Claims
- 1. An electrically conductive yarn having a temperature dependent resistance, said yarn comprising:a flexible non-conducting core; a sheath disposed on the flexible non-conducting core and having a positive temperature coefficient of resistance, said sheath including: a low conductive matrix material which expands with increased temperature; a plurality of distinct electrical conductors intermixed throughout the matrix material; wherein the plurality of distinct electrical conductors provide an electrical conductive pathway through the sheath; wherein the low conductive matrix material has a higher coefficient of expansion than the conductive particles; and wherein expansion of the matrix material separates various conductive particles within the sheath thereby increasing the electrical resistance of the sheath; wherein the sheath provides the positive coefficient of resistance along the length of said yarn; and further including an insulator of non-conducting material disposed over the sheath.
- 2. The electrically conductive yarn according to claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a thermoplastic.
- 3. The electrically conductive yarn according to claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a thermoset plastic.
- 4. The electrically conductive yarn according to claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a thermoplastic changed to a thermoset plastic.
- 5. The electrically conductive yarn according to claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises polyethylene.
- 6. The electrically conductive yarn according to claim 1 wherein the insulator comprises polyvinylchloride.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of pending application Ser. No. 10/299,154, filed on Nov. 19, 2002, which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 09/667,065, filed on Sep. 21, 2000, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,951.
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Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10/299154 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Child |
10/431125 |
|
US |
Parent |
09/667065 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10/299154 |
|
US |