Patent ID: 7245470

Claim:
An apparatus including an unsafe voltage protection circuit for protecting against excessive voltages between a power line and a neutral line, including: a) a power line terminal that provides for a power line connection; b) a neutral line terminal that provides for a neutral line connection; c) a ground line terminal that provides for a ground line connection; d) a load terminal that provides for a load circuit connection; e) a voltage detection circuit, coupled between said power and neutral line terminals, that monitors inter-terminal voltages between said power and neutral terminals; and f) a switch circuit, operatively coupled to said voltage detection circuit and between said power line and load terminals, that i) provides an electrical current path between said power line and load terminals when said voltage detection circuit detects that the inter-terminal voltages is less than a predetermined maximum voltage and greater than a first predetermined minimum voltage, ii) interrupts said electrical current path when said voltage detection circuit detects that the inter-terminal voltages is greater than said predetermined maximum voltage or less than the first predetermined minimum voltage, and iii) restores said electrical current path, after interruption thereof when said voltage detection circuit detects that the inter-terminal voltages is less than a second predetermined minimum voltage intermediate between said predetermined maximum voltage and said first predetermined minimum voltage.