The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 10, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 16, 1997
Kenneth Brakeley Welles, II, Scotia, NY (US);
Thomas Michael Palmer, Wallingford, CT (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A junction box architecture includes a main circuit breaker, plurality of branch circuit breakers, and an arc detection unit. The main circuit breaker input is connected to main power supply lines, e.g., phase 1 and phase 2 power lines. The main circuit breaker output is connected to respective inputs of branch circuit breakers and to an input of the arc detection unit. The arc detection unit includes an enable output and is configured to generate an enable signal on the enable output. The enable output is coupled to enable inputs of each branch circuit breaker. When no enable signal is present on an enable input of any one branch circuit breaker, the one breaker will not trip. In general, for any one circuit breaker to trip, the breaker must simultaneously detect a high frequency current in the associated branch circuit and receive an enable signal from the arc detection unit.