Patent Publication Number: US-2020292118-A1

Title: Heater for pipe

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a heater for a pipe, and more particularly, to a heater installed to surround a pipe to perform a heating or heat insulation function. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Pipes interworking with chemical material coating, deposition facilities or semiconductor manufacturing facilities need to be heated to an appropriate temperature to prevent by-products accumulated on inner walls thereof from being fixed or to compensate for temperature loss, and to this end, a heater for a pipe which surrounds a pipe to perform a heating or heat insulation function has been derived and used. In the present disclosure, an inner surface refers to a surface close to a pipe and an outer surface refers to a surface farther from the pipe when it is assumed that a heater for a pipe is installed on the pipe. 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a heater for a pipe of a related art and  FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of a heater for a pipe of the related art. 
     As shown in the drawings, the heater for a pipe of the related art includes a heater body part  110  provided in a straight tube shape to have an inner surface of a circular cross-section, and three heating wires  121  installed in the heater body part  110 , and a restraint operating part  130  provided at the heater body part  110 . 
     The heater body part  110  includes a heat insulation layer portion  115 , a support layer portion  116  installed on an inner side of the heat insulation layer portion  115 , an outer coating  117  provided on an outer surface of the heat insulation layer portion  115 , and an inner coating  118  provided on an inner surface of the support layer portion  116 . 
     The heat insulation layer portion  115  may be implemented as aramid felt or the like. 
     The support layer portion  116  is manufactured using a heat resistant material such as glass fiber cloth or the like. 
     The outer coating  117  and inner coating  118  are formed of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). 
     One longitudinal cutting line  111  is formed in the entire length section of the heater body part  110 . 
     The longitudinal cutting line  111  is formed in a straight line starting from an outer surface of the heater body part  110  to an inner surface thereof. 
     A pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  is formed over the entire length section of the heater body part  110  by the longitudinal cutting line  111 . 
     Each longitudinal cutting plane  112  forms a long rectangular planar shape disposed in a thickness direction of the heater body part  110 . 
     Each heating wire  121  is installed so that both ends thereof are exposed to the outside of the heater body part  110 . 
     Each heating wire  121  is fixed to the support layer portion  116  by a sewing thread (not shown) formed of a heat resistant material such as silica. 
     The heating wires  121  may be connected to each other in parallel, in series, or a combination of parallel and series. An amount of heat emitted from the heating wire  121  may be selected by varying a connection method of each heating wire  121 . 
     The restraint operating part  130  has a female Velcro tape  132  and a male Velcro tape  131  provided on the outer coating  117  so as to be adjacent to the longitudinal cutting plane  112 . 
     Meanwhile, according to the pipe for a heater of the related art, since the longitudinal cutting plane  112  formed in the heater body part  110  due to the longitudinal cutting line  111  has a long rectangular planar shape disposed along a thickness direction of the heater body part  110 , heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  increases. Here, the heat loss is increased because a contact area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  is small when the area of each of the longitudinal cutting planes  112  is restrained by the restraint operating part  130  and heat movement through the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  is facilitated because there is no bent portion in the longitudinal cutting planes  112 . 
     If the heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  increases, temperature uniformity of an outer surface of a pipe  201  is lowered. If the temperature uniformity of the outer surface of the pipe  201  is lowered, a problem that the by-products are fixed to a portion (area adjacent to the longitudinal cutting plane) of an inner wall of a pipe, or the like may arise. 
     Also, if the heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  112  increases, it may be difficult to install the heating wire  121  adjacent to the longitudinal cutting plane  112 . 
     Related art documents include Korea Patent Registration No. 10-1602127 (dated Mar. 4, 2016, entitled “Heater for pipe”) , which discloses a technology related to the pipe for a heater described above. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the present disclosure provides a heater for a pipe, capable of reducing heat loss that occurs between a pair of longitudinal cutting planes. 
     In an aspect, a heater for a pipe includes: a heater body part formed in a straight tube shape to have an inner surface having a circular cross-section and having a longitudinal cutting line formed in the entire thickness section to form a pair of longitudinal cutting planes in the entire length section; a heating wire installed in the heater body part; and a restraint operating part installed at the heater body part and restraining the pair of longitudinal cutting planes so as not to be spaced apart from each other, wherein each of the longitudinal cutting planes includes: a longitudinal outer cutting area disposed in a thickness direction from an outer surface of the heater body part, a longitudinal intermediate cutting area extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area in a circumferential direction of the heater body part, and a longitudinal inner cutting area extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part. 
     The longitudinal cutting line may be provided in plurality, and the heating wire is installed at each circumferential segment when each portion of the heater body part divided by the longitudinal cutting line is the circumferential segment, so that a specific portion of the pipe may be heated more or less than other portions. 
     In another aspect, a heater for a pipe includes: a heater body part formed in a straight tube shape to have an inner surface having a circular cross-section, having a longitudinal cutting line formed in the entire thickness section to form a pair of longitudinal cutting planes in the entire length section, and having a circumferential cutting line formed in the entire thickness section to form a pair of circumferential cutting planes in the entire circumferential section; a heating wire installed in the heater body part; and a restraint operating part installed at the heater body part and restraining the pair of longitudinal cutting planes so as not to be spaced apart from each other, wherein each of the longitudinal cutting planes includes: a longitudinal outer cutting area disposed in a thickness direction from an outer surface of the heater body part, a longitudinal intermediate cutting area extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area in a circumferential direction of the heater body part, and a longitudinal inner cutting area extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part, and wherein each of the circumferential cutting planes includes: a circumferential outer cutting area disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part, a circumferential intermediate cutting area extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area in a length direction of the heater body part, and a circumferential inner cutting area extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part, and wherein the heating wire is installed at each longitudinal segment when each portion of the heater body part divided by the circumferential cutting line is the longitudinal segment. 
     In another aspect, a heater for a pipe includes: a heater body part formed in a straight tube shape to have an inner surface having a circular cross-section, having a longitudinal cutting line formed in the entire thickness section to form a pair of longitudinal cutting planes in the entire length section, and having a circumferential cutting line formed in the entire thickness section to form a pair of circumferential cutting planes in the entire circumferential section; a heating wire installed in the heater body part; and a restraint operating part installed at the heater body part and restraining the pair of longitudinal cutting planes so as not to be spaced apart from each other, wherein the longitudinal cutting line is provided in plurality and each of the longitudinal cutting planes includes: a longitudinal outer cutting area disposed in a thickness direction from an outer surface of the heater body part, a longitudinal intermediate cutting area extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area in a circumferential direction of the heater body part, and a longitudinal inner cutting area extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part, and wherein each of the circumferential cutting planes includes: a circumferential outer cutting area disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part, a circumferential intermediate cutting area extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area in a length direction of the heater body part, and a circumferential inner cutting area extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part, and wherein the heating wire is installed at each bidirectional segment when each portion of the heater body part divided by the circumferential cutting line is the bidirectional segment. 
     The heating wire may be installed on a more inner side than the longitudinal intermediate cutting area so as to reduce heat loss that occurs in the thickness direction of the pipe. 
     The restraint operating part may include a female Velcro tape and a male Velcro tape installed to face each other in the longitudinal intermediate cutting area, so that the restraint operating part is not exposed to the outside. 
     In addition, the heater body part may be formed of a material which is bendable in a direction in which curvature is reduced, so that a heater that may be used in various types of pipes having different diameters of outer surfaces using one type of longitudinal segment, circumferential segment, or bidirectional segment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a view showing a state in which a heater for a pipe is installed on a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a view showing bidirectional segments of a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a view showing a pattern of a heating wire according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are views showing other forms of a heating wire pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively; 
         FIG. 7  is a view showing a connection state between heating wires and a power supply unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a view showing a state in which a heater for a pipe according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is installed on a pipe; 
         FIG. 9  is a view illustrating an effect of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a heater for a pipe of the related art; and 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of the heater for a pipe of the related art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a view showing a state in which a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is installed on a pipe and  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 3  is a view showing bidirectional segments of a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 4  is a view showing a pattern of a heating wire according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIGS. 5 and 6  are views showing other forms of a heating wire pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively,  FIG. 7  is a view showing a connection state between heating wires and a power supply unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 8  is a view showing a state in which a heater for a pipe according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is installed on a pipe, and  FIG. 9  is a view illustrating an effect of the present disclosure. 
     As shown in these drawings, a heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a heater body part  10  provided in a straight tube shape to have an inner surface having a circular cross-section, a heating wire  21  provided in the heat body part  10 , and a restraint operating part  30  provided at the heater body part  10 . 
     The heater body part  10  is formed of a material having flexibility such as silicon rubber. The heating wire  21  may be embedded in an insertion manner when the heater body part  10  is manufactured. 
     In the heater body part  10 , four longitudinal cutting lines  11  and two circumferential cutting lines  13  are provided in the entire thickness section. 
     A pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12  is formed in the entire longitudinal section by each longitudinal cutting line  11 . 
     Each longitudinal cutting plane  12  includes a longitudinal outer cutting area  12   a  disposed along a thickness direction from an outer surface of the heater body part  10 , a longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area  12   a  in a circumferential direction of the heat body part  10 , and a longitudinal inner cutting area  12   c  extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  in the thickness direction of the heater body part  10  to reach an inner surface of the heater body part  10 . 
     A pair of circumferential cutting planes  14  is formed in the entire circumferential section by each circumferential cutting line  13 . 
     Each circumferential cutting plane  14  includes a circumferential outer cutting area  14   a  disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part  10 , a circumferential intermediate cutting area  14   b  extending from the circumferential outer cutting area  14   a  in a length direction of the heater body part  10 , and a circumferential inner cutting area  14   c  extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area  14   b  to reach the inner surface of the heater body part  10  in the thickness direction of the heater body part  10 . 
     The heater body part  10  is divided in the circumferential direction by the four longitudinal cutting lines  11  and is divided in the length direction by the two circumferential cutting lines  13 . For convenience of explanation, each portion of the heater body part  10  divided by the longitudinal cutting lines  11  and the circumferential cutting lines  13  will be referred to as a bidirectional segment  10 ′. 
     The bidirectional segments  10 ′ may be installed on an outer surface of a pipe  201  individually one by one or a plurality of the bidirectional segments  10 ′ may be installed on the outer surface of the pipe  201  in a mutually coupled state through the restraint operating part  30 . 
     The heating wire  21  is installed in each of the bidirectional segments  10 ′ so that both ends thereof are exposed to the outside of the heater body part  10 . The heating wire  21  is installed on a more inner side than the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b.  Here, the term “inner side” means that the heating wire  21  is disposed closer to the pipe  201  than the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  is, which simply represents a relative positional relation of the heating wire and the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  with respect to the pipe  201  and an installation area of the heating wire  21  is not limited to an area opposing the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b.    
     The heating wire  21  may be installed in a zigzag form as shown in  FIG. 4  or may be installed in other forms such as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     Each heating wire  21  is electrically connected to a power supply unit  22  for a resistance heating operation. 
     The heating wires  21  may be individually connected to the power supply unit  22 , all the heating wires  21  may be connected in series or in parallel to the power supply unit  22 , or some of the heating wires  21  may be connected in series to the power supply unit  22 , some of the heating wires  21  may be connected in parallel to the power supply unit  22 , and the other remaining heating wires may be individually connected to the power supply unit  22 . That is, the heating wires  21  may be connected to the power supply unit  22  in various forms. 
     In  FIG. 7 , it is illustrated that heating wires installed at six bidirectional segments  10 ′ out of 12 bidirectional segments  10 ′ are individually connected to the power supply unit  22 , heating wires installed at three other bidirectional segments  10 ′ are connected in parallel to the power supply unit  22 , and heating wires installed at the other three bidirectional segments  10 ′ are connected in series to the power supply unit  22 . 
     A method of connecting three bidirectional segments  10 ′ in series to the power supply unit  22  will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 7 . For convenience of description, both ends of a first bidirectional segment  10 ′ will be referred to as “a” and “b”, both ends of a second bidirectional segment  10 ′ will be referred to as “c” and “d”, and a third bidirectional segment  10 ′ will be referred to as “e” and “f”. 
     First, the end “b” of the first bidirectional segment  10 ′ and the end “d” of the second bidirectional segment  10 ′ are connected to each other, and the end “c” of the second bidirectional segment  10 ′ and the end “e” of the third bidirectional segment  10 ′ are connected to each other. 
     Next, the end “a” of the first bidirectional segment  10 ′ and the end “f” of the third bidirectional segment  10 ′ are connected to the power supply unit  22 . 
     In a state in which the heating wires  21  are connected to the power supply unit  22  as shown in  FIG. 7 , the resistance heating operation of each heating wire  21  may be turned on or off by turning on or off an electrical connection between the power supply unit  22  and each heating wire  21  through a controller  23 . 
     The controller  23  determines whether or not a heating operation of the heating wire  21  is normally performed based on a temperature detection value input from a temperature sensor  24  installed at the bidirectional segment  10 ′, and if the heating operation is not performed normally, alerting may be provided through a display device. The temperature sensor  24  may be installed only at one of the three bidirectional segments  10 ′ corresponding to the heating wire  21  connected in parallel with the power supply unit  22 . 
     In addition, the controller  23  may select the amount of heat emitted from the heating wire  21  by controlling the power supply unit  22  so that a magnitude of a current flowing in the heating wire  21  is varied based on the temperature detection value input from the temperature sensor  24 . 
     The restraint operating part  30  has a female Velcro tape  32  and a male Velcro tape  31  provided at the bidirectional segment  10 ′ so as to face each other in the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b.    
     The female Velcro tape  32  and the male Velcro tape  31  are installed on each bidirectional segment  10 ′. 
     When the female Velcro tape  32  and the male Velcro tape  31  are brought into contact with each other, the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12  may be restrained so as not to be spaced apart from each other. 
     Meanwhile, in the embodiment described above, the heater body part  10  is configured to be divided by the plurality of longitudinal cutting lines  11  and the plurality of circumferential cutting lines  13 , but the present disclosure may also be implemented such that the formation of the circumferential cutting line  13  is omitted and the heater body part  10  is divided only by the plurality of longitudinal cutting lines  11  as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 8  is a view showing a state in which a heater for a pipe according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is installed on a pipe. 
     The heater for a pipe according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is different from the heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure (the heater body part is divided by the four longitudinal cutting lines and two circumferential cutting lines) , in that the heater body part is divided by four longitudinal cutting lines  11 ″. 
     Each longitudinal cutting line  11 ″ forms a pair of longitudinal cutting planes (See “ 12 ” of  FIG. 3 ) in the entire length section. 
     Each longitudinal cutting plane includes a longitudinal outer cutting area (See “ 12   a ” of  FIG. 3 ) disposed in a thickness direction from an outer surface of the heater body part, a longitudinal intermediate cutting area (See “ 12   b ” of  FIG. 3 ) extending in a circumferential direction of the heater body part from the longitudinal outer cutting area, and a longitudinal inner cutting area (See “ 12   c ” of  FIG. 3 ) extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area to reach an inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part. 
     The heater body part is divided in the circumferential direction by the plurality of longitudinal cutting lines  11 ″. For convenience of description, each portion of the heater body part divided by the longitudinal cutting line  11 ″ will be referred to as a circumferential segment  10 ″. 
     A heating wire  21 ″ is installed in each of the circumferential segment  10 ″ so that both ends thereof are exposed to the outside of the heater body part. 
     A restraint operating part  30 ″ has a female Velcro tape (See “ 31 ” of  FIG. 3 ) and a male Velcro tape (See “ 32 ” of  FIG. 3 ) provided in the longitudinal intermediate cutting area. 
     In the embodiment described above, the heater body part is divided by the plurality of longitudinal cutting lines, but the present disclosure may also be implemented such that one longitudinal cutting line is provided and the heater body part is divided by a plurality of circumferential cutting lines. 
     The heater body part is divided into a plurality of longitudinal segments by the circumferential cutting lines. 
     In addition, in the above embodiment, the heater body part is divided by the plurality of longitudinal cutting lines or circumferential cutting lines, but the present disclosure may also be implemented such that the circumferential cutting line is not formed and only one longitudinal cutting line is formed at the heater body part. 
     In addition, in the embodiment described above, the restraint operating part is configured using Velcro tape, but the restraint operating part may also be configured using any other unit such as a snap button or the like. 
     In addition, in the embodiment described above, the heating wire  21  is configured to be embedded in the heater body part  10  in an insertion manner, but the present disclosure may also be implemented by configuring the heater body part to have the same structure as the heater for a pipe of the related art shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     As described above, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the longitudinal cutting plane  12  including the longitudinal outer cutting area  12   a  disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part  10 , the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area  12   a  in the circumferential direction of the heater body part  10 , and the longitudinal inner cutting area  12   c  extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b  to reach the inner surface of the heater body part  10  in the thickness direction of the heater body part  10  is formed by the longitudinal cutting lines  11 , thereby reducing heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12 . Here, heat loss is reduced because the area of each longitudinal cutting plane  12  is increased to increase a contact area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12  when the longitudinal cutting planes  12  are restrained by the restraint operating part  30  and it is difficult for heat to move between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12  due to two bent portions provided at the longitudinal cutting planes  12 . 
     When heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes  12  is reduced, temperature uniformity of the outer surface of the pipe  201  is improved and the heating wire  21  may be installed adjacent to the longitudinal cutting planes  12 . 
     The circumferential cutting plane  14  including the circumferential outer cutting area  14   a  disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part  10 , the circumferential intermediate cutting area  14   b  extending from the circumferential outer cutting area  14   a  in the length direction of the heater body part  10 , and the circumferential inner cutting area  14   c  extending from the circumferential intermediate cutting area  14   b  to reach the inner surface of the heater body part  10  in the thickness direction is formed by the circumferential cutting lines  13 , thereby reducing heat loss through an area between the pair of circumferential cutting planes  14 . 
     In addition, since the heating wire  21  is installed on each of the bidirectional segment  10 ′, the circumferential segment  10 ″, or longitudinal segment, a specific portion (portion facing a heating device or cooling device or exposed to the outside) of the pipe  201  may be heated more or less than other portions. 
     In addition, since the heating wire  21  is installed on the inner side than the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b,  heat loss that may occur in the thickness direction of the pipe  201  may be reduced (air gap in the longitudinal intermediate cutting area functions to block heat). 
     In addition, since the restraint operating part  30  is configured to include the female Velcro tape  32  and the male Velcro tape  31  installed to face each other at the longitudinal intermediate cutting area  12   b,  the restraint operating part  30  is not exposed to the outside. 
     In addition, since the heater body part  10  is formed of a material that may be bent in a direction in which curvature is reduced, a heater that maybe used in various types of pipes  201  having different diameters of outer surfaces may be manufactured using the one type of bidirectional segments  10 ′, circumferential segments  10 ″, or longitudinal segments. In  FIG. 9 , the heater for a pipe using two out of the four bidirectional segments  10 ′ used for the heater for a pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure shown in  FIG. 1  is illustrated. 
     As described above, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the longitudinal cutting plane including the longitudinal outer cutting area disposed in the thickness direction from the outer surface of the heater body part, the longitudinal intermediate cutting area extending from the longitudinal outer cutting area in the circumferential direction of the heater body part, and the longitudinal inner cutting area extending from the longitudinal intermediate cutting area to reach the inner surface of the heater body part in the thickness direction of the heater body part is formed by the longitudinal cutting lines, thereby reducing heat loss through an area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes. Here, heat loss is reduced because the area of each longitudinal cutting plane is increased to increase a contact area between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes when the longitudinal cutting planes are restrained by the restraint operating part and it is difficult for heat to move between the pair of longitudinal cutting planes due to two bent portions provided at the longitudinal cutting planes. 
     While embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.