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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7405569 | Monitoring system for high-voltage switches A method and an apparatus are disclosed for measuring contact erosion in an electrical switching device by a dynamic resistance measurement (DRM). To determine an overlap time and a contact erosion in an exemplary switching device, a change in current across the swi... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7391226 | Contact resistance test structure and methods of using same The present invention is directed to a contact resistance test structure and methods of using same. In one illustrative embodiment, the method includes forming a test structure comprised of two gate electrode structures, forming a plurality of conductive contacts to... | 06/24/2008 |
| 7362011 | Apparatus for preventing corrosion of contact An apparatus for preventing a contact from being corroded includes a power source, a signal line connected to the contact, a resistance connected to the signal line, a switching section, a comparator, and an overheat detecting section. The switching section has a sw... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7298148 | Relay controller A relay controller for connecting a power source includes at least one relay having at least two contacts. The relay controller includes a processing device operable to selectively switch the relay contacts, and a feedback circuit adapted to identify an actual state... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7248053 | One time operating state detecting method and apparatus A method and apparatus for detecting a change in an electrical property between contacts. A one-time operating state detection device includes a member coupling a pair of contacts and a detector for detecting a change in the coupling between the pair of contacts whe... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7221142 | Measuring devices A combined toroid/shunt device for detecting residual current in an electrical installation comprising a plurality of conductors such as a live conductor (2) and a neutral conductor (3) is described. The device comprises a toroid means (1, 4) fo... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7200502 | Dual connection power line parameter analysis method and system A method and apparatus is disclosed for determining the power line parameters of a system. Specifically, there is provided a method comprising perturbing a voltage waveform through a first connection, measuring a characteristic of the perturbation through a second c... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7161776 | Method for monitoring a power output stage A method for monitoring a power output stage including at least one half bridge with upper and lower semiconductor switches connected in series, wherein the semiconductor switches are controllable alternately to a switched-on state and a switched-off state by pulse-... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7148694 | Contact impedance test circuit and method A contact impedance test circuit for testing impedance between a first contact element and a second contact element comprising an AC signal source for applying an AC signal voltage to the first contact element, an AC contact voltage being emitted by the second conta... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7123018 | Switching status determination device and method for determining switching status A sampling voltage is periodically applied between contacts of a switch of a device to determine a status of the switch. When a CPU is in a sleep state and the status of the switch is determined closed, the CPU is activated. The sampling voltage when the CPU is in t... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7109721 | Method and electronic circuit for regenerating an electrical contact A method and an electronic circuit for regenerating an electrical contact are provided in order to remedy the problem of electrical contacts becoming highly resistive over time. Electrical contacts become highly resistive over time, particularly when the contacts ar... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7109720 | Method for determining wear of a switchgear contacts In a switching device, a method and device for determining the wear of the pole contacts (C1, C2, C3) actuated by an electromagnet (20) whose movement is controlled by an excitation coil (21) by the variation of a contact wear dist... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7064564 | Bundled probe apparatus for multiple terminal contacting A probe apparatus having probe groups comprising two or three probes that independently contact single terminals of tested chips. As a result, the probe apparatus is capable of recognizing voltage drops of a test signal applied prior to the chip testing onto a test ... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7057401 | Electrical wiring inspection system A system for testing and documenting the electrical wiring in a building, for example, includes a Portable Circuit Analyzer (PCA) that is connected to the building's Load Center through an umbilical cord. The PCA is in wireless communication with a hand-held compute... | 06/06/2006 |
| 6975103 | Resistance ratio digitizing ohmmeter system A digitizing ohmmeter system for providing a digital resistance ratio measurement includes a high impedance current source providing a DC excitation current to an impedance-varying input sensor and a reference resistor and an ADC circuit including a charge-balancing... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6967483 | Apparatus and method for determining contact dynamics The invention relates to an apparatus and method to determine contact dynamics between conductive surfaces, and more particularly to determine the dynamics of contact closure in mechanical switches and analysis of the dynamics of other mechanical systems, in general... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6965238 | Methods and apparatus for analyzing high voltage circuit breakers Methods, computer program segment and apparatus for analyzing high voltage circuit breakers are provided. The method includes determining a circuit breaker contact closing time, determining a circuit breaker contact opening time, and determining a circuit breaker pr... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6940288 | Apparatus and method for monitoring and predicting failures in system interconnect An apparatus and a method for detecting high impedance failures in system interconnects. The apparatus and method may measure resistance of a connection of one or more representative sets of pins on a partitioned chip to a circuit board and determine if the measured... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6903558 | Digitizing ohmmeter system A digitizing ohmmeter system for providing a digital resistance measurement includes a current source for providing an excitation current to an impedance-varying input sensor and an ADC circuit including a charge-balancing modulator and a digital post processing cir... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6788213 | Energize to actuate engineered safety features actuation system and testing method therefor A component actuation circuit for an engineered safety features actuation system (ESFAS) includes a plurality of coincidence logic contacts, and a plurality of parallel-connected ESFAS component relays. Each of the coincidence logic contacts closes in response to a ... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6788067 | Device for and method of detecting residual current with resistive shunts A residual current detection device comprising a plurality of resistive shunts for connection in respective ones of a plurality of lines though which current can flow to and from a load, and detector means sensitive to the voltage developed across each of the shunts... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6667624 | Battery clamp connection detection method and apparatus A method and apparatus for testing a battery connection is provided. The apparatus includes a clamp attached to a conductor for attaching the conductor to an object, a first sensor configured to detect a voltage associated with the clamp, and a second sen... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6518771 | Method of monitoring the contact burnoff in tap changers A method of monitoring contact burnoff in tap changers operating under load in which the load current is measured and for nominal variation of the voltage of the particular tap parameters are stored which are used to calculate the burnoff rate per contact... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6396282 | Process for testing the ground contact of parts of a networked system In a method for testing the ground contact of parts of a networked system in which data are sent and received via at least one line, at least one line at each part is connected via a resistance arrangement to a common potential of the parts and is connect... | 05/28/2002 |
| 6313636 | Method for determining switchgear-specific data at contacts in switchgear and/or operation-specific data in a network connected to the switchgear and apparatus for carrying out the method A method for determining switchgear-specific data at contacts in switchgear and/or operation-specific data in a network connected to the switchgear includes detecting a so-called contact follow-through travel at a switching path as an equivalent criterion... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6208146 | Method and apparatus for measuring contact resistance for spot welding simulations A method and apparatus for measuring the contact resistance at electrode-to-workpiece and workpiece-to-workpiece interfaces for spot welding simulations. A constant compressive load is applied through electrodes and workpieces to simulate a load applied d... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6160402 | Method and apparatus for determining contact resistance A method and apparatus for determining contact resistance (107) includes pressing a lead connector (105) to make a first contact with a metallic pad (103) and an isolated contact with an isolated metallic pad (108) located adjacent to metallic pad (103). ... | 12/12/2000 |
| 5999002 | Contact check for remote sensed measurement A contact resistance check circuit and method for verifying that a sufficient electrical connection is established between a source and a sense lead of a Kelvin connection. The circuit includes a microprocessor for driving a transformer that is connected ... | 12/07/1999 |
| 5886530 | Test contact connection checking method and circuit A contact resistance check circuit and method for verifying that a sufficient electrical connection is established between a source and a sense lead of a Kelvin connection. The circuit includes a microprocessor for driving a transformer that is connected ... | 03/23/1999 |
| 5844331 | Process for monitoring the wear of at least one contact in a switching device and switching device designed thereof A switching device including a measuring means for monitoring contact erosion, which is provided between a contact element and an associated contact support. The switching device includes an electrically insulated signal line, which is usable in individua... | 12/01/1998 |
| 5122661 | Method and apparatus for testing infrared radiation detectors A unit for testing infrared radiation detection units which incorporate relay contacts that are readily rendered defective by increasing resistance through use, thereby rendering the infrared radiation detection unit defective or inaccurate. As an example... | 06/16/1992 |
| 4801864 | Tester for terminal post resistance for an energy storage element connected in an electrical circuit A resistance checker portion for terminal posts of an energy storage device includes a series branch formed of an ohmic resistor at a switch connected in parallel to the energy storage device through the terminal posts. Brief closing of the noramlly open ... | 01/31/1989 |
| 4692939 | Switch testing Switches of telephone grids are tested for delayed action subsequent to, but within a number of milliseconds after, actuating the opening or closing of the switches. Excessive delay indicates approaching failure.... | 09/08/1987 |
| 4590423 | Coaxial test fixture An assembly is provided for testing one or more contact material samples in a vacuum environment. The samples are positioned as an inner conductive cylinder assembly which is mounted for reciprocal vertical motion as well as deflection from a vertical axi... | 05/20/1986 |
| 4491797 | Test contact resistance of dry circuit contacts In the testing of dry circuit contacts, a constant current source is applied to the contacts. The open circuit voltage of the source is set to a predetermined maximum value and then the short circuit current at the contacts measured. If the current value ... | 01/01/1985 |
| 4404518 | Method and device for the measurement of the contact resistance of galvanic surface layers A method and device is disclosed for the measurement of contact resistances of galvanic surfaces. Such contact resistances are subject to very great fluctuations. In order to measure the contact resistance, several wire pieces are provided with the galvan... | 09/13/1983 |
| 4218653 | Connector contact contamination probe Probe apparatus having a pair of folded electrodes is arranged for use in detecting and measuring contamination films and foreign material appearing on connector contact terminals. The probe apparatus (1) comprises an insulation support member (2) positio... | 08/19/1980 |
| 4178543 | Analyzing electrical circuit boards Circuit board analysis system, featuring, in various aspects, a probe having three equally spaced tips to simultaneously contact a straight portion of a mounted IC lead, circuitry to monitor contact between the tips and the lead, use of very low level tes... | 12/11/1979 |
| 4173735 | Contact fault detector A technique and a circuit is described for readily detecting contact resistance build-up and contact chatter. Closed contacts are arranged in series with each other and with a resistor. A voltage is applied across the series arrangement. Each contact is s... | 11/06/1979 |
| 4104578 | Portable digital ohmmeter A portable ohmmeter for use in measuring the resistance of an electrical contact including a direct current battery, and a resistive element serially connected with the contact and the battery to form a complete circuit. Included are means for sensing the... | 08/01/1978 |
