Patent ID: 9595824
Date: 2017-03-14
CPC Classifications: G01R,H01H,H02H

Claim:
1. A circuit interrupting device comprising: one or more line terminals for connecting to an external power supply; one or more load terminals for connecting to an external load; an interrupting device connected to said line terminals and said load terminals and electrically connecting said line terminals to said load terminals when said circuit interrupting device is in a reset condition and disconnecting said line terminals from said load terminals when said circuit interrupting device is in a tripped condition; a fault detection circuit that detects a fault condition in said circuit interrupting device and generates a fault detection signal when said fault condition is detected, wherein said fault detection signal is provided to said interrupting device to place said circuit interrupting device in said tripped condition; an auto-monitoring circuit electrically coupled to said fault detection circuit and said interrupting device and continuously monitoring one or more signals to determine an operating state of said circuit interrupting device, wherein at least one of said monitored signals includes said fault detection signal, wherein if said auto-monitoring circuit determines that said fault detection circuit is not properly driving said interrupting device, said auto-monitoring circuit declares an end-of-life condition and converts an input-output port receiving said fault detection signal from an input to an output and drives said interrupting device into said tripped condition using said input-output port.