USPTO Grants Patent for Hybrid Circuit Breaker

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Power Supply (H02J)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 25th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted a patent (US12586739B2) for a hybrid circuit breaker developed by Eaton Intelligent Power Limited. The patent covers a design featuring improved current capacity per device size, incorporating an electro-mechanical bypass switch, a semiconductor circuit, and an active cooling device.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12586739B2 for a novel hybrid circuit breaker. The patent, assigned to Eaton Intelligent Power Limited, details a device designed with enhanced current capacity relative to its size. Key innovations include an electro-mechanical bypass switch, a parallel semiconductor circuit controlled by a commutation controller, and an active cooling system for the switch's movable parts.

This patent grant signifies a new technological development in circuit breaker design. While not a regulatory rule, it may influence future product development and industry standards for power distribution equipment. Manufacturers in the electrical components sector should be aware of this patented technology, which could impact their own product innovation and intellectual property strategies.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Hybrid circuit breaker with improved current capacity per device size

Grant US12586739B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

EATON INTELLIGENT POWER LIMITED

Inventors

Kenan Askan

Abstract

A hybrid circuit breaker includes: input connectors configured to receive electrical energy from a power grid; output connectors configured to transfer electrical energy to a load; current paths, each connecting a respective input connector, of the input connectors, and a respective output connector, of the output connectors; an electro-mechanical bypass switch in at least one of the current paths; a semiconductor circuit in parallel with the electro-mechanical bypass switch; a controller configured to control a commutation from the current path in which the electro-mechanical bypass switch is arranged to the semiconductor circuit in a switching operation; and an active cooling device in a vicinity of the electro-mechanical bypass switch. The active cooling device is adopted to cool movable parts of the electro-mechanical bypass switch.

CPC Classifications

H01H 2009/52 H01H 2009/523 H01H 2009/546 H01H 13/82 H01H 33/70 H01H 33/7015 H01H 33/72 H01H 9/28 H01H 9/52 H01H 9/542 H01H 1/00 H01H 1/62 H01H 9/54 H02J 3/36