Patent ID: 9368955
Filing Date: 2016-06-14
CPC Classification: H02H

Claim Text:
1. An electronic trip unit (ETU) configured to trip a circuit breaker using power from an external device, said ETU comprising: a peripheral port; a power converter; a microcontroller; and an energy-storage device, wherein said peripheral port is configured to be coupled to the external device, said power converter is coupled to said peripheral port and said energy-storage device, and said energy-storage device is coupled to a tripping mechanism within the circuit breaker, wherein the tripping mechanism is configured to trip upon receipt of a voltage greater than or equal to a threshold voltage, said ETU is configured to: receive a power input having a first voltage from said peripheral port, wherein the first voltage is less than the threshold voltage; determine, using said microcontroller, that providing a portion of the power input from said peripheral port to at least one component of said ETU would prevent said ETU from becoming sufficiently charged to generate a voltage greater than or equal to the threshold voltage; divert, based on the determination, the power input away from the at least one component; convert at least a portion of the power input to a power output having a second voltage using said power converter and said energy-storage device, wherein the second voltage is greater than the first voltage; and provide the power output from said energy-storage device to the tripping mechanism when the second voltage is greater than or equal to the threshold voltage.