Patent ID: 8692168

Claim:
An infrared heating panel, comprising: an electrically insulative planar substrate having a first surface and an opposing second surface; a plurality of infrared heating elements carried by the substrate, each heating element comprising an elongated first segment attached to the first surface and an elongated second segment attached to the second surface opposite from and in a parallel arrangement with the first segment, the first segment comprising a strip of an electrically resistive thin film adapted to emit infrared radiation in response to a current flow, wherein the first segment further comprises a first electrical connection point, the second segment further comprises a second electrical connection point, and the first and the second segments are electrically coupled such that a first current flowing between the first and the second connection points flows through the first segment in a first direction relative to the substrate and flows through the second segment in a second direction opposite the first direction; a first power bus attached to the first surface of the substrate and electrically connected with each of the first segments of the heating elements; and a second power bus attached to the second surface of the substrate opposite from and in a parallel arrangement with the first power bus, the second power bus electrically connected with each of the second segments of the heating elements, wherein the first power bus is electrically coupled to the first segments proximate a midpoint of each of the first segments, and wherein the second power bus is electrically coupled to the second segments proximate a midpoint of each of the second segments such that the first and the second segments of each heating element combine to form two current paths between the first and the second power buses.