Abstrict
An electric heater for use in a vehicle, to heat a container of
food or beverage, includes a flexible jacket that is wrapped around
the container to be heated, and an electrical lead and plug for
connecting the heater to a source of electrical power, such as the
cigarette lighter socket of a vehicle. The flexible jacket consists
of inner and outer cover layers. Sandwiched between the inner and
outer layers are a flexible layer of electrically conductive material,
a flexible electric heating element secured to the layer of electrically
conductive material, and a flexible insulating layer disposed between
the layer of electrically conductive material and the outer cover
layer. The electrical heating element is connected to the electrical
lead, to receive power supplied thereby.
Claims
I claim:
1. An electric heater for use in a vehicle to heat a container
of food or beverage, comprimising:
a flexible jacket to be wrapped around a container to be heated,
said jacket including
a flexible inside layer for contact with a container to be heated;
a flexible outside layer,
a flexible layer of electrically conductive material located between
said inside and outside layers,
a flexible electric heating element secured to said flexible layer
of electrically conductive material; and
a flexible thermal insulating layer disposed between said layer
of electrically conductive material and said outside layer; and
an electrical lead and plug connected to said heating element,
for connecting said electric heating element to the cigarette lighter
socket of a vehicle.
2. The electric heater of claim 1 wherein said layer of electrically
conductive material includes an aluminum sheet.
3. The electric heater of claim 1 wherein said layer of electrically
conductive material comprises plural sheets of a metallic material,
at least one of said sheets having a polyester yarn backing to prevent
cracking thereof.
4. The electric heater of claim 3 wherein said metallic material
is aluminum.
5. The electric heater of claim 1 further including a flexible
layer of heat containment material disposed between said insulating
layer and said layer of electrically conductive material.
6. The electric heater of claim 3 wherein said flexible electric
heating element is located between said plural sheets of metallic
material.
Electric heater descriptionFIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electric heaters for use in vehicles
for heating containers of food or beverages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an electric heater for use in a
vehicle, to heat a container of food or beverage. The heater includes
a flexible jacket that is wrapped around the container to be heated,
and an electrical lead and plug for connecting the heater to a source
of electrical power, such as the cigarette lighter socket of a vehicle.
The flexible jacket consists of inner and outer cover layers. Sandwiched
between the inner and outer layers are a flexible layer of electrically
conductive material, a flexible electric heating element secured
to the layer of electrically conductive material, and a flexible
insulating layer disposed between the layer of electrically conductive
material and the outer cover layer. The electrical heating element
is connected to the electrical lead, to receive power supplied thereby.
The electric heater according to the invention allows a wide range
of different containers to be heated while travelling, for example
a baby's bottle or a sealed can of food.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the electric heater showing the
inside surface of the jacket, that is to say the surface which contacts
the container;
FIG. 2 is an alternative perspective view, showing the outside
of the jacket;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electric heater in use in heating
a baby's bottle;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the electric heater;
and
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the flexible jacket.
Referring to the drawings, the electric heater comprises a flexible
fabric jacket 1, a flexible electric heating element 2 (shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5) whose outer surface is provided with suitable electrical
insulation, an electric lead 3 and a plug 4 for connecting the electric
heating element to the cigarette lighter socket of a vehicle, self-adhesive
tabs 5a, 5b on the inside surface of the jacket and 6a, 6b on the
outside surface of the jacket which co-operate in closing the jacket,
self-adhesive tabs 7 and 8 for holding the closed jacket in a flattened
configuration when not in use, and a hanging loop 9 to allow the
electric healer and a container being heated to be hung from a hook
in the interior of the vehicle.
In use, as best seen in FIG. 3, the jacket 1 is wrapped around
a container, in this case a baby's bottle indicated by dashed lines,
and is closed, the jacket 1 and container are then hung by means
of the loop 9 from a hook in the vehicle, and the plug 4 is inserted
into the cigarette lighter socket of the vehicle. The electric heating
element 2 causes the inside surface of the jacket 1 to be heated,
and this heat is transmitted to the container, thereby warming the
contents of the container.
Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5 the jacket 1 comprises an outer
layer 1a of nylon, two layers 1b of sponge, a cotton layer 1c which
is dark in color to contain heat, an aluminum sheet 1d, the electric
heating element 2 which is sewn onto the inside face of the aluminium
sheet 1d (shown in broken lines in the drawing), a further aluminum
sheet with polyester yarn backing 1e, and an inside layer 1f of
nylon. The sponge layer 1b traps a layer of air and thus acts as
a heat insulator preventing escape of heat. The cotton layer 1c
contains heat from the electric heating element 2 again preventing
escape of heat. The combined effect of the sponge layer 1b and cotton
layer 1c is to ensure that the heat travels to the inside surface
of the jacket 1 to heat a container while leaving the outside surface
of the layer at a sufficiently low temperature that it can be safely
and comfortably handled. The polyester yarn backing serves to protect
the aluminum sheet 1e by preventing it from being folded into sharp
creases and then cracking.
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