CPC H01H 1/0015 (2013.01) [G01R 31/3272 (2013.01); G01R 31/3277 (2013.01); H01H 9/30 (2013.01); H01H 9/54 (2013.01); H01H 33/593 (2013.01); H01H 50/045 (2013.01); H01H 50/44 (2013.01); H01R 13/052 (2013.01); H01R 13/6666 (2013.01); H01R 13/70 (2013.01); H01R 24/30 (2013.01); H02H 1/0015 (2013.01); H02H 9/08 (2013.01)] | 14 Claims |
1. A high speed arc suppressor configured to suppress arcing across a power contactor coupled to an alternating current (AC) power source, the high speed arc suppressor comprising:
a first phase-specific arc suppressor configured to suppress arcing across contacts of the power contactor in a positive domain, comprising:
a first high speed switch configured to enable operation of the first phase-specific arc suppressor when an input signal from the contacts is in the positive domain and disable operation of the first phase-specific arc suppressor when the input signal from the contacts is in a negative domain; and
a second phase-specific arc suppressor configured to suppress arcing across the contacts in a negative domain, comprising:
a second high speed switch configured to enable operation of the first phase-specific arc suppressor when an input signal from the contacts is in the negative domain and disable operation of the first phase-specific arc suppressor when the input signal from the contacts is in the positive domain;
wherein the first and second high speed switches are configured to switch the first and second phase-specific arc suppressors between the enable operation and the disable operation in not more than ten (10) microseconds;
wherein the first and second high speed switches are transistors; and
wherein each of the first and second phase-specific arc suppressors further comprises:
an arc ignition detector circuit;
a trigger lock circuit; and
an arc burn memory.
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