Patent ID: 7154728

Claim:
An active part for a surge arrester having two connecting fittings which are arranged along an axis at a distance from one another, having at least one cylindrical varistor column, which is provided between the two connecting fittings, and having at least one dielectric loop, which is supported on the two connecting fittings or on one of the two connecting fittings and a connection piece, which is arranged between the two connecting fittings in the varistor column, and holds together the varistor column or a section of the varistor column, which is bounded by the supporting connecting fitting and the connection piece, thus forming a contact force, wherein at least one of the two connecting fittings has an electrode, which is arranged at right angles to the axis and is in the form of a plate, as well as a current terminal, which is in the form of a perforated plate or a plug-in contact and which is integrally formed on the plate electrode, and means for supporting one end of the dielectric loop, which means are formed in the plate electrode and/or are integrally formed at the edge of the plate electrode.