Voltage surge and overvoltage protection using prestored voltage-time profiles
First Claim
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1. A voltage surge and overvoltage protection system, comprising:
- at least one selectively disconnectable protection circuit component for providing protection to an electrical load from an overvoltage occurring on an input power voltage;
a switching element employed to selectively disconnect the protection component;
a memory for storing a plurality of predefined voltage-time curves corresponding to a plurality of predetermined voltage-time thresholds; and
a switch control circuit that controls the operation of the switching element to disconnect the protection circuit component from the input power voltage in response to detection that a duration and magnitude of the input power voltage exceeds one of the predetermined voltage-time thresholds represented by one of the plurality of voltage-time curves stored in the memory.
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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.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A voltage surge and overvoltage protection system, comprising:
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at least one selectively disconnectable protection circuit component for providing protection to an electrical load from an overvoltage occurring on an input power voltage; a switching element employed to selectively disconnect the protection component; a memory for storing a plurality of predefined voltage-time curves corresponding to a plurality of predetermined voltage-time thresholds; and a switch control circuit that controls the operation of the switching element to disconnect the protection circuit component from the input power voltage in response to detection that a duration and magnitude of the input power voltage exceeds one of the predetermined voltage-time thresholds represented by one of the plurality of voltage-time curves stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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11. A method for providing voltage surge and overvoltage protection to an electrical load, comprising the steps of:
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applying an input power voltage to the electrical load; providing at least one selectively disconnectable protection circuit component for providing protection to the electrical load from an overvoltage occurring on the input power voltage; storing a plurality of predefined voltage-time curves corresponding to a plurality of predetermined voltage-time thresholds in a memory; detecting a magnitude and duration of the input power voltage; and disconnecting the protection circuit component from the input power voltage in response to detection that the magnitude and a duration of an overvoltage are greater than at least one predefined voltage-time thresholds stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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17. A system for conditioning an input power voltage applied to an electrical load, comprising:
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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; means for storing a plurality of predefined voltage-time curves corresponding to a plurality of predetermined voltage-time thresholds; means for disconnecting the second parallel clamping circuit from the input power voltage in response to detection that a duration and magnitude of the input power voltage exceeds one of the predetermined voltage-time thresholds represented by one of the plurality of voltage-time curves stored in the memory; and means for disconnecting a direct coupling of the input power voltage from the electrical load in response to detection that a magnitude and a duration of an overvoltage are greater than at least one predefined voltage-time threshold stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification