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US 6,278,596 B1Granted
Active ground fault disconnect
AssigneeTektronix, Inc.
InventorRobert D. Simpson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A circuit for detecting and automatically responding to ground faults. A passive protection PTC resistor is coupled in series with an active protection switch, the active protection switch being controlled by a control circuit to open the switch when excess current is detected to be flowing in the common path of one of the channels. Floating and grounded versions are described.
Claims9
An electronic measurement instrument having at least one channel, the channel having a signal path and a common path, with the common path comprising:
- passive protection means;
- active protection means, the active protection means being disposed in series with the passive protection means;
- and
- control means, the control means monitoring a current flow through the ground path and activating the active protection means upon detection of an excess current flow in the common path.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.