Magnetic element temperature sensors
First Claim
1. A system for heating an object, comprising:
- a temperature sensor designed for placement in thermal contact with said object and operable for sensing the temperature of said object, said sensor comprising at least one magnetically susceptible sensor element, said sensor element operable to generate a temperature-sensitive re-magnetization response under the influence of an applied alternating magnetic field, said re-magnetization response being correlated with the temperature of said object and being different below and above a set point temperature;
apparatus for heating said object;
a detector including a device operable to generate said alternating magnetic field, and a device operable to detect said temperature-sensitive re-magnetization response generated by said at least one temperature sensor and to generate an output signal correlated with said detected re-magnetization response; and
a controller coupled with said detector and said heating apparatus and operable to receive said output signal and to control the operation of said heating apparatus in response to the output signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Small, low-cost wireless temperature sensors (26,64,96) are provided for sensing the temperature of an object (44). The temperature sensors (26,64,96) preferably include a plurality of individual, magnetically susceptible temperature sensor elements (28-34,66,92), as well as optional magnetic field-responsive data elements (38,40,20) adapted for attachment to object (44) or to a substrate (82) in turn attached to object (44). The temperature sensor elements (28-34,66,92) preferably have magnetic bodies (22,70) exhibiting a re-magnetization response under the influence of an applied alternating magnetic field, which is different below and above a set point temperature, normally the Curie temperature of the magnetic body (22) or an adjacent sheath (74,94). The temperature sensors (26,64,96) are used in conjunction with a detector (46) operable to generate a magnetic field of magnitude sufficient to cause re-magnetization responses of the temperature sensor elements (28-34,66,92) and optional data elements (38,40,20), to detect such responses, and to use the detected responses to determine the temperature of object (44) by means of a decoding algorithm. The temperature sensors (26,64,96) can be used in closed-loop heating systems (98) capable of controlling the heating of an object (114).
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A system for heating an object, comprising:
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a temperature sensor designed for placement in thermal contact with said object and operable for sensing the temperature of said object, said sensor comprising at least one magnetically susceptible sensor element, said sensor element operable to generate a temperature-sensitive re-magnetization response under the influence of an applied alternating magnetic field, said re-magnetization response being correlated with the temperature of said object and being different below and above a set point temperature; apparatus for heating said object; a detector including a device operable to generate said alternating magnetic field, and a device operable to detect said temperature-sensitive re-magnetization response generated by said at least one temperature sensor and to generate an output signal correlated with said detected re-magnetization response; and a controller coupled with said detector and said heating apparatus and operable to receive said output signal and to control the operation of said heating apparatus in response to the output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for heating an object, comprising:
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a temperature sensor designed for placement in thermal contact with said object and operable for sensing the temperature of said object, said sensor consisting essentially of at least one amorphous or nanocrystalline metallic microwire body, said body being magnetically susceptible and operable to generate a re-magnetization response under the influence of an applied alternating magnetic field, said re-magnetization response being correlated with the temperature of said object and being different below and above a set point temperature; apparatus for heating said object; a detector including a device operable to generate said alternating magnetic field, and a device operable to detect said temperature-sensitive re-magnetization response generated by said at least one temperature sensor and to generate an output signal correlated with said detected re-magnetization response; and a controller coupled with said detector and said heating apparatus and operable to receive said output signal and to control the operation of said heating apparatus in response to the output signal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification