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US 5,633,776 AGranted
Circuit breaker
AssigneeBabcock, Inc.
InventorsGheorghe J. Juncu, Steven V. Snead, Dan M. Culbertson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronically controlled latching circuit breaker capable of being remotely set or tripped. The electronic controls are current sensitive rather than thermally activated.
Claims28
A circuit breaker comprising,
- current sensing means for producing a sensor signal representative of a current value in a current path,
- reference signal producing means for producing at least one reference signal,
- comparator means for comparing said reference signal with said sensor signal,
- said comparator means operative to produce an error signal when said sensor signal differs from said reference signal,
- frequency generator means for producing a frequency signal,
- counter means connected to said frequency generator means and to said comparator means,
- said counter means operative to receive and count said frequency signal when said comparator produces said error signal,
- said counter means operative to produce a counter signal when said counter means has counted a prescribed number of said frequency signals,
- latch circuit means connected to said counter means to receive said counter signal and produce a first latch signal in response thereto,
- logic circuit means connected between said counter means and said latch circuit means, and
- switch means connected to said latch circuit means to receive said first latch signal whereby said switch means is operated to interrupt said current path.
8 more elements
A circuit breaker with multi-level switching capabilities comprising,
- current sensing means for producing a voltage signal representative of a current value in a current path,
- reference signal producing means for producing a plurality of reference signals,
- a plurality of comparator means,
- each of said comparator means connected for comparing one of said plurality of reference signals with said sensor signal,
- each of said comparator means operative to produce a separate error signal when said sensor signal differs from the respective one of said plurality of reference signals,
- frequency generator means for producing a frequency signal,
- a plurality of counter means connected to said frequency generator means and to a respective one of said comparator means,
- each of said counter means operative to receive and count said frequency signal only when said comparator produces said error signal,
- each of said counter means operative to produce a counter signal when said counter means has counted a prescribed number of said frequency signals representative of a prescribed time duration,
- latch circuit means connected to all of said counter means to receive all of said counter signals and produce a first latch signal in response to the counter signal which is first received, and
- switch means connected to said latch circuit means to receive said first latch signal whereby said switch means is operated to interrupt said current path.
8 more elements
A circuit breaker comprising,
- current sensing means for producing a sensor signal representative of a current value in a current path,
- comparator means for comparing said sensor signal with a reference signal and operative to produce a time integrated error signal representative of the amplitude differential between said sensor signal and said reference signal and the time duration of the differential,
- switch means connected to comparator means to receive said error signal whereby said switch means is selectively operated to interrupt said current path in response to said error signal,
- indicator means located at a distance from the remainder of the circuit breaker,
- trip circuit means connected between said indicator means and said switch means to activate said indicator means when said switch means is operated to interrupt said current path, and
- position sensor means connected to said indicator means to sense if the indicator means is activated.
3 more elements
A circuit breaker with multi-level switching capabilities comprising,
- current sensing means for producing a voltage signal representative of a current value in a current path,
- reference signal producing means for producing a plurality of reference signals,
- a plurality of comparator means,
- each of said comparator means connected for comparing one of said plurality of reference signals with said sensor signal,
- each of said comparator means operative to produce a separate error signal when said sensor signal differs from the respective one of said plurality of reference signals,
- frequency generator means for producing a frequency signal,
- a plurality of counter means each of which is connected to said frequency generator means and to a respective one of said comparator means,
- each of said counter means operative to receive and count said frequency signal only when said comparator produces said error signal,
- each of said counter means operative to produce a counter signal when said counter means has counted a prescribed number of said frequency signals representative of a prescribed time duration,
- latch circuit means connected to all of said counter means to receive all of said counter signals and produce a first latch signal in response to the counter signal which is first received, and
- switch means connected to said latch circuit means to receive said first latch signal whereby said switch means is operated to interrupt said current path.
8 more elements
A circuit breaker comprising,
- current sensing means for producing a sensor signal representative of a current value in a current path,
- reference signal producing means for producing at least one reference signal,
- comparator means for comparing said reference signal with said sensor signal,
- said comparator means includes a plurality of comparator circuits each of which compares said sensor signal with reference signals of different magnitude,
- said comparator means operative to produce an error signal when said sensor signal differs from said reference signal,
- frequency generator means for producing a frequency signal,
- counter means connected to said frequency generator means and to said comparator means,
- said counter means operative to receive and count said frequency signal when said comparator produces said error signal,
- said counter means operative to produce a counter signal when said counter means has counted a prescribed number of said frequency signals,
- latch circuit means connected to said counter means to receive said counter signal and produce a first latch signal in response thereto, and
- switch means connected to said latch circuit means to receive said first latch signal whereby said switch means is operated to interrupt said current path.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.