of detecting a difference in current flowing in the current paths and generate a current difference signal; a fault detector electrically coupled to said sensor and operable to generate a fault signal based on the current difference signal; a latching mechanism electrically coupling the line terminals and the load terminals in a reset state; a miswiring protection circuit disposed between said hot line terminal and said neutral line terminal and including at least a solenoid and a switch such that current flowing through the solenoid when AC power is applied to the line terminals causes the switch to move to an open state; and a miswire prevention mechanism operable to prevent said latching mechanism from maintaining the reset state when AC power is supplied to the load terminals. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) comprising:
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a line terminal; a load terminal; a user accessible face terminal; a resilient first cantilevered contact arm electrically connected to said line terminal at a fixed end of said first cantilevered contact arm and having a movable line electrical contact at a free end of said first cantilevered contact arm; a resilient second cantilevered contact arm electrically connected to said load terminal at a fixed end of said second cantilevered contact arm and having a movable load electrical contact at a free end of said second cantilevered contact arm; and a face electrical contact electrically connected to said user accessible face terminal, each of said load, line and face electrical contacts being substantially aligned along a common axis being electrically isolated from each other when the GFCI is in a tripped condition, and being electrically connected with each other when the GFCI is in a reset condition. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) comprising:
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a housing; at least one line terminal at least partially disposed within said housing; at least one load terminal at least partially disposed within said housing; at least one user accessible face terminal at least partially disposed within said housing; a first flexible contact arm electrically connected to said line terminal at a first fixed end of said first flexible contact arm and having a line electrical contact adjacent a first free end of said first flexible contact arm; a second flexible contact arm electrically connected to said load terminal at a second fixed end of said second flexible contact arm and having a load electrical contact adjacent a second free end of said second flexible contact arm; and a face electrical contact electrically connected to said user accessible face terminal, said face electrical contact, said line electrical contact and said load electrical contact being substantially aligned along a common axis, said line electrical contact and said load electrical contact being movable along said common axis between a first position in which said line, load and face electrical contacts are electrically connected and a second position in which said line, load and face electrical contacts are spaced and electrically isolated from one another. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) comprising:
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a housing; phase and neutral line terminals at least partially disposed within said housing and connected to a source of AC power; phase and neutral load terminals at least partially disposed within said housing and connected to a first electrical load; phase and neutral user accessible face terminals at least partially disposed within said housing; phase and neutral first flexible conductive contact arms having first ends being fixedly connected to said phase and neutral line terminals, respectively, and second ends each having a respective first electrical contact connected adjacent a respective free end thereof; phase and neutral second flexible conductive contact arms having first ends being fixedly connected to said phase and neutral load terminals, respectively, and the second ends each having a respective second electrical contact adjacent a respective free end thereof; and phase and neutral face electrical contacts electrically respectively connected to said phase and neutral user accessible face terminals and aligned substantially along phase and neutral axes with the respective first and second electrical contacts, the first and second contacts being movable along the respective axes between first positions in which the respective face, line and load electrical contacts are electrically connected and second positions in which the respective face, line and load contacts are spaced and electrically isolated from one another. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification