Patent ID: 7630185

Claim:
An electronic circuit breaker with an input for connection to a power-supply and an output for connection to a load, comprising: an interrupt block connected in circuit between the input and the output, the interrupt block including at least one switch functional to inhibit current flow from the input to the load and an isolation device functional to interrupt current flow to the load; a limitation block electrically coupled to the interrupt block, the limitation block functional to sense a current level of the current flow to the load and to cause the switch to partially inhibit current flow to the load during a delay period when the current level is greater than a threshold current value, the switch partially inhibiting current flow such that the current level of the current flow is maintained below the threshold value during the delay period; and a microprocessor operably coupled to the interrupt block and to the isolation device, the microprocessor operable to cause the isolation device to interrupt current to the load after the delay period in which the current has been maintained below a threshold value, wherein the microprocessor is operable to set the length of the delay period.