Abstract: A PTC heating element with a honeycomb ceramic body comprising a barium titanate and semiconductor element, which provides the ceramic body with a positive temperature coefficient of resistance over the Curie point. An electrode is deposited on each end of the honeycomb body. The electrodes according to the present invention have a non-ohmic property, while the conventional electrodes have been ohmic. A high rush current and migration are advantageously decreased by the non-ohmic electrodes.

Abstract: A grid assembly for converting electrical energy to heat and then dissipating same. A plurality of parallel grid members include outwardly extending legs received in holes provided on mutually facing surfaces on polyester glass insulator members. The grid members are arranged in a continuous serpentine path from an input to an output terminal. The grid members are of sheet metal construction with the cylindrical legs formed by a radiused sheet metal configured leg portion of one grid member positioned adjacent an identical configured and mutually opposed leg portion of an adjacent grid member. The main body of each grid member extends from the legs through a flat portion and then through a diverging end portion spacing the main bodies of the grid members apart. In an alternate embodiment, the grid members are arranged with different lengths to provide a particular sized and configured grid assembly.

Abstract: A self limiting electrical heating device with an electrical resistance material the resistivity of which is changed by more than a power of (10) within a predetermined, narrow temperature interval and which is arranged between electrical conductors connectable to a voltage source, the conductors and the resistance material being enclosed in an electrically insulating cover.

Abstract: A massaging and heating pad combination for application to the body in which both massaging vibration intensity and temperature may be controlled, primarily intended for use in the relief of the pain and discomfort of cramps and muscle tension and other suffering attendant to the menstrual cycle.

Abstract: An infra-red lamp consists of a quartz tubular envelope sealed at each end with a respective pinch seal. A tungsten filament supported within the envelope is electrically connected, via a molybdenum foil strip and lead wires within the pinch seal to a connector for connection to a power supply. Each pinch seal is substantially wholly enclosed within a ceramic housing, which is preferably provided with a locating flange, to protect the pinch seal in part from heat emitted by the filament and to assist in location of the lamp in an operating environment.

Abstract: A cartridge heater includes an inner casing in which a heating element is accommodated. This inner casing is surrounded by an coaxially arranged outer casing of larger diameter so that an annular space is defined between the inner and outer casings. In the space a helical coolant piping is arranged, embedded in a highly heat-conductive substance of granular and/or pulverulent form so as to allow excess heat to be carried away.

Abstract: A heat radiating sheet body comprising a ceramic sheet, a carbon particle layer formed on the ceramic sheet and a pair of electrodes formed on the carbon particle layer, the ceramic sheet being formed in a thickness of 0.05.about.1 mm by paper-making of ceramic fiber, the carbon particle layer being formed by coating by a screen printing utilizing a printing medium comprising a mixture of carbon particle and a dispersing medium.

Abstract: A food frying apparatus includes a housing having a front side, a vessel mounted within the housing to contain oil, the vessel having an expansion zone adjacent the front side, and an oil heating container connected to the vessel, the container being positioned adjacent the front side and in communication with the expansion zone. An electrical heater is mounted on the exterior of the container to indirectly heat oil therein. The oil is forcibly circulated between the vessel and the container by means of a motor mounted beneath the container and a rotor coaxially mounted within the container and coupled to the motor. A plug is axially insertable into the top of the container, and an upper end of the rotor is connected to the plug for axial movement therewith. The rotor has a lower end connected to the motor to enable relative telescopic sliding movement therebetween to achieve coupling or uncoupling.

Abstract: These resistors are obtained from conductive sheet material, for example metal sheet material (usually referred to as "grids") in which additional plates are provided in order to distribute the current density and consequently to predetermine the temperature and strain distributions caused on the resistor during load conditions.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for matching the sensitivities of different-sized resistors to changes in resistance due to changes in width resulting from a systematic manufacturing error. In order to produce sets of resistors which can be deployed in predetermined ratios of resistance, the sensitivities of a matching resistor and a reference resistor are equalized by forming the matching resistor as a plurality of parallel strips as opposed to a unitary rectangular section.

Abstract: This invention relates to a sheathed resistance heater which comprises a metal pipe (3), a heating wire (2) received in the metal pipe, and an electrically insulating powder (4) filled in the pipe and also to a method for fabricating same. The electrically insulating powder (4) contains 0.1-10 wt % of the specific type of an oxide by which the heater has a prolonged life because the oxide serves to suppress the metallic component of the heating wire (2) from evaporating, and its insulation resistance under self-heating conditions can be prevented from lowering. The heater has wide utility in both domestic and industrial fields.

Abstract: A coated layer type resistor device having a first resistor element and a second resistor element. The ratio between the resistances of the first and second resistor elements is selected to be greater than a predetermined ratio. The first resistor element is formed on an insulator substrate and consists of a resistor layer and end conductor electrodes at the ends of the resistor layer, while the second resistor element is formed on the substrate and consists of a resistor layer, end conductor electrodes, and a plurality of intermediate conductors. The distance between adjacent ones of the intermediate conductors and the distance between one of the end conductor electrodes and the adjacent intermediate conductor in the second resistor element is equal to the distance between the end conductor electrodes in the first resistor element, so that the temperature coefficient property of the resistance is equal in both the first and second resistor elements.

Abstract: A glow plug having a hollow cylindrical metal shell, an axial electrical terminal, and a heater member protruding externally from the shell. The heater member has a surface film heater element disposed on at least one surface of an electrically nonconductive cylindrical substrate. Electrical connections between the heater element, the shell and the axial electrode are made by conductive surface films. A first conductive surface film disposed on the external surface of the cylindrical substrate makes electrical contact with the shell. A second conductive surface film disposed on the internal surface of the cylindrical substrate makes electrical contact with the axial electrical terminal. The heating element is preferably a transition metal surface film which catalytically reacts with the air/fuel mixture to enhance combustion at lower temperatures. The thermal response time of the surface film heater element from ambient to an operating temperature exceeding 800.degree. C. is less than 5 seconds.

Abstract: A glow plug for preheating the combustion chamber of a diesel engine includes a tubular metal sheath (5) closed at an end to define a tip and in which an electric heating element spiral (7) is embedded within a powder (6) of an electrically insulating material. The spiral (7) is connected by one end to the sheath tip and and at its other end to a current feeder (4). The filament (8) of the spiral (7) is advantageously made of a Fe-Cr-Al alloy and is coated for an initial length (L.sub.1) of the spiral (7), from the connection location thereof with the current feeder (4), with a high electrical conductivity material (9), preferably nickel (Ni) having a very high positive temperature coefficient of resistance with respect to that of the filament (8). The uncoated end length (L.sub.2) of the spiral (7) acts as a heating element while the initial coated length (L.sub.1) acts as a control resistance element for the supply current upon increase in the sheath temperature.

Abstract: Elongate electrical devices, comprising two conductors with electrical elements connected in parallel between them, have improved performance if the power supply is connected to one conductor at the near end and to the other conductor at the far end. Particularly useful devices are heaters, e.g. PTC conductive polymer heaters. The power supply is connected to the far end of the device through a connection means whose electrical properties can be correlated with those of the device in order to obtain a wide range of useful results. For example the connection means can have PTC, NTC or ZTC character and can be a simple conductor or another elongate device. The power supply can be DC or single-phase, two-phase or three-phase AC.

Abstract: An electrical heating system for use in heating surfaces. A heating element is constructed of mesh screen comprised of small gauge wires which are spaced in a close mesh arrangement such that the total surface area of the wires is substantially equal to or greater than the adjacent area of the surface to be heated. The longitudinal wires are electrically conductive and are preferably made of a nonferrous metal and the transverse wires are coated with an insulating material. The heating element is positioned substantially parallel to and adjacent the surface to be heated. The heating system includes electronic circuitry which essentially eliminates transmission of power surges, voltage spikes and chatter when the heating system is connected to an alternating current power source. The heating system also includes protective circuits and devices for preventing injury or damage due to transformer overheating, or due to under-current or over-current conditions.

Abstract: A heated pipe assembly, particularly useful with plastic pipe, which comprises a pipe having an electrically insulating, longitudinally-extending outer surface, a pair of conductors extending longitudinally of the outer surface generally parallel to and spaced from each other, an organic plastic sheet wrapped circumferentially around the outer surface of the pipe, and a semi-conductor pattern carried on a radially-facing surface of the sheet. The semi-conductor pattern comprises a plurality of generally axially-spaced semi-conductor strips and, between adjacent strips, a portion of the plastic sheet that is free from the semi-conductor pattern. The stripes are on the same side of the sheet as the conductors, and each stripe is in electrical contact with both conductors.

Abstract: The heating element has a heat conductor in the form of a metal tube. The molten plastic is conveyed to the tube through an inflow aperture. The end of the tube that is remote from the inflow aperture is shaped into a point and has flowthrough apertures. The tube is welded in the vicinity of the point to an outer jacket made out of a material with a low specific electric resistance. Outside the welding point, there is a layer of insulation between the tube and the outer jacket. The layer is between 0.1 and 0.5 mm thick and can be made out of ceramic. The electric energy supplied to the tube is so low that the molten plastic is not subjected to thermal overload in the vicinity of the point.

Abstract: An electrically energized soft contact lens disinfecting unit formed of a surfactant resistant plastic material to render the unit immune from attack by detergents used to clean the lenses prior to placing the lenses in the unit.

Abstract: In a compressed air charged combustion engine, in order to improve the atomization and ignition of the injected fuel from an injection nozzle, a glow plug which extends out of its glow plug housing with a cylindrically formed heating rod is provided with an irregular outer surface in the region which is impinged by the stream of fuel. The heating rod exhibits a cylindrical form and is provided with ring grooves to form the irregular surface area. Moreover the fuel stream meets at a sharp angle onto the heating rod.