Heater bundles having virtual sensing for thermal gradient compensation
AssigneeWatlow Electric Manufacturing Company
InventorsMark Everly, Jeremy Quandt, Steven T. Jystad
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system includes a heater bundle having at least one heater assembly with a plurality of heater units. At least one of the heater units defines at least one independently controlled heating zone, and a plurality of power conductors are electrically connected to the heater units. A power supply device includes a controller configured to modulate power to the at least one independently controlled heating zone through the power conductors, and the controller is configured to calculate temperature within the at least one heater unit based on a predefined model and at least one input, and the controller modulates power to the at least one heater unit based on the calculated temperature.
Claims17
A heater system comprising:
- a heater bundle comprising:
- at least one heater assembly comprising a plurality of heater units, at least one heater unit of the plurality of heater units defining at least one independently controlled heating zone;
- a plurality of power conductors electrically connected to the heater units;
- and
- a power supply device including a controller configured to modulate power to the at least one independently controlled heating zone through the power conductors,
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- supply at least one input to the plurality of heater units;
- measure an electrical characteristic associated with the at least one independently controlled heating zone;
- compare the electrical characteristic to a nominal electrical characteristic associated with the at least one input to identify a deviation;
- and
- calculate a temperature within the at least one heater unit based on a predefined model, the at least one input and the deviation, and the controller modulates power to the at least one heater unit based on the calculated temperature.
A heater system comprising:
- a heater assembly comprising a plurality of heater units aligned along a longitudinal direction, at least one heater unit of the plurality of heater units defining at least one independently controlled heating zone;
- a plurality of power conductors electrically connected to the heater units along the longitudinal direction;
- and
- a power supply device including a controller configured to modulate power to the at least one independently controlled heating zone through the power conductors,
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- supply at least one input to the plurality of heater units;
- measure an electrical characteristic associated with the at least one independently controlled heating zone;
- compare the electrical characteristic to a nominal electrical characteristic associated with the at least one input to identify a deviation;
- calculate temperature within the at least one heater unit based on a predefined model, the at least one input and the deviation;
- and
- modulate power to the at least one heater unit based on the calculated temperature.
A heater system comprising:
- a heater assembly comprising a plurality of heater units aligned along a longitudinal direction, more than one of the plurality of heater units of the plurality of heater units defining at least one independently controlled heating zone;
- a plurality of power conductors electrically connected to the heater units along the longitudinal direction;
- and
- a power supply device including a controller configured to modulate power to the independently controlled heating zones through the power conductors,
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- supply at least one input to the plurality of heater units;
- measure an electrical characteristic associated with one of the at least one independently controlled heating zones;
- compare the electrical characteristic to a nominal electrical characteristic associated with the at least one input to identify a deviation;
- calculate temperature within the more than one heater units based on a predefined model, the at least one input and the deviation;
- and
- modulate power to the more than one heater units based on the calculated temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.