Patent ID: 7136265
Filing Date: 2006-11-14
Classification: G01R,H02H

Abstract:
1. A method of determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit comprising: sensing a change in current in said circuit and developing a corresponding input signal; analyzing said input signal to determine the presence of broadband noise in a predetermined range of frequencies including a 20 KHz band, and producing a corresponding output signal; and processing said input signal and said output signal in a predetermined fashion to determine whether an arcing fault is present in said circuit; said processing including determining a type of load connected to said electrical circuit, based at least in part upon said input signal and said output signal, said processing also including incrementing one or more of a plurality of counters in a predetermined fashion in accordance with said input signal and said output signal and determining the type of load based at least in part on the states of one or more of said plurality of counters.