Patent ID: 7714253

Claim:
A method for providing a controlled heating profile in an article being heated in a resistance heating process, said method comprising the steps of: providing an article having an irregular shaped perimeter to be resistance heated; contacting the article with a plurality of electrodes, said plurality comprising at least three electrodes; providing a controller operable to control current between said plurality of electrodes in accord with either a preselected program or a measured parameter of the article; selecting a first correlated group comprising at least two of said plurality of electrodes; establishing a flow of electrical current between the electrodes of said first correlated group; selecting a second correlated group comprising at least two of said plurality of electrodes, said second correlated group differing from said first correlated group; establishing a flow of electrical current between the electrodes of the second correlated group; and controlling the flow of electrical current between the electrodes of the first correlated group and the second correlated group with the controller in accord with the preselected program or a measured parameter of the article during a single stage resistance heating process wherein all of the plurality of electrodes remain in contact with the article, for the purpose of providing a controlled heating profile in the article being heated in the single stage resistance heating process.