Patent ID: 6912111

Claim:
An impulse spark arrester for protecting components of electric power transmission lines or electric installations, said arrester comprising: a first clamp and a second clamp for connecting the arrester to components of the power transmission line or electric installation subjected to a higher and a lower potential, respectively; a chain of N (N being an odd number equal to or greater than 3) of series-connected spark units, each comprising at least one discharge gap formed by a first main electrode and a second main electrode, which electrodes being electrically connected to an input and an output, respectively, of a corresponding spark unit, the input of a first spark unit and the output of a Nth spark unit being connected to the first clamp and to the second clamp, respectively; and N−1 resistors, the output of each odd spark unit, except the last one, being connected via one of said resistors to the second clamp, and the output of each even spark unit being connected via another of said resistors to the first clamp, characterized in that the resistance of each Kth (K=1, 2, . . . N−1) resistor meets one of the following conditions: R K >R K+2 for an odd K, R K <R K+2 for an even K.