Patent ID: 7151331

Claim:
Process for current limiting and/or circuit breaking with a liquid metal current switch which comprises solid electrodes and a liquid metal tank with at least one channel for a liquid metal, in the first operating state between the solid electrodes an operating current (I 1 ) being routed on a first current path through the current switch and the first current path being routed at least partially through the liquid metal which is in the first position (x 1 ), wherein in a second operating state a) the liquid metal is moved by a dielectric fluid drive which is controlled by a control along one direction of motion (x) into at least one second position (x 12 , x 2 ), dielectric working fluid being used which acts mechanically directly with a definable drive pressure (p 1 , p 2 ) on one surface of the liquid metal, and b) the liquid metal in at least one second position (x 12 , x 2 ) is located at least partially in series with the dielectric and in this way a current-limiting and/or current-interrupting second current path is formed by the current switch, c) for a given voltage level a maximum electrical resistance (R x (x 2 )) of the dielectric being dimensioned to a finite value according to the current (I 2 ) which is to be limited or to a dielectric insulation value for interrupting the current (I 1 , I 2 ).