Patent · US Expired

Fail-safe/surge arrester systems

US4212047A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
14References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateAug 31, 1976
Grant dateJul 8, 1980
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 31, 1996

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01T1/14
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Disclosed herein are surge arrester configurations employing non-metallic and preferably plastic fusible elements which normally insulate biased short circuiting members from shorting the surge arrester but which, in the event of certain forms of excessive overloads, fuse to thereby permit the shorting elements to short circuit the arrester gap. In addition, the embodiments include integral backup air gaps to provide additional backup protection covering certain gas tube failure modes. In the illustrated embodiments, the shorting elements each take the form of a conductive clip with one set of spring fingers in electrical contact with the line (end) electrode and another set urged in the direction of the ground electrode but separated therefrom by an annular plastic fusible sleeve coaxially coupled to the center body housing. Fusion of the sleeve in the presence of a sustained overload causes it to yield, thereby permitting the respective spring fingers to move into contact with the ground electrode, causing a short circuit.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.