Surge suppression device

A surge suppression device for protecting electrical equipment from damage, the electrical equipment being supplied with power from a plug having a plurality of male pins which mate with sockets in a female electrical receptacle, said device comprising:

• a planar body of metal oxide varistor (MOV) material, said body having first and second opposing major faces, said body having a plurality of holes therein aligned with the pins in the plug;
• first contact means on the first face of the MOV body for making electrical contact with one of the pins as it extends through a hole in the body;
• second contact means on the second face of the MOV body for making electrical contact with a second pin as it extends through a second hole in the body;
• a first metallic plate on the first face of the MOV body electrically connected to the first contact means;
• a second plate on the second face of the MOV body electrically connected to the second contact means;
• and
• said device being removably insertable over the pins of the male plug with the pins extending through the holes in the device, said device being sufficiently thin to fit between the plug and female receptacle while permitting the pins to mate with the sockets, whereby the device provides surge suppression protection for the electrical equipment when the plug is mated with the female receptacle.

A surge suppression device for protecting electrical equipment from damage, the electrical equipment being supplied with power from a plug having a plurality of male pins which mate with sockets in the female electrical receptacle, said device comprising:

• a non-conductive, generally planar housing that is sufficiently thin so as to fit between the plug and the female receptacle while permitting mating engagement therebetween, said housing having holes therein aligned with the pins in the plug, with the housing being removably insertable over the pins so that the pins extend through the holes;
• at least one body of voltage transient limiting material within the housing;
• first contact means for making electrical contact with one of the pins as it extends through a hole in the housing and one face of the body of voltage transient limiting material;
• second contact means for making electrical contact between a second pin as it extends through a second hole in the housing and an opposite face of the body Of voltage transient limiting material;
• and
• wherein the housing is removably insertable over the pins of the male plug and the body of voltage transient limiting material provides surge suppression protection for the electrical equipment when the plug is mated with the female receptacle.

A surge suppression device for protecting electrical equipment from differential and common-mode voltage transients appearing between any combination of hot, neutral and ground pins of a plug which mate with sockets in a female receptacle, said device comprising:

• first, second and third spaced bodies of metal oxide varistor (MOV) material;
• first and second insulating layers on opposite faces of the first, second and third bodies for maintaining the bodies adjacent to each other in a spaced co-planar relationship;
• said bodies having a plurality of holes therethrough for receiving the neutral, hot and ground pins of the plug;
• neutral contact means for making electrical contact with the neutral pin as it extends through a hole;
• hot contact means for making electrical contact with the hot pin as it extends through a second hole;
• ground contact means for making electrical contact to the ground pin as it extends through a third hole;
• first conductive means for making electrical connection between the neutral contact means and one face of the first MOV body;
• second conductive means for making electrical connection between an opposite face of the first MOV body and the hot contact means;
• third conductive means for making electrical connection between the hot contact means and one face of the second MOV;
• fourth conductive means for making electrical connection between an opposite face of the second MOV and the ground contact means;
• fifth conductive means for making electrical connection between the ground contact means and one face of the third MOV;
• sixth conductive means for making electrical contact between an opposite face of the third MOV and the neutral contact means;
• and
• said device being sufficiently thin so as to fit between the plug and the female receptacle while permitting mating engagement therebetween to thereby provide differential and common-mode surge suppression protection for electrical equipment being powered by the receptacle when the plug is mated therewith.

A method of preventing damage to electrical equipment from voltage transients, said electrical equipment being supplied with power from a plug having a plurality of male pins which mate with sockets in a female receptacle, said method comprising:

• providing a device having a series of holes therein corresponding to the pins in the male plug, said device having a body made of voltage transient limiting material connected between first and second conductive members;
• inserting the device onto an end face of the plug so that the pins extend through the holes with one pin being electrically connected to one conductive member and another pin being connected to the second conductive member;
• inserting the male plug pins into the female receptacle sockets, with the device lying therebetween;
• and
• using the characteristics of the body material to selectively shunt excessive voltage levels between the pins to thereby prevent damage to the electrical equipment.