Patent ID: 8760247

Claim:
An electromagnetic contactor comprising a contact device including: a pair of fixed contact pieces arranged with a predetermined gap therebetween; a movable contact piece disposed to contact with and separate away from the pair of fixed contact pieces; a contact housing made of an insulating material for housing the pair of fixed contact pieces and the movable contact piece; a pair of arc-extinguishing inner permanent magnets disposed on inner peripheral surfaces of the contact housing along the movable contact piece; and a pair of arc-extinguishing outer permanent magnets disposed on outer peripheral surfaces of the contact housing at a section facing the arc-extinguishing inner permanent magnets, wherein magnetic pole surfaces of the pair of arc-extinguishing inner permanent magnets are arranged in a close vicinity of the movable contact piece and are magnetized to have same polarity facing each other, and each of the pair of arc-extinguishing outer permanent magnets is magnetized in a same direction as each of the pair of arc-extinguishing inner permanent magnets disposed nearby and coercive force of the pair of arc-extinguishing outer permanent magnets is greater than that of the pair of arc-extinguishing inner permanent magnets.