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:
Sep. 19, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 05, 1999
Victor V Aromin, West Warwick, RI (US);
Peter MacKay, Warwick, RI (US);
Tower Manufacturing Corporation, Providence, RI (US);
Abstract
A miniature appliance leakage current interrupter (ALCI) interrupts the flow of current through a pair of lines extending between a source of power and a load. The ALCI comprises a circuit breaker having a pair of normally closed switches, one switch being located in each of the pair of lines between the source of power and the load. The circuit breaker is connected to a relay circuit which selectively opens the pair of normally closed switches. The relay circuit is connected to a fault detection circuit which detects the presence of a ground fault condition in the pair of lines. When the ground fault condition detected exceeds a predetermined value, an integrated circuit chip in the fault detection circuit causes the relay circuit to open the circuit breaker. The ALCI further includes a housing having a top, a bottom, a front end and a rear end. A prong assembly for supplying power from the source of power to the remainder of the ALCI is in line mounted on the housing. In one embodiment of the present invention, the housing is permanently mounted on an electrical cord connected to the load and the prong assembly includes a line contact prong and a neutral contact prong. In another embodiment of the present invention, the housing is constructed so that it can be removably mounted on an electrical cord connected to the load and the prong assembly includes a line contact prong, a neutral contact prong and a ground contact prong.