Heat seal bar sensorless temperature sensing and control
AssigneeAmeriglobe, LLC
InventorsBrody Alan Viator, Clifford Dunlap
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensorless temperature sensing and control system and method uses electrical voltage and current feedback signals to monitor and control the temperature of heating elements used in a heat sealing process wherein sensors are not physically connected to a heat seal bar during the heat sealing process. After calibration of a heat seal bar using a sensor, voltage and current feedback signals are processed by a programmable logic controller (PLC) to calculate the real-time electrical resistance of each heating element. Data and electrical resistance is used to calculate real-time temperature of the heat seal bar during heating.
Claims20
A system for temperature sensing and control of a heating element of a heat seal bar, the system comprising:
- a) a control panel that includes a controller, a transducer, a transformer and a switching device;
- b) a heat seal bar including a heating element;
- c) a sensor that is in contact with the heating element of the heat seal bar prior to using the heat seal bar in a heat seal cycle and removable from the heat seal bar during heating in the heat seal cycle;
- d) wherein the controller is operable to provide calibration values of the heat seal bar during a calibration cycle based on temperature values received from the sensor and electrical resistance values of the heating element;
- e) wherein the transformer is operable to apply power to the heating element after the calibration cycle when the sensor is removed from the heating element;
- f) wherein the transducer is operable to process voltage and current feedback signals received from the heat seal bar, which the controller uses to calculate real-time electrical resistance of the heating element during the heat seal cycle;
- and
- g) wherein the controller calculates temperature of the heating element during heating based on the real-time electrical resistance of the heating element in step (f) and calibration data acquired by the controller.
A system for temperature sensing and control of a heating element of a heat seal bar of a type for use in a heat seal machine adapted to heat seal flexible plastic fabrics together, the system comprising:
- a) a controller;
- b) a transducer;
- c) a transformer;
- d) a heat seal bar including a heating element;
- e) a sensor that is adapted to be positioned on the heat seal bar so that it is in contact with the heating element during a calibration cycle and adapted to be removed from the heat seal bar after the calibration cycle and before a heat seal cycle;
- f) wherein the controller is adapted to provide calibration values during the calibration cycle based on temperature values of the heating element received from the sensor and electrical resistance values of the heating element when the sensor is positioned on the heat seal bar;
- g) wherein the transformer is adapted to apply power to the heating element during the heat seal cycle;
- h) wherein the transducer is adapted to process voltage and current feedback signals received from the heat seal bar in step “g”, which the controller uses to calculate real-time electrical resistance of the heating element during the heat seal cycle;
- and
- i) wherein the controller is adapted to calculate a temperature of the heating element while being heated during the heat seal cycle based on the real-time electrical resistance of the heating element and calibration values.
A system for temperature sensing and control of a heating element of a heat seal bar of a type adapted for use in a heat seal machine for heat sealing flexible plastic fabrics together, the system comprising:
- a) a controller;
- b) a transducer;
- c) a transformer;
- d) a heat seal bar including a heating element;
- e) a calibration sensor that is adapted to be positioned on the heat seal bar so that it is in contact with the heating element during calibration of the heat seal bar and adapted to be removed from the heat seal bar after calibration of the heat seal bar;
- f) wherein during a calibration cycle, the controller provides calibration values based on temperature readings gathered from the calibration sensor and resistance readings that are calculated by the controller based on current voltage and current feedback signals received from the transducer;
- and
- g) wherein during a heat seal cycle, after the calibration sensor is removed, resistance readings are calculated by the controller based on current voltage and current feedback signals received from the transducer and the controller converts the resistance readings to temperature readings based on the calibration values to enable monitoring of the temperature of the heating element during the heat seal cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.