Heating pad

摘要

An improved heating pad which minimizes or eliminates skin burns due to improper uses in three ways: by monitoring an absolute temperature of each surface of the heating pad; by monitoring a temperature difference between each surface of the heating pad, where a small temperature difference indicates that both sides of the heating pad are covered; and by monitoring the duty cycle of a heating element, where a large off portion of the duty cycle indicates both sides of the heating pad are covered.

主权项

1. A method of monitoring a heating pad to prevent skin burns comprising:
measuring a first surface temperature (T1) of the heating pad, wherein the first surface is a surface of the heating pad which is positioned adjacent to a surface of a body; measuring a second surface temperature (T2) of the heating pad, wherein the second surface faces away from the surface of the body; and automatically determining if the second surface is improperly covered by comparing the first surface temperature (T1) and the second surface temperature (T2), wherein when a temperature difference (Tdiff=T1−T2) is less than a minimum temperature difference (Tdiff,min) the heating pad shuts off.