Overvoltage protection device with improved leakage-current-interrupting capacity
OwnerVincent Andre Lucien Crevenatinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for protecting an electrical installation (2) against overvoltages, the device having a main spark-gap (E1) and a pre-triggering circuit (10) connected to the main spark-gap (E1) to control the firing of the main spark-gap in the event of any overvoltage. The pre-triggering circuit (10) has at least one voltage-interrupting element (G) which, in the off state, prevents current from passing through the pre-triggering circuit (10), so that, in the absence of an overvoltage, the leakage current consumed by the pre-triggering circuit (10) is essentially zero.
Claims19
A device for protecting an electrical installation against overvoltage, in particular transient overvoltages due to lightning strikes, wherein the device bypasses the electrical installation, the device comprising:
- a) a main spark gap, and
- b) a pre-triggering circuit that is sensitive to overvoltage, the pre-triggering circuit bypassing the electrical installation and connecting to the main spark gap so that the pre-triggering circuit controls the striking of the arc in the main spark gap when an overvoltage occurs,
- wherein the pre-trigger circuit comprises at least one voltage cut-off element specifically designed to change state when the voltage at the terminals exceeds a pre-determined threshold value, from a non-conductive state, in which the voltage cut-off element prevents current from circulating, to a conductive state, in which the voltage cut-off element permits current to circulate, wherein the voltage cut-off element prevents, in the non-conductive state, the current from circulating in the pre-trigger circuit so that in the absence of an overvoltage, the leakage current consumed by the pre-trigger circuit is substantially nil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.