Heating and/or cooling assembly

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heating and/or cooling assembly such as a heat pad. The assembly includes a plurality of modules articulated together by connection means so that the assembly can be manipulated by a user to adopt a desired profile. At least one of the modules contains a thermal store in the form of a solid, liquid or gel responsive to heating or cooling externally applied to the assembly so that the solid, liquid or gel is heated or cooled, respectively, and remains in a heated or cooled state for a prolonged period of time after the externally applied heating or cooling is removed.

Claims

1. A heating and/or cooling assembly for heating or cooling a pet enclosure, the assembly comprising a plurality of modules, each module comprising a substantially-rigid body having a circumference, the modules being articulated and connected together by connection parts so that the assembly can be manipulated by a user to adopt a desired profile, wherein the connection parts and at least part of the body of each module are provided with a complementary engagement profile to substantially maintain the assembly in the desired profile, wherein the complementary engagement profile includes a series of planar surfaces around the circumference of each body and complementary planar surfaces on each connection part, and wherein at least one of the modules contains a thermal store in the form of a solid, liquid or gel responsive to heating or cooling externally applied to at least part of the assembly so that the solid, liquid or gel is heated or cooled, respectively, and remains in a heated or cooled state for a period of time after the externally applied heating or cooling is removed.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the connection parts are integral parts of the bodies.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the modules does not contain a thermal store.

4. The assembly of claim 1, covered by a cover.

5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the solid, liquid or gel of the thermal store is a phase change material.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of modules comprises an end module that does not comprise any of the connection parts.

7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein all but one of the modules, of the plurality of modules, comprises an integral connection part.

8. A plurality of modules being adapted to be connected together to construct a heating and/or cooling assembly for heating or cooling a pet enclosure and that can be manipulated by a user to adopt a desired profile, wherein each module comprises a substantially-rigid body having a circumference, and a connection part that allows it to be connected directly to another module, wherein the connection part and at least part of the body are provided with a complementary engagement profile that includes a series of planar surfaces around the circumference of the body, and complementary planar surfaces on the connection part, and wherein at least one of the modules contains a thermal store in the form of a solid, liquid or gel responsive to heating or cooling externally applied to the at least one module so that the solid, liquid or gel is heated or cooled, respectively, and remains in a heated or cooled state for a period of time after the externally applied heating or cooling is removed.

9. The plurality of modules of claim 8, wherein each module has the same construction.

10. The plurality of modules of claim 8, wherein each connection part is an integral part of the respective body.

11. The plurality of modules of claim 8, wherein the solid, liquid or gel of the thermal store is a phase change material.

12. A plurality of modules being adapted to be connected together to construct a heating and/or cooling assembly for heating or cooling a pet enclosure and that can be manipulated by a user to adopt a desired assembly profile, wherein each module comprises a substantially-rigid body and a connection part that allows it to be connected directly to another module, wherein, for each module, the connection part and at least part of the body are provided with complementary engagement profiles that include a series of planar surfaces around a circumference of the body and complementary planar surfaces on the connection part, and wherein at least one of the modules contains a supersaturated liquid or gel and a trigger device for allowing the user to selectively initiate crystallisation of the supersaturated liquid or gel to release heat energy for a period of time.

13. A heating and/or cooling assembly for heating or cooling a pet enclosure, the assembly comprising the plurality of modules of claim 12, wherein the modules are articulated and connected together by the connection parts so that the assembly can be manipulated by a user to adopt a desired assembly profile and the modules substantially maintain the assembly in the desired assembly profile.

14. The assembly of claim 13, further comprising an end module that does not include a connection part.

Description

DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side view showing a pair of modules that can be connected together to form an assembly according to the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a side view of the pair of modules of FIG. 1 connected together;

(3) FIG. 3 is a side view of the pair of modules of FIGS. 1 and 2 rotated relative to each other to adopt a particular angular orientation;

(4) FIG. 4 is a top view of the pair of modules of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 5 is a top view of the pair of modules of FIG. 1 connected together;

(6) FIG. 6 is a top view showing a pair of alternative modules that can be connected together to form an assembly according to the present invention;

(7) FIG. 7 is a top view of the pair of modules of FIG. 6 connected together;

(8) FIG. 8 is a side view of an assembly according to the present invention in a substantially ∩-shaped profile;

(9) FIG. 9 is a top view of an assembly according to the present invention in a substantially L-shaped profile;

(10) FIG. 10 is a side view showing a pair of alternative modules that can be connected together to form an assembly according to the present invention;

(11) FIG. 11 is a side view of the pair of modules of FIG. 10 connected together; and

(12) FIG. 12 is a side view of the pair of modules of FIGS. 10 and 11 rotated relative to each other to adopt a particular angular orientation.

(13) With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, a module 2 for constructing a heating and/or cooling assembly 1 according to the present invention includes a substantially cylindrical body 4 made of a suitable plastics material that contains a thermal store, e.g., in the form of a non-toxic gel composition. In an alternative arrangement (not shown) a module can contain a non-toxic supersaturated liquid or gel (e.g., sodium acetate trihydrate) and a trigger device that, when activated by the user, provides a nucleation site that initiates crystallisation of the supersaturated liquid or gel into a solid.

(14) The module 2 includes a pair of integral connection parts 6 each having a pair of curved, resilient, arms 8. The connection parts 6 are spaced apart along the axial direction of the module 2 and each connection part is a different distance from the respective axial end of the module.

(15) A plurality of modules 2 can be connected together using the connection parts 6 to form an assembly. FIGS. 1 and 2 show how a pair of modules 2a, 2b can be connected together. The arms 8 are shaped to have an inner profile that corresponds to the outer profile of the body 4. The arms 8 of module 2a will flex outwardly as the adjacent module 2b is pushed into module 2a and then return to their initial position were they are in friction contact with the outer surface of the body 4 of the adjacent module 2b. It will be readily understood that a third module can be pushed into module 2b, and so on, until an assembly containing the desired number of identical modules has been constructed.

(16) As discussed above, not all of the modules need to contain a thermal store and their bodies can be substantially hollow.

(17) Adjacent modules can be rotated relative to each other. This is shown in FIG. 3 where module 2b has been rotated relative to the connection parts 6 of module 2a so that the connection parts of the adjacent modules adopt a particular angular orientation with respect to each other.

(18) The modules can be constructed to temporarily retain adjacent modules in a particular angular orientation. In one arrangement the angular orientation can be temporarily maintained simply by a friction fit between the connection parts 6 and the outer surface of the body 4 of the adjacent module. But it will be readily appreciated that in some cases a friction fit will not be sufficient. For example, it might be necessary or desirable to increase the amount of force that needs to be applied by the user to move the adjacent modules to a particular angular orientation, and to thereby more securely retain the adjacent modules in the angular orientation. In one arrangement, one or both of the connection part and the outer surface of the body might be formed with engagement means or an engagement profile (e.g., a saw-tooth or ridged profile or the like) that still allows for relative rotation between the adjacent modules when the necessary amount of force is applied to overcome the engagement. Such engagement means might also allow for relative rotation in one direction (e.g., clockwise) while completely preventing relative rotation in the opposite direction (e.g., counter-clockwise). In one arrangement, shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 an alternative module 2′ includes a body 16 and a pair of integral connection parts 20 each having a pair of arms 22. (It will be readily appreciated that only one of the connection parts 20 is visible in FIGS. 10 to 12 but that the overall construction of module 2′ is similar to the modules 2 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.) An engagement profile includes a series of flats or planar surfaces 18 around the circumference of each body 16 that are engaged by complementary planar surfaces 24 of the connection part of an adjacent module. The complementary planar surfaces 18, 24 prevent relative movement between the adjacent modules to maintain the desired profile, and mean that adjacent modules can only be connected together at certain predetermined orientations. The predetermined orientations will depend on the number of flats or planar surfaces provided on each module. In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 the body 16 has twelve planar surfaces 18 but any suitable number can be provided. The flats or planar surfaces can extend along the full axial length of the body, or can be provided only in the part of the body which is contacted by the connection part of the adjacent module. If engagement means are provided on one or both of the connection part and the outer surface of the body, such engagement means can be conveniently disengaged by disconnecting the modules from each other.

(19) The engagement means or profile can also be used to prevent relative rotation between the adjacent modules unless the modules are unconnected and then re-connected in a different angular orientation, e.g., as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 with adjacent modules 2′a and 2′b.

(20) It is convenient (from a point of view of manufacturing cost) if all of the modules have the same construction. FIGS. 4 and 5 show how the connection parts 6 can be formed so that they do not hinder relative rotation between the adjacent modules 2a, 2b. The connection parts 6 are asymmetrically located. The connection parts 6 are therefore not in register when the adjacent modules 2a, 2b are connected together in an opposite orientation. More particularly, each module has a first end 10a and a second end 10b. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first module 2a has its first end 10a on the left-hand side and its second end 10b on the right-hand side. The second module 2b has the opposite orientation, with its first end 10a on the right-hand side and it second end 10b on the left-hand side.

(21) Because the connection parts 6 are not in register, the adjacent modules 2a, 2b can undergo relative rotation over a large angle, e.g., with reference to FIG. 3, until the connection part 6 of module 2b comes into contact with the outer surface of the body 4 of module 2a.

(22) Although the connection parts 6 are shown as being relatively narrow, it will be readily appreciated that they can be formed with any suitable width. Other forms of connection means can also be provided, including those where the modules are integrally connected together and are not releasable.

(23) An alternative module 102 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The alternative module 102 is similar to the module 2 described above and include a substantially cylindrical body 104 made of a suitable plastics material that contains a thermal store, e.g., in the form of a gel composition. The module 102 includes a pair of integral connection parts each having a pair of curved, resilient, arms 108. A plurality of modules 102 can be connected together using the connection parts as described above to form an assembly.

(24) In addition to the resilient arms 108, each module 104 includes a male connector at a first end 110a and a female connector at a second end 110b. The male and female connectors 110a, 110b can have any suitable construction and allow modules to be releasably connected together end-to-end as shown in FIG. 7. It will be readily appreciated that the modules 102 can also be connected together side-by-side using the resilient arms 108 in the same manner as the modules 2. In one arrangement, a plurality of modules 102 can be connected together using the arms 108 to form a first sub-assembly and a plurality of modules can be connected together using the arms to form a second sub-assembly. The sub-assemblies can then be connected together using the male and female connectors 110a, 110b.

(25) With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, an assembly 1 is constructed from a plurality of modules 2a-2n (or modules 102) all having the same construction and connected together as described above.

(26) Once the modules have been connected together, they can be manipulated by the user to adopt different profiles.

(27) FIG. 8 shows the assembly 1 with a substantially ∩-shaped profile where the assembly 1 forms an enclosed space 12 in which pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, degus, hamsters etc. can conveniently shelter when the assembly is placed in a hutch or enclosure. The assembly 1 shown in FIG. 8 also includes an end module 14 with a substantially cylindrical body but no connection means. Such an end module 14 is entirely optional but makes the overall assembly more symmetrical in appearance and can prevent the connection means 6 from being damaged.

(28) FIG. 9 shows the assembly 1 with a substantially L-shaped profile which can be fitted into a corner of a hutch or enclosure. (In FIG. 9 it will be understood that the assembly 1 is being viewed from above, i.e., looking down towards the floor of the hutch or enclosure.)

(29) All of the modules 2a-2n can contain a thermal store. But in one arrangement, only some of the modules will contain a thermal store and the body of the remaining modules will be empty or formed of a solid material.

(30) The assembly 1 can be covered by a fleece cover (not shown).

(31) The assembly 1 can be heated or cooled, e.g., by placing the assembly in a microwave or freezer. The heated or cooled thermal stores will remain in a heated or cooled state for a period of time, during which the assembly 1 can be used to provide heating or cooling, respectively.