Electric heater

Abstract

An electric heater for an automobile vehicle, having at least one heating element and at least one circuit board, with the circuit board being connected to a control unit and/or to a power supply and having at least one contact area through which an electrical connection between a heating element and a control unit and/or a power supply can be realized, the heating element possessing at least one PTC-heating element, with the heating element being connected to the circuit board with at least one connecting element, whereby the first connecting element features at least one protruding element and the contact area offering at least one through hole, with the at least one protruding element being insertable into the at least one through hole of the contact area.

Claims

1. An electric heater for a vehicle, the electric heater comprising: at least one heating element; at least one circuit board connected to a control unit and/or to a power supply; and at least one contact area through which an electrical connection between the heating element and the control unit and/or the power supply is realized, wherein the heating element has at least one PTC-heating element, wherein the heating element is connected to the circuit board with at least one first connecting element, wherein the at least one first connecting element has at least one protruding element, wherein the contact area has at least one through hole, wherein the at least one protruding element is insertable into the at least one through hole of the contact area, and wherein the first connecting element is plate-shaped with two laminar surfaces that are arranged opposed to each other, with the protruding element being arranged on a laminar surface of the first connecting element.

2. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cross-section of the through hole is smaller than a cross-section of the protruding element.

3. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact area has a multitude of through holes, which are arranged in either a regular pattern or an irregular pattern, and wherein the first connecting element has a plurality of protruding elements, and wherein a quantity of protruding elements is equal or greater that a quantity of through holes.

4. The electric heater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protruding element is formed through a beam-shaped element.

5. An electric heater for a vehicle, the electric heater comprising: at least one heating element; at least one circuit board connected to a control unit and/or to a power supply; and at least one contact area through which an electrical connection between the heating element and the control unit and/or the power supply is realized, wherein the heating element has at least one PTC-heating element, wherein the heating element is connected to the circuit board with at least one first connecting element, wherein the at least one first connecting element has at least one protruding element, wherein the contact area has at least one through hole, wherein the at least one protruding element is insertable into the at least one through hole of the contact area, and wherein a second connecting element is provided that is plate-shaped and has a plurality of through holes, wherein the through holes in the second connecting element are arranged in an identical pattern to the through holes in the contact area, and wherein the second connecting element is connected to the heating element.

6. The electric heater as claimed in claim 5, wherein the protruding elements of the first connecting element are inserted in the through holes of the contact area and into the through holes of the second connecting element.

7. The electric heater as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first connecting element is in laminar contact with one of two planar sides of the circuit board, and wherein the second connecting element is in laminar contact with the second planar side of the circuit board.

8. The electric heater as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first connecting element and/or the second connecting element is connected to the heating element by glue and/or screws and/or clips and/or braze points and/or clinching.

9. The electric heater as claimed in claim 5, wherein the circuit board and/or the first connecting element and/or the second connecting element is encased in a waterproof housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a circuit board with two contact areas that are electrically connected to a not shown power supply or a control unit, furthermore a heating element that can be connected to the circuit board by a connecting element, which features a multitude of protruding elements, is shown next to the circuit board, and

(3) FIG. 2 shows an embodiment, where the heating element can be connected to the contact area of the circuit board through a first connecting element, which features a multitude of protruding elements, and a second connecting element, which features a multitude of through holes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of an electric heater 1. The electric heater comprises a first heating element 7, which features a multitude of heat dissipating fins 8 and at least one PTC-heating element (not shown in FIG. 1). The PTC-heating elements can be used to generate heat by applying an electric current to them. The electric current can be obtained from a power supply (not shown in FIG. 1). Furthermore the electric heater possesses a control unit and a connection to a power supply. Both are not shown in FIG. 1. In a preferred embodiment the electric heater 1 features a multitude of heating elements 7 that are connected to a circuit board 2.

(5) The heating element 7 has an L-shaped body 9. The longer flank of the L-shaped body 9 features the multitude of the heat dissipating fins 8 and the PTC-heating elements that are not shown in FIG. 1. The heat dissipating fins 8 and the PTC-heating elements can be distributed on one side or on both sides of the longer flank of the L-shaped body.

(6) The shorter flank of the L-shaped body 9 is also part of a second L-shaped body 15. The longer flank of the second L-shaped body 15 features a connecting area 10 to which a connecting element 5 can be attached. This connecting element 5 is shown between the heating element 7 and the circuit board 2. The build-up of the heating element 7 is exemplary. In alternative embodiments it can be built differently without deviating from the scope of the invention. Important is, that the heating element possesses at least one PTC-heating element, on which a current can be applied through either the body of the heating element or other electrical conductive device.

(7) The circuit board 2 is shown underneath the heating element 7 and the connecting element 5. The circuit board 2 features two contact areas 4 that are connected to either a power supply or a control unit by printed paths on the surface of the circuit board 2. By connecting the heating element 7 to the contact area 2 an electrical connection can be realized.

(8) The connecting element 5 has a planar plate-shaped element with a multitude of protruding elements 6 on the lower side of the plate-shaped element. The upper side of the plate-shaped element can be attached to the connecting area 10 of the heating element 7 by means that are well known in the state of the art, e.g. screws, braze joints, glue or clips.

(9) The protruding elements 6 are beam-shaped and have a cross-section that has among other possible shapes a circular, an elliptic or a polygonal shape. The cross-section of the protruding elements 6 can be unvaried along the vertical extension of the protruding elements 6 or it can change. A preferred embodiment is characterized by a cross-section that grows bigger from the free end of the protruding elements 6 to the plate-shaped element. This is advantageous as it is easier to insert the protruding elements into through holes, such as the through holes 4 of the contact area 3.

(10) The through holes 4 of the contact area 3 are piercing through the circuit board 2. The protruding elements 6 can therefore be inserted into the through holes 4. The cross-section of the protruding elements 6 is thereby bigger than the cross section of the corresponding through holes 4. A so called press fit can be created by pressing the protruding elements 6 into the through holes 4. The press fit is caused by the bigger cross-section of the protruding elements 6 compared to the cross-section of the through holes 4.

(11) The contact area 3 can be made of an electrical conductive material which is connected to a power supply and/or a control unit via printed paths on the circuit board 2 or otherwise applied paths on the circuit board 2.

(12) The connecting element 5 is preferably made of an electrical conductive element as well. An electric current can therefore be transported through the contact area 3 to the connecting element 5 and finally to the heating element 7, to which the PTC-heating elements are electrically connected. By this build-up the PTC-heating elements can be connected to at least one pole of a power supply. The connection to a second pole of a power supply can be created through other electrical conductive elements, such as cables or bridges or adjacent heating elements. In an embodiment where the circuit is closed through a connection between adjacent heating elements, it is preferable, if the adjacent heating elements are connected in an alternating way to either the positive pole or the negative pole of a power supply.

(13) Every circuit board 2 features a multitude of contact areas 3. One heating element 7 is connected to each contact area 3 by the means of a connecting element 5.

(14) The press fit between the protruding elements 6 and the contact area 3 restricts relative movement between the heating element 7 and the circuit board 2 in all three spatial directions. To create a press fit an assembly force is needed to press the protruding elements 6 into the through holes 4.

(15) FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an electric heater 1. The heating element 7 is built as an L-shaped body 9, which features a longer flank and a shorter flank. As already shown in FIG. 1 the longer flank of the L-shaped body 9 features the heat dissipating fins 8 and the PTC-heating elements, which are not shown. The shorter flank features a connecting area 14. A second connecting element 11 can be connected to the connecting area 14 by means that are known in the state of the art, e.g. screws, glue, braze joints or clips.

(16) The second connecting element 11 is made of a plate-shaped planar body, which possesses a multitude of through holes 12. Furthermore the second connecting element 11 features a connecting area 13 which is perpendicular to the planar area of the connecting element 11 that features the through holes 12. The connecting area 13 can be connected to the connecting area 14.

(17) The through holes 12 in the second connecting element 11 are arranged in an identical pattern to the through holes 4 in the circuit board 2. The second connecting element 11 can be placed on the lower surface of the circuit board in a way that the through holes 4 correspond with the through holes 12. A first connecting element 5, which is identical with the first connecting element 5 from FIG. 1, can then be pressed to the upper surface of the circuit board 2. The protruding elements 6 will be inserted into the through holes 4 and 12 and thus create a solid connection between the first connecting element 5, the circuit board 2 and the second connecting element 11.

(18) In an embodiment, the second connecting element 11 and the first connecting element 5 can be placed on the same side of the circuit board 2. If both connecting elements 5, 11 are arranged on the same side of the circuit board, the second connecting element 11 needs to be placed between the circuit board 2 and the first connecting element 5 to achieve a fixation of the second connecting element 11.

(19) The contact areas 3, the first connecting element 5 and the second connecting element 11 can either be made from an electrically conductive material or they can be coated with such a material. Important is that an electrically conductive connection between the heating element 7 and the printed paths of the circuit board 2, which are connected to a power supply and/or a control unit, can be created by using the connecting elements 5 and 11.

(20) The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.