RU2234647C1 - Compact thermoelectric cooler - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: refrigeration equipment, namely thermoelectric coolers with small volume designed for cooling and storing cooled food products, drinks, possibly used as separate module for domestic kitchen furniture.

SUBSTANCE: thermoelectric cooler includes heat insulation chamber with door, free walls and block-wall. The last includes plate supporting thermal modules, each module has cold and hot sides. Heat separation holder for block-wall is in the form of frame mounted in port of chamber under block-wall. The last is secured to frame with possibility of heat contact of its plate with outer hot radiator. Plate is mounted on frame in heat insulation members.

EFFECT: reduced power consumption, simplified structure, improved procedure of mounting and dismounting, improved efficiency of heat dissipation.

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Description

The invention relates to refrigeration, in particular to thermoelectric refrigerators with a small volume, designed to cool and keep food and drinks refrigerated, and can be widely used as a built-in module in domestic kitchen furniture, in vehicles, for example, for locomotive brigades railway transport, compartment of a passenger car conductor, in the office, wardroom.

Currently, when creating the design of small refrigerators with thermoelectric modules built into furniture, the principle of operation of which is based on the Peltier effect, there is a problem of increasing the efficiency of heat removal from the hot side of the thermal module. This problem is solved by creating different designs of thermoelectric refrigerators.

For example, a portable thermoelectric refrigerator (1) is known, comprising a thermally insulated case with a door, a sealant, a refrigerator, hot and cold diffusers, a thermoelectric unit and a power and control system in contact with them through thermal contact. To ensure a given temperature difference, a hot external diffuser is used in it, which is in thermal contact with the thermoelectric unit and is located on the opposite side from the first end wall of the chamber. It has a base made of heat-conducting metal and many parallel ribs located adjacent to it, perpendicular to the base, and a camera lining made of a monolithic heat-conducting material is used as an internal cold diffuser.

The disadvantages of this device are as follows. With the development of the surface of the hot external diffuser in the traditional way (by increasing its area), under conditions of natural convection, the conductive resistance of the heat sink from the heat sources to the edges of the diffuser increases, which entails an unacceptable increase in the temperature of the hot faces of the diffuser and, consequently, an increase in temperature in the refrigeration cameras.

The closest in technical essence to the claimed object is a thermoelectric cooling and heating device (2), selected as a prototype.

This thermoelectric cooling and heating device comprises a thermally insulated body, a door with a seal and a magnetic insert, an inner chamber, an external and internal heat dissipators, thermoelectric units in contact with them through thermal contact, and a power and control system.

In a thermoelectric cooling and heating device, thermoelectric blocks are in contact with the external and internal heat dissipators through heat transfer transmitters made in the form of rods. The external diffuser is made in the form of a set of plates and is located on the outer wall of the housing. The internal diffuser is made in the form of a set of sheets and is mounted on the rear wall of the camera. The outer plates and the inner diffuser sheets are interconnected by distance washers. The opposing spacers of the external and internal diffusers are rigidly interconnected via a thermoelectric unit and insulated from one another. All parts of the thermal circuit are made of highly conductive material, and their contact surfaces are covered with a layer of heat-conducting paste. The thermoelectric unit is biased toward the outer edge of the heat insulating body.

The disadvantages of this device are as follows. The efficiency of heat removal from hot junctions of thermocouples is very low, because the external heat diffuser, consisting of plates and spacer washers, is a complex structure, which leads to a complicated process of assembly (installation) and dismantling. Another disadvantage of this device is the increase in electricity consumption, as well as the high cost of the product due to the presence of many nodes and individual parts.

The solved problem of the present invention is to eliminate some of these disadvantages: improving the energy efficiency of the thermoelectric refrigerator, simplifying the design, providing ease of assembly (installation) and dismantling, increasing the efficiency of the heat dissipator by increasing the heat dissipating surface.

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that a compact thermoelectric refrigerator containing a thermally insulated chamber with a door, free walls and a block wall having a plate and with thermal modules mounted on it, each of which has cold and hot sides, unlike the prototype according to the invention, it is equipped a heat-retaining holder for the block wall, made in the form of a frame installed in the camera opening under the block wall, while the block wall is mounted on the frame with the possibility of thermal contact of its plate and mountains an external radiator, the plate being mounted on a frame on heat-insulating elements.

The claimed technical solution has a difference from the prototype, i.e. meets the criterion of "novelty" and does not follow explicitly from the studied prior art, i.e. meets the criterion of "inventive step", and may find application in industry, i.e. characterized by "industrial applicability".

For a better understanding of the essence of the claimed invention, you can refer to the following design details, illustrated by the relevant drawings, namely:

figure 1 is a General view (side view) of a compact thermoelectric refrigerator;

figure 2 - a view of figure 1 on the block wall of the device;

figure 3 is a section a - a in figure 2 in the place of attachment of the external hot radiator and cooling module.

A compact thermoelectric refrigerator contains (see Figs. 1-3) a thermally insulated chamber 1 with a door 2 and a block wall 3. The block wall 3 (see Fig. 2) is made in the form of a plate 4 with windows 5 located along its geometric axis, the number of which corresponds to the number of thermal modules 6 (in this embodiment, two thermal modules) (see figure 1). External radiators 9 with bases 10 are installed on the block wall 3 (see Figs. 1, 2). Thermal modules 6 operating on the Peltier effect, each of which has a cold 7 and a hot 8 side, are installed on the base 10 of the external radiators 9 by means of a heat-conducting adhesive paste (see Figs. 1, 3). The cold conduit 11 is installed close to the cold side of the thermal module 6, which is attached to the external radiator 9 with screws 12, and the screw holes have insulated sleeves 13. An insulator 14 is put on the cold conduit 11, made, for example, of PSB-35 polystyrene GOST 1558-86, and polyurethane foam GOST PPU-355 MF TU6-55-221-1372-94 is poured through holes in the insulator 14 for additional insulation of the cold pipe 11 (see figure 3).

The block wall 3 is mounted on the heat-releasing holder 15 with the possibility of thermal contact of its plate 4 and the external radiator 9 (see Fig.1-3). The plate 4 is mounted on the body-separating holder 15 through the screws 16 and insulating sleeves 17 (see figure 3).

The block wall 3 is installed on the heat-releasing holder 15, made in the form of a frame installed in the opening of the chamber 1 under the block wall 3 (figure 2).

Compact thermoelectric refrigerator operates as follows (see Fig.1-3). The principle of operation of a compact thermoelectric refrigerator is based on the use of the Peltier effect, when when passing direct current through the contacts of the two dissimilar substances (metals, semiconductors) that make up the thermal module, heat is absorbed on one of the contacts (i.e. cooling), and on the other - selection. By turning on the “Network” toggle switch (not shown), voltage is applied to the thermal modules 6. From this moment, the cooling process of the cold 7 side of the thermal module 6 begins. In this case, the cold pipe 11 carries out the process of transferring cold air from the cold 7 side of the thermal module 6 to the chamber 1 volume.

Simultaneously with the cooling process, a process of heat generation takes place on the hot 8 side of the thermal modules 6, which is transmitted to the fins of the external hot radiator 9, and is dissipated into the surrounding air by the fins of the hot radiator 9 and an additional heat dissipator - plate 4. This increases the heat dissipation efficiency. Plate 4 simultaneously performs the functions of an additional heat dissipator and serves as an element for mounting thermal modules and the wall of the refrigerator. Due to natural convection, hot air rises and leaves the device.

The heat-releasing holder, made in the form of a frame, creates the convenience of assembly, having a rational design.

In the inventive compact thermoelectric refrigerator, the problem of increasing the energy efficiency of the thermoelectric refrigerator, simplifying the design, ensuring ease of assembly (installation) and dismantling, increasing the efficiency of the heat dissipator by increasing the heat dissipation surface is solved.

From the above, the following advantages of the proposed compact thermoelectric refrigerator are obvious:

- the design is compact and low cost in comparison with the known;

- the design is characterized by the use of an environmentally friendly source of cold;

- increased efficiency of heat removal from the hot side and cold from the cold side of the thermal module due to original design solutions;

- improved specifications.

Sources of information

1. Compact thermoelectric refrigerator. U.S. Patent No. 4,326,383, M.C. F 25 B 21/02, F 25 D 3/08, 04/27/82.

2. Thermoelectric cooling and heating device. RF patent №2110020, M.cl. F 25 B 21/02 04/27/1998 (prototype).

Claims (1)

A compact thermoelectric refrigerator containing a thermally insulated chamber with a door, free walls and a block wall having a plate and thermal modules mounted on it, each of which has cold and hot sides, characterized in that it is equipped with a heat-releasing holder for the block wall, made in the form a frame installed in the chamber opening under the block wall, the block wall being fixed to the frame with the possibility of thermal contact of its plate and a hot external radiator, and the plate is mounted on the frame for heat insulating elements.

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