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US 4,064,387 AGranted
Heater control unit
OwnerJames P. McMullaninventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerJames P. McMullaninventor
Estimating the term…
A remote control unit for an electric heater comprising a box-like housing with an interior partition defining a circuit board chamber and a control knob chamber. The circuit board chamber includes means to support a circuit board with a current control component having a freely projecting rotary operating shaft. The housing has openings through which electric cords, extending from a power source to the circuit board, from the circuit board to a related heater, and from the circuit board to a remote temperature sensing device, sealingly extend; a portion of the housing defining the control knob chamber is formed with a depression with a window opening; the partition is provided with an opening carrying a seal through which the shaft extends; a translucent control knob is arranged in the control knob chamber on said shaft and has a portion visibly and manually engageable in said window opening; the partition has a transparent pane at a side of the knob opposite said window and adjacent the circuit board, the circuit board is provided with a light-emitting component adjacent the window to illuminate said knob; the housing is provided with key-hole slots communicating with the control knob chamber to accommodate screw fasteners on a supporting surface whereby the unit can be releasably mounted on said surface.
A waterbed heater control unit comprising an elongate, vertical, rectalinear box-like housing having front, rear, top, bottom and side walls and a horizontal transverse partition within the housing defining upper and lower compartments and having a central vertical opening, a circuit board mounted within the lower chamber carrying an electric control circuit for a related electric resistance heater, adjustable to select a desired heater heat output and operable to automatically control a supply of current to a related heater whereby selected heat output is attained, said circuit includes an electric current altering device with an elongate rotatable shaft extending vertically upwardly through the opening in the partition, sealing means in said opening and about said shaft, a window opening in the housing accessible at the front thereof communicating with the upper compartment, a control knob on the shaft within said upper compartment and having a portion projecting into the window and manually accessible at the front of the housing, cord receiving openings in a wall of the housing, electric cords and cables connected with the circuit, a remote power source, a remote temperature sensor junction and a remote related heater extending through the cord receiving openings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.