Abstract:
An electrical service apparatus housing (12) carries a plurality of line and load blade terminals (23) and jaw contacts (416, 418). Surge suppression elements (68, 70) are carried on a circuit board (42) mountable within the housing (12) and are connected to certain blade terminals and jaw contacts for conducting electrical surges to ground. Insulating barriers (466, 468) surround the jaw contacts (416, 418) and, also, fixedly position the circuit board (42) in the housing. A switch element (76) is energized when one of the surge suppression elements (68, 70) changes state and provides an externally transmittable signal indicative of the change in state of one of the surge suppression elements. An insulating safety shield (200) surrounds the jaw contacts (416, 418). A light transmissive guide (160) carried on the shield (200) has a first end disposed adjacent to a light source (74a, 74b) on the circuit board and an opposed second end visible exteriorly through the housing (12) to provide an exteriorly visible indication of the state of the light source.
Abstract:
A protective device (10) for use with DC-powered electrical equipment (14) and including a main electrical switch (16) in series along at least one DC power supply line (18), and a series combination of a secondary electrical switch (22) connected in series with a resistance (24), the series combination (18, 22, 24) being connected in parallel to the main electrical switch (16).
Abstract:
A method and system for synchronizing the sampling frequency, at which power system data is sampled, with the frequency of the power system. Adjustments to the sampling frequency can be made by comparing first and second derivatives to threshold values.
Abstract:
The present invention provides a more reliable protection device (66) and an improved PIC switch (70). According to the invention, the over-temperature status of the switch as well as the overcurrent status of each of a plurality of ports (32, 42) of the switch are detected. If there is over-temperature, ports with the overcurrent status are identified as a potential cause. These ports are then switched off. After a predetermined waiting time period during which the switch temperature is expected to decrease, the over-temperature status of the switch is again checked. If the over-temperature disappears, then the ports with non-overcurrent status remain on. However, if the over-temperature persists, then all of the ports are turned off. The improved PIC switch thus increases the dynamic operation range of the conventional PIC switch, while ensuring normal operations.
Abstract:
The present invention provides an improved power line protection device (50) and method suitable for protecting data bus and power lines such as in the USB (Universal Serial Bus) configurations and other power management circuits. The invention eliminates false fault flag signals generated when large capacitive loads are present. According to the invention, an integrated switch device (60) is provided and used in the improved power line protection device. The integrated device is controllable by an external enable signal for switching on and off power supplied on a power line. The switch device comprises a fault detection circuit, a switch (61) and an external flag generation circuit (70). The fault detection circuit detects fault conditions (e.g., an overcurrent condition) and generates an internal flag signal upon detecting a fault condition. The switch is controllable by the external enable signal and the internal flag signal for switching on and off the power supplied to the power line. The external flag generation circuit is connected to the fault detection circuit to receive the internal flag signal. If the internal flag signal lasts longer than a predetermined duration, the external flag generation circuit generates an external flag signal after the predetermined duration has elapsed since receiving the internal flag signal. In this way, false fault reporting is effectively prevented.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a closing device, especially for a motor vehicle window or sun roof, comprising a drive motor (4) for moving a closing body such as a window pane or a roof panel over an opening to be closed, a sensor (3) for detecting a force that is exerted on the closing body in the opposite direction to the direction of closing and a control circuit (1) for monitoring such a force and interrupting the closing movement of the closing body in the event that the sensor (3) detects the force exceeding a limit value. According to the invention, the control circuit (1) varies the limit value according to a previously measured force. In this way, interfering influences on the closing device, especially external accelerating forces which act on the closing body, can be distinguished from the forces that arise as a result of a body part being caught in the opening and a reversal of the closing device is only allowed in the case of the latter.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a method for electronic surveillance and control of the opening and closing procedure for electrically operated units, especially window lifters and sliding roofs in motor vehicles. It is possible to act upon an actuating element of said unit, whereby said element is connected to the vehicle electric system, in a direct manner using electrical controls or by interconnecting a controlling electronics system that is linked to said unit. A signal that is dependent upon an acceleration force acting upon the bodywork of the motor vehicle is supplied to the controlling electronics system. The signal (16) which is dependent upon the acceleration force acting upon the bodywork is determined from the motor speed (20) of the electronic actuating element.
Abstract:
The system impedance ratio (SIR) is determined for the original zone 1 distance element reach (116) of a protective relay (132). The reduction in the original zone 1 reach is then determined (120), using the SIR value (118) and a known table of reduced values. When a fault is recognized the minimum reach (126) to just detect the fault is determined. A trip signal (130) is provided without any delay if the minimum reach (126) is less than or equal to the reduced reach (120). The trip is delayed (136) for a selected time if the minimum reach (126) is greater than the reduced reach (120) but not greater than the original reach (116).
Abstract:
A coaxial surge protector includes a housing (17) in which is situated a transmission line (10) in the form of a two-sided printed circuit board (20). The surge protector includes input (12) and output (14) signal connectors mounted on a housing and connected to the transmission line (10), and a gas discharge tube (16) electrically coupled between the transmission line (10) and circuit ground. A thermally activated shunt assembly (18) is thermally coupled to the gas discharge tube (16) and senses when the gas discharge tube (16) is in an overheating condition. Upon such condition, the shunt assembly provides an electrically conductive shunt in parallel with the gas discharge tube (16) to divert current flowing through the gas discharge tube (16) to flow through the shunt assembly (18) to ground in order to minimize further overheating of the gas discharge tube (16).
Abstract:
An arc fault detection system senses current flow in a power source branch and in one or more load branches in an electrical system. Over a frequency range divided into a predetermined number of frequency bins, a controller records and tallies the branch having largest magnitude of power spectral density for each frequency bin. The branch having highest total tally is determined to be the branch in which the arc fault occurred and can then safely be isolated from the electrical system.