Device and method for measuring heat flux and method for forming such a device

A device for measuring heat flux, said device comprising:

• a pair of thermopile elements, each of said thermopile elements incuding a core of electrically nonconductive material, a wire of high electrical resistance wound on said core, and plating material of low electrical resistance relative to said wire plated on predetermined portions of said wire, each of said thermopile elements providing an output voltage indicative of the heat flux of an article when said thermopile element is closely adjacent to a surface of said article;
• flexible belt-like support means having said pair of thermopile elements mounted thereon so that said elements are positioned with said plating material of each said element adjacent to but spaced from one another, said support means having a polymer at one side providing high infrared emissivity and a metal foil at the other side providing low infrared emissivity;
• and
• first and second connector means positioned at opposite ends of said support means, said first and second connector means each having a first electrical junction connected to different ones of the opposite ends of said wire wound on said core of one of said thermopile elements and a second electrical junction connected to different ones of the opposite ends of said wire wound on said core of the other of said thermopile elements whereby when said first and second electrical junctions of said first connector are electrically connected together a summation of said output voltage produced by said pair of thermopile elements is provided at said second connector that is indicative of said sensed heat flux of said article.

A method for measuring heat flux, said method comprising:

• providing a belt-like structure having a heat flux sensing means provided by a pair of thermopile elements substantially entirely mounted thereon;
• positioning said belt-like structure tightly against a surface of an article to be tested to generate an output voltage at each thermopile element indicative of sensed heat flux and summing said output voltage from said thermopile elements to provide said output voltage that is indicative of the heat flux of said article sensed by said sensing means, said provided belt-like structure including flexible cover means for substantially entirely encasing said sensing means with said sensing means being located at the center one-third portion of the width of said belt-like support means and extending for substantially the entire length of said belt-like support means, and with said flexible cover means including a polymer of one side of said sensing means providing high infrared emissivity and a metal coil at the other side of said sensing means providing low infrared emissivity;
• and
• using said output voltage to provide an indication of the heat flux of said article.