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, the system comprising:
- a) a control panel that includes a controller, an energy converter, and a power source;
- 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 during a calibration cycle and removable from the heat seal bar after the calibration cycle;
- d) wherein the controller is operable to provide data on the heat seal bar based on temperature values received from the sensor while in contact with the heating element and electrical resistance values of the heating element;
- e) wherein the power source is operable to provide power to the heating element during one or more heat seal cycles after the sensor is removed from the heating element;
- f) wherein the energy converter 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 said one or more heat seal cycles;
- and
- g) wherein the controller calculates temperature of the heating element during said one or more heat seal cycles based on the real-time electrical resistance of the heating element in step (f) and the data.
A system for temperature sensing and control during a heat sealing process, the system comprising:
- a) a controller;
- b) a converter;
- c) a power source;
- 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;
- 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 power source is adapted to provide power to the heating element during a heat seal cycle to heat the heating element, and wherein the sensor is not on the heat seal bar during the heat seal cycle;
- h) wherein the converter is adapted to process voltage and current feedback signals received from the heat seal bar during heating 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, the system comprising:
- a) a controller;
- b) a transducer;
- c) a power source;
- d) a heat seal bar including the 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 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 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 sensor is removed in step “f”, 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 temperature of the heating element during the heat seal cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.