Electric line

• US 8,456,272 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2011
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gentherm GmbH (Gentherm Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: W.E.T. Automotive AG
• Inventors: Rauh, Hans-Georg, Krobok, Martin, Wei, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, KYUNG S
• Application Number:
  US13/181,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20120013433A1
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• Field of Search: 338/296, 338/214, 219/549, 219/528, 174/128.1, 174/36
• US Class Current: 338/296
• CPC Class Codes: H01C 13/00 Resistors not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/003 using serpentine layout
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/007 using multiple electrically connected resistive elements or resistive zones
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/011 Heaters using laterally extending conductive material as connecting means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/013 Heaters using resistive films or coatings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/014 Heaters using resistive wires or cables not provided for in H05B3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/017 Manufacturing methods or apparatus for heaters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/033 Heater including particular mechanical reinforcing means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 3/34 flexible, e.g. heating nets or webs

Abstract

An electric line comprising: at least one conducting substrate including at least two heating fields of different width, at least one shared contacting device, wherein the conducting substrate includes a coating material disclosed on the conducting substrate that forms the at least two heating fields, and the same coating material is disposed on the at least two heating fields, and wherein an electrical conductivity of the coating material on one of the at least two heating fields is different than a second one of the at least two heating fields of different width so that upon application of the coating material on the at least two heating fields, each of the at least two heating fields have an identical electrical resistance, and wherein the at least one shared contacting device connects the at least two heating fields to an electrical potential by one or more connection lines.

Claims

1. An electric line comprising:

at least one conducting substrate including at least two heating fields of a different width,

at least one shared contacting device including;

a coating material disposed on the conducting substrate that forms the at least two heating fields, and wherein the same coating material is disposed on the at least two heating fields, and

wherein the coating material is applied to the at least two heating fields in a sufficient amount so that each of the at least two heating fields have an identical electrical resistance, and

wherein the at least one shared contacting device connects the at least two heating fields to an electrical potential by one or more connection lines.

2. An electric line device according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two heating fields have a different amount of layers of the coating material.

3. An electric line according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two heating fields have a different thickness of the coating material.

4. An electric line according to claim 1, wherein the at least two heating fields are rectangular in shape.

5. An electric line according to claim 2, wherein each of the at least two heating fields have a different length, forming a heating field with a longest length and a heating field with a shortest length, and

wherein the heating field with the shortest length has the least amount of layers of the coating material and the heating field with the longest length has the largest amount of layers of the coating material.

6. An electric line according to claim 3, wherein each of the at least two heating fields have a different length, forming a heating field with a longest length and a heating field with a shortest length, and

wherein the heating field with the shortest length has a smallest thickness of the coating material and a heating field with the longest length has a biggest thickness of the coating material.

7. An electric line according to claim 1, wherein the at least one shared contacting device is an electrode.

8. An electric line according to claim 1, wherein the electrical potential is a pole of a battery.

9. An electric line according to claim 1, wherein the at least one shared contacting device forms a curve.

10. An electric line comprising:

at least one conducting substrate including at least two heating fields of a different width,

at least one shared contacting device, and

a coating material disposed on the at least one conducting substrate in each of the at least two heating fields of different widths;

wherein the at least one shared contacting device connects the at least two heating fields to an electrical potential by one or more connection lines; and

wherein at least one of the at least one conducting substrate includes one or more conductive particles, and an adjacent one of the at least one conducting substrate is made of one or more conductive particles so that a conductivity of the at least one of the at least one conducting substrate and the adjacent one of the at least one conducting substrate are different so that upon application of the electrical potential in the at least two heating fields, each of the at least two heating fields have an identical electrical resistance.

11. An electric line according to claim 10, wherein the conducting substrate differs by concentrations of the conductive particles.

12. An electric line according to claim 10, wherein the conducting substrate differs by size of the conductive particles.

13. An electric line according to claim 10, wherein the conducting substrate differs by shape of the conductive particles.

14. An electric line according to claim 10, wherein the conducting substrate differs by conductivity of the conductive particles.

15. An electric line according to claim 10, wherein the conducting substrate differs by orientation of the conductive particles.

16. An electric line according to claim 15, wherein at least one resistance zone of the at least two heating fields has a different orientation of the conductive particles.

20. An electric line according to claim 15, wherein each of the at least two heating fields have a different number of connection points between the plurality of conductive particles.

17. An electric line comprising:

at least one substrate including at least two heating fields of a different width, and

a coating material disposed on the at least one substrate in each of the at least two heating fields of different widths;

wherein a plurality of conductive particles forms the coating material disposed on the at least one substrate,

wherein a degree of cross-linking of the plurality of conductive particles differs in each of the at least two heating fields so that a conductivity of each of the at least two heating fields is essentially identical.

18. An electric line according to claim 17, wherein the electric line further comprises at least one shared contacting device.

19. An electric line according to claim 17, wherein the one or more heating fields have a different length.