Dielectric dryer drum
First Claim
1. A method for heating a load including an absorbed medium, said method comprising the steps of:
- heating said load and medium within a rotating enclosure by subjecting said load and medium to an AC electrical field originated from an RF power source and embodied as a capacitor;
wherein said load becomes substantially free from said medium after being heated, due to release of said medium from said load;
controlling said heating by taking real time impedance measurements and by controlling parameters of the RF power source in real time based upon said measurements; and
terminating said heating when said load reaches a preselected degree of freedom from said medium.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for heating an object 9 that includes an absorbed medium. A method embodiment comprises: placing the object 9 including the medium into an enclosure 16; initiating a heating process by subjecting the object 9 and medium to a capacitive AC electrical field generated by an RF power source 2 at a single low frequency; controlling the heating process by taking real time measurements; and making real time adjustments to the RF power source 2 in response to the real time measurements. The object 9 substantially absorbs the medium in a first “cool” state, and therefore has a maximum weight in the first “cool” state. The object 9 is substantially free from the medium in a second “heated” state, due to substantial release of the medium from the object 9. The released medium is evaporated during the heating process. The heating process is completed when the object 9 is substantially transitioned into the second “heated” state. The method further comprises causing an air flow 11 inside the enclosure 16 to carry away evaporated medium out of the enclosure 16.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A method for heating a load including an absorbed medium, said method comprising the steps of:
-
heating said load and medium within a rotating enclosure by subjecting said load and medium to an AC electrical field originated from an RF power source and embodied as a capacitor;
wherein said load becomes substantially free from said medium after being heated, due to release of said medium from said load;controlling said heating by taking real time impedance measurements and by controlling parameters of the RF power source in real time based upon said measurements; and terminating said heating when said load reaches a preselected degree of freedom from said medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. Apparatus for heating a load including an absorbed medium, said apparatus comprising:
-
an RF power source adapted to generate a capacitive AC electrical field within a rotating enclosure, wherein the load and medium are positioned within the AC electrical field, and the AC electrical field causes heating of the load and medium until the load becomes substantially free from the medium due to release of the medium from the load to a preselected degree; coupled to the AC electrical field, sensors including an impedance sensor for taking real time measurements of conditions within the enclosure; and coupled to the sensors and to the RF power source, a control module for terminating activation of the RF power source when the sensors have indicated to the control module that the load has reached a preselected degree of freedom from the medium. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
Specification