Voltage surge and overvoltage protection
AssigneeGeorgia Tech Research Corporation
InventorDeepakraj M. Divan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are various embodiments of voltage protectors that include a first voltage clamping device configured to clamp a voltage of an input power applied to an electrical load, and a second voltage clamping device configured to clamp the voltage applied to the electrical load. A series inductance separates the first and second voltage clamping devices. Also, a switching element is employed to selectively establish a direct coupling of the input power to the electrical load, where a circuit is employed to control the operation of the switching element.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- at least one first voltage clamping device configured to clamp a voltage of an input power applied to an electrical load;
- at least one second voltage clamping device configured to clamp the voltage applied to the electrical load;
- a series inductance separating the first and second voltage clamping devices;
- a switching element employed to selectively establish a direct coupling of the input power to the electrical load;
- and
- a circuit that controls the operation of the switching element.
A method, comprising the steps of:
- applying a power voltage to an electrical load;
- distributing a dissipation of an overvoltage experienced in the power voltage among a first parallel clamping device and a second parallel clamping device by separating the first and second parallel clamping devices with a series inductance;
- and
- establishing a direct coupling of the power voltage to the electrical load unless a magnitude and a duration of the overvoltage are greater than at least one predefined voltage-time threshold.
A system for conditioning a power voltage applied to an electrical load, comprising:
- means for distributing a dissipation of an overvoltage experienced in the power voltage among a first parallel clamping device and a second parallel clamping device;
- and
- means for establishing a direct coupling of the power voltage to the electrical load unless a magnitude and a duration of the overvoltage are greater than at least one predefined voltage-time threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.