Voltage indicator test mechanism
AssigneeGrace Engineered Products, Inc.
InventorPhilip Brown Allen, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical safety monitor includes line inputs for an L1, an L2, an L3, and a GND three-phase connections, a line monitoring circuit having a plurality of light indicators and configured to produce light if voltage exists between any two of the line inputs to thereby indicate presence of voltage to a user, and a current generating circuit electrically connected to the line monitoring circuit and adapted to generate a test current to the line inputs to transition the device from dead to live thereby allowing the user to discern between a failure state of the line monitoring circuit and an off state of the line monitoring circuit. The current inducing circuit can include a magnet which induces the test current, stored energy, a photocell, an electroactive material or other means for generating the test current.
Claims22
An electrical safety monitor, comprising:
- line inputs for hardwiring an L1, an L2, an L3, and a GND three-phase connections;
- a line monitoring circuit having a plurality of light indicators and configured to produce light if voltage exists between any two of the line inputs to thereby indicate presence of voltage to a user;
- a current generating circuit electrically connected to the line monitoring circuit and adapted to generate a test current to the line inputs to transition the electrical safety monitor from dead to live thereby allowing the user to discern between a failure state of the line monitoring circuit and an off state between line inputs.
An improvement to an electrical safety monitor having a line monitoring circuit for monitoring hardwired L1, L2, L3, and GND three-phase line connections and a plurality of indicators for communicating presence of voltage between any of the line connections, the improvement comprising a current inducing circuit electrically connected to the line monitoring circuit and adapted for generating a test current upon activation by a user to transition the line monitoring circuit from dead to live thereby allowing the user to discern between a failure state of the line monitoring circuit and an off state between line inputs.
A method for providing electrical safety monitoring, comprising:
- providing an electrical safety monitor having a plurality of solid-state light emitting diodes configured to indicate presence of voltage;
- hardwiring the electrical safety monitor to an L1, an L2, an L3, and a GND three-phase connections;
- generating a test current to transition the electrical safety monitor from a dead state to a live state to thereby allow a user to discern between a failure state of the electrical safety monitor and an off state between the three-phase connections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.