Quotables
"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. "
Ambose Bierce
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7443309 | Self testing ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) A self testing fault detector having a line side and a load side and a conductive path there between, said apparatus is provided. The self testing fault detector includes a controller, adapted to perform periodic status tests on a protection circuit of the self test... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7440246 | Circuit interrupting apparatus with remote test and reset activation The present disclosure relates to resettable circuit interrupting devices and apparatus capable of being tested and reset from remote locations, and in particular to portable circuit interrupting devices and apparatus capable of being tested and reset from remote lo... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7423854 | Interruption circuit with improved shield An interrupter circuit is disclosed for interrupting power in a power cable from a power source. The power cable comprises an insulated line wire and an insulated neutral wire with a conductive shield surrounding the line wire and the neutral wire. A non-insulated d... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7365950 | Wiring error detection circuit A wiring error detection circuit for providing the status of the wiring of an AC outlet and the status of the AC outlet's ground connection. ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7352545 | Compressor terminal fault interruption method and apparatus A compressor terminal fault interruption method and interrupter for disconnecting power to a compressor terminal when terminal venting failure is imminent including a current sensing circuit for sensing current provided to the terminal by a power source and outputti... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7336458 | Circuit interrupting system with independent trip and reset lockout Resettable circuit interrupting devices, such as GFCI devices, that include an independent trip mechanism and a reset lockout mechanism are provided. The trip mechanism operates independently of a circuit interrupting mechanism used to break the connection, and the ... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7319574 | Arc fault detection apparatus, method and system for an underground electrical conductor A non-invasive underground arc fault detection apparatus is for an underground electrical conductor. The apparatus includes an electric circuit having an opening for admitting the electrical conductor therethrough. The electric circuit includes one or two transducer... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7317161 | Shielded cable, and bioelectrical impedance value or biological composition data acquiring apparatus using the same There are provided a shielded cable having a core wire for carrying an electrical signal, and a shield around the circumference of the core wire and connected to the core wire via a drive circuit, wherein the drive circuit has a band limiting circuit which decreases... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7314997 | High speed data communication link using triaxial cable A high speed data communication link has a circuit for providing a differential signal having first and second opposite phase components and a triaxial cable connected to receive the positive phase component of the signal on the inner conductor and the negative phas... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7262945 | Electrical over/under voltage automatic disconnect apparatus and method An analog or digital circuit that senses both low and high input voltage and operates to disconnect both line and neutral electrical power connections to a protected device when abnormally low or high voltages are received from a single- or multi-phase power source,... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7253637 | Arc fault circuit interrupter system In order to determine whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit, a sensor signal corresponding to current in said electrical circuit is processed. The sensor signal is filtered to determine the presence of noise in a predetermined frequency range and produc... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7232968 | Illuminated in-line controller This portable device relates to an in-line illuminated switch. The switch has a soft glowing light which is visible in a darkened room. Elderly people remove their eyeglasses when resting, and the soft glowing light locates the switch when light is required at bedsi... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7218063 | Two light level ballast A ballast (100) for powering at least one gas discharge lamp (30) at two selectable light levels includes a sensing transformer (120) and a detector circuit (200). Detector circuit (200) provides an output voltage that is dependent... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7212391 | Grounded isolation system An system and method are disclosed for isolating and grounding a load device, where grounding only occurs after the voltage(s) on the load device have been reduced to acceptable levels. The system includes power and grounding contacts, a sensing device, and a contro... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7209330 | Reset lockout for circuit interrupting device Resettable circuit interrupting devices, such as GFCI devices, that include a reset lock-out mechanism are provided. The reset lock-out mechanism prevents the resetting of electrical connections between input and output conductors if the circuit interrupting mechani... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7209048 | Device for monitoring and alerting of a power disruption to electrical equipment or an appliance The present invention is a simple, inexpensive and reliable device for monitoring and alerting of a power disruption to an appliance or a piece of equipment. An audible and/or visual alarm may be generated in the event that a specific or a piece of electrical equipm... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7170405 | Method and apparatus for interfacing a power line carrier and an appliance A method and apparatus for communicating between an appliance and a power line carrier communication system includes at least one power line carrier connection, at least one appliance connection, and processing circuitry for translating between an appliance communic... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7151656 | Arc fault circuit interrupter system A system for determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit in response to a sensor signal corresponding to current in the circuit includes a circuit for analyzing the sensor signal to determine the presence of broadband noise in a predetermined rang... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7136105 | Camera system including a safety circuit Camera systems are often built up from a base station, a detachable cable, and a camera. A dangerous situation may arise the moment the cable is detached from the camera because there is (still) a voltage present on the cable. The invention provides a camera system ... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7136266 | Leakage current detection interrupter extension cord with cord diagnostics In the present invention the basic detection and interruption components of an Immersion Detection Circuit Interrupter (IDCI), in combination with the line, neutral and shield conductors of an extension or appliance cord provides a new improved type of detector, a L... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7136265 | Load recognition and series arc detection using bandpass filter signatures A method and system for determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit includes sensing a change in an alternating current in the circuit and developing a corresponding input signal, analyzing the input signal to determine the presence of broadband n... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7068047 | Residual current detection circuit A residual current detection circuit comprises a current transformer CT for detecting an imbalance current indicative of a residual current and a full wave restifier FWR for providing an output whose amplitude corresponds to the magnitude of the residual current. Th... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7068480 | Arc detection using load recognition, harmonic content and broadband noise A method of determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit includes sensing a change in current in the circuit and developing a corresponding input signal, analyzing the input signal to determine the presence of broadband noise in a predetermined ran... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7042688 | Neutral switch test mechanism for a circuit interrupter Resettable circuit interrupting devices, such as GFCI devices, that include neutral fault test simulation. ... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7031125 | Reset lockout for sliding latch GFCI Resettable circuit interrupting devices using a center latch are provided. The circuit interrupting devices include those with a reset lockout, reverse wiring protection, and/or an independent trip portion. ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7023196 | High level arc fault detector Apparatus and methods for detecting high level arc faults in aircraft power systems are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention with reduced susceptibility to nuisance trips includes three low pass filters each having an output connected to a threshold detector. ... | 04/04/2006 |
| 6975491 | Electrical ground protection device and method An apparatus and method for protecting against electrocution hazards that arise when an appliance is electrically connected to a miswired single-phase AC electrical source are described. Protection is provided against miswiring conditions that cause the putative gro... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6956726 | Power protection device A power protection device includes a power source switching unit for shutting off the power supply from an AC power source according to an open control signal, a surge voltage protecting unit for outputting the open control signal when a surge voltage occurs, a leak... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6954125 | Ground fault circuit interrupter with reverse wiring protection A new type of switching mechanism for a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) with reverse wiring protection preferably includes two pairs of fixed contact holders, each member of each pair having at least one fixed contact at one end; a pair of movable contact ho... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6946935 | Ground fault circuit interrupter with reverse wiring protection A new type of ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) with reverse wiring protection preferably includes a pair of fixed contact holders, each having a contact at one end; a pair of movable contact holders, each having a fixed end and a movable end, each of the mova... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6944559 | Channel isolation by switched grounds A signal acquisition instrument, such as an oscilloscope, having an input stage that is referenced to a user's ground is disclosed. Information gathered by the input stage is stored in a storage element powered by a floating power supply that is referenced to the us... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6937450 | Grounded isolation system A system for electrically isolating and indicating electrical isolation of a machine including a plurality of relays which cooperate to, when electrical isolation is selected, ground voltage input lines to the machine thereby ensuring that no power is provided to th... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6914440 | Welding system and method utilizing a ground integrity monitor A welding system having a welding gun, comprising a casing that is grounded through a ground conductor, and a monitoring device, which detects the resistance of the ground conductor. A blanking device deactivates the monitoring device during the welding operation to... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6765390 | Diagnostic wiring verification tester A tester for verifying the integrity of insulation in a branch circuit of a power distribution system. Two test circuits are included; the first providing an insulation test; and a second, a shared/grounded neutral test. In the insulation test, a 500-volt ac output ... | 07/20/2004 |
| 6556395 | Ground fault circuit interrupter for circuits operating with non-sinusoidal waveforms A device for providing ground fault protection for one or more loads in an electrical wiring system. The device includes a pickup for sensing electrical characteristics associated with conductors supplying power to the one or more loads and generating a p... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6437700 | Ground fault circuit interrupter A signaling system employing indicator lamp means and an audible alarm is employed to remind a user to periodically test his GFCIs and to provide information regarding the status of the GFCI. The power lines that supply the GFCI with power are also couple... | 08/20/2002 |
| 6268988 | Ground fault detector for gas discharge tubing A method of detecting absence of connection of an external ground to a ground connection point associated with an AC supply circuit of a power supply. The AC supply circuit has hot and neutral conductors, with the neutral conductor externally connected to... | 07/31/2001 |
| 6031700 | Ground detector for a static grounding system A ground detector includes a detecting circuit formed of a polarity test circuit, a voltage dropping and rectifying circuit, a grounding test circuit and an alarm device, wherein the polarity test circuit leads in AC power supply and tests the polarity of... | 02/29/2000 |
| 5969921 | Ground fault electrical switching apparatus for coordinating tripping with a downstream ground fault switch A ground fault circuit breaker includes separable contacts for interrupting current flow in a protected AC electric system when opened. The protected AC electric system includes a ground fault switch, such as a ground fault receptacle having a people prot... | 10/19/1999 |
| 5886606 | Circuit breaker In a circuit breaker, a power source current transformer (2) comprises: a secondary coil (6) arranged between two legs (1a and 1b) of a U-shaped part of a main circuit conductor (1), and an iron core (7) including an iron core leg (7a) which penetrates th... | 03/23/1999 |
