Electric heating – Heating devices – With heater-unit housing – casing – or support means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-03
2001-02-06
Hoang, Tu Ba (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Heating devices
With heater-unit housing, casing, or support means
C219S213000, C219S453120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06184505
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gauge assemblies, and, more particularly, to gauge assemblies for holding heater wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
A gauge can be used to hold a heater wire in place adjacent to a surface that is to be heated by the wire. For example, a gauge which is supported by a ground surface or subsurface can be used to hold a heater wire just below the upper surface of a floor that is to be formed around the heater wire.
It is known for the gauge to be formed of strips of sheet metal which are cut to length by the user depending on the dimensions of the floor to be heated. The gauge strips may be formed of steel, for example. Two different strips of the steel gauge are placed on opposite sides of the floor, and the heater wire is intertwined between hooks on the gauge strips, thereby forming a zig-zagging or serpentine pattern.
Two linear strips of steel gauge can be arranged such that heater wire held thereby substantially covers a floor having four linear sides or boundaries. However, with a floor having stepped or curved boundaries, it is not possible to arrange two linear strips of steel gauge such that all areas of the floor can be substantially covered by the heater wire held thereby. That is, there will be outer sections of the floor that must be left unheated by the heater wire. Another problem is that cutting strips of steel gauge to length is a fairly difficult and time consuming procedure.
The hooks that hold the heater wire are created by cutting through the strip of sheet metal to form three sides of a rectangle. The rectangle is then pushed out of the plane of the metal strip to form a hook, with the fourth, uncut side of the rectangle still being attached to the metal strip. A problem is that the three cut edges of the hook are sharp, and it is known for these sharp edges to cut through the outer layer of insulation of a heater wire hooked thereon.
What is needed in the art is a gauge device that enables the heater wire held thereby to cover substantially all of an irregularly-shaped floor surface. What is also needed is a gauge device that does not need to be cut to length.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a gauge device formed of pivotably and detachably connected sections which allow the gauge device to conform to nonlinearities in the boundaries of the floor surface.
The invention comprises in one form thereof, a gauge assembly for holding heater wire adjacent to a surface to be heated. The assembly includes a plurality of elongate elements, with each elongate element having two opposite ends. Each opposite end is pivotably connected to a corresponding opposite end of an adjacent elongate element. At least one of the elongate elements retains at least one corresponding portion of the heater wire.
An advantage of the present invention is that the gauge assembly can quickly and easily be arranged such that the heater wire held thereby covers substantially all of an irregularly-shaped floor.
Another advantage is that a number of sections of the gauge assembly can be easily interconnected to achieve any desired length without the need for cutting.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2672545 (1954-03-01), Alderman et al.
Hoang Tu Ba
MSX, Inc.
Taylor & Aust P.C.
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