Patent ID: 8174350

Claim:
A thermal overload relay comprising: a case; a main bimetal which bends upon detection of an overload current; a release lever rotatably supported by an adjusting link and rotating according to displacement of a shifter displaced in response to the bending of the main bimetal; and a contact reversing mechanism for changing-over contacts responsive to a rotation of the release lever; the main bimetal, the release lever and the contact reversing mechanism being disposed in the case, and wherein the contact reversing mechanism comprises a movable plate supported at a support point at one end thereof and swingably at the other end, and a reversing spring stretched between the other end side of the movable plate and a spring support, the other end of the movable plate and the spring support being positioned opposite each other with respect to the support point; and the release lever is provided in a single structure and comprises a release lever supporting part, a reversing spring pushing part, a cam contact part, and a displacement input part, in which the release lever supporting part is supported rotatably on the adjusting link, the reversing spring pushing part is formed at one end of the release lever supporting part and pushes the reversing spring towards a direction to reversing the movable plate, the cam contact part is formed at the other end of the release lever supporting part and is pushed towards an eccentric cam of an adjusting dial provided on the case to keep in contact with the eccentric cam, and the displacement input part is coupled to the displaced shifter to make rotation of the reversing spring pushing part and the cam contact part around the release lever supporting part.