Patent ID: 8154237

Claim:
A sealed electric compressor which includes: a sealed metal housing which houses an electric motor and a compressor therein; a hermetic terminal provided in the sealed housing and having a plurality of conductive terminal pins conducting electric current between an interior and an exterior of the sealed housing; a main winding and an auxiliary winding of the motor both connected to the conductive terminal pins, wherein the compressor compresses a refrigerant with the interior of the sealed housing serving as a refrigerant path; a normally-off pressure switch disposed in the sealed housing and connected in parallel to the main winding, the pressure switch being operated to short-circuit the main winding when a refrigerant pressure in the sealed housing rises to an extraordinary high pressure state; and a fuse element which is connected in series to the main winding and the auxiliary winding and interrupts energization of the motor when an overcurrent flows in the motor with the main winding being short-circuited by the pressure switch.