A PTC heater

Abstract

The utility model discloses a PTC heater, including casing, heating core body, control box and controller, and heating core body is located in the casing, and the casing is connected with control box, and the controller is located in the control box, and the controller has the first board surface of being close to heating core body and the second board surface of being away from heating core body, is equipped with a plurality of welding holes of intercommunication first board surface and second board surface on the controller, is equipped with high -voltage connector and low -voltage connector on the control box, and the electrode sheet of heating core body, the plug end of high -voltage connector and the plug end of low -voltage connector all are from the first board surface through the corresponding welding hole to the second board surface and weld, and each welding point is located on the second board surface. The utility model discloses high -voltage connector, low -voltage connector and heating core body all are from the first board surface through the corresponding welding hole to the second board surface and weld, and the integration degree is high, reduces the use of connecting parts, can reduce product volume, reduce product weight while improving assembly efficiency, and each welding hole is welded on the second board surface, and the operation is convenient.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of heater technology, and in particular to a PTC heater. Background Technology

[0002] PTC ceramic, as a positive temperature coefficient semiconductor material, can generate its own heat when energized and can adaptively adjust its heating power according to the ambient temperature without overheating. It boasts advantages such as constant temperature, no open flame, safety, and environmental friendliness, making it widely used in new energy vehicles. Existing PTC air heaters with integrated controllers suffer from unreasonable controller layouts, complex heating element connection structures, and require large mounting structures for both high-voltage and low-voltage connectors. Furthermore, the high-voltage connectors and their mounting structure need to maintain an insulating distance from the cover plate, resulting in large space requirements, large product size, and heavy weight, hindering the widespread use of these heaters. Therefore, a PTC heater is urgently needed to solve these problems. Utility Model Content

[0003] To address the aforementioned problems, this utility model provides a PTC heater, comprising a housing, a heating core, a control box, and a controller. The heating core is disposed within the housing, which is connected to the control box. The controller is disposed within the control box and has a first plate surface near the heating core and a second plate surface away from the heating core. The controller has a plurality of welding holes connecting the first and second plate surfaces. The control box has a high-voltage connector and a low-voltage connector. The electrode plates of the heating core, the plug ends of the high-voltage connector, and the plug ends of the low-voltage connector all pass through the corresponding welding holes from the first plate surface to the second plate surface for welding, with each welding point located on the second plate surface.

[0004] Furthermore, a thermistor for monitoring the temperature of the heating core is provided on the first plate surface.

[0005] Furthermore, the second board surface of the controller is provided with a device mounting area, and each of the solder holes is located on both sides of the device mounting area, and the solder holes corresponding to the high-voltage connector and the low-voltage connector are located on the same side of the device mounting area.

[0006] Furthermore, the first board of the controller is provided with electronic components at a set height, and the electronic components are arranged to avoid solder holes.

[0007] Furthermore, the low-voltage connector includes a low-voltage connector body and a low-voltage plug. The housing of the low-voltage connector body is mounted on the outside of the control box, and the low-voltage connector body is connected to the controller through the low-voltage plug.

[0008] Furthermore, the housing of the low-voltage connector is mounted on the outside of the control box, and the plug end of the low-voltage connector extends into the control box and has pins bent toward the corresponding solder holes.

[0009] Furthermore, it also includes two IGBT power transistors, both of which are mounted on the control box and connected to the first panel of the controller.

[0010] Furthermore, the control box is also equipped with a grounding spring, which is installed between the heating core and the control box.

[0011] Furthermore, the heating core includes several heating tubes, each heating tube including an integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube and a heating element. The integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube includes an aluminum shell and heat dissipation strips disposed on both sides of the aluminum shell, and the heating element is disposed inside the aluminum shell.

[0012] Furthermore, a buffer layer is provided at the end of the heating core near the controller, and / or a buffer layer is provided at the end of the heating core away from the controller, with each buffer layer located between the heating core and the shell.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solution, this utility model has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art:

[0014] 1) The PTC heater provided by this utility model has a high-voltage connector, a low-voltage connector and a heating core that pass through the corresponding welding holes from the first plate to the second plate for welding. It has a high degree of integration, reduces the use of connecting parts, improves assembly efficiency, reduces product volume and weight, and each welding hole can be welded on the second plate, making it easy to operate.

[0015] 2) The PTC heater provided by this utility model has a thermistor on the first plate surface, which can collect the heat transferred from the electrode plate of the heating core and use it as the basis for temperature protection judgment, thereby improving the safety performance of the heater. Attached Figure Description

[0016] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0017] Figure 1 Exploded view of the PTC heater provided by this utility model;

[0018] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first panel of the controller in the PTC heater provided by this utility model;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second panel of the controller in the PTC heater provided by this utility model;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the low-voltage connector in the PTC heater provided by this utility model;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube in the PTC heater provided by this utility model.

[0022] 1-Housing; 2-Heating core; 21-Electrode plate; 22-Integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube; 221-Aluminum shell; 222-Heat dissipation strip; 223-Frame; 23-First buffer layer; 24-Second buffer layer; 3-Control box; 31-Cover plate; 32-First mounting hole; 33-Second mounting hole; 4-Controller; 41-First board surface; 42-Second board surface; 43-Heating core solder hole; 44-High voltage solder hole; 45-Low voltage solder hole; 5-High voltage connector; 6-Low voltage connector; 61-Low voltage connector body; 62-Low voltage plug; 7-Thermistor; 8-IGBT power transistor; 81-Fixing plate; 9-Grounding spring. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions and relative dimensions of certain parts may be enlarged for clarity.

[0024] In the description of this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connection" and "connected" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can be fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; they can be mechanical connections or electrical connections; they can be direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; they can be internal connections between two components or the interaction between two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0025] In the description of this utility model, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", "center", "horizontal", "vertical", "top", "bottom", "inner", and "outer" are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of description and simplification of operation, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model.

[0026] Furthermore, in the description of this utility model, the terms "first" and "second" are used merely for descriptive distinction and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Additionally, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

[0027] As per the instruction manual Figure 1-5 As shown, this utility model provides a PTC heater, including a housing 1, a heating core 2, a control box 3, and a controller 4. The heating core 2 is disposed inside the housing 1, and the housing 1 is connected to the control box 3. The controller 4 is disposed inside the control box 3. The controller 4 has a first plate surface 41 close to the heating core 2 and a second plate surface 42 away from the heating core 2. The controller 4 is provided with a plurality of welding holes connecting the first plate surface and the second plate surface. The control box 3 is provided with a high-voltage connector 5 and a low-voltage connector 6. The electrode plate 21 of the heating core 2, the plug end of the high-voltage connector 5, and the plug end of the low-voltage connector 6 all pass through the corresponding welding holes from the first plate surface 41 to the second plate surface 42 for welding. All welding points are located on the second plate surface 42.

[0028] Preferably, the welding holes on the controller 4 include heating core welding holes 43, high-voltage welding holes 44 and low-voltage welding holes 45, which are used to weld to the heating core 2, high-voltage connector 5 and low-voltage connector 6 respectively. The number of each welding hole is set according to the requirements. Each welding hole vertically penetrates the controller 4 and connects the first plate surface 41 and the second plate surface 42.

[0029] In an optimized implementation, electronic components are provided on both the first plate 41 and the second plate 42 of the controller 4. To avoid interference from these electronic components during soldering, a component mounting area is provided on the second plate 42 of the controller 4. The electronic components on the second plate 42 are located in the center of the component mounting area, with solder holes located on both sides of the mounting area. This allows the soldering operation to avoid interference from the electronic components. Specifically, the high-voltage solder hole 44 and the low-voltage solder hole 45 are located on the same side of the mounting area, with a gap between them to facilitate connection between the high-voltage connector 5 and the low-voltage connector 6 and the controller 4. The heating element solder hole 43 is located on the other side of the mounting area, allowing for concentrated soldering of the heating element 2.

[0030] In an optimized implementation, electronic components of a set height are mounted on the first plate 41 of the controller 4, avoiding solder holes. In this embodiment, the set height is the height of the taller electronic components connected to the controller; specifically, the set height exceeds 5mm. This means that all electronic components exceeding 5mm in height are mounted on the first plate 41 of the controller 4, avoiding solder holes. The electronic components on the second plate 42 of the controller 4 are all less than 5mm in height. This reduces the size of the control box 3 while minimizing interference with soldering operations and improving soldering efficiency.

[0031] Specifically, the controller 4 is located inside the control box 3 and is used to execute power requests from the host computer to the heating element 2, and to provide feedback on the heater's operating status to the host computer. The controller 4 controls the power of the heating element 2 by adjusting the duty cycle of the IGBT power transistor. The controller 4 includes a circuit board and various electronic components electrically connected to the circuit board. The height of each electronic component is not uniform; there are ultra-tall electronic components with a height exceeding 5mm, and there are electronic components with a height not exceeding 5mm. Concentrating the ultra-tall electronic components on one side of the controller 4 can effectively reduce the vertical volume of the control box 3, thereby reducing the product size. Solder holes are provided on the controller 4, and the heating element 2, high-voltage connector 5, and low-voltage connector 6 are directly soldered to the controller 4 to achieve electrical connection. While ensuring connection reliability, this reduces the difficulty of connecting each component to the controller 4, reduces the use of connecting parts, improves assembly efficiency, and reduces product weight. After the controller 4 is installed in the control box 3, the controller 4 is set horizontally. Then the first plate 41 and the second plate 42 are arranged horizontally. The first plate 41 faces the heating core 2, and the second plate 42 is away from the heating core 2. That is, the second plate 42 faces upward. The welding points are all distributed on the second plate 42 of the controller 4, which is convenient for welding. Moreover, the welding process, the welding inspection process, and the conformal coating process can all be completed with only one station, which helps to shorten the length of the production line.

[0032] In an optimized implementation, the controller 4 is further equipped with a thermistor 7 for monitoring the temperature of the heating core 2. The thermistor 7 is disposed on the first plate surface 41 and adjacent to the welding hole 43 of the heating core. The thermistor 7 can collect the heat transferred from the electrode plate 21 of the heating core 2, monitor the temperature of the heating core 2, and serve as an auxiliary basis for temperature protection judgment. By using the thermistor 7 for temperature monitoring on the controller 4, there is no need to use a physical heating core temperature sensor. The thermistor 7 is significantly smaller and lighter than a physical heating core temperature sensor, and there is no need to lead a wiring harness from the control box. This simplifies the structure and improves the assembly efficiency of the heater.

[0033] In traditional heaters, the controller 4 determines whether the PTC heating element is in an abnormal dry-burning state by comprehensively considering the high-voltage circuit current and power request. Essentially, this relies on the characteristic that the resistance of the PTC heating element increases sharply at high temperatures. When the heater is requesting high power but the current is low, it infers that the product is in a high-temperature state, thus providing high-temperature protection. However, this protection condition still has special operating conditions that can lead to low current and misjudgment. One such special operating condition is that when the vehicle battery is low, the high-voltage circuit voltage of an automotive PTC heater will decrease, resulting in a reduced product current. Another special operating condition is that when the heater is in an extremely low-temperature environment, environmental factors can cause the initial resistance of the product to be too high, resulting in a low current during startup. Both of these special operating conditions can cause false temperature protection judgments. This application directly sets a thermistor near the heating element solder hole 43 of the controller 4 for heating element temperature monitoring, which has high accuracy, eliminates the above-mentioned misjudgment situations under special operating conditions, and ensures the accuracy of the monitoring results.

[0034] In the optimized implementation, the control box 3 is a metal box used to install the controller 4, high-voltage connector 5, low-voltage connector 6, etc., and serves as a positioning reference component. The control box 3 includes a box body and a cover plate 31. The box body has openings at both the top and bottom. The bottom of the box body is connected to the housing 1, and the lower opening allows the heating element 2 to be inserted and connected to the controller 4. The cover plate 31 covers the upper opening of the box body, and the two are sealed with sealant. After assembly, a closed space is formed, creating a Faraday cage to improve electromagnetic interference immunity and achieve an IP67 protection rating.

[0035] Specifically, if the height of the electronic components on the second plate 42 of the controller 4 is less than 5mm, then the distance between the second plate 42 and the cover plate 31 can not exceed 5mm.

[0036] In the optimized implementation, the high-voltage connector 5 is used to connect to a high-voltage power supply. The side wall of the control box 3 is provided with a first mounting hole 32 for the high-voltage connector 5 to pass through. The high-voltage connector 5 is connected to the control box 3 by bolts. The plug end of the high-voltage connector 5 extends into the control box 3. The plug end of the high-voltage connector 5 is provided with bent pins. The pins extend into the high-voltage welding hole 44 and are welded to the high-voltage welding hole 44 to achieve electrical connection.

[0037] In an optimized implementation, the low-voltage connector 6 is used to connect the communication circuit. The control box 3 has a second mounting hole 33 on its side wall for the low-voltage connector 6 to pass through. The low-voltage connector 6 is bolted to the control box 3, and its connector end extends into the control box 3 and connects with the low-voltage solder hole 45. The connector end of the low-voltage connector 6 has the following two connection methods:

[0038] As one specific implementation method, as shown in the appendix to the instruction manual. Figure 1 As shown, the low-voltage connector 6 includes a low-voltage connector body 61 and a low-voltage plug 62. The housing of the low-voltage connector body 61 is installed on the outside of the control box 3, and the low-voltage connector body 61 is connected to the controller 4 through the low-voltage plug 62.

[0039] The pins of the low-voltage connector body 61 are horizontal. The low-voltage plug 62 is connected to the pins of the low-voltage connector body 61. The low-voltage plug 62 has an L-shaped structure. One end of the low-voltage plug 62 is soldered to the low-voltage solder hole 45, and the other end is plugged into the pins of the low-voltage connector body 61. During use, the low-voltage plug 62 can be pre-soldered onto the controller 4, and then the low-voltage connector body 61 can be inserted into the low-voltage plug 62 to complete the installation of the low-voltage connector.

[0040] As one specific implementation method, as shown in the appendix to the instruction manual. Figure 4 As shown, the low-voltage connector 6 has pins bent towards the low-voltage solder hole at the insertion end. The pins are bent at 90° and can be directly soldered to the low-voltage solder hole.

[0041] In an optimized implementation, the control box 3 contains two IGBT power transistors 8, both of which are mounted on the control box 3 and connected to the first plate 41 of the controller 4. The IGBT power transistors 8 are mounted on the control box 3 via a fixing plate 81. The control box 3 is made of metal and has good thermal conductivity, facilitating heat dissipation for the IGBT power transistors 8. Generally, the heating core includes multiple heating single tubes. The two IGBT power transistors 8 can be connected to the electrode plates 21 of the heating single tubes as needed, enabling the heating core 1 to control power in two separate zones or both zones simultaneously, offering good flexibility.

[0042] Traditional heaters, after the controller 4 is installed, can only be operated on the second panel 42 of the controller 4. Therefore, space needs to be reserved to install the wiring harnesses of the high-voltage connector 5 and the low-voltage connector 6 on the second panel 42 of the controller 4 using various methods. When installing the high-voltage connector 5, in addition to the large installation structure required for the high-voltage connector 5 itself, the high-voltage connector 5 and its installation structure also need to maintain an insulation distance from the cover plate 31, resulting in a large space required between the second panel 42 and the cover plate 31. The distance between the first panel 41 and the control box 4 also requires a large space because the IGBT needs to be fixed to the control box. Therefore, the product is large in size and heavy in weight. In this application, all electronic components with a height exceeding 5mm on the controller are arranged on the first board. Therefore, only a space needs to be reserved between the first board and the control box to accommodate the above-mentioned electronic components. This space is also used for the introduction of the high-voltage connector 5 and the low-voltage connector 6 into the control box, the placement of the IGBT power tube 8, and the dispensing and sealing of the position where the heating single tube enters the control box 3. All of the above structures are arranged on the side of the controller 3 near the heating core 2. The space between the first board 41 of the controller and the control box 3 is fully utilized, increasing the space utilization rate, reducing the overall thickness of the control box 3, and reducing the weight of the control box 3.

[0043] Preferably, the control box 3 is further provided with a grounding spring 9, which is installed between the heating core 2 and the control box 3. When the heating core 2 partially extends into the control box 3, the grounding spring 9 is pre-tightened between the heating core 2 and the control box 3, and its own elasticity ensures that the heating core 2 and the control box 3 are in full contact, thereby achieving the grounding function.

[0044] In an optimized implementation, the heating core 2 includes several heating tubes connected sequentially. Each heating tube includes an integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube 22 and a heating element. The heating element includes a PTC heating chip, an electrode plate 21, and insulating material. After the PTC heating chip is connected to the electrode plate, it is encased in the insulating material and then inserted into the integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube 22 for sealing. The heating element has an existing structure and will not be described in detail here. One end of the electrode plate 21 extends out of the integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube 22 for welding to the welding hole 43 of the heating core. The integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube 22 includes an aluminum shell 221 and heat dissipation strips 222 disposed on both sides of the aluminum shell 221. The heat dissipation strips 222 are bonded or welded to the aluminum shell 221 to form an integrated heat dissipation structure.

[0045] Specifically, the heat dissipation strip 222 is a corrugated aluminum strip, which is directly connected to the aluminum shell 221 by brazing, improving the heat exchange efficiency of the single heating tube and saving subsequent assembly processes, thus increasing production efficiency. A frame 223 is also connected to the outside of the heat dissipation strip 222 to increase its strength.

[0046] In an optimized implementation, the housing 1 is a plastic shell used to fix the heating core 2 to the control box 3, reducing the heat conduction of the heating core 2 to the outside and guiding airflow through the heating core 2. The air outlet side of the housing is hollowed out, retaining only a few reinforcing ribs to ensure structural stability and further reduce product weight.

[0047] Preferably, the housing 1 has a cavity for accommodating the heating element 2. An opening is provided at the end of the housing 1 near the control box 3, allowing the heating element 2 to pass through and extend into the control box 3 to connect with the controller 4. Each heating element 2 has a first buffer layer 23 installed at the end near the controller 4 and a second buffer layer 24 installed at the end away from the controller 4. The buffer layers are preferably rubber plugs with a certain elasticity, which can cushion the heating element 2 and prevent damage from impact. They also press the heating element 2 firmly onto the housing 1 and the control box 3. The heating element 2, along with the first buffer layer 23 and the second buffer layer 24, is installed and fixed into the housing 1. The housing 1 is then snapped into the control box 3 using a snap-fit ​​structure and secured with bolts. After installation, the heating element 2 enters the control box 3 through the opening at the bottom of the control box 3. The first buffer layer 23 has an interference fit between the heating element 2 and the control box 3. Alternatively, sealant can be injected near the first buffer layer 23 to achieve a higher level of protection.

[0048] Furthermore, any content not described in detail in this specification is existing technology known to those skilled in the art.

[0049] Those skilled in the art will understand that this invention can be implemented in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Although embodiments of this invention have been described, it should be understood that this invention is not limited to these embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A PTC heater, comprising a housing, a heating element, a control box, and a controller, wherein the heating element is disposed within the housing, the housing is connected to the control box, and the controller is disposed within the control box, characterized in that, The controller has a first plate surface close to the heating core and a second plate surface away from the heating core. The controller is provided with a number of welding holes connecting the first plate surface and the second plate surface. The control box is provided with a high-voltage connector and a low-voltage connector. The electrode plate of the heating core, the plug end of the high-voltage connector and the plug end of the low-voltage connector all pass through the corresponding welding holes from the first plate surface to the second plate surface for welding. All welding points are located on the second plate surface.

2. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first plate surface is provided with a thermistor for monitoring the temperature of the heating core.

3. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The controller has a device mounting area on its second board surface, and each of the solder holes is located on both sides of the device mounting area. The solder holes corresponding to the high-voltage connector and the low-voltage connector are located on the same side of the device mounting area.

4. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The controller has electronic components arranged on its first board at a set height, with the electronic components avoiding solder holes.

5. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The low-voltage connector includes a low-voltage connector body and a low-voltage plug. The housing of the low-voltage connector body is installed on the outside of the control box, and the low-voltage connector body is connected to the controller through the low-voltage plug.

6. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The housing of the low-voltage connector is mounted on the outside of the control box, and the plug end of the low-voltage connector extends into the control box and has pins bent toward the corresponding solder holes.

7. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes two IGBT power transistors, both of which are mounted on the control box and connected to the first panel of the controller.

8. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control box is also equipped with a grounding spring, which is installed between the heating core and the control box.

9. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heating core includes several heating tubes, each heating tube including an integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube and a heating element. The integrated heat dissipation aluminum tube includes an aluminum shell and heat dissipation strips disposed on both sides of the aluminum shell, and the heating element is disposed inside the aluminum shell.

10. The PTC heater according to claim 1, characterized in that, A buffer layer is provided at the end of the heating core near the controller, and / or a buffer layer is provided at the end of the heating core away from the controller, with each buffer layer located between the heating core and the shell.

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