United States Patent O "Ice

2,873,342
Patented Feb. 10, 1959

2
2,873,342'
ELECTRIC HEATING
Lester D. Drugrnand, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to The
Edwin L. Wiegand Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corpo
ration of Pennsylvania

Application December 5, 1955, Serial No. 551,052

1 Claim. (Cl. 201-67)

The usual tubular electric heater comprises a tubular

sheath 10, preferably of a suitable metal, a resistance
conductor 11, here shown tobe in the form of a helical

coil of resistance wire, and material 12 serving both to

electrically insulate the conductor from the sheath and
to conduct heat from the conductor to the sheath.

The material 12 is usually granular refractory rna

terial and may be introduced into the upper open end
of an upright sheath in any suitable manner. In some
10 forms of commercial production, a plug is placed in the

lower end of the sheath and the refractory material is

caused to flow into the open upper end, the sheath pref
erably being subjected to vibration to assist the refrac
tory material in its flow and to provide some compact
My invention relates to electric heating elements, and 15 ness to the refractory material within the sheath.
the principal object of my invention is to provide new and
The filling operation is stopped before the sheath is
improved elements of thistype.
completely filled or, if the sheath is completely filled, a
ln the manufacture of tubular electric heating ele
certain amount of refractory material is routed out of
ments, the terminal ends of such elements are required to
the upper terminal end of the sheath to a level, for ex
be effectively closed against the entrance of deleterious 20 ample as shown by the reference 14, to provide a pocket
substances which would affect proper operation of the
15. It will be appreciated that removal of the plug in
element. A requirement of such closure is to improve
the lower end of the sheath will provide a pocket gen
the electrical properties of the terminal ends of the
erally corresponding to the pocket 15. `insofar as this
heating element by increasing the electrical surface creep
invention is concerned, the material 12 may take a form
age distance from the terminal pin to the sheath. Also, 25 other than granular refractory material such as, for ex
it is desirable to replace air between the pin and sheath
ample, dielectric bushings disposed about the resistance
with a solid dielectric which will withstand higher di
conductor and with end bushings stopping short of each
electric breakdown potentials.
end of the sheath to form pockets.
A common terminal end construction or closure is in
In usual construction, each end of the coiled resistance
the form of a dielectric bushing which is disposed over 30 conductor 11 is mechanically and electrically secured
the terminal end of the resistor conductor and positioned
to a terminal pin 16. Each terminal pin preferably ex
within a pocket formed by stopping the refractory mate
tends through the material 12 and through the pocket
rial short of completely filling the terminal end of the
15 to a point beyond the end of the sheath to provide
tubular sheath. A cement is commonly used to lock
for later electrical connection.
the bushing in place and to ll the space between adjoin 35 Heretofore, in closing the ends of the tubular ele
ing surfaces; and, heretofore, this cement, because it
ment, a plastic mixture of cement powder and water
is preferably of the air-dry type, was made in batches
was placed in the pocket 15, and a dielectric bushing 17
by mixing dry powder with a moistening agent (usually
was placed in the pocket around the adjacent end of
water), and the resultant plastic mixture was placed, by
the terminal pin 16, the plastic mixture being suflicient~
various means, into the pocket formed at the terminal 40 ly displaced by the bushing to at least partially enter the
end of the tubular element.
space between the terminal pin 16 and the opening 18
One type of air-dry cement heretofore found suitable
in the bushing 17, as shown by the heavy line 19 in Fig
was formed by mixing 63.8%_60 mesh electrical` grade
ure 2, and to enter the space between the peripheral
zircon, 21.87%-400 mesh electrical grade Zircon, 1.75%
surface 20 of the shouldered bushing and the inner pe
micronized (very finely divided) electrical grade Zircon,
ripheral surface of the sheath 10, as shown at 21 in Figf'
4.72% mono magnesium phosphate (MgH4(PO4)2), and
ure 2. The cement was usually of the air-set type and
7.86% magnesium oxide (MgO). This powder was
the finished element was thereafter set aside for the ce
mixed with about 10% water by weight whereupon it
ment to dry.
would set hard in a relatively short time as the water
This previous method above described was slow be
evaporated.
cause it was difficult to place the plastic cement into
The foregoing method was not satisfactory because of
the pocket, especially in small diameter heating elements.
the diiculty in placing the plastic cement in to the sheath
Further, in the deposition ofthe plastic cement, a cer
pocket, particularly in cases of elements having sheaths
tain amount of the cement would tend to be spread in
of relatively small diameters. To insure that suiiicient'
unsightly manner about the exterior of the sheath; and`
cement was placed in the sheath pocket, great care had to
in many cases, this cement had to be removed.
be exercised and this materially affected production rate. 55 In use of my invention, I place a relatively dry ce
Further, the cement had to be made in small batches
ment powder (indicated by the reference numeral 22),
since in large batches a lot of it was wasted because it
which may comprise the composition heretofore dis
would set before all of it could be used.

My invention overcomes vthe diiculty of placing the

closed, into the pocket 15, this dry powder being easily

inserted in any suitable manner, such as by vibrating it

plastic cement within the sheath pocket and, at the same 60 into the pocket in a manner. similar to the manner of

time, materially reduces production time heretofore re

quired to produce an effective terminal closure.

depositing the refractory material 12.

4After a suitable amount of powder has been placed

into the pocket, a bushing 17 is placed over the ter
minal pin 16 and into the pocket an amount which may
purposes of illustration, an embodiment which my in 65 be limited by abutment of the bushing shoulder 23 with
vention may assume, and in this drawing:
the terminal marginal surface 24 of the sheath 10. The
Figure 1 is a separated fragmentary sectional view
bushing 17 is preferably formed as a ceramic body, or
showing a dielectric plug ready to be inserted into the
of any other suitable dielectric material which is someterminal portion of a tubular element, and
what porous and will carry moisture.
Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the 70
Moisture is added to the dry cement powder in any
parts of Figure 1 in assembled relation.
suitable manner and, at the present time, it has been

in the drawing accompanying this specification and

forming a part of this application, there is shown, for

2,873,342 '

a Water bath prior to its deposition into the pocket i5.

herein described may be variously changed and modified,

without departing from the spirit of the invention, and

When the moistened bushing is properly disposed with

in the pocket, it has been found that the moisture car

not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreci

found preferable to moisten the bushing by placing it in

that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages

ried by the bushing will' wet the dry cement powder suf
iiciently to make a plastic composition, at least in part,
which will flow enough to enter the spaces 20 and 2l
and adhere to the surfaces defining such spaces. The

ated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative

only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

tinished element may then be set aside to permit the ce

a resistance conductor disposed in a tubular sheath and

surrounded by an electric insulating heat-conducting ma

ment to harden. lt will be appreciated that other meth

ods may be used to Wet the dry cement powder, such
as lby wetting the bushings l? after they are disposed

within respective pockets and relying on capillary action

to travel the moisture to the powder.

After the cement has hardened, the heating element

may be subjected to various other steps of manufacture.
A usual step is toA subject the element to a rather high
temperature to anneal the metal sheath and/or bake the
element to eliminate moisture from therewithin. It has

I claim:

The method of producing an electric heater having

terial, comprising disposing saidconductor and said ma
terial within said tubular sheath in~ position wherein a
terminal end portion of said conductor is disposed in
spaced lateral relation with an end opening of said
tubular sheath and said material stops short of complete
ly filling said sheath to provide an open pocket therein

adjacent said end opening, placing an essentially dry

cement powder in said pocket,` and disposing a mois

tened bushing having dielectric and hygroscopic prop

been found that the annealing and/or baking steps sin

erties over said terminal end portion of said conductor

ter the dried cement to a somewhat ceramic form, thus

imparting greater mechanical strength to the closure or
terminal end construction.

with the inner peripheral wall of said sheath end open

ing and the adjacent exterior surface of said terminal

Through use of my invention, production of tubular

heating elements has been greatly facilitated without
sacrifice in the quality of the closure or terminal end

construction. The dry powder, being easily introduced

and into said pocket in generally closely itting relation

end portion, the moisture contained by said bushing wet
ting said cement powder sufiiciently to cause it to adhere

to adjoining surfaces of _said sheath end opening and the

terminal end portion of said conductor.

into the pocket, may be regulated with a greater degree

of exactness and will not adhere in an unsightly mass to

the exterior of the sheath. Further, the annoying prac 30

tice of mixing small batches of cement is eliminated.
In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the
principal object-of my invention and it will also be ap
parent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment 35

References Cited in the file of this patent

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Charbonneau ________ __ Sept. 6, 1949

Pouchnik ____________ __ Oct. 31, 1950