Patterned Foil Heater With Varying Ribbon Widths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electrothermal heating elements are prone to failure due to fatigue and foreign object damage, leading to non-uniform heat distribution and reduced effectiveness in conforming to complex surface areas.
Innovation Solution
A patterned foil heating element with varying hole sizes, shapes, and spacings is created to form multiple electrical paths, ensuring redundancy and robustness, and is sandwiched between thermally conductive and electrically insulative layers to maintain uniform heat distribution and withstand damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single channel foil or wire element assembly is used, then the heating element is simple in structure, but it is prone to failure due to fatigue and foreign object damage
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is divided into multiple discrete conductive foil channels arranged in parallel, replacing the single continuous channel design. This segmentation ensures that a break in one channel does not compromise the entire heating element, thereby improving reliability while maintaining structural simplicity through the use of identical, modular units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different hole patterns and ribbon widths in different regions of the heating element to achieve uniform heat distribution. By varying the local conductive foil characteristics (hole spacing, hole size, ribbon width), the element optimizes heat generation in different areas while maintaining overall reliability through the multi-channel design.
2Ease of manufacture
If a single channel foil element is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but uniform heat distribution is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements different hole patterns and ribbon widths in different regions of the heating element to achieve uniform heat distribution. By varying the local conductive foil characteristics (hole spacing, hole size, ribbon width), the element optimizes heat generation in different areas while maintaining overall reliability through the multi-channel design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent varies key parameters including hole spacing, hole size, and ribbon width across different regions of the heating element. These parameter changes allow precise control over the electrical resistance and heat generation characteristics, enabling uniform heat distribution while keeping the manufacturing process relatively simple through standard foil fabrication techniques.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the heating element is made highly flexible to conform to complex surfaces, then adaptability improves, but resistance to fatigue and foreign object damage decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is divided into multiple discrete conductive foil channels arranged in parallel, replacing the single continuous channel design. This segmentation ensures that a break in one channel does not compromise the entire heating element, thereby improving reliability while maintaining structural simplicity through the use of identical, modular units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure combining conductive foil channels with insulating substrate material. This composite design provides both flexibility for conforming to complex surfaces and resistance to fatigue and foreign object damage, as the insulating substrate protects the conductive elements while allowing the overall structure to bend and adapt to different geometries.
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 reliable, flexible, and uniform heat distribution, minimizing the impact of single breaks or fatigue, and allows for tailored heat densities by adjusting hole patterns and ribbon widths, ensuring consistent performance across diverse surface areas.
Implementation Method 1
electrical power supplied by aircraft or appropriate application generators
Implementation Method 2
The electrothermal heating assembly may comprises two or more such heating elements, and these may lie in the same plane. Also, the first and second layers of material may be both thermally conductive and electrically insulative.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4
AI summary
A patterned foil sheet heating element has a first discrete region patterned with a first plurality of holes forming multiple conductive ribbons and having a first sheet resistivity. It also has a second discrete region patterned with a second plurality of holes forming multiple conductive ribbons and having a second sheet resistivity. At least some of the multiple conductive ribbons in the first discrete region are in electrical continuity with at least some of the multiple conductive ribbons in the second discrete region, and the first discrete region and the second discrete region both adjoin a first junction strip of the foil heating element. An electrothermal heating assembly may be formed using such a patterned foil sheet sandwiched between two layers of material which may be thermally conductive and electrical insulative.