Thermoplastic sheet heating appliance

An apparatus for heating a thermally deformable sheet workpiece, comprising:

• a pair of parallel end beams extending laterally and spaced apart and joined by a pair of parallel side rails extending longitudinally therebetween and joined thereto in a rectangular assembly;
• a heating tray assembly extending laterally to support a thermally deformable sheet workpiece in vertically adjacent relationship and including a heating element to raise the temperature of said workpiece adjacent thereto to a deformable temperature;
• a pair of clamp assemblies, each disposed at an end of said heating tray assembly and disposed to engage one of said side rails in selective clamping fashion to secure said heating tray assembly at any selected longitudinal position along said side rails;
• said pair of clamp assemblies further including release means for removably securing said clamp assemblies in said side rails to enable installation/removal of said heating tray assembly at any longitudinal location along said side rails;
• said side rails each comprising a first rectangular channel component having a first channel cavity with a longitudinal opening oriented generally upwardly, and flange members extending each toward the other along said longitudinal opening, said clamp assemblies each including a channel nut disposed in said first channel cavity and retained therein by said flange members.