Apcom, Inc.

George L Fehrmann

Robert A Murphy

Samuel M Stubblefield, Jr

The heating element has an outer connector assembly including a cylindrical threaded portion adapted to be threaded into a boss on the heater water tank and a sheathed continuous electric resistance heating rod which has both ends secured to the connector assembly and which extends generally perpendicular to the heater tank centerline when installed. The heating rod is formed in a serpentine, generally W-shaped pattern with respect to the centerline of the cylindrical threaded portion, which provides the heating rod with an effective length greater than the inside diameter of the water tank, permits the heating rod to be inserted and withdrawn through the bore of the tank boss and permits the heater rod to be rotated, as the connector assembly is being threaded into and out of the tank boss, without striking any obstructions inside the water tank, such as the cold water dip tube, the hot water pipe and the anticorrosion anode. The heating rod is so bent that the portions between the ends thereof extend in the generally W-shaped pattern in first and second vertically spaced horizontal planes as either a single double W or a pair of double W's.

Heating element for electric water heater

A thermostat control for an electric water heater is held in firm contact with the heater storage tank by a mounting assembly comprising a tank bracket including a body having an opening adapted to lockingly fit over the heater tank stud and a pair of laterally-spaced legs extending from the body and having a bent upper end portion adapted to apply spring pressure toward the tank outer wall. The mounting assembly also includes a thermostat bracket carrying the thermostat control and having a pair of laterally-spaced, upstanding ears adapted to fit beneath the upper end portion of the legs on the tank bracket. Each of the ears includes a nib which is received in a slot in the legs on the tank bracket to interlock the two brackets. The nib has an upper edge which engages the upper end of the slot and urges the thermostat control into firmer contact with the outer wall of the heater tank in response to upward vertical movement of the thermostat bracket relative to the tank bracket, such as when an installer pulls on the pigtail leads connected to the thermostat control during connection with supply wiring.

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Nashville, TN, United States of America

George L Fehrmann