Patent ID: 7015430

Claim:
An automotive electric heater apparatus comprising an electric heater for generating heat with power supplied from a high voltage power supply, and a thermal fuse including a temperature detecting element connected in series to the electric heater through lead wires, the temperature detecting element fusing and turning off the power circuit of the electric heater when the electric heater is abnormally overheated, wherein the thermal fuse includes a casing accommodating the temperature detecting element and the lead wires therein and mounted on a body surface of the electric heater, and the interior of the casing is filled up with a material being higher in heat conductivity than air; the casing of the thermal fuse is arranged in such a manner that the longitudinal direction of the temperature detecting element coincides with the longitudinal direction of the electric heater, and one of the lead wires connected to an end of the temperature detecting element is bent in the shape of U in the casing on a plane generally parallel to the body surface of the electric heater and led out in the same direction as the other lead wire connected to the other end of the temperature detecting element; and the casing is mounted in surface-to-surface contact with the body of the electric heater.