Solid-state circuit interrupter and arc inhibitor

Abstract

A solid-state circuit interrupter and arc prevention device (SSI/APD) is disclosed. The SSI/APD is designed to be configured in series with a mechanical circuit breaker and serves to interrupt current flowing through the circuit it is protecting upon a short circuit being detected or if an overload has persisted for an inordinate amount of time. The SSI/APD is capable of detecting and responding to faults in a matter of microseconds and detects and responds to faults on its own, without requiring the mechanical circuit breaker to trip. The mechanical circuit breaker can be optionally tripped after the SSI/APD has opened the circuit. However, the mechanical circuit breaker is tripped only after the SSI/APD has interrupted the circuit, so electrical arcing across the circuit breaker's contacts is avoided. The SSI/APD can also be reset remotely after a fault has been cleared, obviating the need for a person to be present to reset it.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.