Electrically heated hot water apparatus having a thermostat

Claim 1

IN A HIGHLY LOADED APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUSFLOW HEATING OF WATER AND HAVING A SWITCH, A BODY WITH A HEATING CHANNEL HAVING AN ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE HEATING MEMBER THEREIN COMPRISING A BARE HEATING ELEMENT IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE FLOWING WATER, SAID MEMBER DEFINING AN ELONGATED AXIS AND BEING ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF POWER THROUGH SAID SWITCH TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF ELECTRIC POWER THROUGH SAID SWITCH TO THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: THERMOSTATIC MEANS INCLUDING A THERMALLY RESPONSIVE EXPANSION MEMBER IN CONTACT WITH SAID FLOWING WATER AND OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID SWITCH TO ACTUATE THE SAME, SAID EXPANSION MEMBER HAVING A LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND A LENGTH ALONG SAID AXIS AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE APPROXIMATE LENGTH OF SAID HEATING MEMBER ALONG ITS AXIS, SAID MEMBERS BEING POSITIONED WITH THEIR AXES GENERALLY PARALLEL, WITH ONE BEING IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT THE OTHER THROUGHOUT THEIR LENGTH, AND WITHOUT OTHER OBSTRUCTION BETWEEN THE MEMBERS SO THAT THE EXPANSION MEMBER WILL RESPOND TO LOCALIZED OVERHEATING OF THE HEATING MEMBER.