FLUID HEATING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF

Abstract

A method for producing an electrical fluid heater, in particular an air heater for a motor vehicle, including at least one fluid guiding channel for the fluid to be guided through, wherein at least one conductive polymer structure containing a polymer component and a conductive component, in particular carbon component, is coated, in particular cohesively, with at least one metallic layer.

Claims

1. Method for producing an electrical fluid heater for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one fluid guiding channel for the fluid to be guided through, wherein at least one conductive polymer structure containing a polymer component and a conductive component is coated with at least one metallic layer.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer is cohesively connected to the polymer structure at least substantially over the whole area.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer at least partly is constructed firstly on the polymer structure and/or at least partly as a film, is or has been completed already before being connected to the polymer structure, wherein the metallic layer has been or is pretreated before being connected to the polymer structure.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer has a layer thickness of at least 10 nm.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer at least partly comprises copper or a copper alloy.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the polymer structure is pretreated in such a way that the conductive component of the polymer structure is/are at least partly uncovered.

7. Method according to claim 1 wherein the metallic layer is connected to a contact electrode and/or is embodied as an intermediate layer between polymer structure and contact electrode.

8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer is applied at least partly by spraying and/or lamination, and/or vapour deposition, and/or by electroplating and/or by welding.

9. Electrical fluid heater for a motor vehicle produced by the method according to claim 1, comprising at least one fluid guiding channel, at least one conductive polymer structure containing a polymer component and a conductive component and also at least one metallic layer connected to the polymer component.

10. Fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein the polymer structure is embodied dimensionally stably at least in sections and/or flexibly at least in sections.

11. Fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein the conductive component is present in particle form and/or as a scaffold and/or is present in the form of carbon black and/or graphite and/or graphene and/or carbon fibres and/or carbon nanotubes, and/or the polymer structure comprises an electrically insulating polymer component.

12. Fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein the metallic layer is applied at least partly by spraying and/or lamination, and/or vapour deposition, and/or by electroplating and/or by ultrasonic welding.

13. Method for operating a fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein fluid flows through the fluid heater and is heated in the process.

14. (canceled)

15. Method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid is air.

16. Method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive component is a carbon component.

17. Method according to claim 3, wherein the metallic layer is pretreated by roughening the metallic layer

18. Fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein the polymer structure is embodied dimensionally stably at least in sections as a block, and/or flexibly at least in sections as a film.

19. Method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer is applied at least partly by thermal spraying, and/or thermal lamination and/or lamination by way of a conductive adhesion promoter, and/or PVD vapour deposition, and/or by ultrasonic welding.

20. Fluid heater according to claim 9, wherein the metallic layer is applied at least partly by thermal spraying, and/or thermal lamination and/or lamination by way of a conductive adhesion promoter, and/or PVD vapour deposition, and/or by ultrasonic welding.

21. Method according to claim 1 wherein the metallic layer is soldered to a contact electrode.

Description

[0053] The disclosure is described below on the basis of exemplary embodiments which are explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a schematic excerpt from a fluid heater according to the disclosure; and

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a method for producing a fluid heater according to the disclosure.

[0056] In the following description, the same reference signs are used for identical and identically acting parts.

[0057] FIG. 1 shows an excerpt from one embodiment of a fluid heater according to the disclosure. The fluid heater comprises an electrically conductive polymer structure 10 composed of a PPTC material, a first metallic layer 11 on a first side of the polymer structure 10, and a second metallic layer 12 on a second (opposite) side of the polymer structure 10. The metallic layers are cohesively connected to the polymer structure preferably over the whole area. Furthermore, the metallic layers 11, 12 are in each case connected to a connection electrode (contact electrode) 13 and 14, respectively, such that an electric current can flow through the polymer structure 10 via the metallic layers 11, 12.

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a polymer structure 10, which is connected on both sides to a first metallic layer 11 and a second metallic layer 12. This takes place here in a continuous method. For this purpose, the arrangement of the polymer structure 10 with the two metallic layers (metal films) 11, 12 is brought between two sonotrodes 15, 16. Ultrasonic welding is then carried out by means of a corresponding ultrasound-induced movement in accordance with the arrows 17. The arrows 18 indicate a direction of rotation of the roller-type sonotrodes 15, 16. The material for the metallic layers 11, 12 can for example be unrolled from a storage roll and/or be correspondingly guided in the direction of the polymer structure 10 by deflection rolls (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0059] It should be pointed out at this juncture that all parts described above, considered by themselves and in any combination, in particular the details illustrated in the drawings, are claimed as essential to the disclosure. Modifications thereof are familiar to the person skilled in the art.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0060] 10 Polymer structure [0061] 11 Metallic layer [0062] 12 Metallic layer [0063] 13 Contact electrode [0064] 14 Contact electrode [0065] 15 Sonotrode [0066] 16 Sonotrode [0067] 17 Arrow [0068] 18 Arrow