Heating Element Grid Pattern Minimizes Light Diffraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heating elements for vehicles and construction, such as heat-emitting glass, face challenges in achieving low voltage operation while minimizing diffraction and interference of light, particularly at sunset, and maintaining excellent heat-emitting performance.
Innovation Solution
A heating element is manufactured with a transparent substrate, an adhesive agent layer, a conductive heat-emitting line formed by etching a metal thin film, and a coating film that capsulates the heat-emitting line, using a bus bar and power connection, with a specific coating film composition and pattern design to minimize light interference and ensure low voltage operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a metal hot wire is formed to achieve low resistance and low voltage operation, then heat emitting performance is improved, but diffraction and interference of light occurs causing visual discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the continuous metal hot wire into a grid pattern of conductive lines with nodes and meshes. This segmentation breaks the continuous reflective surface into discrete elements, reducing diffraction and interference effects while maintaining electrical conductivity and heat emission functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the grid pattern with asymmetric node configurations and varying line densities in different regions. This asymmetric arrangement prevents regular diffraction patterns and interference effects that occur with symmetric periodic structures, thereby reducing visual discomfort while maintaining heating performance.
2Illumination intensity
If a transparent conductive material such as ITO or Ag thin film is used to form a heat emitting layer, then transparency is improved, but surface resistance is high making low voltage operation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines transparent conductive materials (such as ITO or Ag thin film) with a metal hot wire grid pattern to create a composite heating element. This composite structure leverages the transparency of the TCO layer and the low resistance of the metal grid, achieving both high transparency and low surface resistance for effective low voltage operation.
3Reliability
If a metal paste is printed and heat sintered to form a metal pattern, then conductivity is improved, but manufacturing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the metal pattern formation step from the complex paste printing and sintering process by directly laminating pre-formed metal hot wires onto the substrate. This extraction simplifies the manufacturing process, reducing both complexity and production time while maintaining the electrical conductivity and heating performance of the metal pattern.
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 effectively minimizes light diffraction and interference, providing excellent heat-emitting performance at low voltages and ensuring the heating element is not visibly distracting, thus enhancing safety and functionality.
Implementation Method 1
a current is applied to both terminals of the hot wire to generate heat from the hot wire
Implementation Method 2
light is scattered in a vertical direction in respects to the arranged marks due to a diffraction/interference phenomenon
Implementation Method 3
light is scattered in a vertical direction in respects to the arranged marks due to a diffraction/interference phenomenon
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 6~8
AI summary
The present invention provides a heating element, including a transparent substrate, an adhesive agent layer provided on at least one side of the transparent substrate, a conductive heat emitting line provided on the adhesive agent layer, a coating film capsulating the conductive heat emitting line and an upper side of the adhesive agent layer not covered by the heat emitting line, a bus bar electrically connected to the conductive heat emitting line, and a power part connected to the bus bar, and a manufacturing method thereof.