Solenoid driver for a circuit breaker

A circuit breaker comprising:

• primary contacts and secondary contacts coupled to the primary contacts in series;
• an operating mechanism structured to open and close the primary contacts based on operation of a trip device;
• a control circuit structured to control and monitor operation of the circuit breaker;
• a solenoid;
• and
• a solenoid driver circuit comprising:
• a first switch coupled to the solenoid and a first resistor structured to sense solenoid current;
• a second switch coupled to a second resistor, the second switch structured to be turned on based on a switch drive signal from the control circuit;
• and
• one pulse width modulation (PWM) current controller coupled to the control circuit, the first switch, the second switch and the first resistor, the one PWM current controller structured to adjust the solenoid current and drive the solenoid to open or close the secondary contacts using a plurality of peak solenoid current limits including a first peak solenoid current limit and a second peak solenoid current limit.

A method of opening or closing secondary contacts of a circuit breaker having a control circuit and a solenoid driver circuit, the method comprising:

• determining if a user command to open the secondary contacts has been received;
• in response to a determination that the user command to open the secondary contacts has been received, opening the secondary contacts by a solenoid coupled to one pulse width modulation (PWM) current controller of the solenoid driver circuit using a first peak solenoid current limit;
• determining if the secondary contacts are open using the first peak solenoid current limit;
• and
• in response to a determination that the secondary contacts are not open, opening the secondary contacts by the solenoid coupled to the one PWM current controller using a second peak solenoid current limit.