Patent ID: 8599522

Claim:
A circuit interrupter comprising: a housing; at least one input conductor disposed at least partially within said housing and capable of being electrically connected to a source of electricity; at least one output conductor disposed within said housing and capable of conducting electrical current to a load when electrically connected to said at least one input conductor; circuit interrupter circuitry disposed within said housing and configured to break said electrical connection between said input and output conductors in response to the occurrence of a fault or test cycle, said circuit interrupter circuitry including a solenoid coil; a reset mechanism configured to reset said electrical connection between said input and output conductors when said reset mechanism is activated; and a surge protection circuit comprising a semiconductor device for reducing surge voltage applied to said circuit interrupter circuitry, wherein said solenoid coil limits the current through said semiconductor device and said semiconductor device is a transient voltage suppression (TVS) diode.