Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8174805 | Residual current device A residual current device for an AC electricity supply comprises a housing (10) and a first load conductor (L) inside the housing connected in series between the supply and a load and including a set of contacts (18) by which an electrical connection b... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8009394 | Leak current breaker and method A leak current breaker is provided which includes a detector (10) to detect a leakage current from electric lines, a first removing unit (12) to convert the detected leakage current into a voltage and a voltage detector (14) to detect a voltage ... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7995315 | Ground fault protection circuit for multi-source electrical distribution system Disclosed herein is a ground fault protection circuit for an electrical distribution system, the electrical distribution system having a plurality of power sources each having an associated main circuit breaker and being electrically coupled to an associated load wi... | 08/09/2011 |
| 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 |
| 7440245 | Arc fault circuit interrupter and method of detecting an arc fault An arc fault circuit interrupter includes separable contacts, an operating mechanism adapted to open and close the separable contacts, and a trip mechanism cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts. The trip mechanism includes a pe... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7432618 | Inverter anti-islanding method A method for detecting and interrupting an electrically islanded condition for a grid connected current source inverter is disclosed in which: A line voltage frequency is monitored at a cycle or sub cycle resolution. Current output from the inverter is periodically ... | 10/07/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7417834 | Shutoff system for pool or spa A control system for a bathing installation which has one or more electrically powered devices. A line voltage service is connected through a GFCI to power the electrically powered devices, the GFCI adapted to interrupt the service upon detection of a ground fault. ... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7405912 | Arc fault detection apparatus using microcomputer The present invention relates to an arc fault detection apparatus using a microcomputer, which divides current paths into a low current path and a high current path depending on the intensity of load current using a source voltage that is applied to a lead wire and ... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7403086 | 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... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7400481 | Low cost arc fault detection technique Low cost apparatus and methods of detecting arc faults for better discriminating electrical events. The arc fault detection apparatus includes a current sensor, a di/dt input sense circuit, a dv/dt input sense circuit, and a processing unit. The current sensor monit... | 07/15/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7359168 | Arc fault circuit interrupter and method for disabling series arc protection during current transients An arc fault circuit interrupter includes a line terminal, a load terminal, separable contacts electrically connected between the line terminal and the load terminal, and a current sensor structured to sense current associated with the load and flowing between the l... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7359167 | Corded leakage-current detection and interruption apparatus A leakage-current detection and interruption apparatus includes a plug adapted to receive an alternating current voltage, pairs of separable contacts adapted to receive the AC voltage from the plug, and an operating mechanism adapted to open and close the contacts. ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7345860 | Load recognition and series arc detection using load current/line voltage normalization algorithms A method and system for determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit. The methods 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 o... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7301440 | Power line communication system and method The present invention provides a device for providing communications through power lines comprised of multiple conductors by transmitting the data signals through a plurality of the conductors. One embodiment of the present invention may be comprised of a transmit c... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7294971 | Balancing transformers for ring balancer A ring balancer comprising a plurality of balancing transformers facilitates current sharing in a multi-lamp backlight system. The balancing transformers have respective primary windings separately coupled in series with designated lamps and have respective secondar... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7292418 | Leakage current interrupter with sustained overvoltage and/or overcurrent protection An appliance leakage current interrupter (ALCI) includes components for preventing sustained over-voltage and sustained over-current conditions. A current interruption threshold is inversely proportional to voltage supplied to the appliance. A microprocessor measure... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7292042 | Ground fault detector for vehicle A ground fault detector and detection method for a vehicle that can determine the cause of the occurrence of a ground fault after detecting the presence of the ground fault. The output terminal of a high-voltage battery is connected to one side of a coupling capacit... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7292011 | Electrical protection of a generator controller A generator system includes a generator control for providing electrical power to a main generator. The main generator is mechanically coupled to an electrical power source that provides electrical power to the generator control during operation of the main generato... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7268989 | Arc fault circuit interrupter for a compressor load An arc fault circuit interrupter includes separable contacts electrically connected between line and load terminals, and a current sensor adapted to sense current flowing between the terminals and through the contacts. An arc fault detection circuit is adapted to co... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7265956 | Ground fault circuit interrupter containing a dual-function test button The present invention provides a circuit interrupting device, preferably a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), which contains a dual-function test button having a short pole and a long pole positioned underneath the dual-function test button. When the GFCI is p... | 09/04/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7242557 | Residual current device with double grounded neutral fault detection A residual current device (RCD) senses a differential current flowing in A.C. mains supply live and neutral conductors and disconnects the supply from a load when the differential current exceeds a predetermined level. The device further includes a circuit for detec... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7242566 | Surge protection device A surge suppression circuit with a thermal cutoff includes a first surge suppressor in series with a first thermal cutoff device between a phase conductor and a neutral conductor. A second surge suppressor in series with a second thermal cutoff device is between the... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7242147 | Current sharing scheme for multiple CCF lamp operation A ring balancer comprising a plurality of balancing transformers facilitates current sharing in a multi-lamp backlight system. The balancing transformers have respective primary windings separately coupled in series with designated lamps and have respective secondar... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7233473 | Protection circuit and method for floating power transfer device A protection circuit and method are provided for a floating power transfer device having one or more switches for controlling charging of a reservoir capacitor across which a load is applied when in use. The protection circuit includes a control circuit, a fault det... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7230414 | Current sensor that includes a pair of segments A current sensor that includes a pair of segments. Each of the segments includes magnetically permeable cores that can be joined together. A winding is used to substantially encircle one of the cores. ... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7224559 | Differential current detection A detection circuit detects a difference between a source current and a return current. The detection circuit includes a constantly biased magnetic core through which conductors of the source and return currents extend, and a sense winding around the core. The sense... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7221548 | Residual-current circuit breaker and a method for testing the reliability performance of a residual-current circuit breaker A test circuit is provided, which is independent of a power supply and which enables a circuit breaker to be tested in a reliable manner. The test circuit includes a test coil which is devoid of electric potential and is wound around a totalizing current transformer... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7173832 | Multifunction power convertor The present invention relates to a multifunction power convertor in the field of power transmission. The multifunction power convertor consists of a rectifier circuit, a filter circuit connecting with the rectifier circuit, an inverter circuit connecting with the fi... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7167349 | Earth leakage breaker An earth leakage breaker includes a main contact, a switch mechanism, an operating handle, a leakage tripping device and an over-current tripping device having an earth-leakage-detection circuit disposed in a main-body case. A power-supply line connects the earth-le... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7161780 | Circuit interrupting device with single throw, double mode button for test-reset function A typical duplex GFCI receptacles has two buttons, a test button that, when pressed, shuts off power to the receptacle and down stream devices, and a reset button that, when pressed, restores power to the GFCI and down stream devices. Generally, the test button is p... | 01/09/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7149065 | Self testing digital fault interrupter A fault interrupter apparatus having a line side and a load side and a conductive path there between. The apparatus includes a solenoid that is adapted to move a plurality of contacts disposed in the conductive path from a first position to a second position, an ala... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7142403 | Method for detection of a ground fault, which occurs in the vicinity of a neutral point in an electrical device, as well as an apparatus for carrying out the method The invention relates to a method for detection of a ground fault (18), which occurs in the vicinity of a neutral point (22), in a polyphase electrical device which is operated at a fundamental frequency, in particular an electrical machine (10)... | 11/28/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7132819 | Floating power supply and method of using the same A power supply of the present invention comprises a transducer having a transducer and a voltage regulator. The transducer is coupled to an electrically non-conductive medium, which may be a light pipe. The electrically non-conductive medium is coupled to a non-elec... | 11/07/2006 |
