阅读说明：本技术 温度感测带、温度控制组件和方法 (Temperature sensing strip, temperature control assembly and method ) 是由 鲍里斯·戈卢博维奇 马丁·G·皮内达 尤里·鲍里索维奇·马图斯 陈建华 于 2021-03-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种温度感测带,包括：柔性的电绝缘衬底；设置在衬底上的多个温度感测元件,每个温度感测元件包括以相对的、间隔开的关系布置以在它们之间限定间隙的第一电极和第二电极；以及可变电阻材料,其设置在间隙内并且将第一电极连接到第二电极,其中,至少一个温度感测元件的第一电极通过柔性电导体连接到相邻的温度感测元件的第二电极。(A temperature sensing strip comprising: a flexible, electrically insulating substrate; a plurality of temperature sensing elements disposed on the substrate, each temperature sensing element comprising a first electrode and a second electrode arranged in opposing, spaced apart relation to define a gap therebetween; and a variable resistance material disposed within the gap and connecting the first electrode to the second electrode, wherein the first electrode of at least one temperature sensing element is connected to the second electrode of an adjacent temperature sensing element by a flexible electrical conductor.)

1. A temperature sensing strip comprising:

an electrically insulating substrate;

an electrically conductive circuit disposed on the electrically insulating substrate;

a temperature sensing element disposed in the electrically insulating substrate in electrical series with the electrically conductive circuit, the temperature sensing element comprising a variable resistance material having a positive temperature coefficient characteristic characterized by a trip temperature; and

a fusible fuse element disposed in electrical series with the conductive circuit and proximate the temperature sensing element within a sensing region, wherein the fusible fuse element is characterized by a melting temperature greater than the trip temperature.

2. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, said trip temperature being in a range of 50 ℃ to 100 ℃.

3. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, said melting temperature being in the range of 90 ℃ to 150 ℃.

4. The temperature-sensing strip of claim 1, the fusible fuse element comprising SnBi, In, InSn, or SnPb.

5. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, said temperature sensing element disposed on an "IN" line of said conductive circuit and said fusible fuse element disposed on an "OUT" line of said conductive circuit.

6. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, said temperature sensing element and said fusible fuse element being disposed on an "IN" line of said conductive circuit.

7. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, said temperature sensing element comprising:

a first electrode;

a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are disposed in an opposing, spaced apart relationship to define a gap therebetween;

a variable resistance material disposed within the gap and connecting the first electrode to the second electrode.

8. The temperature sensing strip of claim 7, said conductive circuit comprising:

a first conductor disposed on the electrically insulating substrate and terminating at the first electrode; and

a second conductor disposed on the electrically insulating substrate and terminating at the second electrode, wherein the electrically insulating substrate, the first conductor, and the second conductor are formed of a flexible material.

9. The temperature sensing strip of claim 7, wherein each of said first and second electrodes comprises a plurality of teeth, the teeth of said first electrode being disposed in an interdigitated relationship with the teeth of said second electrode.

10. The temperature sensing strip of claim 1, comprising at least one additional sensing region, wherein the at least one additional sensing region comprises a second temperature sensing element and a second fusible fuse element, the at least one additional sensing region being disposed in the conductive circuit.

11. An electrical device, comprising:

a protected component;

a temperature sensing strip thermally coupled to the protected component, the temperature sensing strip comprising:

an electrically insulating substrate;

a temperature sensing element disposed on the electrically insulating substrate and comprising a variable resistance material having a positive temperature coefficient characteristic characterized by a trip temperature; and

a fusible fuse element disposed on the electrically insulating substrate proximate the temperature sensing element within a first sensing region, the fusible fuse element and the temperature sensing element being arranged in an electrical circuit, wherein the fusible fuse element is characterized by a melting temperature greater than the trip temperature; and

a control element electrically connected to opposite ends of the circuit.

12. The electrical device of claim 11, the control element comprising logic to: a logical "0" is determined when the measured resistance of the circuit is below a first threshold and a logical "1" is determined when the measured resistance of the circuit is above a second threshold.

13. The electrical device of claim 11, wherein the protected component is a battery.

14. The electrical device of claim 11, comprising at least one additional sensing region, wherein the at least one additional sensing region comprises a second temperature sensing element and a second fusible fuse element, the at least one additional sensing region being disposed in the electrical circuit.

15. The electrical device of claim 11, the trip temperature being in a range of 50 ℃ to 100 ℃.

16. The electrical device of claim 11, the melting temperature being in a range of 90 ℃ to 150 ℃.

17. The electrical device of claim 1, the fusible fuse element comprising SnBi, In, InSn, or SnPb.

18. A method of protecting a component, comprising:

bonding a temperature sensing tape to at least one protected region of the assembly, the temperature sensing tape having a temperature sensing element characterized by a trip temperature comprising a positive temperature coefficient characteristic and a fusible fuse element disposed proximate the temperature sensing element within the sensing region, wherein the fusible fuse element is characterized by a melting temperature greater than the trip temperature;

determining a safe state corresponding to a logic "0" when the resistance of the temperature sensing strip is below a first threshold; and is

When the resistance of the temperature sensing strip is above a second threshold, an unsafe condition corresponding to a logic "1" is determined.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the temperature sensing element and the fusible fuse element are arranged in a circuit, wherein the resistance of the circuit is maintained above the second threshold when the temperature of the sensing region is above the trip temperature and above the melting temperature.

Technical Field

The present embodiments relate generally to temperature sensing devices. More particularly, the present embodiments relate to a temperature sensing strip having a plurality of integrated temperature sensing elements formed of a variable resistance material.

Background

If the over-temperature and over-current conditions are allowed to persist, the electrical equipment may be damaged by the over-temperature and over-current conditions. Thus, the electrical device is equipped with a temperature sensing device which can be used to measure temperature changes at discrete locations on the surface of the electrical device. If the measured temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold, the electrical device may be automatically shut down until the over-temperature/over-current condition subsides or is corrected, thereby mitigating damage to the electrical device.

Some electrical devices have a large surface area or include numerous interconnected components that may individually experience overheating and/or overcurrent conditions. In such devices, it may be necessary to measure the temperature at various discrete locations on the surface of the electrical device, or to measure the temperature on the surface of multiple components of the electrical device in a distributed manner. However, implementing multiple conventional, discrete temperature sensing elements in a single electrical device can be prohibitively expensive and/or may require an amount of space not available in a given device form factor.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the improvements of the present invention may be useful.

Disclosure of Invention

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Exemplary embodiments of temperature sensing strips according to the present disclosure may include: an electrically insulating substrate; a first conductor disposed on the substrate and terminating at the first electrode; a second conductor disposed on the substrate and terminating in a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are disposed in an opposing, spaced-apart relationship to define a gap therebetween; a variable resistance material disposed within the gap and connecting the first electrode to the second electrode.

Another exemplary embodiment of a temperature sensing strip according to the present disclosure may include: a flexible, electrically insulating substrate; a plurality of temperature sensing elements disposed on the substrate, each temperature sensing element comprising a first electrode and a second electrode arranged in opposing, spaced-apart relation to define a gap therebetween; and a variable resistance material disposed within the gap and connecting the first electrode to the second electrode, wherein the first electrode of at least one temperature sensing element is connected to the second electrode of an adjacent temperature sensing element by a flexible electrical conductor.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a top view illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a temperature sensing strip according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a detailed top view of a temperature sensing element showing the temperature sensing strip shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing an exemplary embodiment of an electrical device implementing the temperature sensing strip shown in FIG. 1A.

Figures 3A and 3B show resistance curves and logical state characteristics of PPTC-based sensors with and without logic "1" state expansion, respectively.

Fig. 3C shows more details of the electrical response of a strip arranged in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4A-4C depict different configurations of temperature sensing strips according to different embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 depicts an exemplary logic flow.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of temperature sensing strips according to the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the temperature sensing strip may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will convey some exemplary aspects of the temperature sensing strip to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a top view illustrating a temperature sensing strip (hereinafter "strip 10") according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The strip 10 may comprise an electrically insulating flexible substrate, shown as substrate 12. Substrate 12 may be formed from a strip of dielectric material having an adhesive material on one or both sides to allow tape 10 to be adhered to a surface (e.g., a surface of an electrical device). In various non-limiting embodiments, the substrate 12 may be a scotch tape, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tape, mylar, or the like.

A plurality of temperature sensing elements 14 may be disposed on the substrate 12 and may be spaced apart from one another along the length of the substrate 12. Each temperature sensing element 14 may include a quantity of variable resistance material 16 bridging a pair of adjacent interdigitated electrodes, as described further below. By way of example, the belt 10 is shown in FIG. 1A as including a total of four temperature sensing elements. In various embodiments, the belt 10 may include a greater or lesser number of temperature sensing elements 14 without departing from the present disclosure, with the total number of temperature sensing elements 14 generally being determined by the length of the belt 10 and the distance between the temperature sensing elements 14. Although the temperature-sensing elements 14 are shown in FIG. 1A as being evenly spaced apart from one another along the length of the substrate 12, various embodiments of the belt 10 may include temperature-sensing elements 14 disposed at irregular intervals along the length of the substrate 12, such as may be dictated by the requirements of a particular application of the belt 10.

The strip 10 may also include a plurality of flexible conductors 18 disposed on the substrate 12. The flexible conductor 18 may extend between the temperature sensing elements 14 and may be electrically connected to the temperature sensing elements 14, as described further below. The flexible conductor 18 may be formed from an elongated segment of flexible conductive material that may be bonded, printed, or otherwise applied to the substrate 12. Examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, copper mesh, silver epoxy, various types of metal wire or ribbon, conductive ink, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 1B, a detailed top view is shown showing one of the temperature sensing elements 14 and the surrounding portion of the belt 10. The variable resistance material 16 is shown as transparent for clarity of the following description. It should be understood that all of the temperature sensing elements 14 shown in FIG. 1A are substantially identical to the temperature sensing elements 14 shown in FIG. 1B, and therefore the following description of the temperature sensing elements 14 shown in FIG. 1B should apply to all of the temperature sensing elements 14 shown in FIG. 1A.

The temperature sensing element 14 may include electrodes 20a, 20b, the electrodes 20a, 20b being disposed in an opposing arrangement on the substrate 12 and electrically connected (e.g., by solder, conductive adhesive, etc.) to ends of adjacent flexible conductors (flexible conductors 18). Each of the electrodes 20a, 20b may include a plurality of fingers or teeth (tine)22a, 20 b. The teeth 22a of electrode 20a may be disposed in an interdigitated, spaced-apart relationship with the teeth 22b of electrode 20b to define a serpentine gap 24 therebetween. In some embodiments of ribbon 10, electrodes 20a, 20b may be disposed on an intermediate substrate (e.g., a length of FR-4) that may, in turn, be disposed on substrate 12 and bonded to substrate 12. In other embodiments of the strip 10, the electrodes 20a, 20b may be integral, continuous portions of the flexible conductor 18. For example, the opposing ends of adjacent flexible conductors 18 may be cut, printed, or otherwise formed to define interdigitated teeth 22a, 20 b. In other embodiments of the strip 10, the teeth 22a, 20b may be omitted, and the adjacent ends of the flexible conductors 18 may instead terminate in flat edges or edges having various other profiles or shapes that are spaced apart from one another and disposed in opposing relation to define a gap therebetween.

The variable resistance material 16 may be disposed on the teeth 22a, 22b and may bridge and/or fill the gap 24, thereby connecting the teeth 22a to the teeth 22 b. In various embodiments, the variable resistance material 16 may be a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) material having a resistance that may increase sharply when the variable resistance material 16 reaches a predetermined "activation temperature". In other embodiments, the variable resistance material 16 may be a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) material having a resistance that may decrease sharply when the variable resistance material 16 reaches a predetermined "activation temperature". In a particular non-limiting embodiment, the variable resistance material 16 may be a Polymeric Positive Temperature Coefficient (PPTC) material formed from conductive particles (e.g., conductive ceramic particles) suspended in a polymeric resin. In some embodiments, the variable resistance material 16(PTC or NTC) may be applied to the teeth 22a, 20b in the form of a fluid ink or compound, which may then cure to form a solid substance that partially covers and/or encapsulates the teeth 22a, 20 b.

It is contemplated that the tape 10 may be rolled up and stored in a conventional roll-to-roll manner, and that a desired length of tape 10 may be dispensed (i.e., unwound) and cut from the roll for use in an application.

Referring to fig. 2, a schematic diagram of an exemplary electrical device 100 implementing the above-described belt (belt 10) is shown. The electrical device 100 may include one or more components that may be protected by the belt 10 (hereinafter "protected components"). In the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 2, the protected component is a battery 110 having a plurality of battery cells 112 electrically connected in series. The battery 110 may be connected to a load 114 to supply power thereto. In various examples, the battery 110 may be a lithium ion battery, a lithium polymer battery, a nickel hydride rechargeable battery, or the like. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard and it is contemplated that the protected component may alternatively be or may alternatively include any of a variety of power sources and/or electrical devices that may benefit from over-current or over-temperature protection.

The tape 10 may be bonded to the battery 110 with the temperature sensing elements 14 disposed on the surface of the corresponding battery cells (battery cells 112) of the battery 110. In particular, each temperature sensing element 14 may be positioned under the influence of heat of a respective one of the battery cells 112 such that an increase in the temperature of one of the battery cells 112 may result in an increase in the temperature of a respective one of the temperature sensing elements 14 disposed thereon.

The electrical device 100 may also include a control element 116 (e.g., a digital control element such as an ASIC, microprocessor, etc.) that may be electrically connected to the flexible conductor 18 of the strip 10 and that may be configured to monitor the resistance in the strip 10, as described further below. The control element 116 may also be operatively connected to a disconnect switch 118 (e.g., a FET, relay, etc.), which disconnect switch 118 may be electrically connected in series intermediate the battery 110 and the load 114.

During normal operation of electrical device 100, battery 110 may supply power to load 114, and the temperature of battery cell 112 may be within a normal operating range (e.g., less than 80 degrees celsius). However, in the event of an overheat or overcurrent condition, the temperature of one or more of the battery cells 112 may rise above the normal operating range, which in turn causes the temperature of the respective temperature sensing elements 14 of the belt 10 to rise. If the temperature of one or more of the temperature sensing elements 14 rises above the activation temperature, the resistance in the strip 10 may increase sharply (if the variable resistance material 16 is a PTC material) or decrease sharply (if the variable resistance material 16 is an NTC material). The increase in the temperature of the battery cell 112 may be due to exposure to an external heat source (e.g., the electrical device 100 under the sun outdoors) or due to an overcurrent condition due to an internal failure of the battery 110.

The control element 116 may be configured to monitor the resistance of the belt 10 and control the operation of the electrical device 100 accordingly. For example, assuming that the variable resistance material 16 is a PTC material, if the control element 116 measures a relatively low resistance in the strip 10 (indicating that the temperature of the temperature sensing element 14 is below the activation temperature), the control element 116 may determine that the temperature of the battery cell 112 is within a normal, safe operating range. However, if the control element 116 measures a relatively high resistance in the belt 10 (indicating that the temperature of one or more of the temperature sensing elements 14 is above the activation temperature), the control element 116 may determine that the temperature of one or more of the battery cells 112 has exceeded a normal, safe operating range. If the control element 116 determines that the temperature of one or more of the battery cells 112 has exceeded the normal, safe operating range, the control element 116 may open the disconnect switch 118, thereby preventing the flow of current in the electrical device 100 and preventing or mitigating damage that might otherwise result if an over-temperature or over-current condition were allowed to persist.

In further non-limiting embodiments, the protected components may include power tools with battery packs, electric scooters or other electric vehicles, laptop computers, notebook computers, large battery systems. The flexible strip of the present embodiment provides the advantage of being able to conveniently place the sensors of a plurality of temperature sensors and the fuse element at any suitable location in a three-dimensional object having any shape.

With respect to the foregoing embodiments, in some variations, the substrate 12 may have an adhesive on the bottom side of the tape 10 for attachment to a protected device. In some embodiments, adhesive may be applied only to the portion below the temperature sensing element 14 to improve thermal contact with the surface of the protected device. In certain embodiments, an additive having a high thermal conductivity (such as a high thermal conductivity powder) may be disposed within the adhesive to increase the thermal conductivity of the adhesive and thus provide better thermal contact between the temperature sensing element 14 and the equipment being monitored or protected. Non-limiting examples of high thermal conductivity materials include intrinsic (low conductivity) ZnO, Al₂O₃AlN, diamond paste, or high thermal conductivity conductive particles (including ceramic, metal or carbon-based particles), fibers, and the like.

In further embodiments of the present disclosure, the tape sensor may be used for further applications, including setP^TMTemperature sensor devices (setP is a trademark of Littelfuse corporation) and the like, in which permanent disconnection may occur at a temperature higher than the functional material sensing operation condition. In other words, a "TTape" sensor or sensor assembly may be deployed for temperature sensing and temperature protection to achieve a stable "off response characteristic at temperatures above the temperature range in which a TTape material, such as a PTC material, operates stably.

As an illustration, pPTC type materials provide good temperature sensor capabilities, including effectively shutting off current flow above the trip temperature. However, pPTC materials may significantly suffer from negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC) characteristics at temperatures significantly above the trip temperature and may fail in a short-term state upon prolonged exposure.

For critical area applications, such as temperature sensing of lithium batteries, it is useful that the "off" signal sent to the control board for a given battery pack be maintained for a certain duration in order to avoid the occurrence of troublesome tripping phenomena and to ensure that the system "knows" that the system is in a high temperature position with severe NTC characteristics, rather than a low temperature safe area. This is particularly important for sensors operating in digital response modes "0" and "1" and provides the ability to extend the region "1".

In accordance with some embodiments, a TTape sensor assembly is provided that has a stable "turn off response" at temperatures above the temperature range of PPTC stability. Figures 3A and 3B show resistance curves and logical state characteristics of PPTC-based sensors with and without logic "1" state expansion, respectively. IN the example of fig. 3A, the belt 30 is provided with a series of temperature sensing elements, such as the temperature sensing elements 14 previously described, which are disposed on the "IN" line. In the example of the resistance curve (dashed line) of figure 3A, above point a, the resistance decreases rapidly due to the NTC characteristic of the PPTC material well above the trip temperature, unlike the ideal response curve I. Thus, above point a, the measured resistance no longer indicates a logic "1" state, and if the logic "1" state does not persist for a sufficient duration, the system may erroneously assume that a safe state exists.

IN FIG. 3B, the ribbon 40 is provided with a series of temperature sensing elements (such as the temperature sensing element 14 described previously) disposed on the "IN" line, and corresponding fuse elements disposed on the "OUT" line, where the temperature sensing elements can be paired with adjacent fuse elements to form a sensing region that effectively extends the temperature range of the logic "1" state, as shown IN FIG. 3B. In this example, the strip 40 may blow above point a before the resistance of the PPTC material decreases to a point where the detected total resistance drops below the logic "1" threshold. Thus, the detection of the logic "1" state may continue.

More details of the operation of a belt, such as belt 40, are provided with respect to fig. 3C. The precise temperatures of the different systems indicating a logic "0" or logic "1" state are merely exemplary. As shown, during operation, when the band exhibits a temperature below about 57.5 ℃, a logic "0" state is obtained in which the monitored equipment may be considered to be operating under normal conditions. Therefore, the resistance as represented by the detector detecting the system voltage Vcc remains low. In the example shown, any voltage value less than 30% Vcc is considered by the logic of the detector or monitor to represent a logic "0" state. In addition, any voltage value greater than 70% Vcc may be considered to indicate a logic "1" state in order to provide adequate discrimination.

In the example of fig. 3C, the band may include a PPTC sensor having a trigger temperature of 60 ℃. Thus, when the ribbon exhibits a temperature above about 57.5 ℃ and below about 60 ℃, a transition state is entered in which the logic state may be indeterminate because Vcc is between 30% and 70%. Above 60 ℃, a logic "1" state is entered in which the band resistance is significantly increased, such as by a factor of 10, 100, 1000, 10000 in some embodiments. The large increase in resistance results in a much higher Vcc, e.g., about 85% of full Vcc. In addition, in the temperature range above the trip temperature of 60 ℃, the resistance may reach a plateau where the logic 1 system persists.

At about 85 ℃, the fuse element may blow, resulting in a further increase in the strip resistance with the resistance curve 302 (dashed line), where the resistance has a value close to 100% Vcc (such as 95% Vcc). When the strip is further heated to, for example, 185 ℃, the resistance remains at a high value and the monitor still detects a logic "1" state. Notably, according to some embodiments, the fuse element fusing temperature may be selected to be near the "NTC temperature" of a PPTC-based sensor, where the resistance of the PPTC material begins to decrease as a function of increasing temperature. Thus, as shown by the PPTC curve 304 (dashed line), in the absence of a fuse element that blows at 85 ℃, for a strip with only PPTC sensors, the resistance, and therefore the sensed Vcc, may drop rapidly above 85 ℃. At temperatures between 85 ℃ and 150 ℃, the PPTC curve 304 shows Vcc dropping below a logic "1" value and thus creating a false negative (false negative) because the monitor no longer senses that the tape is experiencing high temperatures. By providing a fuse element that increases the resistance of the strip before the PPTC resistance has decreased sufficiently to leave a logic "1" state, false negatives are avoided.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the construction of a temperature sensor having a stable "off" response at temperatures above the PTC stability may be performed in a manner in which the PTC sensing region is disposed near or in direct contact with a fusible element that triggers at a slightly or much higher temperature than the PTC trigger response. Examples of such solutions are shown in fig. 4A, 4B and 4C below. In various non-limiting embodiments, the pPTC trigger response temperature of TTape may be in the range of 50 ℃ to 100 ℃, depending on the selection of the pPTC material. In various non-limiting embodiments, the fusible (fusible) element provided adjacent to the pPTC material may be constructed from a solder element whose composition may be adjusted to produce a fusing temperature of 90 ℃ to 150 ℃ or even higher. Control of the fuse firing temperature can be achieved by adjusting the fuse alloy composition (with changes to known alloys such as SnBi, In, InSn, SnPb, and other alloys).

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, to create an extension of the logical "1" state, a high thermal cutoff (HTX) region may be located immediately adjacent to or co-located with the PTC element of the sensor, as shown in fig. 4A, 4B, and 4C. IN some embodiments, the PTC material may be located on the "IN" line and the fuse element may be located on the "OUT" line, as shown IN fig. 4A. Turning now to fig. 4A, a belt 50 arranged in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. IN this example, a sensing region 60 is disposed on a portion of the substrate 12, wherein the sensing region includes a Printed Temperature Indicator (PTI) 62 disposed on the "IN" line 54 and a high temperature shutdown (HTX) element 64 disposed on the "OUT" line 56. The printed temperature indicator 62 may be arranged similarly or identically to the temperature sensing element 14 described above. In this and other arrangements, the minimum value of the spacing between the HTX and PTI assemblies may be in the range between 75 μm and 1mm, with no particular upper limit on the maximum spacing. Additionally, in some embodiments, the electrode configuration for PTI 62 of fig. 4A may be similar to that of fig. 2 or may have a simpler structure including a simple planar gap, depending on resistivity and other requirements.

However, in some embodiments, a simpler temperature sensing element may be used, having opposing electrodes that are generally planar electrodes, rather than interdigitated or curved electrodes. The embodiments are not limited in this context. The HTX elements 64 may be suitable fusible fuse elements where the fusing temperature is designed to be a suitable temperature for a given application.

In operation, when the trip temperature of PTI 62 is exceeded in sensing region 60, the resistance of band 50 will increase rapidly and the system connected to band 50 (see fig. 2) will indicate a logic "1" to generate a shutdown signal for controlling a component, such as a battery pack. If an overheat event triggering the PTI 62 trip temperature does not cause the sensing region 60 to exceed the fusing temperature of the HTX elements 64, the system, including the battery pack, may reset when the temperature drops to a low temperature below the trip temperature of the PTI 62 (generating a logic "0" signal). If the overheat event triggering a logic "1" signal persists to the extent that the fuse temperature of the HTX element 64 is exceeded IN the detection region 60, the HTX element 64 will fuse, thereby creating a permanent disconnect IN the conductive circuit comprising the "IN" line 52 and the "OUT" line 54.

IN other embodiments, shown IN figure 4B, the PPTC material and the fuse element may be located on the "IN" line. IN fig. 4B, the tape 70 is arranged similarly to the tape 50, except that the sensing region 76 is characterized by the PTI 62 and the HTX elements 64 being positioned electrically IN series with each other along the "IN" line 54. From a functional perspective, in operation, the belt 70 may respond similarly to the belt 50 described above.

IN other embodiments, the "IN" and "OUT" lines may be linearly arranged on the substrate 12, as shown by the strip 80 of fig. 4C, with the sensor regions 82 arranged as shown, and may operate similarly to the embodiments of fig. 4A and 4B.

According to various embodiments, the spacing between the PTI elements and the HTX elements in an exemplary band may be selected depending on the application. For example, in various non-limiting embodiments, the spacing may be in the range of 0.1mm to 1000mm, assuming that the size of the PTI elements and HTX elements is in the range of 0.1mm to 10 mm.

Fig. 5 illustrates a logic flow 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. At block 502, a temperature sensing strip is bonded to a protected area of a component to be monitored. In some embodiments, the protected area may be a plurality of different areas. In some embodiments, the component to be monitored may be a battery. The temperature sensing zone may include one or more sensing regions (such as a given sensing region and an additional sensing region), where the given sensing region overlaps the protected region. The sensing region may include a temperature sensing element disposed in the circuit and a fusible fuse element characterized by a melting temperature. In some embodiments, the plurality of distinct sensing regions are arranged to overlap a protected region that bonds the temperature sensing strip to the component. In this way, the one or more sensing regions are arranged in good thermal contact with the component.

At block 504, when the resistance of the temperature sensing strip is below a first threshold, a safety state corresponding to a logic "0" (or alternatively a logic "1") is determined. At block 506, an unsafe condition corresponding to a logic "1" (or alternatively a logic "0") is determined when the resistance of the temperature sensing strip is above a second threshold. The second threshold may generally be greater than the first threshold.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the strip 10 may be manufactured and implemented in an electrical device at a lower cost and with less complexity relative to conventional temperature sensing devices.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not excluding plural said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to "one embodiment" of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

Although the present disclosure makes reference to certain embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations, and changes to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as defined in the appended one or more claims. Accordingly, the disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but rather should have a full scope defined by the language of the following claims and equivalents thereof.