Heating jacket assembly with field replaceable thermostat

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#These and further features of the present invention will be apparent with reference to the following description and drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heating jacket assembly according to the present invention which is disposed about a processing vessel;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the heating jacket assembly of FIG. 1 wherein an access cover is open to expose an access opening which provides access to a thermostat;

#It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various preferred features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of a heating jacket assembly as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, and shapes of the heater jacket layers and the flexible heating element will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. Certain features of the illustrated embodiments have been enlarged or distorted relative to others to facilitate visualization and clear understanding. In particular, thin features may be thickened, for example, for clarity or illustration. All references to direction and position, unless otherwise indicated, refer to the orientation of the heating jacket assembly illustrated in the drawings. In general, up or upward refers to an upward direction within the plane of the paper in FIG. 1, and down or downward refers to a downward direction within the plane of the paper in FIG. 1. Also in general, vertical refers to an upward/downward direction within the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 and horizontal refers to a left/right direction within the plane of the paper in FIG. 1.

#It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, to those who have knowledge or experience in this area of technology, that many uses and design variations are possible for the improved heating jacket assembly disclosed herein. The following detailed discussion of various alternative and preferred embodiments will illustrate the general principles of the invention with reference to a heating jacket assembly suitable for use with a processing vessel in the form of a cylindrical pipe. Other embodiments suitable for other applications will be apparent to those skilled in the art given the benefit of this disclosure.

#Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a heating jacket assembly 10 according to the present invention which is disposed about a portion of a processing vessel 12 to be heated. The heating jacket assembly 10 includes a flexible, multi-layer main body or heater jacket 14 having an access opening 16, a flexible heating element 18, a thermostat 20 for regulating the heating element 18 and which is accessible through the access opening 16, and an access cover 22 selectively closing and opening the access opening 16.