1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly and a method of assembling an electrical heater assembly, and, more particularly, to an electrical resistance heater assembly with a core material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical conductors are utilized to transfer electrical energy from one place to another. Electrical conductors that have a resistive component are utilized to deliver heat to the environment in which they are thermally coupled. The direct conversion of electrical energy into heat was first described by the English physicist James P. Joule. According to Joule's Law, a conductor carrying a current generates heat at a rate proportional to the product of the resistance of the conductor and the square of the current. It is the use of this principal, of applying electrical energy to a distributed resistance, which has resulted in various geometries of electrical conductors for the production of warmth or the application of heat to a specific environment.
It is known to spirally wrap a conductive element around an electrically non-conductive element in order to support the conductive element. Further a spirally wrapped conductive element allows a thinner wire to be utilized thereby increasing the resistance of the wire and by spirally wrapping a wire increasing the amount of heat generated in a specific volume. The application of a conductive wire to a core material results in an assembly that has a natural curl. This curl imparts a tendency of the assembly to not lay flat, which is caused by the assembly technique of wrapping a wire about the core material.
What is needed in the art is a method of assembling a conductor to a core material to alleviate the tendency for the assembly to curl.
The present invention provides a method of assembling a conductor assembly and removing the twist of the core material.
The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a method of manufacturing a conductor assembly including the steps of winding and back twisting. The winding step includes winding an electrical conductor around a core material, the core material including at least one color differentiated portion, the core material having a longitudinal axis. The back twisting step includes back twisting the core material until the at least on color differentiated portion is in substantial alignment with the longitudinal axis.
An advantage of the present invention is that the heating conductor assembly has a tendency to lay flat rather than being curled.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a visual tracer is introduced allowing the back twist to be verifiably removed from the core material.
A further advantage is that the connector assembly is easily manufactured by helically winding a conductor around a non-conductive core and then back twisting the core.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
As conductor assembly 10 is manufactured, conductor 14 is helically wound around core material 12 causing a compression of core material 12 and a twist is introduced to core material 12 by the winding action of conductor 14 thereon. This twist is an unwelcome result of whining conductor 14 onto core 12. Prior to conductor 14 being applied to core material 12, color differentiated portion 18, also known as a tracer 18 is substantially parallel to axis A of core material 12. However, the winding action of the machine applying conductor 14 to core material 12 causes a twist to occur in core material 12 as illustrated in
Although not shown, conductor assembly 10 may have at least on additional electrical insulating, thermal conducting, coating placed thereover. Additionally, although only one tracer 18 is illustrated more than one tracer 18 may be incorporated into core material 12.
Now, additionally referring to
While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060102619 A1 | May 2006 | US |