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:
Oct. 26, 2010
Filed:
Mar. 30, 2007
Thangavelu Asokan, Karnataka, IN;
Gopichand Bopparaju, Karnataka, IN;
Adnan Kutubuddin Bohori, Karnataka, IN;
Thangavelu Asokan, Karnataka, IN;
Gopichand Bopparaju, Karnataka, IN;
Adnan Kutubuddin Bohori, Karnataka, IN;
General Electric Company, Niskayuna, NY (US);
Abstract
An arc crowbar with electrodes separated by a gap in a protective case. Each electrode is connected to an electrically different conductor of a circuit. A sensor detects an arc flash condition on the circuit and signals a trigger circuit to send an electrical pulse to an arc-triggering device in the arc crowbar gap. The triggering device ionizes a portion of the gas between the electrodes, initiating a protective arc between the electrodes that absorbs energy from the power circuit and trips a breaker, eliminating the arc flash condition. The triggering device may be a plasma gun, especially one that injects plasma of an ablated material into the gap. The sensor may signal a circuit breaker to open in the power circuit. Arc flash sensor types may include a differential current sensor and/or an optical sensor.