Patent ID: 7769278

Claim:
A carbon heater comprising: a carbon filament disposable in a tube for serving as a heating element, the carbon filament having a main body having a first outermost lateral sidewall surface and a second outermost lateral sidewall surface, the second outermost lateral sidewall surface being opposite to the first outermost lateral sidewall surface, and a plurality of support parts, the support parts respectively extending from the first outermost lateral sidewall surface and the second outermost lateral sidewall surface of the main body to the inner circumferential surface of the tube in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the carbon filament, such that the support parts are supportable inside the tube, wherein a combination of the main body and the support parts of the carbon filament is an integral, unitary structure made of a same material and is formed in the shape of a sheet, and the main body and the support parts are co-planar and have a same uniform thickness throughout an entire co-planar plane; wherein a width of each of the support parts in a longitudinal direction of the tube and in the longitudinal direction of the carbon filament becomes smaller from the outermost lateral sidewall of the main body to the inner circumferential surface of the tube, the width of each of the support parts being defined as a length from one outermost end of a corresponding one of the support parts in the longitudinal direction of the tube and in the longitudinal direction of the carbon filament to an opposite outermost end of the corresponding one of the support parts in the longitudinal direction of the tube and in the longitudinal direction of the carbon filament, wherein the entire width of each of the entire support parts is filled with the material of each of the support parts, and wherein the support parts are not in contact with each other.