load 22 does not change this position of the circuit breaker 10 however if the circuit draws excessive current through the circuit breaker e g because of a short circuit in the load element 22 the heat generated in the outer element legs 34 and 36 by the excess current causes the legs to expand because of the geometry of the flexible element 14 this causes the legs 34 and 36 to elongate relative to leg 38 and hence to bend the element 14 downwardly this action exerts a downward force on the upper portion 40 of the element bearing the plug 80 in the direction of the arrow 122 of fig4 as explained above such a downward force causes the connector bar 88 of the switch 16 to snap up to the position shown in fig5 in this position the electrical load 22 is disconnected from the primary power source because of the open circuit caused by the disengagement of the connector bar contact 118 from the lower contact 104 current now flows through a secondary circuit comprising connector bar contact 120 upper contact 102 contact assembly terminal 110 the electrical cable 114 the indicator light 26 a secondary power source 30 and the end 76 of the bolt 66 the bolt 66 is electrically connected to the bottom end 64 of.