Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Safety and protection of systems and devices – High voltage dissipation
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-12
2001-05-22
Jackson, Stephen W. (Department: 2836)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Safety and protection of systems and devices
High voltage dissipation
C361S056000, C361S058000, C361S127000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06236551
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to a surge suppressor and more particularly to a surge suppressor having a spiral inductor and a surge blocking device.
Communications equipment, computers, home stereo amplifiers, televisions, and other electronic devices are increasingly manufactured using small electronic components which are very vulnerable to damage from electrical energy surges. Surge variations in power and transmission line voltages, as well as noise, can change the operating range of the equipment and can severely damage and/or destroy electronic devices. Moreover, these electronic devices can be very expensive to repair and replace. Therefore, a cost effective way to protect these components from power surges is needed.
There are many sources which can cause harmful electrical energy surges. One source is radio frequency (RF) interference that can be coupled to power and transmission lines from a multitude of sources. The power and transmission lines act as large antennas that may extend over several miles, thereby collecting a significant amount of RF noise power from such sources as radio broadcast antennas. Another source of the harmful RF energy is from the equipment to be protected itself, such as computers. Older computers may emit significant amounts of RF interference. Another harmful source is conductive noise, which is generated by equipment connected to the power and transmission lines and which is conducted along the power lines to the equipment to be protected. Still another source of harmful electrical energy is lightning. Lightning is a complex electromagnetic energy source having potentials estimated at from 5 million to 20 million volts and currents reaching thousands of amperes.
Ideally, what is needed is a surge suppression device having a compact size, a low insertion loss, and a low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) that can protect hardware equipment from harmful electrical energy emitted from the above described sources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a surge suppressor for dissipating power surges. The surge suppressor protects hardware equipment from electrical energy surges such as lightning. The surge suppressor includes an inner conductor and a spiral inductor. The inner conductor propagates signals therethrough during normal operation and the spiral inductor dissipates electrical energy during a surge condition to a ground connection. The spiral inductor is coupled between the inner conductor and the ground connection. The spiral inductor operates at a predefined RF impedance to ground to conduct the signals along the inner conductor during normal operation to allow the RF signal to pass through the surge suppressor with minimal or no RF signal loss. The predefined RF impedance of the inductor is at least 10 times the operating impedance, i.e., 500 ohms for a 50 ohms system.
The surge suppressor may also include a surge blocking device. The surge blocking device is inserted in series with the protected hardware for blocking the flow of electrical energy therethrough. The surge blocking device will be transparent to the transmitted RF signal, but will be effective in blocking the electrical energy surge from traveling through the inner conductor to the protected hardware. The spiral inductor is coupled to the surge blocking device and is shunted to ground for discharging the electrical energy created by the surge.
When a surge event, such as lightning, occurs, the electrical energy is shunted to ground via the spiral inductor while the surge blocking device blocks the destructive lightning and EMP frequencies and the energy from passing through to the protected hardware.
Advantages of the invention include providing a surge suppressor that is matched to the system impedance to ensure low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) which is below 1.1:1 and a low insertion loss which is below 0.1 dB. Furthermore, the surge suppressor provides a large frequency band of operation, a low manufacturing cost, a stacked mechanical assembly for compact size, and low energy and voltage throughput.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the inventions herein may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the attached drawings.
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Dunning Richard C.
Jones Jonathan L.
Kulbieda Ted K.
Jackson Stephen W.
PolyPhaser Corporation
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
Vakil Ketan S.
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