Patent ID: 11867430
Assignee: WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  H | IPC F  H

Claim 0:
1. A heater system comprising:
a heater bundle comprising:
a plurality of heater assemblies, each heater assembly comprising a plurality of heater units and an insulating material, each heater unit defining at least one independently controlled heating zone; and
power conductors electrically connected to each of the independently controlled heating zones in each of the heater units; and
a power supply device configured to modulate power to each of the independently controlled heater zones of the heater units through the power conductors, wherein a voltage is selectively and sequentially supplied to each of the independently controlled heating zones at a rate based on at least one operational characteristic of at least one of the heating zones such that a reduced number of independently controlled heating zones receives the voltage at a time or at least a subset of the independently controlled heating zones receive a reduced voltage at all times to reduce leakage current through the insulating material.