Electric service safety disconnect apparatus with overvoltage and overcurrent protection

An electrical service protection and disconnect apparatus mountable in a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts connected to electrical line conductors and electrical load conductors and normally receiving a watthour meter, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing including a base having a central wall and a peripheral edge, and a shell having a bottom wall fixedly mounted on the peripheral edge of the base and an annular side wall extending axially from the base, the central wall of the base is spaced from the bottom wall of the shell when the shell is fixedly connected to the base to form an interior chamber therebetween;
• a plurality of line and load jaw contacts mounted in the shell for receiving line and load blade terminals of a watthour meter;
• a plurality of line and load blade terminals mounted in the base and extending outward from the base for insertion into jaw contacts of a watthour meter socket;
• the load blade terminals electrically connected to the load jaw contacts;
• electrical power disconnect means, mounted in the shell and serially connected between the line blade terminals and the line jaw contacts, for selectively controlling the application of power to the line jaw contacts in the shell;
• and
• surge suppression means, mounted in the interior chamber and electrically connected between ground potential and each load blade terminal, for conducting electrical surges to ground.

An electrical service protection and disconnect apparatus mountable in a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts connected to electrical line conductors and electrical load conductors and normally receiving a watthour meter, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing;
• a plurality of line and load jaw contacts mounted in the housing for receiving line and load blade terminals of a watthour meter;
• a plurality of line and load blade terminals mounted in the housing and extending outward from the housing for insertion into jaw contacts of a watthour meter socket;
• electrical power disconnect means, mounted in the housing and connected between the line blade terminals and the line jaw contacts, for selectively controlling the application of power to the line jaw contacts in the housing, the electrical power disconnect means including:
• a first switchable contact connected between first and second terminals;
• a second switchable contact connected between first and second terminals;
• and
• means for electrically connecting the first terminal of the first and second switchable contacts of the power disconnect means to each of the line blade terminals, for connecting the second terminal of the first and second switchable contacts of the power disconnect means to each of the line jaw contacts, the electrically connecting means fixedly mounting the power disconnect means in the housing.