Patent · US Expired

Process and device to detect a risk of water condensation on a surface being in contact with a wet air volume

US5568977A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
8References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 3, 1994
Grant dateOct 29, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 3, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N25/68
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A process is disclosed to detect a water condensation risk on a surface in contact with a wet air volume, which uses the steps of (a) placing a sensitive element on the surface, which initially takes a temperature corresponding to that of the surface, (b) by means of a heating device on this sensitive element, initiating a first heating phase until a temperature higher than the surface temperature is reached, (c) by means of a cooling device having the same thermal power as the heating device, initiating a cooling phase until a temperature lower than the surface temperature is provoked on the sensitive element, and (d) a comparison is made between the ratio of the first heating phase time to the temperature rise during heating and the ratio of cooling phase time to the temperature decrease during the cooling, a noticeable difference between these two ratios indicating a significant risk of condensation on the surface.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.