Electrical receptacle fault protection
AssigneeBrainwave Research Corporation
InventorsJohn Eriksen, Jean-Guy Gagne, Patrick Belanger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrical receptacle contains a plug outlet that has a pair of contacts for electrical connection to respective hot and neutral power lines. A controlled switch, such as a TRIAC, is connected in series relationship between the outlet contact and the hot power line. Sensors in the receptacle outputs signals to a processor having an output coupled to the control terminal of the controlled switch. The processor outputs an activation signal or a deactivation signal to the controlled switch in response to received sensor signals that are indicative of conditions relative to the first and second contacts.
Claims7
An electrical receptacle comprising:
- at least one plug outlet comprising prong socket contacts configured for electrical connection to a hot power line and a neutral power line, respectively;
- a first circuit board including a hot line prong socket for each said plug outlet, said first circuit board comprising first circuitry for electrical connection from the hot power line to each hot line prong socket;
- and
- a second circuit board spatially separated from the first circuit board, said second circuit board comprising a neutral line prong socket for each said plug outlet and second circuitry for electrical connection from the neutral power line to each neutral line prong socket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.