Positive temperature coefficient thermistor heat generator
First Claim
1. A positive temperature coefficient thermistor heat generator comprising:
- a high output heating element for heating an object to be heated;
temperature control means being thermally coupled with said object and connected in series with said high output heating element for deenergizing said high output heating element when the temperature of said object exceeds a target temperature while energizing said high output heating element when the temperature of said object is reduced from said target temperature by a prescribed value; and
a positive temperature coefficient thermistor being connected in parallel with said high output heating element and said temperature control means and thermally coupled with said object, a Curie point of said positive temperature coefficient thermistor being set so as to extract an output for maintaining said object at said target temperature even when said high output heating element is not energized.
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Abstract
A heat generator is formed to quickly raise the temperature of an object to be heated to a target level and then maintain the temperature of the object at the target level. The heat generator includes a high output heating element for heating the object to be heated, a temperature controller which is thermally coupled with the object and connected in series with the high output heating element for deenergizing the high output heating element when the temperature of the object exceeds the target level while energizing the high output heating element when the temperature of the object is reduced from the target level by a prescribed value, and a positive temperature coefficient thermistor which is thermally coupled with the object and connected in parallel with the high output heating element and the temperature controller, the thermistor having a Curie point set so as to produce an output capable of maintaining the object at the target temperature even when the high output heating element is deenergized.
38 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A positive temperature coefficient thermistor heat generator comprising:
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a high output heating element for heating an object to be heated; temperature control means being thermally coupled with said object and connected in series with said high output heating element for deenergizing said high output heating element when the temperature of said object exceeds a target temperature while energizing said high output heating element when the temperature of said object is reduced from said target temperature by a prescribed value; and a positive temperature coefficient thermistor being connected in parallel with said high output heating element and said temperature control means and thermally coupled with said object, a Curie point of said positive temperature coefficient thermistor being set so as to extract an output for maintaining said object at said target temperature even when said high output heating element is not energized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A heat generator comprising:
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a high output heating element for heating an object; a temperature controller thermally coupled with the object and connected to the high output heating element to deenergize the high output heating element when the object reaches a target temperature; and a positive thermal coefficient thermistor being connected to the high output heating element and the temperature controller and thermally coupled with the object so that the high output heating element and the positive thermal coefficient thermistor jointly heat the object, the positive thermal coefficient thermistor being formed so as to reduce an amount of power consumed by the positive thermal coefficient thermistor when a temperature of the positive thermal coefficient thermistor is within a temperature control region and to maintain the object at the target temperature even when the high output heating element has been deenergized by the temperature controller in response to the object reaching the target temperature. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of heating an object, the method comprising the steps of:
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supplying power to a high output heating element and a positive thermal coefficient thermistor each thermally coupled to the object so that the high output heating element and the positive thermal coefficient thermistor jointly heat the object; damping power consumption of the positive thermal coefficient thermistor when a temperature of the positive thermal coefficient thermistor is within a temperature control region; stopping a supply of power to the high output heating element when a temperature of the object reaches a target temperature; maintaining the object at the target temperature by continuing the supply of power to the positive thermal coefficient thermistor. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification