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:
Dec. 28, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 13, 2000
Michael S. Tignor, Watertown, CT (US);
Patrick Salas, Unionville, CT (US);
Craig B. Williams, Avon, CT (US);
Michael B. Bradley, Farmington, CT (US);
David Fletcher, Simsbury, CT (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
Improvements to a rating plug for an electronic trip unit of a circuit breaker are disclosed. The rating plug includes a non-volatile memory which has access to current and frame rating information. A microcomputer in the electronic trip unit may receive new current rating information over the World Wide Web from a vendor system to update the current rating information of the rating plug. A program within the circuit breaker may detect errors in the new current rating information and may reject such and revert to a safe mode of operation. A billing system may be connected to the vendor system for calculating charges based on the transmission of the new current rating information. Preferably, the non-volatile memory of the rating plug is programmed at the factory site and a label adhered to the outer case of the rating plug for indicating the current rating. The rating plug may then be inserted within the electronic circuit breaker at the field and the current rating altered as necessary using the remote altering system.