Grounded neutral detection circuit and circuit interrupter including the same
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsAdonna Angelika Anderson, Jian Jiao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A circuit interrupter including a line conductor, a neutral conductor, a power supply, a ground fault current transformer structured to sense a ground fault current from current flowing through the line and neutral conductors, a grounded neutral detection circuit including a filtering stage structured to high-pass filter the ground fault current, and a processor structured to receive an output of the grounded neutral detection circuit and to determine whether a grounded neutral is present based on the output of the grounded neutral detection circuit.
Claims17
A circuit interrupter comprising:
- a line conductor;
- a neutral conductor;
- a power supply electrically connected between the line and neutral conductors and being structured to convert alternating current power received via the line and neutral conductors to direct current power and cause a high frequency impulse in power flowing through the line and neutral conductors;
- a ground fault current transformer structured to sense a ground fault current from current flowing through the line and neutral conductors;
- a grounded neutral detection circuit including a filtering stage structured to high-pass filter the ground fault current;
- and
- a processor structured to receive an output of the grounded neutral detection circuit and to determine whether a grounded neutral is present based on a presence of the high frequency impulse caused by the power supply in the output of the grounded neutral detection circuit.
A method of detecting a grounded neutral condition with a circuit interrupter including a power supply electrically connected between line and neutral conductors and being structured to convert alternating current power received via the line and neutral conductors to direct current power and cause a high frequency impulse in power flowing through the line and neutral conductors, the method comprising:
- sensing a ground fault current from current flowing through the line and neutral conductors;
- applying a high-pass filter to the ground fault current;
- and
- determining if a grounded neutral is present based on a presence of the high frequency impulse caused by the power supply in the filtered ground fault current.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.