Patent ID: 6080968
Filing Date: 2000-06-27
Classification: A47J,H01H,H05B

Abstract:
An integrated cordless electrical connector and thermally sensitive control unit for mounting beneath a base of a water receiving container of a water boiling vessel, the base being provided with an electric heating element, the integrated connector and control unit comprising:a cordless electrical connector of a type engageable with a corresponding connector part irrespective of their relative angular orientation;a pair of thermally sensitive bimetallic actuators arranged at spaced apart locations on a face of the control unit at respective locations each spaced laterally from a central axis of the connector, the actuators being arranged to make good thermal contact with the base or element such that temperature can be sensed effectively by the respective actuators at spaced apart locations on the base or element in use; andelectrical switch contacts associated with each of the actuators and operatively coupled thereto by respective coupling means, the switch contacts and their associated coupling means being arranged to a side of the cordless connector, such arrangement being such that the actuators can each operate independently of the other in use to open the associated contacts and interrupt a power supply to the element of the vessel when overheating occurs due to the vessel being switched on dry or boiling dry, but neither operates in normal boiling operation of the vessel.