Patent ID: 7539401

Claim:
A heating unit comprising: a plurality of radiant heaters; a plurality of brackets on which the radiant heaters are mounted in a row; a frame on which the brackets are mounted in a parallel arrangement and thereby the radiant heaters are mounted in a grid configuration; and a protective pipe that accommodates a sensor detecting a state of heating of a heated object, wherein each of the radiant heaters includes: a support plate substantially having a rectangular shape; a pair of connection terminals substantially perpendicularly extending, while having a space therebetween, from one surface of the support plate; and a strip-shaped heater element arranged between the pair of connection terminals and covering the one surface of the support plate, wherein the connection terminals have connection portions projecting from the other surface of the support plated, and each of the brackets has a terminal hole into which the connection portion is inserted, and wherein recesses are formed at least at portions of the brackets adjacent to each other, the recesses opening toward each other, and the protective pipe is disposed in an insertion hole that is defined by disposing the recesses so as to oppose each other.