Vehicle PTC Heater Assembly With Perpendicular Heat Radiating Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Diesel engine vehicles experience delayed heating of the heat exchange medium during winter, leading to degraded interior heating performance, and existing air heating heaters face challenges with miniaturization, overheating, and safety issues due to the difficulty in controlling temperature and effective heat radiation.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle heater design featuring a plate-shaped first support part and a heat radiating part with a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element, where the heat radiating part is perpendicularly oriented to the air flow direction, and fixed using protruding guides and perforated holes for efficient heat dissipation and easy assembly, enhancing manufacturability and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a PTC heater uses a heat radiating part formed parallel to the air flow direction, then the heat source part can be compact, but the thickness in the air flow direction cannot be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The heat radiating part is reoriented from a parallel arrangement to a perpendicular arrangement relative to the air flow direction. This dimensional change allows the heat radiating surface to extend in the width direction rather than the thickness direction, thereby reducing the heater's thickness while maintaining effective heat radiation area.
2Reliability
If a PTC heater includes a heat radiating fin, then heat radiating performance improves, but manufacturing and assembling process becomes troublesome and durability degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The heat radiating function is merged with the support part structure. The support part simultaneously provides mechanical support for the PTC element and serves as a heat radiating surface, eliminating the need for separate heat radiating fins and simplifying the manufacturing and assembly process.
Solution Approach 2:
The support part is designed to perform multiple functions: it supports the PTC element mechanically and simultaneously radiates heat to the air flow. This multi-functionality reduces the number of components needed and simplifies the overall structure.
3Power
If a cartridge heater using Nichrome wire is used, then heating function is achieved, but temperature control becomes difficult and overheating risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element material is changed from Nichrome wire to PTC (positive temperature coefficient) material. This parameter change enables automatic temperature control because the PTC material's resistance increases with temperature, naturally limiting current and preventing overheating without requiring complex control systems.
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 improves heat exchange efficiency, enables miniaturization, and enhances safety by effectively controlling temperature and preventing overheating, while maintaining efficient air flow and heat dissipation, thus improving heating performance.
Implementation Method 1
a heat source part (110) provided with a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element
Implementation Method 2
a heat radiating part (120) that contacts the heat source part (110) and efficiently discharges heat
Implementation Method 3
efficiently discharging heat
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a heater for vehicles, and more particularly, a heater for vehicles which can be easily manufactured and have a reduced thickness to implement miniaturization, by forming a heat radiating part using a plate-shaped first support part (and second support part) vertically disposed to the flow direction of air, and can fix the support part and the heat radiating part by a simple method to increase manufacturability.