Patent ID: 7206178

Claim:
A switching system for switching alternating currents in a line branch, comprising: at least two switching devices connected in antiserial configuration into the line branch, each of the at least two switching devices including a working circuit, to which an operating voltage is at least one of applied and applicable, including, at least one electronic switching element including at least one control terminal for applying a switching signal, adapted to be, depending on the switching signal, switched in at least one of an off state and an on state, and at least one electronic protection element for protecting the switching element in its switched on state from excessively high Joule losses in the event of an overload or a short circuit, wherein the protection element bears a predominant part of the operating voltage which drops across the working circuit; and switching off means for, in the event of an overload or a short circuit, automatically switching the switching element into the switched off state, using the energy contained in at least one of the operating current and the operating voltage, when at least one of the operating current flowing through the working circuit and the voltage which drops across at least one of the working circuit and the protection element, exceeds a predefined upper limiting value, wherein the switching off means maintains the switched off state of the switching element at least for a predefined minimum time interval, even if the overload or short circuit is no longer occurring, and wherein the operating voltage being an alternating voltage and the minimum time interval being chosen to be at least as long as half the period length of the operating alternating voltage.