Patent ID: 7913952

Claim:
A device for de-icing an aircraft wall, the wall comprising a composite structure ( 47 ) with a skin ( 41 ) constituted by an electrically-conductive material, in particular of metal wherein: the device comprises a plurality of thin inductor elements ( 33 to 35 ) that are designed to extend substantially parallel to the layer of conductive material, at a distance ( 40 ) therefrom that is sufficiently small to ensure that when the inductor is powered by a source of AC at a suitable frequency, the layer heats quickly and uniformly without significantly heating the composite structure; the inductors are in the form of at least one of a plate and a shell and comprise coils ( 12 , 13 ) of conductive wire that are flat and that comprise a number of turns; the thickness of at least one of a coil and of an inductor is one of less than 1/10 its diameter and an equivalent diameter; and each coil is elongate in shape along an axis ( 28 ) and comprises two sheets ( 16 , 19 , 22 , 25 ) of one of braided and twisted wires that extend substantially parallel to the axis of the coil, the two sheets being separated by a space ( 31 , 32 ) having no inductor wires.