Conductive liquid compositions and electrical circuit protection devices comprising conductive liquid compositions

摘要

Novel conductive liquid compositions which have low resistivity when carrying an applied steady-state current (ISteady-State) but exhibit sharp increases in resistivity when subject to an applied fault current (IFault). When used in circuit protection devices, the novel conductive liquid compositions having low resistivity are contained within an elongated flexible tube sealed by electrodes electrically connected to a load of an electrical circuit. The conductive liquid compositions carry an applied normal current under steady-state conditions. The flexible tube is deformed by radial contraction transverse to the direction of current flow and axial expansion, when an excessive current of fault magnitude is sensed by an actuator electrically connected to the electrodes and mechanically connected to the flexible tube to apply a deformation force on the tube, thereby causing the current path of the conductive liquid compositions to have high resistivity in order to limit the let through current to a safe value (ILimited). When the excessive current is removed, the deformation is correspondingly removed and the conductive liquid composition automatically reverts back to its original low resistivity state. The invention has specific applications as automatically resettable fuses or current limiters.