Unisia Jecs Corporation

Miyagawa Kasei Industry Co., Ltd.

Takeo Shimada

Masatoshi Yanase

Kiyoshi Matsushita

In a ceramic heater applicable to an oxygen concentration sensor used to detect an oxygen concentration sensor in an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, a heating pattern constituted by an electrically resistive body comprises a plurality of radially extended segments on an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical main body made of a ceramic material. Since a length of an axially extended segment of the heating pattern on the cylindrical main body is excessively short, a tip of a squeege can be prevented from pressing a mask used to make, for example, a curved surface printing using an electrically resistive conductive paste.

Ceramic heater and its manufacturing method

In order to produce a ceramic heater for an oxygen sensor, a method is used, which comprises the steps of: (a) molding a green cylindrical object from a ceramic material which contains a binder; (b) provisionally baking the green cylindrical object at a relatively lower temperature thereby to produce an insufficiently baked cylindrical object, the lower temperature being sufficient for removing the binder from the cylindrical object; (c) printing a heater pattern on a cylindrical surface of the insufficiently baked cylindrical object, the heater pattern being constructed of an electrically conductive material; (d) coating the printed cylindrical surface of the insufficiently baked cylindrical object with a green protection layer thereby to produce a layer-coated cylindrical object; and (e) baking said layer-coated cylindrical object at a relatively higher temperature sufficient for baking the insufficiently baked cylindrical object, the heater pattern and the green protection layer.

Method of producing ceramic heater for oxygen sensor

A ceramic heater and a method for producing the ceramic heater. The ceramic heater includes a ceramic heater core formed in a rod shape having a bore extending axially through the heater core. The heater core has a pair of flattened portion near the rear end of the heater core. A conductive heater pattern is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the heater core. The heater pattern includes end portions formed on the respective flattened portions. The ceramic heater also includes a protective layer formed to cover the heater pattern except for the end portions, and flattened conductive terminals formed on the respective end patterns.

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Atsugi, Japan

Takeo Shimada