The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 1991
Filed:
Aug. 11, 1989
James K Roberge, Lexington, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A temperature controller for a thermal system comprises a linearized feedback loop. A linearized thermistor and heating element are disclosed. A current source adjusts the bias current of the thermistor so that the thermistor voltage is equal to a given voltage when the thermistor is at the desired temperature. When the thermistor is biased in this way, the incremental gain from temperature errors to thermistor voltage errors becomes independent of set point. The heating element includes a power regulator and a power resistor. Because temperature is a linearly related to the power dissipated in the power resistor, square-law circuitry keeps the voltage output of the power regulator linearly related to the square root of the error in the controlled temperature. In other embodiments of the invention, a voltage source adjusts the bias voltage of the thermistor so that the incremental gain from temperature errors to thermistor current errors is independent of set point.