Patent ID: 8482887

Claim:
A ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device, comprising: a leakage current detection circuit; a electro-magnetic disconnect mechanism including a first silicon-control rectifier (SCR), wherein the actuation of the electro-magnetic disconnect mechanism is controlled by the leakage current detection circuit; a reset mechanism including a reset button, wherein the reset button is moveable between a first position and a second position, wherein when the reset button is in the second position, the leakage current detection circuit generates a signal to actuate the electro-magnetic disconnect mechanism to move the reset button to the first position; a circuit condition detection and control circuit; and a selection switch, wherein circuit condition detection and control circuit includes a first control circuit and a second control circuit, the selection switch selectively electrically connecting the first control circuit to an anode of the first SCR, wherein when the selection switch electrically connects the first control circuit to the anode of the first SCR, the first control circuit provides a simulated leakage current to the leakage current detection circuit and the leakage current detection circuit provides a trigger signal to a control gate of the first SCR, wherein the first control circuit either generates the simulated leakage current intermittently or generates a first control signal for the second control circuit based the trigger signal, wherein the second control circuit generates a second control signal, a short circuit protection element operable to electrically disconnect a power to the leakage current detection circuit in response to the second control signal from the second control circuit; a circuit condition indicator for indicating a condition of the short circuit protection element, whereby the circuit condition indicator indicates a working condition of the GFCI device; a first branch circuit including a resistor connected to the anode of the first SCR for biasing the anode of the first SCR; and a second branch circuit selectively connected to the anode of the first SCR in parallel with the first branch circuit by the selection switch, wherein when the selection switch connects the anode of the first SCR to the second branch circuit, the selection switch disconnects the anode of the first SCR from the first control circuit, whereby the circuit condition detection and control circuit is disabled.