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US 11,791,616 B2Granted
Solid-state circuit interrupters
AssigneeIntelesol, LLC
InventorMark Telefus
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A circuit interrupter includes a solid-state switch and a mode control circuit. The solid-state switch is serially connected between a line input terminal and a load output terminal of the circuit interrupter. The mode control circuit is configured to implement a first control mode and a second control mode to control operation of the circuit interrupter. The first control mode is configured to generate a self-bias turn-on threshold voltage for the solid-state switch during power-up of the circuit interrupter, while maintaining the solid-state switch in a switched-off state until the self-bias turn-on threshold voltage is generated. The second control mode is configured to disrupt the self-bias turn-on threshold voltage and place the solid-state switch into a switched-off state.
Claims20
A circuit interrupter, comprising:
- a solid-state switch and an air-gap electromagnetic switch connected in series between a line input terminal and a load output terminal of the circuit interrupter, wherein the solid-state switch comprises a body diode;
- a switch controller configured to control operation of the solid-state switch and the air-gap electromagnetic switch;
- a zero-crossing sensor configured to detect zero crossings of an alternating current (AC) waveform at a point in an electrical path between the line input terminal and the load output terminal of the circuit interrupter;
- and
- a current sensor configured to sense a current flowing in the electrical path between the line input terminal and the load output terminal, and detect a fault condition based on the sensed current flow;
- wherein in response to detection of a fault condition by the current sensor, the switch controller is configured to generate switch control signals to (i) place the solid-state switch into a switched-off state and (ii) place the air-gap electromagnetic switch into a switched-open state subsequent to placing the solid-state switch into the switched-off state;
- and
- where the switch controller utilizes zero-crossing detection signals output from the zero-crossing sensor to detect a zero-crossing event of the AC waveform and place the air-gap electromagnetic switch into the switched-open state in response to a detected zero-crossing event where the AC waveform transitions to a given half-cycle thereof for at least a portion of which the body diode of the solid-state switch is in a reversed-biased state.
5 more elements
A circuit interrupter, comprising:
- a solid-state switch and an air-gap electromagnetic switch connected in series between a line input terminal and a load output terminal of the circuit interrupter;
- a switch controller configured to control operation of the solid-state switch and the air-gap electromagnetic switch;
- a zero-crossing sensor configured to detect zero crossings of an alternating current (AC) waveform at a point in an electrical path between the line input terminal and the load output terminal of the circuit interrupter;
- and
- a sensor configured to detect a fault condition;
- wherein in response to detection of a fault condition by the sensor, the switch controller is configured to generate switch control signals to (i) place the solid-state switch into a switched-off state and (ii) place the air-gap electromagnetic switch into a switched-open state subsequent to placing the solid-state switch into the switched-off state;
- wherein the switch controller utilizes one or more zero-crossing detection signals output from the zero-crossing sensor to control a timing of placing the air-gap electromagnetic switch into the switched-open state relative to placing the solid-state switch into the switched-off state.
4 more elements
A method, comprising:
- detecting, by a circuit interrupter, zero crossings of an alternating current (AC) waveform at a point in an electrical path between a line input terminal and a load output terminal of the circuit interrupter, the circuit interrupter comprising a solid-state switch and an air-gap electromagnetic switch connected in series in the electrical path between the line input terminal and the load output terminal;
- detecting, by the circuit interrupter, an occurrence of a fault condition of a load coupled to the load output terminal of the circuit interrupter;
- and
- interrupting, by the circuit interrupter, a flow of load current to the load in response to detecting the occurrence of the fault condition, by generating switch control signals to (i) place the solid-state switch into a switched-off state and (ii) place the air-gap electromagnetic switch into a switched-open state subsequent to placing the solid-state switch into the switched-off state, wherein one or more of the detected zero crossings of the AC waveform are utilized by the circuit interrupter to control a timing of placing the air-gap electromagnetic switch into the switched-open state relative to placing the solid-state switch into the switched-off state.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.