METHOD AND DEVICE FOR APPLYING A HEATING SYSTEM AND EXTERNAL REAR-VIEW DEVICE WITH A HEATING SYSTEM

Abstract

A method for applying a heating system on a surface includes providing an imprint form including a basic form and an arm, tampon printing a plurality of heating elements on the surface with the imprint form such that each heating element has the basic form of the imprint form and is produced with a guide arm by the arm of the respective imprint form, where two adjacent heating elements are connected by the guide arm, and the heating elements are made from a conductive substrate including conductive particles, and connecting the heating elements to at least one heating conductor or heating segment.

Claims

1. A method for applying a heating system on a surface, the method comprising: providing an imprint form comprising a basic form and an arm; tampon printing a plurality of heating elements on the surface with the imprint form such that each heating element has the basic form of the imprint form and is produced with a guide arm by the arm of the respective imprint form, wherein two adjacent heating elements are connected by the guide arm, and the heating elements are made from a conductive substrate comprising conductive particles; and connecting the heating elements to at least one heating conductor or heating segment.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the basic form is selected from a plurality of 2-dimensional forms, particularly dependent upon the desired design.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive particles comprise carbon nanotubes.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein heating elements with different basic forms of the imprint forms are produced.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein heating segments with different relative arrangements of the heating elements are produced.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein contact ends are configured to be provided by the guide arms or by tampon printing a further imprint form.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface is selected to be a free-form surface.

8. A device for applying a heating system on a surface in tampon printing using the method of claim 1.

9. The device according to claim 8, comprising at least one imprint form on a robot arm.

10. An external rear-view device for a vehicle comprising a heating system applied to a surface of the external rear-view device using the method of claim 1 or the device of claim 8.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustration, there is shown in the drawings certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of systems and apparatuses consistent with the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain advantages and principles consistent with the invention.

[0018] FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, and 1G are diagrams illustrating a plan view of an imprint form for applying a heating system with a method according to the invention.

[0019] FIGS. 2A and 2B each show a view of heating segments of a heating system applied according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] FIG. 1A shows a first imprint form 10, which for its part has a basic form 11 and a link arm 12. In this example, the basic form 11 is, by way of example, circular. Such an imprint form 10 is preferably used for tampon printing with a freely-acting robot arm, in order to provide a surface with any desired form with a heating element. To this end, on the imprint form 10, and indeed on the basic form 11 and the link arm 12, a conductive substrate is applied. The conductive substrate preferably comprises conductive particles in CNT. The imprint form 10 provided with the conductive substrate is then imprinted on the surface.

[0021] As an alternative to the imprint form 10 of FIG. 1A, imprint forms 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 with differently formed basic forms 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, and each with a link arm 22, 32, 42, 52, and 62, respectively, according to FIGS. 1B-1F, can be used in tampon printing. The basic form can be selected as desired and is generally determined by design considerations.

[0022] By means of the imprint form 10, the conductive substrate can be applied to the surface acting as a substrate carrier, to print the surface directly, i.e. without the interposing of an adhesive layer or similar, with a heating system. Through suitable dimensioning of the imprint form 10, it is possible to print almost any free-form surface desired with conductive particles so as to design the surface of this to be heatable.

[0023] Through the imprinting, a heating conductor or heating segment 100 according to FIG. 2A can be produced, in that the imprint form 10 is imprinted multiple times on the substrate carrier or the surface, in particular via the robot arm, and in fact by step-by-step movement of the imprint form 10, so that a controlled overlap of a guide arm 111 generated by the link arm 12 with the following heating element 110 generated by the basic body 11 results. The heating segment 100 is shown with a free guide arm for providing a contact end 120.

[0024] Alternatively, in FIG. 2B, a heating system with two heating segments 200 and 300 is shown, with which through the basic form 11 and the link arm 12 of imprint form 10 heating elements 210, 310 with guide arms 211, 311 are imprinted on a substrate carrier (not shown). Here, free guide arms can provide contact ends 222 and 322 and, additionally, contact ends 220 and 320 can be produced by a separate imprint form (not shown). A power supply can be attached to the contact ends.

[0025] The route of the heating segments, i.e. the relative arrangement of the heating elements is freely selectable by controlling the robot arm with the imprint form. A heating segment can also be produced by means of at least two different imprint forms. This allows heating systems with different designs or patterns to be produced.

[0026] The features disclosed in the above description, in the claims and in the drawings, can be essential both individually and in any desired combinations to the invention in its various embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0027] 10 Imprint form [0028] 11 Basic form [0029] 12 Link arm [0030] 20 Imprint form [0031] 21 Basic form [0032] 22 Link arm [0033] 30 Imprint form [0034] 31 Basic form [0035] 32 Link arm [0036] 40 Imprint form [0037] 41 Basic form [0038] 42 Link arm [0039] 50 Imprint form [0040] 51 Basic form [0041] 52 Link arm [0042] 60 Imprint form [0043] 61 Basic form [0044] 62 Link arm [0045] 100 Heating segment [0046] 110 Heating element [0047] 111 Guide arm [0048] 120 Contact end [0049] 200 Heating segment [0050] 210 Heating element [0051] 211 Guide arm [0052] 220 Contact end [0053] 222 Contact ends [0054] 300 Heating segment [0055] 310 Heating element [0056] 311 Guide arm [0057] 320 Contact end [0058] 322 Contact end