Composite Heating Device for Curved Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heating devices for curved surfaces, such as steering wheels, face challenges in achieving homogeneous heating due to visible and palpable wires, inhomogeneous heat distribution, and complex application processes, which increase manufacturing costs and risk of damage.
Innovation Solution
A composite heating device with a multipart highly thermally conductive layer and a small heating element, featuring portions with different thermal conductivities to ensure efficient and uniform heating, accounting for ambient air convection and orientation with respect to gravity, and incorporating capacitive sensors for hands-off detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wires are used as heating elements, then heating function is achieved, but wires become visible and palpable, reducing aesthetic quality and user comfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional wire heating elements with a thin-film conductive layer deposited on a flexible substrate. This thin film structure provides the necessary electrical conductivity for heating while being thin enough to eliminate visibility and palpability issues, allowing it to conform to curved surfaces like steering wheels without being detected by the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite structure consisting of a flexible substrate with a conductive layer deposited on it. This composite material combines the mechanical flexibility of the substrate with the electrical conductivity of the conductive layer, achieving both the heating function and the aesthetic requirement of being invisible and intangible.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If wire thickness is reduced to improve aesthetics, then visibility decreases, but wire strength decreases leading to damage and inhomogeneous heating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a thin-film conductive layer that is deposited on a flexible substrate, providing sufficient mechanical strength through the substrate while maintaining thinness for aesthetic purposes. The thin film structure eliminates the need for thick wires, achieving both aesthetic improvement and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical wire structure with a deposited conductive layer on a flexible substrate. This substitution transitions from a mechanically robust wire system to a thin-film system where the substrate provides mechanical strength and the conductive layer provides electrical functionality, achieving both strength and aesthetic requirements.
3Area of stationary object
If rectangular knit network of wires is applied to toroidal rim, then heating coverage is achieved, but inhomogeneous stretching and compression causes heat inhomogeneity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible substrate with deposited conductive layer that can conform to the toroidal shape of the steering wheel rim. This flexible thin-film structure adapts to the curved surface without the stretching and compression issues of rigid wire networks, maintaining uniform thermal properties and achieving homogeneous heating across the entire surface area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and properties of the heating element from rigid wires to a flexible thin-film structure. This parameter change allows the heating element to adapt to curved surfaces while maintaining uniform electrical and thermal properties, eliminating the inhomogeneity caused by wire network deformation.
4Reliability
If printed conductive layer is applied directly over steering wheel rim, then heating function is achieved, but printing difficulty increases manufacturing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the direct printing process on the curved steering wheel surface with a deposition process on a flat or flexible substrate that is then applied to the surface. This substitution simplifies the manufacturing process by avoiding the complexity of direct curved surface printing, reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining heating functionality.
5Shape
If conductive paste is applied directly onto steering wheel rim, then substrate buckling is avoided, but application process becomes work-consuming and increases price
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the conductive layer on the flexible substrate during the substrate preparation stage, before the substrate is applied to the steering wheel surface. This preliminary action allows for efficient, standardized deposition processes and simplifies the subsequent application to the curved surface, improving productivity without compromising surface integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective, buckling-free, and uniformly heated surface, reducing manufacturing complexity and weight while enhancing temperature homogeneity and safety features like hands-off detection.
Implementation Method 1
a multipart highly thermally conductive layer comprising at least two thermally conductive portions with different thermal conductivities
Data Source
AI summary
A composite heating device for homogeneous heating of surfaces, especially curved surfaces, such as in particular for homogeneous heating of steering wheels, the composite heating device having a heating element and a multipart thermally conductive layer that includes at least two thermally conductive portions with different thermal conductivities, a first portion of the thermally conductive portions being in contact with the heating element. Steering wheel integrating such a composite heating device.