Trimmable heater
AssigneeMKS Instruments, Inc.
InventorsJeffrey D. Kiernan, Karl Hausmann, Paul Dozoretz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trimmable heater mat has a plurality of heater mat segments that together comprise a length of the heater mat. Each of the heater mat segments has a segment heater element connected to a power bus for generating heat. One or more of the heater mat segments can be severed from the others and removed from the heater mat to trim the length of the heater mat to a desired length. Heater mat segment boundary indicia on the heater mat indicate locations where one of the heater mat segments can be severed from the other remaining heater mat segments of the heater mat without interfering with the segment heater elements of the remaining heater mat segments or with the connections of the remaining segment heater elements to the power bus.
Claims32
Trimmable heater apparatus, comprising:
- a heater mat which extends along a longitudinal length and comprises a plurality of heater mat segments, wherein each of the heater mat segments extends along a respective portion of the longitudinal length of the heater mat, and wherein each of the heater mat segments comprises a segment heater element, and wherein the respective segment heater elements are separated longitudinally from each other by respective trimmable distances;
- a power bus comprising a first power conductor and a second power conductor which span all of the trimmable distances between the segment heater elements to extend in juxtaposed relation with at least a portion of each of the heater mat segments, wherein each of the respective segment heater elements is connected electrically to the first and second power conductors at respective segment connection locations in the power bus that are in juxtaposed relation with the respective heater mat segments which comprise the respective segment heater elements such that any two of the plurality of heater mat segments are severable from each other in the trimmable distance between the segment heater elements of said two heater mat segments in a manner that does not affect the electrical connections of the segment heater element in at least one of the two heater mat segments to the first and second power conductors in the power bus.
A method of constructing a heater appliance, comprising:
- with a plurality of heater mat segments, each of which heater mat segments has a segment heater element, assembled together as a heater mat in such a manner that there is a trimmable distance between the respective segment heater elements, connecting each respective one of the segment heater elements in electrical parallel relation to first and second power conductors in a power bus at respective segment connection locations of the power bus that are in juxtaposed relation with the respective heater mat segments in which such segment heater elements are positioned;
- and
- providing respective heater mat segment boundary indicia on the heater mat at each of the respective trimmable distances to mark severable locations at which any two of the plurality of heater mat segments are severable from each other in a manner that does not affect the electrical connections of the segment heater element in at least one of the two heater mat segments to the first and second power conductors in the power bus.
A method of fitting a heater mat on an item to be heated, comprising:
- determining a length of the item to be heated;
- determining how many segments of the heater mat are required to span the length of the item to be heated;
- locating a specific indication on the heater mat that marks a location on the heater mat where a segment of the heater mat, which is not required for the heater mat to span the length of the item to be heated, is severable from another segment of the heater mat, which is required to span the length of the item to be heated, without affecting an electrical connection of a power bus to a segment heater element in the segment of the heater mat that is required to span the length of the item to be heated;
- and
- at the specific indication, severing the segment of the heater mat that is not required to span the length of the item to be heated from the segment of the heater mat that is required to span the length of the item to be heated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.