Circuit interrupting system with independent trip and reset lockout

A circuit interrupting device comprising:

• a housing;
• a first electrical conductor disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of being electrically connected to a source of electricity;
• a second electrical conductor disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrically connected to said first electrical conductor;
• a circuit interrupting portion disposed within said housing and configured to cause electrical discontinuity between said first and second conductors upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
• a reset portion configured to reestablish electrical continuity between the first and second conductors, and configured to activate the circuit interrupting portion;
• a reset lockout portion, responsive to the activation state of the circuit interrupting portion, for preventing reestablishment of electrical continuity between said first and second conductors if said circuit interrupting portion is non-operational;
• and
• a trip portion having a trip actuator extending through the housing, and configured to activate a trip operation in response to said trip actuator being manually actuated, said trip operation being independent of said circuit interrupting portion operation.

A circuit interrupting device comprising:

• a housing;
• a pair of input conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing;
• a pair of output conductors, one of said pair being a phase conductor and the other being a neutral conductor, said conductors being disposed within said housing and terminating through an exterior surface of said housing;
• a circuit interrupter disposed within said housing and configured to break the continuity between said pair of input conductors and said pair of output conductors upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
• a reset mechanism configured to make electrical continuity between said pair of input conductors and said pair of output conductors after said predetermined condition occurs, and configured to activate the circuit interrupter;
• a reset lockout, responsive to the activation state of the circuit interrupter, for preventing the making of electrical continuity between said pair of input conductors and said pair of output conductors if a predetermined condition exists;
• and
• a trip mechanism disposed at least partially within said housing and configured to break the electrical connection between said pair of input conductors and said pair of output conductors independently of said circuit interrupter operation.

A circuit interrupting system with independent trip and reset lockout operations, comprising:

• a source of power;
• a circuit interrupting device connected to said source of power and having circuit interrupting, reset, reset lockout and independent trip portions, wherein the reset portion is configured to activate the circuit interrupting portion, and the reset lockout portion responds to an activation state of the circuit interrupting portion for performing the reset lockout operations;
• and
• at least one load connected to said circuit interrupting device.

An electrically controlled system whose operation is dependent upon a source of electricity, comprising:

• a source of electricity;
• at least one load;
• a device housing;
• a first electrical conductive path disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of being electrically connected to said source of electricity;
• a second electrical conductive path disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of conducting electrical current to said at least one load when electrical continuity between said first and second electrical conductive paths is made;
• circuit interrupting means disposed within said housing for breaking the continuity between said first and second conductive paths upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition;
• reset means disposed at least partially within said housing for making electrical continuity between the first and second conductive paths, and for activating the circuit interrupting means;
• reset lockout means, responsive to the activation state of the circuit interrupting means, for preventing the making of electrical continuity between said first and second conductive paths upon an occurrence of said circuit interrupting means being non-operational;
• and
• trip means disposed at least partially within said housing for breaking the continuity between said first and second conductive paths substantially independently of the operation of said circuit interrupting means.