H02H1/0007

SHOOT THROUGH CURRENT DETECTION AND PROTECTION CIRCUIT
20230039217 · 2023-02-09 ·

A shoot-through protection circuit includes a current sensor providing a sensor signal connected to a comparator input via at least a burden resistor. A switch protection circuit including a protection input connected to an output of the comparator and a plurality of outputs. Each of the outputs is connected to a corresponding switch in a plurality of stacked switches. Wherein the switch protection circuit is configured to drive each switch of the plurality of stacked switches open in response to a positive output signal from the comparator.

INTRINSICALLY SAFE CIRCUIT WITH LOW LEAKAGE CURRENT
20230041997 · 2023-02-09 ·

According to an aspect of this disclosure, an intrinsically safe circuit includes a voltage source, a Zener diode, a transistor, a switching element, one or more resistors, and a current limiting stage. According to this aspect, the intrinsically safe circuit may be configured such that an over-voltage threshold is determined by a voltage across the Zener diode, a base-emitter voltage of the transistor, and a voltage across the one or more resistors.

Current transformer powered controller

A system includes a current transformer including: a primary coil, and a secondary coil including at least two taps; a tap selection circuit; a current measurement apparatus configured to produce an indication of an amount of current flowing in the secondary coil; a power supply electrically connected to a first one of the taps, the power supply configured to receive electrical power from the first one of the taps; and a controller coupled to the power supply and the current measurement apparatus, the controller configured to receive electrical power from the power supply and to control the tap selection circuit based on the indication of an amount of current in the secondary coil.

ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR CHIP
20230007947 · 2023-01-12 ·

The present disclosure provides an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for a chip, including: a monitoring unit, configured to generate a trigger signal when there is an ESD pulse on a power supply pad; a plurality of controllable drive units, connected to the monitoring unit, and each of the controllable drive units being configured to switch an operating state under a control of a control signal, wherein the operating state includes an output state, and the output state refers to generating a drive signal according to the trigger signal; and a discharge transistor, connected to the plurality of controllable drive units, and configured to be turned on under a drive of the drive signal so as to discharge an electrostatic charge to the ground pad.

Ground fault overvoltage detection using negative sequence voltage monitoring
11594875 · 2023-02-28 · ·

A negative sequence voltage (NSV) protection system is provided that can be added to existing equipment or included as a standalone device for detecting GFOV in electrical configurations connecting distributed energy resources to utility grids. The NSV protection system can be implemented at the low side of a distribution transformer of a typical distribution circuit or in a control system of inverter-based energy resources connected to a distribution feeder. The NSV protection system includes a passive monitoring system that outputs a trip signal when a potential GFOV is detected to occur. The trip signal can then be relayed to open the circuit breakers of a distribution circuit or to cause an inverter-based energy resource to trip offline.

Semiconductor device and overcurrent protection method
11594873 · 2023-02-28 · ·

A semiconductor device includes a switching element, a control circuit, and a first and second temperature detectors. The control circuit controls the switching element and have an overcurrent detection circuit for the switching element. The first temperature detector detects the temperature of the switching element and the second temperature detector detects the temperature of the control circuit. The control circuit includes a reference correction circuit for correcting an overcurrent reference value of the overcurrent detection circuit on the basis of a first detection value and a second detection value detected by the first and second temperature detectors and outputting a corrected overcurrent reference value.

Safety Switching Device For Fail-Safely Disconnecting An Electrical Load

A safety switching device for fail-safely disconnecting an electrical load has an input part for receiving a safety-relevant input signal, a logic part for processing the at least one safety-relevant input signal, and an output part. The output part has a relay coil and four relay contacts. The first and second relay contacts are arranged electrically in series with one another. The third and fourth relay contacts are also arranged electrically in series with one another. The first and the third relay contacts are mechanically coupled to each other and form a first group of positively driven relay contacts. The second and the fourth relay contacts are mechanically coupled to each other and form a second group of positively driven relay contacts. The logic part redundantly controls the first and the second groups of positively driven relay contacts to selectively allow, or to interrupt in a fail-safe manner, a current flow to the electrical load, depending on the safety-relevant input signal. The relay coil is electromagnetically coupled to the first and second groups of positively driven relay contacts so that the logic part can control the relay contacts together via a single relay coil.

Electric Grill With Current Protection Circuitry

Provided is an apparatus and method for protecting against unsafe electric current conditions. A protections circuit may be used in a device, as an electric grill, that has one or more electric loads, such as heating elements. The protection circuit may protect against various failure scenarios, including, without limitation, instances of ground fault, over current, driver failure, and failure of a microprocessor. In response to a failure, the protection circuit may trip a latch relay or disable a triac driver to stop current from flowing.

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING A GROUND-FAULT DIRECTION IN AN ELECTRIC THREE-PHASE NETWORK
20180011135 · 2018-01-11 ·

The invention relates to a method for ascertaining an earth fault and the earth-fault direction in a three-phase network which is operated in a compensated manner or in an insulated manner. Value pairs of a zero voltage and a zero current are measured, the active or reactive energy is calculated, and a voltage flag and a current flag are combined by a Boolean link, wherein the presence of a earth fault is ascertained depending on the result, and a decision is made as to whether the earth-fault direction is signalled as “forward” or “reverse” at least on the basis of the sign of the active or reactive energy.

Control and operation of power distribution system
11710960 · 2023-07-25 · ·

Provided herein is a power distribution system comprising a main power bus, sub-buses coupled to the main power bus, and a controller. The sub-buses provide power to electrical components of a vehicle. Each of the sub-buses includes an electrically programmable fuse in series with a relay. The controller is configured to detect a fault in a sub-bus of the sub-buses, determine a fault type associated with the fault, and in response to determining the fault type, generate a command to cause the relay to change a relay state.