Wide voltage range control for an electric resistance heater
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorJohn Stanley Glaser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heater controller uses measured power source voltage and either stored data that characterizes an electric resistance heater or current measurements to compute the fraction of time that the heater should be connected to the power source, thereby compensating the electric resistance heater against variations in the AC line voltage such that the heater power remains constant with line voltage variations, even for different nominal line voltages.
Claims10
A system for controlling an electric resistance heater, comprising:
- a voltage monitor for monitoring an input voltage from an external source;
- and
- a heater controller for maintaining power supplied to the electric resistance heater substantially constant at a predetermined user-commanded level by adjusting the duty cycle thereof based on the input voltage, the input current, the resistance of the electric resistance heater, and the user-commanded power level.
A system for controlling an electric resistance heater, comprising:
- a voltage monitor for monitoring an input voltage from an external source;
- a current sensor for measuring input current drawn by the electric resistance heater;
- and
- a heater controller for maintaining power supplied to the electric resistance heater substantially constant at a predetermined user-commanded level by adjusting the duty cycle thereof based on the input voltage, the input current, the resistance of the electric resistance heater, and the user-commanded power level.
A method for controlling an electric resistance heater, comprising:
- monitoring an input voltage from an external source;
- and
- maintaining power supplied to the electric resistance heater substantially constant at a predetermined user-commanded level by adjusting the duty cycle thereof based on the input voltage, the input current, the resistance of the electric resistance heater, and the user-commanded power level.
A method for controlling an electric resistance heater, comprising:
- monitoring an input voltage from an external source;
- measuring input current drawn by the electric resistance heater;
- and
- maintaining power supplied to the electric resistance heater substantially constant at a predetermined user-commanded level by adjusting the duty cycle thereof based on the input voltage, the input current, the resistance of the electric resistance heater, and the user-commanded power level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.