WO1988009596A1

WO1988009596A1 - Heater for a medium or an object and use thereof

Info

Publication number: WO1988009596A1
Application number: PCT/SE1988/000263
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leif Nilsson
Original assignee: Leif Nilsson
Priority date: 1987-05-22
Filing date: 1988-05-20
Publication date: 1988-12-01
Also published as: AU1943188A; SE460632B; SE8702145D0; EP0394244A1; SE8702145L

Abstract

The invention relates to a product which is made of synthetic material and which is intended for electrically heating and sustaining the temperature of a medium or an object. An essential feature of the product is that it comprises a) an electrically conductive material having the commercial designation Semicon CT 6002:70, which is a soft, flexible material, and in that b) one surface of said material is intended to be joined with an insulating material comprising PVC 44 %, softener 27 %, nitrile 18 %, pigment, filler and stabilizers 11 %.

Description

Heater for a medium or an object and use thereof

The present invention relates to a product which is made of synthetic material and which is intended for electric¬ ally heating and sustaining the temperature of medium or an object.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a mate¬ rial composition which can be used and applied universally for a large number of mutually different purposes.

The basic concept of the invention is disclosed in the characterizing clause of the following claim 1.

A product configured in this way is cheap to manufacture, easy to handle, harmless to the environment and extremely effective.

When the inventive product consists of piping or tubing, it can be used, for instance, as so-called VA-pipes, i.e. pipes for water supply and sewer systems, which are thus intended to conduct liquid. The VA-pipe can also be used as a connector pipe for joining pipes together in the repair of piping systems. The inventive pipe may also be used, for instance, to connect the washing liquid con¬ tainer of a vehicle with the washer jets or nozzles of windscreen washing systems. The pipe may also be used as a fuel conduit connected to fuel tanks.

A general use to which the inventive product can be put iε also one in which pipes or hoses are intended to conduct a medium which needs to be heated in order to prevent the medium from freezing at low temperatures. Another use for the inventive product is one in which the product iε given a mat-like configuration. Such mat-like configurations are used generally to deliver heat to a medium or to an object.

Consequently, the inventive product when in a mat-like configuration can be placed on the ground such as to deliver heat upwardly to growing plants or seedlings, e.g. to cold-sensitive bushes, shrubs, etc. The product can be placed in closed spaces, e.g. on enclosed patios for heating purposes. It can also be placed on grass surfaces, e.g. football pitches or tennis courts, for the purpose of sustaining growth during the cold period of the year.

The accompanying schematic drawing illustrates two exemplifying embodiments of the invention, in which drawing Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a tubular product constructed in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the inventive product in a mat-like configuration.

In Figures 1 and 2 the reference 1 identifies a preferably impact-absorbing flexible layer of any suitable material. The reference 2 identifies an insulating layer, comprising PVC (44 %) , softener (27 %) , nitrile (18 %) , pigment, filler and stabilizers (11 %) . This material has extreme¬ ly satisfactory insulating properties against ambient temperatures and is also a flexible, manageable material.

The reference 3 identifies an electrically conductive ma¬ terial having the commercial designation Semicon CT 6002:70, which is also a pliable, flexible material and which has encapsulated therein electrically conducting- wires or filaments 4, said wires or filaments being pres- ent in numbers necessary for the purpose intended in each particular case. These wires or filaments are connected in a known manner to a current source, which may be a current source for low or weak voltage, or for mains voltage, optionally transformed to a low voltage via a transformer. Neither the current source nor the requisite control devices, such as temperature sensors, relays etc. form any part of the present invention, and consequently these elements need not be described in detail here. It will be obvious to those skilled in this art that a wealth of solutions are known in this regard. If found necessary, one surface of the electrically conductive layer may be provided with a so-called protective earthing layer 5.

The tubular product - illustrated in Figure 1 may be used, inter alia, for the aforesaid purposes, and, similarly, the mat-like product illustrated in Figure 2 may be used in the aforementioned fields.

It will be understood, however, that the uses mentioned in this document by way of example can be widened consider¬ ably.

Although the inventive product is of simple construction, it affords a surprising technical effect within, inter alia, the fields recited above. Compared with known products used hitherto for the aforesaid purposes, the costs of manufacturing the inventive product are much lower. Despite the fact that the component parts of the material composition are known per se, it is not believed, or known, that the concept of combining these two materials to afford the unique result disclosed above has been earlier realized.

Claims

Clai s

1. A product made of synthetic material and intended to electrically heat and sustain the temperature of a medium or an object, characterized in that the product comprises a) an electrically conductive material of the commercial designation Semicon CT 6002:70, which is a soft, flexible material, and b) in that the one surface of said material is intended t^*o be joined with a layer of insulating material compris¬ ing PVC 44 %, softener 27 %, nitrile 18 %, pigment, filler and stabilizers 11 %.

2. A product according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a layer of material which is resistant to impact forces or other influences.

3. A product according to claim 1 or claim2, character- ized in that the other surface of the electrically con¬ ductive material is provided with an electrically non¬ conducting but heat permeable layer.

4. The use of the product according to any of the pre- ceding claims as a pipe or tube for conducting liquid, or as a mat-like body for emitting heat upwards to growing plants and/or to a closed space, or to emit heat downwards, e.g. , for keeping grass surfaces warm.