APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING THE CONTACTS OF AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH FROM CURRENT SURGES

摘要

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING THE CONTACTS OF AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH FROM CURRENT SURGES The contacts of an electrical switch, such as a magnetic contact reed switch or a magnetic contact reed relay used in a burglar alarm system, are protected from being fused together by transient current surges. This protection is accomplished by providing a normally nonconductive shunting path in parallel with the switch. The shunting path includes a voltage responsive device which is biased to conduction in response to a current surge to thereby complete the shunting path and allow the current surge to bypass the switch.