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. 17, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 27, 1997
Stanley J. Brooks, Rockvale, TN (US);
Square D Company, Palatine, IL (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting arcing faults in an electrical distribution system including a plurality of phase lines for connecting a power source to a respective plurality of loads and one or more current transformers electrically coupled to a selected number of the phase lines. Each of the current transformers have a secondary line extending therefrom and carry an electrical current. The arcing fault detection system comprises a sensor coupled to at least one of the secondary lines for monitoring the rate-of-change of current or voltage associated with the secondary line and producing a signal representing the rate-of-change. An arcing fault detector circuit evaluates the sensor signal for characteristics representative of arcing faults. If an arcing fault is detected, the arcing fault detector circuit triggers a line interrupter to disconnect the load from the power source in the phase line associated with the secondary line.