Importance

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Abstract

An indicator is provided for a heating unit, which heating unit may be used as a soft contact lens disinfecting means, and which includes wax as a heat transfer medium, as a temperature stabilization means, and as a heat storage medium. In accordance with the present invention, an indicator assembly for such a heating unit is provided, and which indicates to the user when the unit is energized, when the unit has reached its proper operating temperature, and when the unit has completed a heating, disinfecting cycle. The indicator assembly of the invention is in the form of a hollow plug which extends into the interior of the heating unit, and which itself is filled with wax. The plug has an indicator disc, which may be of a bright color such as red, attached to its bottom to be visible through the wax in the plug and through the transparent cover of the plug only when the wax within the plug is in a transparent molten state. Since the plug is in contact with the wax in the heating unit itself, the fact that the wax in the plug has reached a transparent molten state is an indication that the wax within the heating unit is also in a molten state, and that the heating unit has reached its operating temperature. The plug also includes a light pipe which extends through it, and which enables the user to see an electric light bulb which is buried in the wax within the interior of the heating unit, and which is energized when the heating unit is energized.

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First Claim