Cassette PTC semiconductor heating apparatus

• US 5,377,298 A
• Filed: 04/21/1993
• Issued: 12/27/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Chiung-Hsiang Yang
• Original Assignee: Chiung-Hsiang Yang
• Inventors: Yang, Chiung-hsiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Walberg, Teresa J.
• Application Number:
  US08/049,351
• Time in Patent Office: 615 Days
• Field of Search: 219/202, 219/504, 219/505, 219/530, 219/532, 392/360-369, 392/403
• US Class Current: 392/360
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/02 Heaters using heating elements having a positive temperature coefficient
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 3/148 Silicon, e.g. silicon carbide, magnesium silicide, heating transistors or diodes

Abstract

A PTC semiconductor heating device includes: two half shells combinable for forming a housing of the semiconductor heating device, a plurality of linear arrays of PTC semiconductor heating elements parallelly mounted in the housing with each linear array containing a plurality of PTC semiconductor heating elements longitudinally disposed in a side-by-side linear arrangement in said housing and each linear array of PTC heating elements being sandwiched in between every two neighboring thermally and electrically conducting units respectively connected to two poles of a power source and longitudinally juxtapositionally mounted in the housing each thermally and electrically conducting unit including a corrugated fin plate formed with a plurality of continuous square waves and clamped by a pair of conducting plates, and a plurality of resilient embedding plates each embedding plate resiliently inserted in between every two neighboring thermally and electrically conducting units for firmly tensioning, packing and retaining all the PTC heating elements, the conducting units and the embedding plate in the housing to eliminate any welding or bonding joint processing for their assembly for saving production cost and enhancing heating efficiency thereof.

Claims

1. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus comprising:

a first half shell and a second half shell each half shell having a base socket recessed therein and both shells combinable for forming a housing;

a plurality of linear arrays of PTC semiconductor heating elements parallelly embedded in said base sockets in said housing with each said linear array of PTC semiconductor heating elements containing a plurality of PTC semiconductor heating elements longitudinally disposed in a side-by-side linear arrangement in said base sockets of said housing, each said linear array of PTC semiconductor heating elements sandwiched in between two neighbouring thermally and electrically conducting units longitudinally juxtapositionally mounted in the housing;

two said thermally and electrically conducting units disposed on two opposite sides of each said linear array of said PTC semiconductor heating elements electrically connected to two poles of a power source; and

a plurality of resilient embedding plates each said embedding plate inserted in between every two neighbouring thermally and electrically conducting units for firmly squeezing, packing and retaining said conducting units and said PTC semiconductor heating elements in said housing without welding and bonding joining.

2. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first half shell is made of heat resistant and electrically insulative materials and includes:

a first base socket recessed in a central portion of the first half shell to form a first frame circumferentially disposed around the first base socket, a first grating formed with crosslinking net structure secured to an outer edge portion of the first frame having a plurality of first ventilation holes formed in the first grating, a plurality of first terminal slits longitudinally recessed in a side portion of the first frame, and a plurality of tenons formed on the first frame, with said first grating extrapolatively defining a plane generally perpendicular to an air flow direction through the ventilation holes in the first half shell.

3. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said first half shell is formed with a plurality of pin holes engageable with a plurality of first coupling pins of a first hood member for securing the first hood member with the first half shell for guiding air flow when combined with a second half shell.

4. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said second half shell is made of heat resistant and electrically insulative materials and includes:

a second base socket recessed in a central portion of the second half shell to form a second frame circumferentially disposed around the second base socket, a second grating parallel to the first grating formed with crosslinking net structure secured to an outer edge portion of the second frame having a plurality of second ventilation holes formed in the second grating, a plurality of second terminal slits longitudinally recessed in a side portion of the second frame, and a plurality of tenon sockets formed in the second frame engageable with the tenons of the first half shell for combining the two half shells for forming a housing.

5. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said second half shell is formed with a plurality of pin holes engageable with a plurality of second coupling pins of a second hood member for securing the second hood member with the second half shell for guiding air flow when combined with the first half shell.

6. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said first half shell as combined with the second half shell to form a housing confines an air duct within the first and the second base sockets in said housing having a housing axis transversely defined in a center portion of the housing and being parallel to an air flow direction when blown by a fan into the air duct in the housing.

7. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said power source having two poles electrically connected to a first electrode terminal plate and a second electrode terminal plate respectively connected through two fuses to two thermally and electrically conducting units disposed on two opposite sides of each said PTC semiconductor heating element, each said terminal plate inserted in a terminal slit recessed in either of the two shells of the housing.

8. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each said thermally and electrically conducting unit includes:

an elongated fin plate corrugated and continuously wound with a plurality of square waves sandwiched in between two elongated conducting plates, each said thermally and electrically conducting unit embedded in the base sockets of the housing being juxtapositional to each side of each said PTC semiconductor heating element and to be tangential to an air flow direction in the housing.

9. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein one said elongated conducting plate is contacted with a first electrode surface of one said PTC semiconductor heating element having a bending edge portion formed on one end portion of the conducting plate to connect a first fuse which is connected to a first electrode terminal plate connectable to a first pole of a power source;

and another elongated conducting plate is connectable to a second electrode surface of the PTC semiconductor heating element having a bending edge portion formed on one end portion of the conducting plate to connect a second fuse which is connected to a second electrode terminal plate connected with a second pole of the power source for directing electric current through two electrode surfaces of each PTC heating element for producing heat.

10. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each said elongated fin plate includes a latitudinal blade portion continuously integrally connected with a longitudinal blade portion to be perpendicular to each other, each said latitudinal blade portion followed with each said longitudinal blade portion being repeatedly wound to form a plurality of continuous square-wave forms to form a plurality of ventilation passages through the blade portions to be communicated with a plurality of ventilation holes formed in said first and a second half shells for passing air flow therethrough, with each said longitudinal blade portion planarly contacting each said elongated conducting plate abutting the fin plate for a better heat transfer between the fin plate and conducting plate.

11. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each said resilient embedding plate is made of electrically conductive and thermally conductive materials, and includes:

an elongated flat plate member having a plurality of protrusions directly transversely punched on the elongated flat plate member to have a longitudinal projective view of the protrusions alternatively sinuously protruded from the flat plate member for a balancing elastic insertion of each embedding plate in between every two neighbouring thermally and electrically conducting units to firmly retain all the PTC heating elements and the conducting units into the sockets in the housing as squeezed by the embedding plates longitudinally juxtaposed in the sockets of the housing.

12. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 11, wherein each said protrusion of the embedding plate member has two taper portions tapered transversely towards two side edge portions of the flat plate member for an easy insertion of the embedding plate into an aperture between every two thermally and electrically conducting units when embedded in the sockets of the housing.

13. A PTC semiconductor heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each said linear array of the PTC semiconductor heating elements has a width slightly smaller than a width of a grating formed in each said half shell to allow each said grating to shield each said array of PTC semiconductor heating elements.