Patent ID: 7522399

Claim:
A surge arrester, comprising: a stack of a plurality of cylindrical varistor blocks, which are arranged one after another in an axial direction of the varistor blocks, an upper end electrode and a lower end electrode, clamping members of insulating material comprising at least three loops of continuously wound fiber, which connect the upper end electrode to the lower end electrode, wherein each of said loops comprises a first strand and a second strand, wherein a cross-section of the first strand is a mirror image of a cross-section of the second strand, and wherein the first strand and the second strand each comprise a surface facing the varistor stack, a bursting-protective bandage comprising a plurality of rings or bands wound of fiber, said bandage radially surrounding the varistor stack and the clamping loops, wherein the cross sections of the loops are adapted such that shapes of the rings or bands are substantially circular, and a surrounding, electrically insulating, outer casing of rubber or other polymeric material.