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:
Apr. 21, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 25, 1996
Michel Gschwind, Plascassier, FR;
Pascal Ancey, Grasse, FR;
Imra Europe SA, Valbonne, FR;
Abstract
A method of predicting the formation of water condensation on a surface in contact with humid air includes the steps of placing on the surface an element that adopts initially a temperature approximately equal to a temperature of the surface. The element is thermally cycled. Each cycle includes a cooling phase and a heating phase. The cooling phase includes first and second steps. Electric current is supplied to a cooling mechanism in the first step of the cooling phase to decrease the temperature of the element to below the temperature of the surface. An electric current is supplied to the cooling mechanism in the second step of the cooling phase to further decrease the temperature of the element. The current of the first step is greater than the current of the second step, such that the temperature of the element decreases more rapidly in the first step than in the second step. The formation of water condensation on the surface is predicted based upon the formation of water condensation on the element.