Heater and method of producing the same

Details Heater and method of producing the same Heater and method of producing the same

2002-03-01

2004-05-11

Gartenberg, Ehud (Department: 3742)

Electric heating

Heating devices

Resistive element: igniter type

C123S14500A

Reexamination Certificate

active

06734399

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to heaters such as a ceramic heater and sheath heater and more specifically to a heater such as a glow plug for assisting start of a diesel engine and a water heater for heating coolant of an engine. The present invention further relates to a method of producing such a heater.
Heretofore, for the purpose of quickly starting a diesel engine, glow plugs have been installed on a cylinder block for pre-heating air within respective combustion chambers.
A conventional glow plug of the above-described kind is shown in FIG.
10
. The glow plug includes a rod-shaped ceramic heater P
4
having a sintered ceramic body P
3
in which lead wires P
1
and heating element P
2
are embedded.
On the ceramic heater P
4
is fitted a metallic tube P
5
on which is fitted a metallic shell P
6
which is to be fixed to a cylinder block. To the rear end (upper end in
FIG. 10
) of the metallic shell P
6
are attached an insulator P
7
and a round nut P
13
. Inside the metallic shell P
6
are disposed a spring-shaped external connecting wire P
8
connected to the ceramic heater P
4
and a rod-shaped terminal electrode P
9
connected to the external connecting wire P
8
.
The terminal electrode P
9
has a protruded rear end portion protruding from the metallic shell P
6
and having a threaded section P
10
onto which is screwed a nut P
11
. The nut P
11
cooperates with the insulator P
7
to interpose therebetween a power supply metallic member P
12
in the form of an elongated plate and hold it tightly therebetween. By applying a voltage across the power supply metallic member P
12
and the metallic shell P
6
(by way of the cylinder block), the ceramic heater P
4
is caused to conduct and generate heat.
Cylinders of the diesel engine are provided with such glow plugs, and the power supply metallic member P
12
is disposed so as to interconnect the protruded rear end portions of the terminal electrodes P
9
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In these days, in order to prevent the exhaust gas emission of the engine from becoming worse, it is required to check the deterioration in performance of the glow plugs. However, the conventional glow plugs cannot suitably meet the requirement due to its structure.
For example, if the performance of each glow plug can be checked by OBD (On-Board Diagnosis) by using a test terminal connected to a microcomputer, the glow plug can be checked with ease. However, heretofore, the single power supply metallic member P
12
has been used for supply of power to the glow plugs, so that it has been impossible to check the performance of each glow plug with ease.
Namely, in order to check the performance of each glow plug, it has been required to remove the power supply metallic member P
12
and bring the terminal electrode P
9
of each glow plug into contact with the test terminal, resulting in the necessity of a difficult work.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention, to provide a heater adapted to be able to check its performance with ease, i.e., by on-board diagnosis.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a heater and connector assembly which enables a heater to be checked by on-board diagnosis.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of producing a heater of the foregoing character.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heater comprising a metallic shell, a heating element disposed at an end of the metallic shell, and a terminal electrode partially disposed within the metallic shell and electrically connected to the heating element, wherein the terminal electrode has a protruded portion protruding from the metallic shell, and the protruded portion of the terminal electrode has a locking engagement section lockingly engageable with a connector for electrically connecting the terminal electrode to an outside for conduction of the heating element.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heater and connector assembly comprising a heater having a metallic shell, a heating element disposed at a front end of the metallic shell, and a terminal electrode partially disposed within the metallic shell and electrically connected to the heating element, the terminal electrode having a protruded portion protruding from the metallic shell, the protruded portion of the terminal electrode having a locking engagement section, and a connector for electrically connecting the terminal electrode to an outside for conduction of the heating element, the connector being hollow and having a locking engagement section that is lockingly engaged with the locking engagement section of the terminal electrode thereby preventing axial movement of the connector relative to the terminal electrode.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a heater having a metallic shell, a heating element and a rod-shaped terminal electrode for electrically connecting the heating element to an outside for conduction of the heating element, comprising the steps of preparing an inner pole member and a terminal member which have joining portions one of which is hollow so that the other of the joining portions can be fitted in said one of the joining portions, fitting the other of the joining portions in said one of the joining portions, caulking the joining portions thereby joining the inner pole member and the terminal member together to constitute the terminal electrode, and disposing the terminal electrode in place within the metallic shell.


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