Metal oxide varistor polyphase transient voltage suppression

Claim 2

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said base member and said plurality of projecting members are formed from a single body of the sintered metal oxide material to form a unitary structure.

Claim 3

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said base member and said plurality of projecting members are each separately formed from sintered metal oxide material, the members being connected to form a unitary structure.

Claim 4

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said base member has a pair of parallel major surfaces, said plurality of members projecting from a first of the major surfaces of said base member.

Claim 5

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said plurality of projecting members are each of equal thickness dimension.

Claim 6

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of projecting members are of unequal thickness dimension.

Claim 7

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 6 wherein base member is of thickness dimension equal to 1/2 sin( pi /n) times the thickness dimension of one of said projecting members where n is the number of phases.

Claim 8

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said plurality of members project radially outward along the major surface of said base member.

Claim 9

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 9 wherein said plurality of projecting members have a common junction projecting perpendicularly outward from the center of the major surface of said base member.

Claim 10

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 10 wherein said base member is a right circular cylinder having a pair of parallel major surfaces, and the plurality of projecting members each having a curved side surface whiCh are continuous with the side surface of said base member and perpendicular to the major surface of the base member.

Claim 11

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 2 wherein said plurality of projecting members each having a side surface projecting from a side surface of said base member in a direction perpendicular thereto.

Claim 12

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 10 wherein said plurality of projecting members each have an end surface remote from said base member, the end surfaces of said plurality of projecting members each being parallel to the major surface of said base member.

Claim 13

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 13 wherein the end surfaces of said projecting members being coplanar to form a continuous flat surface parallel to the major surface of said base member.

Claim 14

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 14 wherein said plurality of projecting members each being of rectangular shape.

Claim 15

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in clam 5 wherein said plurality of projecting members are three in number for forming a three phase transient voltage suppressor.

Claim 16

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 16 wherein said three projecting members being oriented at 120* angles around the center of the major surface of said base member whereby the end surfaces of said three projecting members form a Y-shape.

Claim 17

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 1 wherein the sintered metal oxide material has an alpha exponent in excess of 10.

Claim 18

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 1 wherein the sintered metal oxide material is comprised primarily of zinc oxide.

Claim 19

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 1 wherein said electrode means comprise an electrically conductive material formed on the major surfaces of said plurality of projecting members.

Claim 20

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim wherein the electrically conductive material on adjoining major surfaces of adjacent projecting members are interconnected to form a like plurality of electrodes, and a like plurality of electrical conductors having first ends connected to the electrodes and second ends connected to the polyphase power lines to thereby provide polyphase line-to-line transient voltage suppression.

Claim 21

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 5 wherein said electrode means comprise an electrically conductive material formed on the major surfaces of said plurality of projecting members and on portions of said first major surface of said base member, and on a second of the pair of major surfaces of said base member, the electrically conductive material on adjoining major surfaces of adjacent projecting members and on adjoining portions of the first major surface of said base member being interconnected to form a like plurality of electrodes, and a like plurality of electrical conductors having first ends connected to the electrodes and second ends connected to the phase lines of the polyphase power line, and additional electrical conductor having a first end connected to the electrode on the second major surface of the base member and a second end connected to the power line neutral to thereby provide polyphase line-to-line and line-to-neutral transient voltage suppression.

Claim 22

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 21 wherein said plurality of projecting members are each of equal thickness dimension and are three in number for forming a three phase transient voltage suppressor, the electrically conductive material on adjoining major surfaces of adjacent projecting members being interconnected to form three electrodes, and three electrical conductor having first ends connected to the electrodes and second ends conneCted to a three phase power line or three phase power input or output of an apparatus to be protected to thereby provide three phase line-to-line transient voltage suppression.

Claim 23

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 22 wherein said plurality of projecting members are each of equal thickness dimension and are three in number for for phase three phase transient voltage suppressor, the electrically conductive material on adjoining portions of the first major surface of said base member being interconnected with the electrically conductive material on adjoining major surfaces of adjacent projecting members, and said plurality of electrical conductors are three in number, the additional conductor being a fourth conductor having a first end connected to the electrode formed on the second major surface of said base member and a second end connected to the three phase power line neutral to thereby provide three phase line-to-line and line-to-neutral transient voltage suppression.

Claim 24

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 24 wherein the electrically conductive material on adjoining major surfaces of at least one pair of adjacent projecting member are not being interconnected and also separate from the electrically conductive material on the adjoining portion of the first major surface of said base member, the electrical conductor associated therewith being connected to the electrically conductive material on the adjoining portion of the first major surface of said base member, whereby selected line-to-line transient voltage suppression is obtained.

Claim 25

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 25 and further comprising at least one semiconductor device mounted on said suppressor and having a first power electrode connected to the electrically conductive material on at least one of said one pair of adjacent projecting members and having a second power electrode connected to the electrically conductive material on the separated adjacent portion of the first major surface of said base member whereby the phase of the power line associated therewith is polarity sensitive to voltage transients on the two other phase conductors.

Claim 26

The polyphase transient voltage suppressor set forth in claim 5 wherein said electrode means comprise an electrically conductive material formed on the major surfaces of said plurality of projecting members and base member, and further comprising cooling means associated with said plurality of projecting members and base member for obtaining higher power operation of the suppressor.