US2520851A - Wiring harness and control device for electric blankets or the like - Google Patents

Description

1 s 1 m m 8, a vM o m m n fi 5, q, WEfi m p 6 J. W. MYERS ETAL WIRING HARNESS AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC BLANKETS OR THE LIKE Aug. 29, 1950 Flled Aug 4 1948 Aug. 29, 1950 J. w. MYERS ETAL WIRING HARNESS AND CONTROL DEVICE FUR ELECTRIC BLANKETS OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4, 1948 v MMaMT db k bv Ah Inventors fas'eph W fi Myers onaZd 1:. Bailey 6y Zhez'rflhomeys Patented Aug. 29, 1950 WIRING HARNESS- AND CONTROL DEVIGE' FOR ELECTRIQ BLANKE'ES OR THE LIKE.

Joseph Myers, Ehiladelphia, and Donald E. Bailey, Bryn Mawr, Pa., assignors to Proctor Electric Company; Philadelphia, Pa., a corpora,-

tion of Pennsylvania Application August 4, 1948, Serial No. 42,454

2 Claims. (Cl. 219-20) This. invention relates. to electric bed-heating equipment, such as heating pads or blankets, and is particularly concerned with the controls therefor which are manually adjustable to vary the rateat which electrical energy is supplied to the equipment- Electric blankets and. heating. pads, such as have been sold and used in great numbers: in recent years, havea switch and control box con.- nected to the electrical circuit which extends, between the heating element. and the power source. This control box, in the case of an electric blanket, normally contains. an element responsive to the ambient air temperature and is positioned out of thermal association with. the blanket. Further, the control box contains the adjusting or regulating means whereby the actionv of the temperature responsive element is varied. in ac.- cordance with the desires of the user.

l-leretofore, control boxes. for electric blankets were normally placed on bedside tables or were allowed to rest on the floor beneath the bed. The conductors carrying the electric current to the blanket from the control box. and connecting the control box to the source of electricity. were per.- mitted to lie on the floor beneath the bed and ran. as required by the location. of the outlet re ceptacle into whichv the supply conductor plug was. inserted.

This arrangement is. generally unsatisfactory for several reasons. The control box when placed ona bedside table, may be easily knocked oii. to the floor by the user as he gropes for. it in the dark, when desiring. tochange the adjustment thereof. The wires. leading to the control box. are frequently hit or brushed against by the bedclothes or by the user himself. and thereby cause the. control box to be dragged from the table. The jarring, which these delicately adjusted thelfmostatic controls may receive as a result of falls, as described here, frequently destroys. the ability of the control to properly compensate tor changes in temperature. and ofttimes results in breakage. Also, the location of the wires beneath the bed interferes with normal cleaning operations in that the Wires must be carefully dusted around and do not permit easy mopping or vacuum-cleaning beneath the bed. Again, in mopping or cleaning, the control box may be dragged from the table with theresults hereinbefore men ti'oneol.

When the control box itself is placed on the floor beneath the bed, it is subject to damage by being stepped upon and also it is difiicult to reach 2 by a user in the bed, should it be required that adjustments be made during. the night.

Having, the above-mentioned shortcomings of existing. controlsin mind, the principal object of this invention is the provision of current supply and control means for an electric blanket or the like, which may be secured in a fixed relation to the bed and whichincorporates. a wiring harness to. support the control box and to dispose the current-carrying conductors within the bed structure where they are: out of the way and out of sight;

Another object of the. invention is to provide such a current supply and control means adapted to be used with all types of beds and bed structures.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had fIOl'llfthQf'OllOWilflg description. with reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig. 1 is, a diagrammatic illustration of an electrical blanket and an associated control device, which illustration will facilitate an understanding of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a bed showing the wiring harness of. the present invention and the control box-supported thereby, both in position on the bed;

Fig. 3' is a fragmentary perspective view show ing a portion of the wiring harness and, an, associated retaining clip which may be used as. hereinafter described; I

Fig. i is a fragmentary sectional view showing the portion of the wiring harness which carries the control. box; M

Fig. 4a shows the, use of the device with a. Simple camp-type folding cot;

Fig. 5' is a relatively large scale face view 01 the wiring harness and control box, with portions of the harness and connections broken away to enable the large scale illustration;

Fig; 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along: line 6+6 of Fig; 5; I

Fig; 7' is a transverse sectional view through the supporting strap of the wiring harness, the View being taken along line 'l-'l of Fig. 5;

Fig; 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the control box and the associated portion of the wiring harness. showing. the manner of connection oi the harness to the control box.

Referring. first to Fig.1, the purpose of thediagrammatic illustration. there shown is only to facilitate an understanding of the present in-.

vention. The apparatus shown in Fig. 1 corresponds generally to that disclosed and claimed in a. copending application of Charles R. Turner, Serial No. 745,383, filed May 2, 1947. While the wiring harness of the present invention is intended particularly for use in conjunction with an electric blanket control arrangement of the character disclosed in the said Turner application, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto but is applicable generally to electric blankets and the like, employing an associated control box. Therefore, insofar as the present invention is concerned, the apparatus shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1 may be regarded simply as being representative of those with which the present invention may be associated.

For the purpose of the present disclosure, a brief description of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 will suffice. There is shown in dotted outline an electric blanket I having an associated heating element comprising two sections 2 and 3 adapted to be connected in parallel to the energizing source through the medium of the two supply conductors II and 5 extending to the usual connector plug 6. The control device I, also represented in dotted outline, serves to control the energization of the electric blanket I according to the manual setting of the control device and in inverse relation to the temperature of the ambient air. The control device I may be of the character disclosed in the above-mentioned Turner application. This device comprises a thermostatic controlling switch including a bimetal member 8, switch contacts 9 controlled thereby, and a heater element I associated with the bimetal member 8 so as to heat the same. The thermostatic switch is arranged so as to be affected by the ambient or room temperature and it serves to control the energization of the blanket I accordingly. Although not shown in Fig. 1, the control device I has provision for adjustment of the initial energization temperature and the rate at which the blanket energization will be increased as the room temperature decreases. The control device I also includes an indicator lamp II and an associated current-limiting resistor I2. A manual switch I3 is also provided on said device.

Assuming that the switch I3 is closed, when the room temperature decreases to a certain value determined by the setting of the control device, the thermostatic switch closes and energizes the electric blanket I The energizing circuit extends from conductor through the manual switch I3, through the bimetal member 8 and the contacts 8 controlled thereby, through heater element I0, and thence through the parallel branches 2 and 3 of the blanket heating element and back to supply conductor 4. The indicator lamp II is connected across the supply conductors on the load side of switch I3, and this lamp is lit as long as the manual switch I3 remains closed, indicating that the apparatus is in operative condition.

As shown in the other figures of the drawings, the present invention provides a novel supporting harness for the electrical connections and the control box I. The complete wiring harness contains the supply conductors 4 and 5, the group of conductors designated I 4, and the two conductors I5. The latter extend to a connector receptacle I6 which is adapted to be connected to an associated connector plug II carried by the electric blanket I. As indicated in Fig. 1, the connector receptacle I 6 has internal connector elements which cooperate with the three prongs of plug II to connect the heating element sections 2 and 3 in parallel across conductors I5.

As shown generally in Figs. 2 and 5, the harness provided by the invention comprises a substantially flat supporting strap I8, and protective sheaths I 9 and extending from one end of the strap I8. The control box I is supported at the other end of the strap I 8. The electrical connections shown in Fig. 1 and designated by reference numerals 4, 5, I4 and I5 are contained within and are protected by the strap I8 and the associated protective sheaths I9 and 20.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the strap i8 is adapted to be held between the spring and mattress of a bed 2|, with the control box I suspended at one side of the bed within easy reach of the user. The sheath-protected electrical conductors extend between the spring and mattress to the foot and head of the bed respectively, the connector receptacle IE being located at the foot of the bed for connection to the plug I1, and the plug 5 being located at the head of the bed for connection to an electrical outlet as shown at 22.

The strap I8, which supports the weight of the control box I, may be frictionally held between the spring and the mattress of the bed. In some instances however, it may be desired to employ a retaining clip as shown at 23 in Fig. 3. The clip may be formed of a single piece of stiff wire shaped so that a portion thereof may be placed beneath the strap I8 with the arms of the clip extending over the conductor sheaths I8 and 2|], as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the wire clip may be bent to form hooks which may be engaged with portions of the bed spring represent-. ed generally at 24. In the case of a box spring, the hooks may pierce the top tucking of such spring.

As shown in Fig. 4a, the device is applicable to. any bed structure, even a camp-type folding cot as shown at Ma. In this instance the strap I8 is held frictionally between the mattress and the canvas cot top so as to suspend the control box at one side of the cot.

The details of construction of a preferred em-. bodiment of the wiring harness are shown in Figs. 5 to 9 to which reference is now made. The strap I8 is preferably formed of a suitable durable fabric material. As shown in Figs. 6 and '7, the main body of the strap may be formed from a single piece 25 of such material folded lengthwise to form a hollow structure, with the longitudinally extending edge portions lapped as at 25 and secured together and to the opposite side by means of longitudinal central stitching or tacking indicated at 21. There are thus formed two longitudinally extending pockets 28 and 28 which accommodate two- wire conductor cords 30 and 3| which carry the electrical connections M of Fig. 1. Preferably the strap I8 is provided with an attractive facing strip 32 which extends over the outer face of the strap and covers the joint 28.

The facing strip may be secured to the strap along the sides by means of stitching or tacking as indicated at 33 and 34. Preferably the facing strip extends over one end of the strap I8 as shown in Fig. 6.

At the end opposite the control box I, the supporting strap I8 is formed, as shown in Fig. 6, to provide a transverse passage 35. To this end, the fabric material 25 (of which the main body of the strap is formed) is cut and folded to form the open-ended passage. It will be noted that the front portion of the strap is extended and looped as shown at 36, and the end of the looped portion is fastened to the rear face of the strap by means of stitching or tacking as indicated at 37. The transverse passage 35 is open at both ends and accommodates the protective sheaths l9 and 26, as shown in Fig. 5. Preferably, these protective sheaths are formed from a single piece of tubular braided cord which extends through the transverse passage 35 and which is cut away at 38 inside the end portion of the strap l8. The purpose of this is to accommodate the conductors which extend inside the strap I8 and into the protective sheaths. The latter protect the conductors from abrasive wear and undue flexing.

As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the control box 1 comprises a base 39 and a cover 40 which cooperatively form a, casing or housin containing the elements shown in Fig. 1. The conductors represented at M in Fig. 1 are provided with terminals 4! (see Fig. 9) which are held by terminal screws 42 inside the control box. The end portion of the supporting strap [8, which is associated with the control box, is provided with metal eyelets 43 which fit over short pins or studs 44 just inside the control box. The said end of the supporting strap extends into a slot-like opening of the control box, and when the cover 48 is in place, the eyelets 43 are held in place on the pins 44. It will be seen that this construction enables easy detachment of the strap l8 from the control device 1 upon removal of the cover 40.

Mention was made previously of the indicator lamp ll shown in Fig. 1. In order that the light therefrom will be readily observable by the user and to confine the light to where it is needed, the portion 45 of the control box casing is formed of translucent material so that the light is efiectively directed upward.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the invention provides a novel arrangement which is adapted to support the control at one side of a bed in easily accessible location and which is also adapted to dispose the wiring beneath the mattress of the bed where it is out of the way and can cause no inconvenience or accident. The invention thus eliminates the objections of prior arrangements as mentioned at the outset of this specification.

It will be understood of course, that the application is not limited to the particular structure shown but is susceptible to various modifications and other embodiments within the broad purpose of the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for energization and control of an electrically heated bed covering which is to be controlled from a control unit disposed in a position to be readily accessible to the user while in a sleeping position, said apparatus comprising support means including flexible member of substantial width and of limited length adapted to be held beneath a mattress of a bed with an end portion protruding at the side of the bed, a manually-adjustable thermostatically controlled device thermally disassociated from the bed covering and supported by said support means, said control device being appendant at the side of the bed within easy reach of the user when the apparatus is in use, electrical conductors also supported by said support means and connected to said control device for supplying electrical energy from an electrical source to the electrically heated bed covering under control of said device, means securing said control device to said support means so as to relieve said conductors of strain, said electrical conductors including a set of conductors of substantial length extending from said support means and having a connector for removable connection to a bed covering, and a second set of conductors of substantial length extending from said support means for supplying electrical energy to the bed covering.

2. Apparatus for energization and control of an electrically heated bed covering which is to be controlled from a control unit disposed in a position to be readily accessible to the user while in a sleeping position, said apparatus comprising support means including a flexible member of substantial width and of limited length adapted to be held beneath a mattress of a bed with an end portion protruding at the side of the bed, means for securing said support member to a bed spring structure, a manually-adjustable thermo statically controlled device thermally disassociated from the bed covering and supported by said support means, said control device being appendant at the side of the bed within easy reach of the user when the apparatus is in use, electrical conductors also supported by said support means and connected to said control devic for supplying electrical energy from an electrical source to the electrically heated bed covering under control of said device, means securing said control device to said support means so as to relieve said conductors of strain, said electrical conductors including a set of conductors of substantial length extending from said support means and having a connector for removable connection to a .bed covering, and a second set of conductors of substantial length extending from said support means for supplying electrical energy to the bed covering.

JOSEPH W. MYERS. DONALD E. DAILEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,058,825 Whittlesey Apr. 15, 1913 1,657,479 MacFarland Jan. 31, 1928 1,862,128 Wermine June 7, 1932 2,120,301 Tishman June 14, 1938 2,285,776 Maccoy June 9, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 586,745 Great Britain Mar. 28, 1947

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