Abstract: A hair clipper has a housing in which a motor is disposed and blades at an end of the housing which the motor drives. The housing has a speed selector switch that extends through a wall of the housing and a controller disposed therein coupled to the switch and to the motor. The housing has associated with the speed selector switch a plurality of visual indicators. Each visual indicator is indicative of a particular type of animal. The speed selector switch is used to select the particular type of animal that the clipper will be used with. The controller is responsive to the selection of the animal type by the speed selector switch and sets the speed of the motor based on the particular type of animal selected. The visual indicators indicate which animal type was selected.

Abstract: A hair cutter blade in biased slideable contact with the upper or rear surface of a clipper comb is adapted to be reciprocated back and forth by an electric hair clipper. The upper surface of the clipper comb includes a plurality of cooling depressions and cooling protrusions effective in increasing the surface area of the upper surface of the clipper comb so as to substantially reduce temperatures during operation of the clipper blade. Air currents formed by the clipper blade convectively cool the depressions and protrusions so as to efficiently transfer heat from the lower surface of the clipper comb through the protrusions to the ambient air.

Abstract: A serpentine conductive path has a plurality of generally parallel wires, a pair of conductive busses running generally parallel to one another and generally perpendicular to the wires, wherein the wires are electrically connected to the conductive busses, and wherein the conductive busses further include a plurality of isolation punches so as to form an electrically conductive serpentine pattern in conjunction with the wires. The wires may be formed of positive temperature coefficient material for sensing and controlling the temperature of a heating fabric.

Abstract: A heating blanket reduces the possibility of electrical arcing by providing a series of individual heating elements each carrying a low current.

Abstract: A warming blanket having a temperature sensing element for sensing the temperature of the warming blanket. The temperature sensor may be a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element that is threaded throughout the blanket. In one embodiment, the temperature sensing element runs perpendicular or transverse to the heating wires in the warming blanket, permitting the temperature sensing element to measure an average blanket temperature. In another embodiment, the heating element is supplied as a pair of buss wires extending along opposite sides of the warming blanket and having a number of heating wires extending therebetween. In this embodiment, the temperature sensing elements may run either parallel to or transverse to the heating elements. Temperature changes/signals in the temperature sensing element are sent to a microprocessor, which in turn changes the wattage of the heating elements to prevent overheating of the warming blanket.

Abstract: One or more current sensors are mounted externally of a heating member so as to simplify construction of the heating member. The sensors are particularly useful in safety control circuits for heating members using PTC wire as resistance heating elements.

Abstract: A warming fabric that utilizes a multiplex circuit to provide heat to at least two different zones of the warming fabric. A controller for the warming fabric may alternate power supplied to the separate zones during a duty cycle. For example, the controller may supply power to a first zone of the warming fabric for a specified time based upon the heat setting for the first zone. During this specified time period, a second zone would not be supplied power. When the on time for the first zone is finished, the controller may apply power to the second zone for a specified time. If desired, separate zones may operate at different lengths of time during the duty cycle so that the separate zones would be supplied different levels of heating.

Abstract: Disclosed is a warming blanket system having a fabric comprising a heating element, a data temperature mechanism configured to provide ambient air temperature data, a user input configured to provide user heat output preference data for a given normal ambient temperature, and a control system configured to input said air temperature and user heat output preference data and adjust heat output to said heating element based upon a deviation of a measured ambient temperature from said normal ambient temperature.

Abstract: A warming blanket having a temperature sensing element for sensing the temperature of the warming blanket. The temperature sensor may be a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element that is threaded throughout the blanket. In one embodiment, the temperature sensing element runs perpendicular or transverse to the heating wires in the warming blanket, permitting the temperature sensing element to measure an average blanket temperature. In another embodiment, the heating element is supplied as a pair of buss wires extending along opposite sides of the warming blanket and having a number of heating wires extending therebetween. In this embodiment, the temperature sensing elements may run either parallel to or transverse to the heating elements. Temperature changes/signals in the temperature sensing element are sent to a microprocessor, which in turn changes the wattage of the heating elements to prevent overheating of the warming blanket.

Abstract: Heat losses from electric heating pads, blankets and pillows are reduced by aligning heat reflective strips or coatings over the top of a heating wire arranged inside the pads, blankets and pillows. By reducing heat losses, lower wattage can be applied to the heating wire to transfer the same amount of heat to a user as equivalent higher wattage blankets which do not have the heat reflective strips. By lowering the applied wattage, a more efficient blanket results.

Abstract: A warming fabric having temperature compensation controls that vary the heat output of the warming fabric to adjust for changes in ambient temperature. A thermistor or another mechanism that is configured to generate information about the temperature of the location of the blanket is used to generate temperature data. A microcomputer uses the temperature data to determine how the heat output of the warming fabric should be modified due to ambient temperature. To do so, a look up table or an algorithm may be used to calculate the appropriate heat output.

Abstract: A heating blanket, pad or pillow is produced from a continuous roll of substrate material over which a continuous length of resistance heating wire is arranged. Predetermined lengths of the resulting substrate and heating element are cut from the roll to produce individual heating products. PTC wire is preferably used for the resistance wire and facilitates a continuous manufacturing process.

Abstract: One or more current sensors are mounted externally of a heating member so as to simplify construction of the heating member. The sensors are particularly useful in safety control circuits for heating members using PTC wire as resistance heating elements.

Abstract: A heating blanket reduces the possibility of electrical arcing by providing a series of individual heating elements each carrying a low current.

Abstract: Heat losses from electric heating pads, blankets and pillows are reduced by aligning heat reflective strips or coatings over the top of a heating wire arranged inside the pads, blankets and pillows. By reducing heat losses, lower wattage can be applied to the heating wire to transfer the same amount of heat to a user as equivalent higher wattage blankets which do not have the heat reflective strips. By lowering the applied wattage, a more efficient blanket results.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for testing a line screen CRT for misregistration between its electron beam and the beam's phosphor stripe targets. The test method includes sensing light output at a plurality of test areas on the CRT screen as the electron beam is stepped across its phosphor targets. The maximum and minimum light outputs of each test area, and the beam locations at which the maximum and minimum light outputs were obtained, are used to compute the degree of misregistration for each test area.