A Feasibility Study of Ground Fault Interrupters.

摘要

With continual emphasis on safety in domestic and industrial American life today,many new safety innovations have been introduced on the market. One such device that has recently become available is the ground fault interrupter. This device simply monitors the current flowing to a device;and,if the leakage current to ground exceeds a pre-determined value,the GFI interrupts the flow of current to the load by tripping the circuit. The paper presents the conventional methods protecting individuals from electrical shock -overcurrent protection devices (circuit breakers and fuses),equipment grounding (3-pronged safety plugs),and double insulation. GFIs are able to detect the small amount of leakage current that the conventional methods cannot measure,and the bulk of the paper deals with these devices. In order that the reader may have some insight to the effect of electrical shock on the human body, a discussion of man's physiological response to shock is also presented.