Radiant Heater Panel Spiral Fixation via Three Contact Spots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Radiant heater panels with spiral-shaped heating helices face issues of stress buildup and flashover due to thermal expansion differences between the heating means and panel elements, leading to potential damage and reduced power density.
Innovation Solution
A heater panel design with a detachable spiral turn connection using three contact spots, where two outer contacts are on the circumference and one inner contact on the spiral turn, stabilizes the spiral's position and orientation, preventing tilting and allowing for increased density without power loss, and additional lateral stabilization via contact spots or slits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the heating spiral is embedded in the panel element to fix it, then the heating spiral is securely fixed, but high stresses build up due to different thermal expansion coefficients leading to damage or failure
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation system is segmented into discrete contact spots rather than continuous embedding. Each spiral turn is fixed at specific points (contact spots) rather than being fully embedded, allowing thermal expansion while maintaining positional stability. This segmentation reduces stress buildup by eliminating the constraint of continuous embedding.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixation method changes from continuous embedding to point-contact fixation with specific geometric parameters. The contact spots are positioned at predetermined locations on each spiral turn, creating a fixation system that accommodates thermal expansion while maintaining stability. This parameter-based approach allows the system to handle thermal cycles without damage.
2Reliability
If the ascending gradient of the spiral is increased to prevent tilting and flashover, then the distance between turns increases, but power density substantially decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation approach moves from controlling spiral geometry (ascending gradient) to controlling spatial positioning through contact spots. Instead of increasing the ascending gradient to prevent tilting, the invention uses contact spots positioned at specific locations to constrain the spiral turn orientation. This allows maintaining a low ascending gradient for high power density while preventing tilting through proper contact spot placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact spot pattern is replicated for each spiral turn, creating a consistent fixation scheme. The same contact spot configuration (position and orientation) is applied to multiple spiral turns, ensuring uniform stability without requiring increased ascending gradient. This standardized copying of the fixation pattern maintains power density while preventing flashover.
3Power
If the heating spiral is densely arranged to increase power density, then the distance between turns decreases, but the risk of flashover increases due to tilting of orthogonal turns
Solution Approach 1:
The contact spots act as intermediaries between the heating spiral and the panel element. These contact spots mediate the relationship by providing fixation points that prevent tilting while allowing the spiral to be densely arranged. The contact spots transfer and distribute forces, enabling close spacing without the harmful effect of tilting-induced flashover.
4Reliability
If embedding is increased to stabilize the heating spiral, then more of the spiral is fixed, but the exposed portions contributing to heating power decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation function is extracted from continuous embedding and concentrated into discrete contact spots. This extraction allows the majority of the spiral surface to remain exposed for heating while only specific points are used for fixation. The contact spots provide necessary stability without covering significant heating surface area, maximizing the exposed portions that contribute to heating power.
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 enhances power density by ensuring almost all heating spiral is exposed, reduces the risk of flashover, and allows for stress balancing during thermal cycles without compromising heating performance.
Implementation Method 1
heating means such as a heating resistor or a heating conductor are disposed
Implementation Method 2
to radiate the heat two-dimensionally and to thereby heat largely dimensioned bodies or numerous bodies arranged on a plane radiant heaters are frequently realised as heater panels
Implementation Method 3
high stresses build up in the heating means and the panel element due to the different thermal expansion of the heating means and the panel element
Data Source
AI summary
A heater panel of a radiant heater includes a heating spiral provided on a panel element and mechanically connected to the panel element with a portion of a spiral turn. With the object of providing a heater panel with a stable arrangement of the heating spiral on the panel element by which a high power density is achievable, each spiral turn is detachably connected to the panel element by three spaced-apart contact spots. Two of said contact spots are located on the outer circumference of the spiral turn in such a distance to each other that the radii originating at them define an angle of less than 180°, and the third contact spot is located on the inner circumference of the spiral turn within the portion of the spiral turn facing the panel element and confined by the two outer contacts.