Layered Electric Heater Assembly With Offset Spring Tongues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric heating devices for motor vehicles face challenges in easy mounting of the layered structure within the housing, leading to complex assembly processes and potential for incorrect component installation, which increases manufacturing costs and assembly errors.
Innovation Solution
The electric heating device features a spring element with offset spring tongues that are accommodated in the housing, allowing for assembly without initial prestressing, where the spring tongues are inserted into receptacles and then moved to contact surfaces to apply tension, eliminating the need for a separate spring counter-element and simplifying the assembly process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a separate spring counter-element is used to prestress the layered structure, then the layered structure can be held under tension, but the number of components increases and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring counter-element is integrated directly into the housing structure, merging two separate components (spring element and housing) into one unified structure. This eliminates the need for a separate spring counter-element while maintaining the prestressing function, thereby reducing component count and assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing is designed to serve multiple functions: it provides structural enclosure, guides the spring element, and incorporates the spring counter-element function through integrally formed engagement elements. This multi-functionality reduces the overall number of components needed in the device.
2Manufacturing precision
If the layered structure is assembled under prestress, then good thermal and electrical contact is achieved, but the assembly process becomes more difficult and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element is pre-installed in the housing in an unstressed state before the layered structure is assembled. This allows the layered structure to be freely positioned and assembled without resistance, after which the spring element is stressed to achieve the required prestress, ensuring good contact without assembly difficulties.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element is designed to be movable within the housing, transitioning from an unstressed state during assembly to a stressed state during operation. This dynamic capability allows easy assembly followed by automatic prestressing, combining assembly ease with contact quality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are used for spring element and housing features, then each component can be optimized independently, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The spring counter-element features are integrated directly into the housing structure as one-piece components, eliminating the need for separate manufactured parts. This merging reduces the total number of manufacturing operations, assembly steps, and associated costs while maintaining the ability to optimize the housing design for its primary functions.
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
This design reduces the number of components, lowers manufacturing costs, and minimizes assembly errors by allowing the layered structure to be inserted without tension, ensuring good thermal and electrical contact, and enabling efficient operation without overheating, even at 12 volts.
Implementation Method 1
The spring element is located essentially at the height of the heating block, i.e. between those formed by the upper and lower sides of the heating block, so that the spring force caused by the spring element is introduced essentially centrally into the heating block
Implementation Method 2
The heat-generating elements of the heating block usually include a plurality of PTC heating elements which are provided one above the other in one plane
Implementation Method 3
The heat generated by the heat-generating elements is transferred to the medium to be heated, i.e. the air, via heat-emitting elements
Implementation Method 4
This flows through the housing through the two frame openings, which accommodate the flat heating block between them
Data Source
Figure 1~6
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~7
AI summary
The present invention relates to an electric heating device, in particular as an auxiliary heater for motor vehicles, with an open housing (2) in which a layered structure (4) with at least one radiator element (6), at least one heat-generating element (8) with at least one PTC element (10) and at least one spring element (42) holding the layered structure (4) under preload is accommodated. The invention is based on the problem of providing an electric heating device of the type mentioned above, the layered structure of which can be more easily mounted in the housing.According to the inventive solution, the spring element (42) is slidably received in the housing (2) and has several spring tongues (46) offset from one another in the direction of displacement, to which spring tongue receptacles (58) formed by the housing (2) and adjacent contact surfaces (56) projecting beyond the spring tongue receptacles (58) in the direction of the layer structure (4) are assigned, on which the spring tongues (46) bear to prestress the layer structure (4).