Circuit interrupter with temperature compensation and method of operating a circuit interrupter
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsSandy Jimenez, Jian Jiao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A circuit interrupter for protecting a protected circuit includes separable contacts, an operating mechanism structured to trip open the separable contacts, a current sensor structured to sense a current flowing through the protected circuit, a temperature sensor structured to sense a temperature of the protected circuit proximate the current sensor, and a processor configured to select a trip time based on the sensed current, to adjust the selected trip time based on the sensed temperature, and to cause the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts when the adjusted selected trip time is reached.
Claims20
A circuit interrupter for protecting a protected circuit, the circuit interrupter comprising:
- separable contacts;
- an operating mechanism structured to trip open the separable contacts;
- a current sensor structured to sense a current flowing through the protected circuit;
- a temperature sensor structured to sense a temperature of the protected circuit proximate the current sensor;
- and
- a processor configured to select a trip time based on the sensed current, to adjust the selected trip time based on the sensed temperature, and to cause the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts when the adjusted selected trip time is reached.
A method of operating a circuit interrupter, the method comprising:
- sensing a current flowing through a circuit protected by the circuit interrupter with a current sensor;
- sensing a temperature of a conductor proximate the current sensor with a temperature sensor;
- selecting a trip time based on the sensed current;
- adjusting the selected trip time based on the sensed temperature;
- and
- causing the circuit interrupter to trip when the adjusted selected trip time is reached.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing one or more programs, including instructions, which when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method of operating a circuit interrupter, the method comprising:
- sensing a current flowing through a circuit protected by the circuit interrupter with a current sensor;
- sensing a temperature of a conductor proximate the current sensor with a temperature sensor;
- selecting a trip time based on the sensed current;
- adjusting the selected trip time based on the sensed temperature;
- and
- causing the circuit interrupter to trip when the adjusted selected trip time is reached.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.