Method and apparatus for an electrical fault detecting system for a circuit
AssigneeGE Aviation Systems LLC
InventorsArthur Vorwerk Radun, Adrian Shipley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical fault detecting system (10) for a circuit includes a conductor (20) delivering an electrical signal from a source (12) to a destination (14), a sheath (22) encircling the conductor, and a fault detection circuit (18). The sheath further includes an electrical insulator layer (24) and a conductive shield (26) encircling the conductor. The fault detection circuit is configured to detect a change in the electrical characteristics of the conductor and/or conductor sheath.
Claims20
An electrical fault detecting system comprising:
- a conductor passing an electrical signal from a source to a destination;
- a sheath encircling the conductor and including a conductive shield layer sandwiched between first and second electrical insulator layers, and connected with the conductor such that the conductive shield layer includes a reference signal electrical characteristic from the conductor;
- and
- a fault detection circuit electrically coupled with the conductive shield layer;
- wherein the fault detection circuit is configured to detect a fault by way of detecting a change in the reference signal electrical characteristics of the conductive shield layer.
An electrical fault detector for an electrical conductor, comprising:
- a sheath encircling the conductor and including a conductive shield sandwiched between first and second insulated layers, the conductive shield connected with and energized by the conductor such that the conductive shield layer includes a reference signal electrical characteristic from the conductor;
- a sensor configured to electrically couple to the shield and output a signal corresponding to an electrical characteristic of electricity passing through the shield;
- and
- a controller electrically coupled to the sensor to receive the signal and having a memory in which is stored a threshold value for the sensed electrical characteristic, wherein the controller is configured to compare the signal to the reference signal electrical characteristic and provide an indication when the comparison indicates a fault when the comparison indicates a change in the reference signal electrical characteristic of the conductive shield layer.
A method of detecting a fault in a conductor having an encircling sheath include a shield sandwiched between first and second electrical insulator layers, the conductor electrically connected with the shield, the shield biased to a biased electrical characteristic by the conductor, the method comprising:
- sensing a present electrical characteristic of electricity from the conductor passing through the shield;
- comparing the sensed present electrical characteristic to the biased electrical characteristic to determine if a fault is present based on detecting a change in the present electrical characteristic from the biased electrical characteristic;
- and
- providing a fault indication when the comparison indicates the presence of a fault.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.