Embodiments of methods and apparatus for thermally treating a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a thermal treatment apparatus includes a chamber body including an interior volume; a plurality of substrate supports disposed within the interior volume, wherein each of the plurality of substrate supports includes a heating element; a selectively sealable opening in the chamber body sized to allow substrates to be inserted into or removed from the interior volume; a robotic arm disposed in the interior volume to move substrates onto and off of the plurality of substrate supports; and a heating assembly configured to heat substrates disposed on the robotic arm.

A power supply unit for an aerosol generation device includes an internal power supply configured to hold power supplied to a heater configured to heat an aerosol source, a first connector connectable to an external device and including a first communication terminal, a controller configured to control power supply from the internal power supply to the heater and including a second communication terminal, a first communication path between the first communication terminal of the first connector and the second communication terminal of the controller, and a switch unit positioned on the first communication path and configured to set the first communication path to a conductive state or a disconnected state.

A heating system, such as embedded in a fabric object, such as a wearable garment, comprising at least one heating element comprising an electrical resistance heating loop, the heating element comprising at least one sense wire for detecting and providing a signal indicative of a safety condition, and a controller connected to the at least one heating element and to the sense wire and configured to shut down the heating element in response to the signal indicative of the safety condition. Multiple, independently controllable heating elements in a garment may be connected to a harness and one or more integral battery packs with a power management system to permit hot swapping of the battery packs. The garment may be configured to be communicatively paired to a mobile device to provide hands free phone, music streaming, and/or a user interface for the heating system.

An adaptive electrothermal system and an electrothermal apparel are provided. The adaptive electrothermal system comprises a controller, a step-down regulator, a power controller and a load. An input of the controller is configured to receive an input voltage, a first output of the controller is configured to output an input voltage higher than an operating voltage of the load to the step-down regulator, a second output of the controller is configured to output an input voltage lower than or equal to the operating voltage of the load to the power controller, the step-down regulator steps the received input voltage down to a voltage equal to the operating voltage of the load and outputs the stepped-down voltage to the power controller, and the power controller outputs the input voltage it receives to the corresponding load according to a load control signal from the controller. The present invention can receive several input voltages at the same time and provide operating voltages for a plurality of loads at the same time, and has good flexibility and high reliability.

A scent warmer may include an at least substantially hollow member having at least one inner surface defining an internal cavity therein, a receptacle disposed at a first longitudinal end of the at least substantially hollow member for holding scented material therein, and a support structure configured to support at least one lighting module within the internal cavity of the at least substantially hollow member. The support structure may be a separate member from the at least substantially hollow member. The at least substantially hollow member may be configured to conceal at least substantially all of the support structure when the at least substantially hollow member is placed over the support structure on a flat surface.

A wax warmer includes a reservoir for receiving a wax melt, a housing defining an interior volume and configured to receive the reservoir, and a hermetically sealed heater engine positioned within the interior volume and in thermal contact with the reservoir.

A combined heating system and occupant sensing system for a vehicle seat includes first and second electrodes connected in series and a controller configured to direct a heating current to the first and second electrodes. The controller is configured to isolate the first and second electrodes from the heating current and, at the same time, provide a sensing current to only one of the first and second electrodes.

Electric, self-heating concrete systems that uses embedded carbon macrofiber or nanofibers paper as electric resistance heating elements are disclose. The self-heating concrete systems may utilize the conductive properties of carbon macrofiber or nanofiber materials to heat a surface overlay of concrete with various admixtures to improve the concrete's thermal conductivity. The self-heating concrete systems allow concrete roadways or the like to be heated to above freezing temperatures in a freezing environment in a reasonable amount of time.

A method and apparatus for heating or cooling a fluid is provided. In one embodiment, a heat exchanger is provided. The heat exchanger includes a first subassembly comprising an insert. The insert comprises a body having a blind passage formed axially in the body, a plurality of nozzles formed therein, and a first plurality of heat exchange elements disposed within the body. The heat exchanger also comprises a second subassembly comprising a sleeve and a second plurality of heat exchange elements disposed within the sleeve, wherein the insert is sealably engaged inside the sleeve and the insert and the sleeve cooperatively define a thin gap, and wherein each of the plurality of nozzles are disposed radially between the blind passage and the thin gap.

The invention relates to a ceramic cooling and heating body for controlling the temperature of components, wherein the cooling and heating body consists of a plate-shaped support with a front side, an opposite rear side and side faces connecting the front side to the rear side, and metallizations, connected to the support, are arranged on the front side and/or the rear side, and the support has cooling elements. In order to be able to control the temperature of any electrical or electronic component, it is proposed according to the invention that a heating structure is affixed to the front side and/or the rear side.