Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company

Mark Denis Everly

Jeremy Ohse

David P Culbertson

Louis P Steinhauser

Richard T Williams

Sanhong Zhang

George F Jambor

James N Pradun

Jacob Wilson

Mark L G Hoven

Cal Thomas Swanson

Jacob Robert Lindley

Scott H Boehmer

Jeremy J Quandt

Patrick Margavio

Philip Steven Schmidt

Jake Spooler

Magdi K Khair

Brittany Phillips

Miranda Pizzella

Mike Bange

Paul Valachovic

Michael W Ruhr

Brett Bradshaw

Richard T Williams, Jr

Melissa Lanham

Kevin Ptasienski

Julian C Tan

Paul Douglas Free

Roger Brummell

Dennis P Long

Mark Hoven

Robert K Frake

John Lilleland

Ethan Dinauer

Satya Tatavarthy

Bret Wadewitz

John Rohde

Andrew D Selvy

Troy Ruben Bolton

Scott Yarbrough

Phillip S Schmidt

Michael A Jones

Mike Stewart

Chris Lanham

Tom Kupiszewski

Mitchell T Diaco

Gerald S Jackson

Christopher Meyers

Jeffrey R Diestelmeier

Julian Tan

Jeffrey Diestelmeier

Mark L Hoven

Jacob Liindley

Mark Lg Hoven

John P Rohde

A termination assembly for a heater assembly includes a plurality of resistive heaters arranged in discrete power phases, each resistive heater comprising a resistive heating element surrounded by dielectric material and a sheath. The termination assembly includes a plurality of electrically nonconductive members. Each electrically nonconductive member includes a plurality of apertures configured to receive power pins of the plurality of resistive heaters. The termination assembly includes a plurality of connectors configured to connect the power pins to the electrically nonconductive members. Each electrically nonconductive member includes a number of the plurality of connectors corresponding to a number of power pins being terminated. The termination assembly includes an electrical circuit embedded in or disposed on at least one of the plurality of electrically nonconductive members.

Encapsulated bus circuit for fluid heating systems

A method for monitoring a surface condition of a component includes providing thermal energy to a component, determining a thermal response of the heater in response to providing the thermal energy, and determining a thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal response and the thermal response. The method includes predicting the surface condition of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, where the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristic of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component.

Method of monitoring a surface condition of a component

A control system for use in a fluid flow application includes a heater and a control device. The heater includes at least one resistive heating element having a relationship between resistance and temperature defining a non-monotonic curve. The heater is to heat fluid flow. The control device is to determine a flow characteristic of the fluid flow and a temperature of the at least one resistive heating element along the non-monotonic curve between resistance and temperature based on a change in resistance of the at least one resistive heating element.

Dual-purpose heater and fluid flow measurement system

An exhaust gas heater system for an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine includes a housing and a heating element. The housing includes an outer peripheral wall disposed about a central axis and defining an interior hollow space configured to receive exhaust gas from an exhaust pipe of the exhaust system such that the exhaust gas flows through the interior hollow space. The heating element is positioned within the hollow space and including a first end and a second end. The heating element includes a first section proceeding in a first direction and a second section proceeding in a second direction. The support structure is configured to extend along a path conforming to a path of the first and second sections.

High power density insulated exhaust heating system

A heater bundle includes a plurality of heater assemblies, at least one of the heater assemblies including a plurality of heater units, at least one of the heater units defining at least one independently controlled heating zone. A thermal provision is configured to modify a thermal conductance along a length of the at least one heater assembly to compensate for non-uniform temperatures within at least one heater unit. The heater bundle includes a power supply device including a controller configured to modulate power to the independently controlled heating zone through the power conductors based on the determined temperature to provide a desired power output along a length of at least one heater assembly.

Heater bundles for thermal gradient compensation

A method of controlling a heating system includes providing at least one heater assembly having a plurality of heater units, each heater unit defining an independently controlled heating zone, supplying power to the independently controlled heating zones through a plurality of power conductors that are electrically connected to each of the independently controlled heating zones, determining a temperature, and modulating power supplied to the independently controlled heating zones through the power conductors based on the determined temperature to provide a desired power output along a length of the heater assembly.

Heater bundle for adaptive control

A heater system includes an integrated heater device and a control system. The integrated heater device includes a thermocouple for measuring temperature and one or more multiportion resistive elements that are operable as heaters to create a temperature differential between the fluid and air to detect the fluid, and as sensors to measure a fluid level. The control device operates the integrated heater device as a sensor or heater based on one or more performance characteristics of the heater system and self-calibrates the heater device.

Sensor system and integrated heater-sensor for measuring and controlling performance of a heater system

A control system for use in a fluid flow application includes a heater and a control device. The heater has at least one resistive heating element and the heater is operable to heat fluid. The control device determines at least one flow characteristic of a fluid flow based on a heat loss of the at least one resistive heating element and determines a mass flow rate of the fluid based on the at least one flow characteristic and a property of the at least one resistive heating element. And the property of the at least one resistive heating element includes a change in resistance of the at least one resistive heating element under a given heat flux density.

A heater includes a flow guide and a plurality of electrical resistance heating elements. The flow guide defines a continuous geometric helicoid disposed about a longitudinal axis of the heater assembly. The flow guide defines a predetermined pattern of perforations that extend in a longitudinal direction through a first longitudinal length of the geometric helicoid, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the longitudinal axis. The plurality of electrical resistance heating elements extend through the perforations. At least one electrical resistance heating element of the plurality of electrical resistance heating elements has a first region with a first watt density and a second region with a second watt density. The second region is located farther in the longitudinal direction than the first region. The second watt density is less than the first watt density.

Continuous helical baffle heat exchanger

An exhaust gas heater system for an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine includes a housing and a heating element. The housing includes an outer peripheral wall disposed about a central axis and defining an interior hollow space configured to receive exhaust gas from an exhaust pipe of the exhaust system such that the exhaust gas flows through the interior hollow space. The heating element is positioned within the hollow space and including a first end and a second end. The heating element forms a zig-zag shape extending in a radial direction relative to the central axis.

A heater system includes a heater bundle. The heater bundle includes a plurality of heater assemblies. Each heater assembly includes a plurality of heater units and an insulating material, and each heater unit defines at least one independently controlled heating zone. The heater bundle includes power conductors electrically connected to each of the independently controlled heating zones in each of the heater units. The heater bundle includes a power supply device configured to modulate power to each of the independently controlled heater zones of the heater units through the power conductors. A voltage is selectively supplied to each of the independently controlled heating zones such that a reduced number of independently controlled heating zones receives the voltage at a time or at least a subset of the independently controlled heating zones receive a reduced voltage at all times.

Heater bundle for adaptive control and method of reducing current leakage

A heater system includes a heater bundle having a plurality of heater assemblies and a plurality of power conductors. More than one of the heater assemblies includes a plurality of heater units, and more than one of the heater units defines at least one independently controlled heating zone. The plurality of power conductors are electrically connected to the independently controlled heating zones. The heater system further includes means for determining temperature, and a power supply device including a controller configured to modulate power to the independently controlled heating zones through the power conductors based on the determined temperature to provide a desired power output along a length of more than one of the heater assemblies.

An exhaust gas heating unit for an engine includes a housing and a heating element. The housing includes a tubular peripheral wall and has an interior hollow space. The heating element has first and second ends and extends longitudinally therebetween to form a spiral shape within the interior hollow space. The heating element includes a thermally conductive sheath, an electrically conductive resistance element that extends longitudinally within the external sheath, and an electrically insulating material disposed about the resistance element between the resistance element and the sheath. A heat transfer member is positioned within the interior hollow space and is formed from one or more strips of thermally conductive material. The strips contact the external sheath at a plurality of locations between the first end and the second end. The heat transfer member has a corrugated shape that follows the spiral shape of the heating element.

A heater system is provided. The system includes a resistive element with a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of at least about 1,000 ppm such that the resistive element functions as a heater and as a temperature sensor and the resistive element is a material having greater than about 95% nickel. The system also includes a heater control module including a two-wire controller with a power control module that is configured to periodically compare a measured resistance value of the resistive element against a reference temperature to adjust for resistance drift over time during operation such that a temperature drift of the resistive element is less than about 1% over a temperature range of about 500&#xb0; C.-1,000&#xb0; C.

Electric heaters with low drift resistance feedback

A method includes providing thermal energy to a component, determining a thermal response of the component in response to providing the thermal energy, and determining a thermal characteristic of the component based on a reference thermal response and the thermal response. The method includes predicting a surface condition of the component based on the thermal characteristic and a predictive analytic model, where the predictive analytic model correlates the thermal characteristic of the component to an estimated surface condition of the component.

Growing community of inventors

St. Charles, MO, United States of America

Mark Denis Everly