A system for monitoring performance of an aircraft windshield includes a sensor comprising a sensory contact and an evaluation unit. The sensory contact is in physical contact with one or more components of the windshield, and generates a signal representative of the performance of the component(s) of the windshield. An electrical connector is secured to the surface of the windshield facing the interior of the aircraft. The signal from the sensory contact passes through the connector to the evaluation unit. The evaluation unit acts on the signal to determine the performance of the component(s) of the windshield, wherein the evaluation unit is spaced from and out of physical contact with the windshield and the electrical connector, and is in electrical contact with the electrical connector.

A system such as a vehicle may have windows with one or more conductive layers. The conductive layers may form part of an infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer. The infrared-light-blocking layer or other layer may be formed as a coating on a transparent structural window layer such as an outer or inner glass layer in a laminated window or may be embedded in a polymer layer between the outer and inner layers. Segmented terminals and elongated terminals that may extend past two or more segmented terminals may be coupled to the edges of the conductive layers. Using these terminals, control circuitry can apply localized ohmic heating currents and can make resistance measurements on the conductive layers to detect cracks.

A heater control system includes a heater driver, a current sensor, a slope calculator, and a mode selector. The heater driver is configured to control current to a heater. The current sensor is configured to sense current supplied to the heater. The slope calculator is configured to calculate a slope of the current supplied to the heater. The mode selector is configured to adjust current supplied to the heater by the heated driver based on the slope of the current.

A vehicle imaging apparatus includes an imaging device capable of imaging an imaging side thereof; a transparent heater that is provided at least in a range of an angle of view of the imaging device at the imaging side of the imaging device, that generates heat by being energized, and that heats an imaging side of the imaging device; and a resistance member that is provided at an electrical circuit including the heater, and that generates heat by being energized, an electrical resistance value of the resistance member is increased along with increase in temperature of the resistance member due to heat generation such that a current value of current that flows to the heater is decreased.

The invention concerns a control device comprising: a first electronic switch (2) suitable for being connected to an electric heating element (101) and a second electronic switch (3) suitable for being connected to an electric heating element (101), a sensor for measuring a first temperature (T1) and a microcontroller (4) associated with the first electronic switch (2), the microcontroller (4) being configured to open or close the first switch (2) depending on the first measured temperature value (T1), a sensor for measuring a second temperature (T2) and a logic control module (5) associated with the second electronic switch (3) and comprising a comparator (6) arranged to compare the second measured temperature (T2) with a threshold, the module (5) being configured to open or close the second switch (3) depending on the result of the comparison.

A heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning device includes: a heating part disposed in a windshield glass of a vehicle and configured to heat the windshield glass; a collection part configured to collect state information on a state of the windshield glass and environment information on internal and external environments of the vehicle; and a control part. The control part is configured to determine a defrosting or dehumidifying mode for the windshield glass based on the state information or the environment information collected by the collection part and to control an operation of the heating part depending on the determined defrosting or dehumidifying mode.

A system for determining a health status of a positive temperature coefficient resistor (PTCR) heater assembly includes a PTCR heater assembly and a health monitoring system. An input voltage is provided to the PTCR heater assembly to provide heating. The health monitoring system includes a first sensor configured to sense the input voltage at the PTCR heater assembly and a second sensor configured to sense a current through the PTCR heater assembly. The health monitoring system is configured to determine a baseline characteristic and an observed characteristic each relating to an inrush peak of the PTCR heater assembly and based on the input voltage and the current. The health monitoring system compares the observed characteristic to the baseline characteristic to assess a health status of the PTCR heater assembly and outputs the health status for PTCR heater assembly diagnostics and/or prognostics.

A method comprising: (a) heating a light module of a vehicle with a heater; (b) monitoring a temperature of the light module; (c) activating a communication sequence; and (d) performing the communication sequence so that a message is conveyed between a controller of the light module and a controller of the vehicle.

A heater device includes a heat generation layer that has a heat generation portion configured to generate heat when energized, a pair of electrodes disposed on one side of the heat generation layer and being spaced from each other, a detection portion configured to generate an electric field between the pair of electrodes and detect an object around the pair of electrodes, and a controller configured to control the amount of electric power supplied to the heat generation portion based on a detection result by the detection portion.

The present invention relates to a heating device for use in vehicles, particularly to a device for heating a fluid, for example air, water, or liquid coolant. The device is particularly designed for vehicles the main propulsion system of which is not a combustion engine and which therefore lack residual heat from the engine. The present invention is characterized by the use of a chassis with a planar configuration and an inner chamber in fluid communication with an inlet port and an outlet port and a heating plate. The chassis comprises at least one window and the heating plate has a heating region closing the window of the chassis for heating the fluid housed in the inner chamber.