Abstract: An electrical heating apparatus comprising a controller, fail safe protection circuit and resistance heating body embedded in a comfort device. The fail safe protection circuit is constructed to detect a break or short circuit in either of the conductors of a PTC type resistance heating body thereby shutting off the comfort device for preventing injury to the user and possible fires.

Abstract: A coaxial-type heater cable is described for significantly reducing both electromagnetic and electrostatic field while maintaining a flexible heater cable structure by enclosing coaxial arranged inner and outer conductors with a conductive polymer layer that is in electrical contract with the outer conductor. The outer conductor is helically wrapped around the inner conductor with the number of turns per unit length selected to significantly reduce the electromagnetic field emanating from the heater cable while the conductive polymer layer significantly attenuates any electrostatic field that would otherwise fringe through spaces between successive turns of the outer conductor. The heater cable can be of the self-regulating type using a PTC material in electrical contact with and between the inner and outer conductors.

Abstract: A revolutionary new semiconductive material having a sharp rise in electrical resistance at a predetermined maximum temperature with substantially no annealing necessary after extrusion to achieve an essentially constant resistance at room temperature. The PTC composition includes a finely divided conductive material, such as carbon black; a suitable semicrystalline polymer having a molecular weight distribution containing a sufficient number of relatively low molecular weight molecules to substantially eliminate annealing; and a suitable polymeric material providing a sufficient number of polar molecules for electrical conductivity. At least 9% by weight of the polymer molecules should be in the molecular weight range of 1,000 to 30,000, and particularly in the 5,000 to 23,000 range and the entire polymeric portion of the composite composition should have a number average molecular weight of 30,000 or less.

Abstract: A self-temperature regulating heater cable using a PTC polymeric matrix is described. A commercially available low density polyethylene is combined with a desired carbon black so as to enable a continuous extrusion at an elevated temperature while enabling residual heat in the extruded PTC layer to anneal the layer to a desired low resistivity in a short time period before quenching. The polyethylene is of the DFD-6005 type in which the amount of molecules whose molecular weight does not exceed about 23,000 is less than about eight percent by weight. The carbon black preferably is a low structure, low resistivity, non-surface treated, conductive carbon black.

Abstract: A revolutionary new semiconductive material having a sharp rise in electrical resistance at a predetermined maximum temperature with substantially no annealing necessary after extrusion to achieve an essentially constant resistance at room temperature. The PTC composition includes a finely divided conductive material, such as carbon black; a suitable semicrystalline polymer having a molecular weight distribution containing a sufficient number of relatively low molecular weight molecules to substantially eliminate annealing; and a suitable polymeric material providing a sufficient number of polar molecules for electrical conductivity. At least 9% by weight of the polymer molecules should be in the molecular weight range of 1,000 to 30,000, and particularly in the 5,000 to 23,000 range and the entire polymeric portion of the composite composition should have a number average molecular weight of 30,000 or less.