Rectifying arrangement comprising photo-resistive alarm circuits to indicate rectifier failure

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING A UNIDIRECTIONAL CURRENT TO A LOAD CIRCUIT FROM A SOURCE OF ALTERNATING CURRENT, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SEMI-CONDUCTOR RECTIFIER ELEMENTS CONNECTED TO SAID CURRENT SOURCE AND TO SAID LOAD CIRCUIT, A PLURALITY OF CIRCUITS EACH OF WHICH COMPRISES THE SERIES COMBINATION OF A LIGHT SOURCE AND AN IMPEDANCE ELEMENT, MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID CIRCUITS IN PARALLEL WITH INDIVIDUAL ONES OF SAID RECTIFIER ELEMENTS, AN INVERSE VOLTAGE BEING DEVELOPED ACROSS EACH OF SAID RECTIFIER ELEMENTS BY SAID CURRENT SOURCE SUFFICIENT TO IGNITE ITS ASSOCIATED LIGHT SOURCE, A PLURALITY OF PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENTS CONNECTED IN SERIES AND OPTICALLY COUPLED TO INDIVIDUAL ONES OF SAID LIGHT SOURCES, A PLURALITY OF OTHER IMPEDANCE ELEMENTS INDIVIDUALLY CONNECTED IN PARALLEL WITH INDIVIDUAL ONES OF SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENTS, INPUT MEANS FOR SUPPLYING AN OPERATING VOLTAGE TO SAID PHOTO-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS, AND OUTPUT CIRCUIT MEANS COUPLED TO SAID PHOTO-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS FOR DERIVING FIRST AND SECOND CONTROL SIGNALS FOR ACTUATING A CONTROL DEVICE UPON A VARIATION IN THE INVERSE VOLTAGE ACROSS ANY OF SAID RECTIFIER ELEMENTS BEYOND A PREDETERMINED VALUE, SAID CONTROL DEVICE COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND SIGNAL RESPONSIVE ELEMENTS COUPLED TO SAID OUTPUT CIRCUITS MEANS SO AS TO BE SELECTIVELY ACTUATED BY SAID FIRST AND SECOND CONTROL SIGNALS, RESPECTIVELY, SAID FIRST CONTROL SIGNAL BEING OPERABLE TO ACTUATE SAID FIRST SIGNAL RESPONSIVE ELEMENT UPON A GIVEN VARIATION OF THE INVERSE VOLTAGES ACROSS A FIRST GIVEN NUMBER OF SAID RECTIFIER ELEMENTS AND SAID SECOND CONTROL SIGNAL BEING OPERABLE TO ACTUATE SAID SECOND SIGNAL RESPONSIVE ELEMENT UPON A GIVEN VARIATION OF THE INVERSE VOLTAGE ACROSS A SECOND GIVEN NUMBER OF SAID RECTIFIER ELEMENTS.