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US 6,282,070 B1Granted
Circuit interrupting system with independent trip and reset lockout
AssigneeLeviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.
InventorsWilliam R. Ziegler, Nicholas L. DiSalvo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Resettable circuit interrupting devices, such as GFCI devices, that include an independent trip mechanism and a reset lockout mechanism are provided. The trip mechanism operates independently of a circuit interrupting mechanism used to break the connection, and the reset lockout mechanism prevents the resetting of electrical connections between input and output conductors if the circuit interrupting mechanism is non-operational or if an open neutral condition exists.
Claims27
A circuit interrupting device comprising:
- a housing;
- at least one input conductor disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of being electrically connected to a source of electricity;
- at least one output conductor disposed within said housing and capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrically connected to said at least one input conductor;
- a circuit interrupting mechanism disposed within said housing and configured to break said electrical connection between said input and output conductors in response to the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
- a reset lockout responsive to the occurrence of said predetermined condition such that said reset lockout is operable between a lockout position wherein said reset lockout inhibits resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductors and a reset position wherein said reset lockout does not inhibit resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductors;
- a reset mechanism operatively associated with said reset lockout and said circuit interrupting mechanism such that activation of said reset mechanism activates said circuit interrupting mechanism which facilitates movement of said reset lockout from said lockout position to said reset position by said reset mechanism;
- and
- a trip mechanism disposed within said housing and accessible from an exterior surface of said housing, said trip mechanism being operable between a trip state where the electrical connection between said input and output conductors is broken and a set state where the electrical connection between said input and output conductors is capable of being made.
5 more elements
A circuit interrupting device comprising:
- a housing;
- at least one input conductor disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of being electrically connected to a source of electricity;
- at least one output conductor disposed within said housing an capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrically connected to said at least one input conductor;
- a circuit interrupter disposed within said housing and configured to break said electrical connection between said input and output conductors in response to the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
- a reset mechanism having a reset lockout responsive to activation of said circuit interrupter so as to be movable between a lockout position wherein said reset lockout inhibits resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductors and a reset position wherein said reset lockout does not inhibit resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductors, wherein when said reset mechanism is activated said circuit interrupter is activated to facilitate movement of said reset lockout from said lockout position to said reset position by said reset mechanism and resets said electrical connection between said input and output conductors;
- and
- a trip mechanism disposed within said housing and accessible from an exterior surface of said housing, said trip mechanism being operable between a trip state where the electrical connection between said at least one input conductor and said at least one output conductor is broken and a set state where the electrical connection between said at least one input conductor and said at least one output conductor is capable of being made.
4 more elements
A circuit interrupting device comprising:
- housing means;
- input conductor means disposed at least partially within said housing means and capable of being electrically connected to a source of electricity;
- output conductor means disposed at least partially within said housing means and capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrically connected to said input conductor means;
- circuit interrupting means disposed within said housing means for breaking said electrical connection between said input and output conductor means in response to the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
- reset lockout means movable between a lockout position and a reset position and responsive to activation of said circuit interrupting means for inhibiting resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductor means after said circuit interrupting means breaks said connection between said input and output conductor means;
- reset means disposed at least partially within said housing means for activating said circuit interrupting means so that said lockout means does not inhibit resetting of said electrical connection between said input and output conductor means and for resetting said electrical connection between said input and output conductor means;
- and
- trip means disposed at least partially within said housing means for breaking said electrical connection between said input and output conductor means independently of the operation of said circuit interrupting means.
5 more elements
A method for testing the operation of resettable circuit interrupting devices having a housing, an input conductor disposed at least partially within the housing and electrically connected to a source of electricity, and an output conductor disposed at least partially within the housing and capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrical continuity between the input and output conductors is made, said method comprising:
- manually activating a trip portion of the circuit interrupting device to break electrical continuity between the input and output conductors and to enable a reset lockout portion that inhibits reestablishing electrical continuity between the input and output conductors;
- and
- activating a reset portion of the device to perform a reset operation, wherein during said reset operation a circuit interrupting portion is activated, wherein if the circuit interrupting portion is operational, the circuit interrupting portion disables the reset lockout portion and facilitates reestablishing electrical continuity between the input and output conductors, and wherein if the circuit interrupting portion is non-operational, the reset lockout portion remains enabled so that reestablishing electrical continuity between the input and output conductors is inhibited.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.