Integrated heater and sensor system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9826574-B2
Application number	US-201514925330-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2015
Priority date	Oct 28, 2015
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

A thermal system includes a plurality of resistor circuits that define a number of resistor circuits R n . The thermal system also has a plurality of nodes that connect the plurality of resistor circuits and define a number of nodes N n . A plurality of power wires are connected to each of the plurality of nodes, and the plurality of power wires define a number of power wires P n . A plurality of signal wires connect to each of the plurality of nodes to sense the temperature of each of the resistor circuits, and the plurality of signal wires define a number of signal wires S n . The number of power wires P n and the number of signal wires S n is equal to the number of nodes N n , and the number of resistor circuits R n is greater than or equal to the number of nodes N n .

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A thermal system comprising:
a plurality of heating resistor circuits, each of the heating resistor circuits having a first termination end and a second termination end, the plurality of heating resistor circuits defining a number of heating resistor circuits R n ;
a plurality of nodes that connect the plurality of heating resistor circuits at each of the first and second termination ends, the plurality of nodes defining a number of nodes N n ;
a plurality of power wires connected to each of the plurality of nodes to provide power to the plurality of heating resistor circuits, the plurality of power wires defining a number of power wires P n ;
a plurality of signal wires connected to each of the plurality of nodes to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of heating resistor circuits, the plurality of signal wires defining a number of signal wires S n ; and
wherein the number of power wires P n and the number of signal wires S n is equal to the number of nodes N n , and the number of heating resistor circuits R n is greater than or equal to the number of nodes N n .

2. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heating resistor circuits each comprise a resistive heating element.

3. The thermal system of claim 2 , wherein the resistive heating element is selected from the group consisting of a layered heating element, an etched foil element, or a wire wound element.

4. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the signal wires comprise a platinum material.

5. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits R n is six, and the number of power wires P n , signal wires S n , and nodes N n is four.

6. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits R n is three, and the number of power wires P n , signal wires S n , and nodes N n is three.

7. The thermal system of claim 1 , further comprising a sensing element connected to the signal wires.

8. The thermal system of claim 7 , wherein the sensing element is a thermocouple.

9. The thermal system of claim 7 , wherein the sensing element is a resistance temperature detector.

10. The thermal system of claim 1 , further comprising a first auxiliary signal wire connected to the heating resistor circuit at a location between the first and second termination ends of the heating resistor circuit to sense the temperature of a portion of the heating resistor circuit between the first auxiliary signal wire and the signal wires.

11. The thermal system of claim 10 , further comprising a second auxiliary signal wire connected to the heating resistor circuit at a second location between the first and second termination ends of the heating resistor circuit to sense the temperature of a portion of the heating resistor circuit between the first auxiliary signal wire and the second auxiliary wire.

12. The thermal system of claim 1 , further comprising a control circuit connected to the plurality of nodes, wherein the control circuit is configured to provide power to at least one of the heating resistor circuits.

13. The thermal system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuit is configured to measure resistance of each of the heating resistor circuits and to calculate temperature of each of the heating resistor circuits.

14. A method of controlling temperature of a heater comprising employing the thermal system according to claim 1 .

15. A heater system comprising:
a heating target;
a heater secured to the heating target, the heater comprising a plurality of resistor circuits, and each of the heating resistor circuits having a first termination end and a second termination end, the plurality of heating resistor circuits defining a number of heating resistor circuits R n ;
a plurality of nodes that connect the plurality of heating resistor circuits at each of the first and second termination ends, the plurality of nodes defining a number of nodes N n ;
a plurality of power wires connected to each of the plurality of nodes to provide power to the plurality of heating resistor circuits, the plurality of power wires defining a number of power wires P n ;
a plurality of signal wires connected to each of the plurality of nodes to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of heating resistor circuits, the plurality of signal wires defining a number of signal wires S n ; and
wherein the number of power wires P n and the number of signal wires S n is equal to the number of nodes N n , and the number of heating resistor circuits R n is greater than or equal to the number of nodes N n .

16. The heater system of claim 15 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits R n is six, and the number of power wires P n , signal wires S n , and nodes N n is four.

17. The heater system of claim 15 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits R n is three, and the number of power wires P n , signal wires S n , and nodes N n is three.

18. The heater system of claim 15 , further comprising a first auxiliary signal wire connected to the heating resistor circuit at a location between the first and second termination ends of the heating resistor circuit to sense the temperature of a portion of the heating resistor circuit between the first auxiliary signal wire and the signal wires.

19. The heater system of claim 18 , further comprising a second auxiliary signal wire connected to the heating resistor circuit at a second location between the first and second termination ends of the heating resistor circuit to sense the temperature of a portion of the heating resistor circuit between the first auxiliary signal wire and the second auxiliary wire.

20. The heater system of claim 15 , further comprising a control circuit connected to the plurality of nodes, and wherein the control circuit is configured to provide power to at least one of the heating resistor circuits.

Assignees

• Watlow Electric Mfg

Inventors

• Lindley Jacob
• Swanson Cal

Classifications

• H05B2203/013

  Heaters using resistive films or coatings · CPC title

• H05B2203/009

  Heaters using conductive material in contact with opposing surfaces of the resistive element or resistive layer · CPC title

• H05B1/0202

  Switches · CPC title

• H05B3/0014

  Devices wherein the heating current flows through particular resistances · CPC title

• H05B3/26

  heating conductor mounted on insulating base {(for transparent areas H05B3/84, H05B3/86)} · CPC title