IP Library Granted Patent US 10,362,637
Granted Patent B2
US 10,362,637 · App. 15/817,573 · Granted Jul 23, 2019

Integrated heater and sensor system

Inventors: Jacob Lindley (St. Louis, MO); Cal Swanson (St. Louis, MO)
Assignee: Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company
H05B1/0233H05B1/0202H05B3/0014H05B3/26H05B3/42H05B2203/005H05B2203/009H05B2203/011H05B2203/013H05B2203/017H05B2213/03H05B2213/07
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,362,637
App. No.
15/817,573
Granted
Jul 23, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure provides a thermal system that includes an array of heating resistor circuits having first termination ends and second termination ends, and a plurality of nodes connected to the heating resistor circuits at the first and second termination ends. The thermal system further includes power wires to provide power to the heating resistor circuits and signal wires to sense a temperature of each of the heating resistor circuits. Each node is connected to a power wire and to a signal wire, and a number of heating resistor circuits is greater than or equal to a number of power wires and to a number of the signal wires.

Claims (37)

1. A thermal system comprising:

an array of heating resistor circuits, each of the heating resistor circuits having a first termination end and a second termination end;

a plurality of nodes that connect to the array of heating resistor circuits at each of the first and second termination ends;

a plurality of power wires to provide power to the array of heating resistor circuits; and

a plurality of signal wires to sense a temperature of each of the heating resistor circuits,

wherein each of the plurality of nodes is connected to a power wire from among the plurality of power wires and to a signal wire from among the plurality of signal wires, and

wherein a number of heating resistor circuits is greater than or equal to a number of power wires and to a number of the signal wires.

2. The thermal system of claim 1 further comprising a control system coupled to the plurality of power wires and configured to provide power to at least one of the heating resistor circuits by way of the power wires.

3. The thermal system of claim 2 , wherein the control system is configured to selectively apply power or a ground signal to the plurality of nodes by way of the power wires.

4. The thermal system of claim 2 , wherein the control system is coupled to the plurality of signal wires and configured to measure a resistance of each of the heating resistor circuits by way of the signal wires, and calculate the temperature of each of the heating resistor circuits based on the measured resistance.

5. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits is six, and the number of power wires and signal wires is four.

6. The thermal system of claim 1 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits is three, and the number of power wires and signal wires is three.

7. 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.

8. The thermal system of claim 7 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.

9. The thermal system of claim 1 further comprising:

a heater secured to a heating target; and

at least one tuning layer disposed proximate the heater,

wherein the heater and the at least one tuning layer includes at least one heating resistor circuit of the plurality of heating resistor circuits.

10. A thermal system comprising:

an array of heating resistor circuits, each of the heating resistor circuits having a first termination end and a second termination end;

a plurality of nodes that connect to the array of heating resistor circuits at each of the first and second termination ends;

a plurality of power wires to provide power to the array of heating resistor circuits, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is connected to a power wire from among the plurality of power wires;

a plurality of signal wires to sense a temperature of the array of heater resistor circuits, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is connected to a signal wire from among the plurality of signal wires; and

a control system coupled to the plurality of power wires and the plurality of signal wires, wherein the control system is configured to selectively supply power to the plurality of nodes by way of the power wires and to sense a temperature of the heating resistor circuits by way of the signal wires.

11. The thermal system of claim 10 , wherein a number of the power wires and a number of the signal wires is equal to a number of the nodes, and the number of the heating resistor circuits is greater than or equal to the number of the nodes.

12. The thermal system of claim 11 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits is six, and the number of power wires, signal wires, and nodes is four.

13. The thermal system of claim 11 , wherein the number of heating resistor circuits is three, and the number of power wires, signal wires, and nodes is three.

14. The thermal system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a set point for each of the heating resistor circuits and control power to the heating resistor circuits based on the set point.

15. The thermal system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to measure a resistance of each of the heating resistor circuits by way of the signal wires, and calculate the temperature of each of the heating resistor circuits based on the measured resistance.

16. The thermal system of claim 15 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a resistance set point for each of the heating resistor circuits and control the power to the heating resistor circuits based on the resistance set point.

17. The thermal system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a time window for each of the heating resistor circuits, wherein the time window is a time period allotted to power the heating resistor circuit.

18. The thermal system of claim 10 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 thermal 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 thermal system of claim 10 further comprising:

a heater secured to a heating target; and

at least one tuning layer disposed proximate the heater,

wherein the heater and the at least one tuning layer includes at least one heating resistor circuit of the plurality of heating resistor circuits.

Assignments (2)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (SHORT FORM) Recorded Mar 3, 2021
From: WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY
To: BANK OF MONTREAL, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 055479/0708 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 21, 2018
From: LINDLEY, JACOB; SWANSON, CAL
To: WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Reel/Frame 045857/0767 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 14925330 · Oct 28, 2015
Related Publication 20180077752A1 · Mar 15, 2018
Cited By (1)
US 12,452,962