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US 12,646,922 B2Granted
System and method for controlling an electrical receptacle
AssigneeHubbell Incorporated
InventorsRobert Simon, Matthew Samojeden
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical receptacle including an outlet and a testing circuit. The outlet is configured to connect to an external load. The outlet includes a phase line and a neutral line. The testing circuit is configured to output a signal to a phase line of the outlet, receive a response signal from a neutral line of the outlet, and determine when the external load is electrically connected to the outlet based on the response signal.
Claims16
An electrical receptacle comprising:
- an outlet configured to connect to an external load, the outlet includes a phase line and a neutral line, wherein the phase line includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a phase line contact and a phase load contact and the neutral line includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a neutral line contact and a neutral load contact;
- and
- a testing circuit configured to:
- output a direct current (DC) signal to the phase line of the outlet,
- receive a response signal from the neutral line of the outlet, and
- determine when the external load is electrically connected to the outlet based on the response signal.
3 more elements
A method of controlling an electrical receptacle including an outlet and a testing circuit, the method comprising:
- outputting, via the testing circuit, a direct current (DC) signal to a phase line of the outlet, wherein the phase line includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a phase line contact and a phase load contact;
- receiving, via the testing circuit, a response signal from a neutral line of the outlet, wherein the neutral line includes at least one selected from a group consisting of a neutral line contact and a neutral load contact;
- determining, via the testing circuit, when an external load is electrically connected to the outlet based on the response signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.