Claims
- 1. An electric cooktop with a locking heating element, the locking heating element comprising:
- a key sized to be received within a keyway in the cooktop;
- a biasing device disposed between and abutting the heating element and the cooktop to bias the key into the keyway whereby the heating element is locked in place to prevent rotational and vertical movement thereof relative to the cooktop;
- a heating coil and a spider support, the spider support having multiple legs one of which terminates in a nose to form the key;
- said nose is partially defined by a bottom edge and a leading edge and the leading edge forms an acute angle relative to the bottom edge; said acute angle is less than 60 degrees;
- said biasing device is a spring mounted to the heating coil substantially opposite the nose to bias the nose into the keyway; and
- said heating coil includes two electrical terminals connected by a retainer strap and the spring is a spring clip mounted on the retainer strap.
- 2. An electric cooktop as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooktop includes an electrical receptacle in which the electrical terminals are received to mount the heating coil to the cooktop and the spring clip abut the electrical receptacle to bias the nose into the keyway.
- 3. An electric cooktop with a locking heating element, the locking heating element comprising:
- a key sized to be received within a keyway in the cooktop;
- a biasing device disposed between and abutting the heating element and the cooktop to bias the key into the keyway whereby the heating element is locked in place to prevent rotational and vertical movement thereof relative to the cooktop;
- said biasing device is a spring mounted to the heating coil substantially opposite the nose to bias the nose into the keyway; and
- said heating coil includes two electrical terminals connected by a retainer strap and the spring is a spring clip mounted on the retainer strap.
- 4. An electric cooktop as claimed in claim 3, wherein the spring clip has a tang and the strap has a detent for receiving the tang to secure the clip to the strap.
- 5. An electric cooktop as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cooktop includes an electrical receptacle in which the electrical terminals are received to mount the heating coil to the cooktop and the spring clip abut the electrical receptacle to bias the nose into the keyway.
Parent Case Info
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. Ser. No. 60/033,664 filed on Dec. 18, 1996.
US Referenced Citations (8)