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. 14, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 28, 2001
Richard W. Carter, Roanoke, VA (US);
Rick L. Gintz, Roanoke, VA (US);
Allen M. Ritter, Roanoke, VA (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for determining a shorted thyristor cell in a bridge that supplies a load from a source, the bridge including a plurality of the thyristor cells. The method includes the step of sequentially gating each of the cells to a conducting state, so that only one cell is gated at one time; providing at least one current transformer in the bridge; generating a current flow that passes through the bridge including the one cell that is gated; observing current in the at least one current transformer to determine a short in one of the cells the that is not gated; and determining a shorted cell based on the step of observing current in the at least one current transformer.