Abstract
A cooling system having a multitude of fluidly coupled cells for receiving a coolant is disclosed. The cooling system is characterized in that the cooling system has a flexible cover that covers the multitude of cells, an air gap between the flexible cover and the cells and an air pump for modifying the air gap.
Claims
1. A cooling system comprising a multitude of fluidly coupled cells (10) for receiving a coolant, characterized in that the cooling system (1) comprises a flexible cover (14), that covers the multitude of cells (10), an air gap (16) between the flexible cover (14) and the cells (10) and an air pump (30) for modifying the air gap (16).
2. The cooling system claim 1, characterized in that the cells (10) are fluidly coupled in a matrix-like structure.
3. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that a cell comprises an inlet (20) for providing coolant into the cells (10).
4. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the cells (10) is a volume-change-tolerant-cell (12).
5. The cooling system of claim 4, characterized in that the cells (10) are fluidly coupled in a two-dimensional matrix-like structure and the volume-change-tolerable cell (12) is located in a corner of the matrix-like structure.
6. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that the cooling system (1) comprises a coolant pump (40) for pumping the coolant through at least one of the cells (10).
7. The cooling system of claim 6, characterized in that the coolant pump (40) comprises a battery (42) that can be charged externally.
8. The cooling system of claim 6, characterized in that the coolant pump (40) is located at an opposite end of the matrix-like structure to the inlet (20).
9. The cooling system of claim 3, characterized in that the inlet (20) is lockable, wherein in the locked state the cell (10), where the inlet (20) is located, closes a circulation path through at least two of the multitude of cells (10).
10. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that the air pump (30) is a manual push-pull pump.
11. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that the flexible cover (14) comprises copper, aluminum and/or silver.
12. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that the coolant is water.
13. The cooling system of claim 1, characterized in that the shape of the cells (10) is ellipsoidal, in particular spherical.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] The present disclosure will be more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when being considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0042] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the cooling device,
[0043] FIG. 2A-2D are cross sectional views along line L1 of FIG. 1, and
[0044] FIG. 3A, B, C are schematic views of different applications of the cooling system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0045] In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures. In the Figures, like elements are denoted by identical reference numerals and repeated description thereof may be omitted in order to avoid redundancies.
[0046] It will be obvious for a person skilled in the art that these embodiments and items only depict examples of a plurality of possibilities. Hence, the embodiments shown here should not be understood to form a limitation of these features and configurations. Any possible combination and configuration of the described features can be chosen according to the scope of the invention.
[0047] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the cooling system 1 according to the present invention. The cooling system 1 comprising a multitude of fluidly coupled cells 10 for receiving a coolant. The cooling system 10 further comprises a flexible cover 14, which covers the multitude of cells 10. In the depicted embodiment, the cooling system 1 has thirty spherical cells 10. The cells 10 are positioned in a regular grid, that means that the distance to the nearest neighbor of every cell 10 is constant throughout the matrix-like structure. The cooling system 1 comprises an inlet 20 for providing coolant (not shown) to the cells 10. The inlet 20 is closed with an inlet cover 22, which in the depicted embodiment is a cap, which can be screwed onto the inlet 20. The cell 10 at which the inlet 20 is provided in the depicted embodiment is a volume-change-tolerant cell 12. The inlet 20 is provided at a cell 10, which is positioned at one corner of the matrix-like structure. The cooling system 1 further comprises an air pump 30. The air pump 30 is connected to the cover 14 for introducing air into an air gap between the cells 10 and the cover 14. Finally, the cooling system 1 in the depicted embodiment has a coolant pump 40. The coolant pump 40 is provided in a cell 10 at the opposite corner of the matrix-like structure from the corner where the inlet 20 is provided. The cooling system 1 has a battery 42, which supplies the coolant pump 40. In FIG. 1, the cooling system 1 is shown in a state where the battery 42 is connected to a battery charger 44, which is preferably external to the cooling system 1 and can for example be provided in a refrigerator (not shown).
[0048] In the view of FIG. 1, the upper left cell 10 is the volume-change-tolerant cell 12, which also contains the coolant inlet 20 with a coolant inlet cover 22. The user can open the coolant inlet cover 20 and fill the cells 10 with water as a coolant. For example, the user can fill the cells 10 up to approximately 85%, such that the expansion of the water during the freezing phase transition does not harm the cells 10. Afterwards, the water inlet cover 22 seals the inlet 20 by screwing the inlet cover 22 on the inlet 20. During this operation, the horizontal pipe of the water inlet 20, which is connected to a vertical pipe of the water inlet 20, rotates with the water inlet cover 22 and opens the first horizontal passage to the adjacent cell 10. This enables the water to flow to all adjacent cells, which is a prerequisite for a circulation of the water in the cooling system 1.
[0049] After the filling process of the cells 10, the user places the cooling system 1 into a refrigerator. In particular, the cooling system 1 can be cooled in all refrigerator types. For example, the user can connect the refrigerator main board to the battery charger 44, which can charge the battery 42 of the coolant pump 40, while the water freezes. After the water turned into ice, the user can take the cooling system 1 and bring it into a warmer environment, where the frozen coolant then cools the environment.
[0050] The multitude of cells 10 is surrounded by a flexible cover 14, which may be made of a flexible copper-aluminum-silver foil. This cover 14 is connected to the manual air push-pull pump 30 for providing air between the cells 10 and the cover 14, which determines the thermal conductivity and the cooling performance of the cooling system 1. The user can modify the extension of the air gap 16 using the manual air push-pull-pump 30.
[0051] FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view along line L1 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2A the state of the flexible cover 14 is shown, when the extension of the air gap 16 is minimized using the air pump 30. The flexible cover 16 is in direct contact with the cells 10 and thus enables a high performance cooling.
[0052] In FIG. 2B the state of the flexible cover 14 is shown, when the extension of the air gap 16 is maximized using the air pump 30. Between the flexible cover 14 and the cells 10 a large air gap 16 occurs, which isolates the cells 10 from the environment, as the flexible cover 14 cannot transport the heat directly to the cells 10.
[0053] In FIG. 2C an alternative embodiment of the cooling system 1 in the expanded state of the cover 14 is shown. In this embodiment, the cover 14 is adhered to the top and bottom of the cells 10.
[0054] Therefore, the air gap 16 between the cover 14 and the cells 10 is only increased in the areas of the transition between two adjacent cells 10.
[0055] In FIG. 2D another embodiment of the expanded state of the cover 14 is shown. In this embodiment, the air gap 16 is only increased on one side of the cells 10 whereas the cover 14 is in contact with the cells 10 on the other side of the cells 10, in FIG. 2D the lower side. The cover 14 can be adhered to the lower side of the cells 10 or the volume or the delivery of air from the air pump 30 can be blocked from entering the gap between the bottom side of the cells and the cover 14. This embodiment can be advantageous, since the side with the cover 14 in contact with the cells 10 can be used to cool an object, while the upper side with the increased air gap 16 maintains the thermal insulation of the cells 10.
[0056] FIG. 3A shows the cooling system 1 during a cool down process of a cup filled with a hot beverage. The frozen coolant, in particular water, in the cells 10 underneath the cup will melt quickly in comparison to frozen coolant in adjacent cells. The melt water can then be circulated using the coolant pump 40 though the cells 10, where the liquid water cools down and is able to transport the heat away from the bottom of the cup. The coolant pump 40 receives its electrical energy from the battery 42.
[0057] FIG. 3B shows an alternative usage of the cooling system 1, where the cooling system 1 is wrapped around the cup that is filled with a hot beverage. In this configuration, the contact area of the cooling system 1 is larger than in FIG. 3A, which results in a faster cool down of the beverage. The place, where the ends of the rectangular cooling system 1 meet, can be attached to each other using for example a magnetic fixation.
[0058] In both FIGS. 3A and 3B, the object to be cooled and thus the environment is very hot. If a fast cool down is required, the air can be pumped out of the air gap 16 using the air pump 30. In this high performance setting, the outer cup surface touches the flexible cover 14, whereas the other side of the flexible cover 14 touches the cells 10. Hence, the flexible cover 14 mediates the heat transfer from the hot cup the frozen coolant in the cells 10.
[0059] FIG. 3C shows an alternative usage of the cooling system 1, where the cooling system 1 is wrapped around a precooled bottle of wine. As the wine is precooled, it is not necessary to use the high performance setting of the cooling system 1, that means that air can be pumped into the air gap 16. Hence, the thermal insolation between the cells 10 and environment increases, which prevents the frozen coolant in cells 10 from melting quickly. This makes it possible to keep the temperature of the precooled bottle for a long time.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0060] 1 Cooling system [0061] 10 Cell [0062] 12 Volume-change-tolerant cell [0063] 14 Flexible cover [0064] 16 Air gap [0065] 20 Inlet [0066] 22 Inlet cover [0067] 30 Air pump [0068] 40 Coolant pump [0069] 42 Battery [0070] 44 Battery charger
