Patent ID: 7492561

Claim:
A protective circuit to protect an electronic circuit from transient excess voltages, comprising: first and second connection terminals at an input of the protective circuit, the first connection terminal being connected to a supply voltage and the second connection terminal being grounded; a series connection of at least two voltage-limiting circuit components connected between the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal of the input of the protective circuit, each of the two voltage-limiting circuit components having at least one semiconductor element; and at least one output terminal situated at an output for connecting the electronic circuit to be protected to the protective circuit, the output terminal being connected to a circuit node situated directly between the two voltage-limiting circuit components, so that only one of the at least two voltage-limiting circuit components is connected in parallel to the electronic circuit; wherein the voltage-limiting circuit component connected in parallel to the electronic circuit consists of a Zener diode; wherein the voltage-limiting circuit component connected in parallel to the electronic circuit is directly connected to the second connection terminal; wherein the voltage-limiting circuit component not connected in parallel to the electronic circuit is directly connected to the supply voltage.