Heat warning safety device using fiber optic cables

#The field of this invention is heat warning safety devices, and more particularly, such devices for warning individuals that a surface is dangerously hot.

#With respect to stoves and related appliances, various kinds of stoves—electric, gas, smooth cooktop stoves which use glass or metal tops—and toaster ovens are well known to be used for heating food. In addition, “mobile stove-type appliances” such as hot plates and warming trays are well known to be used for heating food. Each of these kinds of stoves and “mobile stove-type appliances” present a safety problem since the heating elements of the stove are hot during the cooking process and remain hot well afterwards. During the cooking process, the safety problem caused by touching the heating element is mitigated somewhat by visual inspection of the stove. With a gas, electric or smooth top stove, for example, the presence of a pot or other utensil on top of the stove might alert someone to the fact that the stove appears to be in use for cooking and therefore too hot to touch. Even the presence of a pot or other utensil is not a reliable clue, however, since people tend to leave tea kettles on their stove perpetually. When the cooking process has ended, however, it is generally impossible to detect that the heating elements of the stove remains hot and would burn the skin of anyone who touched them. There is no visual or other clue that the stove is hot.

#To some degree, adults have developed an inherent caution when approaching stoves because of their experience and knowledge in dealing with such safety problems. This inherent caution, however, does not obviate the need for a device that warns the adult when touching the stove would be dangerous. Moreover, children, and particularly young children, usually have not developed such a watchfulness and there has long been a need for a device that can prevent burn accidents to children who may inadvertently touch a stove that is hot, especially when the stove remains hot well after the cooking process has ended.

#FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the heat warning safety device of the present invention used on a gas stove;

#FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view thereof;

#FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the heat warning safety device of the present invention used on a smooth cooktop stove;

#The apparatus of the present invention will now be illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings. The device of the present invention has been assigned reference numeral 10 Other elements have been assigned the reference numerals referred to below.

#As seen from FIGS. 1-6, a heat alert safety device for warning individuals that a surface on an object is dangerously hot is presented. The device 10 includes a light source 20 that generates a light beam and includes a fiber optic cable 30 formed of a plurality of fibers 31, 32, 33, 34, 45 etc. that is connected at a first end 36 of the fiber optic cable 30 to the light source 20 and oriented so that the plurality of fibers 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, etc. are directly in a path of the light beam. The fiber optic cable 30 transmits the light beam from the light source 20 beginning from the first end 36 of the fiber optic cable 30 to the second end 38 of the fiber optic cable. The second end 38 of the fiber optic cable 30 shines the light beam out of the cable 30.

#Fiber optic cables in general are well known, including for interior lighting, although not for the use described in the present invention to the best of Applicant's knowledge. Fiber optic cable 30 consists of a collection of hair-thin glass fibers 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 etc. The cable 30 also includes cladding 39 that surrounds the fibers 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 etc. In accordance with well known fiber optic technology, cladding 39 must have a high index of refractance so that the light transmitted through the cable 30 is internally reflected and travels the length of cable 30 without escaping. Except for the alternative embodiment discussed below, fiber optic cable 30 has a cross-sectional shape that is standard for fiber optic cables.