Current--limiting switch
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsDavid Walter Branston, Jorg Kieser, Werner Hartmann, Reinhard Maier
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Such switches have current connections for contacts. One contact may be a fixed contact and the other contact may be a mobile contact. A drive opens the mobile contact when a predetermined electric current intensity is exceeded. The electric drive is a thermoelectric drive. For that purpose, the contacts (2,3) are arranged in a closed housing (1) made of an insulating material and a disk-shaped resistive member (4) is arranged between the contacts (2,3). A switch of this type may also be advantageously designed as a bistable limiter.
Claims29
A current-limiting switch comprising:
- two current connections;
- a fixed contact connected to one of said current connections;
- a mobile contact connected to another one of said current connections;
- and
- a conductive resistive material disposed between said fixed contact and said mobile contact;
- wherein when a predetermined electric current intensity is exceeded, high-current discharges at said resistive material heat a gas disposed in a volume between the fixed contact and the mobile contact to generate a pressure wave which displaces the mobile contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.