Patent ID: 7007404

Claim:
A heating element assembly for a clothes drier, comprising: a heating wire coil adapted to be wired to a power source for heating air passing through a heating element housing of a drier for subsequent drying of clothes in a drum of the drier, the heating wire coil having straight portions intermittently positioned between coil portions; and support members adapted to be secured to the heating element housing in a predetermined pattern for supporting the straight portions of the heating wire coil while preventing displacement of the coil portions, so as to retain the heating wire coil on the heating element housing, the support members each having a body having a pair of lateral surfaces, a slot being defined in the body between the lateral surfaces so as to accommodate one of the straight portions of the heating wire coil, the slot being sized such that coil portions of the heating wire coil are retained opposite lateral surfaces of adjacent ones of the support members when the straight portions are in the slots, and being open to a surface transverse to the lateral surfaces and defining a hook shape in the lateral surfaces, such that the straight portion of the heating wire coil is held captive in the slot.