Patent ID: 7026907

Claim:
A thermal protector opening/closing an electric circuit with a bimetal which inverts a warpage direction by using a set temperature as a boundary, comprising: a fixed contact connected to a first external circuit connection terminal; a movable contact arranged at a first end of a movable plate which is engaged with the bimetal and connected to a second external circuit connection terminal, said movable contact being arranged in a position corresponding to said fixed contact; and a partition wall enclosing an arrangement portion of said fixed contact and said movable contact from three sides, being adjacent to said fixed contact and said movable contact in a range which does not inhibit contact operations of said fixed contact and said movable contact; wherein a central portion among the three sides of said partition wall is higher than a contact gap between said fixed contact and said movable contact when said contacts are released, and does not exceed a height of the first end of the movable plate when said contacts are released.