Portable cooler

Abstract

We offer a handy cooler that is small, lightweight, highly portable, and consumes low power, allowing you to start cooling whenever needed using a standard mobile battery or USB power source. [Solution] This palm-sized handy cooler consists of a Peltier element 1, a heat sink 2, a thermal conductive tape 3, a cooling fan 4, a DC-DC converter 5, a mobile battery 6, a cooler box 7, and an aluminum insulation sheet 8. The Peltier element 1 receives power from the mobile battery 6, absorbs heat from inside the cooler box through the heat sink 2, dissipates the heat through the thermal conductive tape 3 to the heat sink 2 outside the cooler box, the cooling fan 4 cools the heat sink 2 outside the cooler box, and the heat absorption force is finely adjusted by the DC-DC converter 5.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a simple and inexpensive handy cooler that drives a Peltier element with a mobile battery.

Background Art

[0002] Portable coolers for outdoor use and small desktop refrigerators are commercially available. However, portable coolers for outdoor use are large and heavy to carry around daily when including an independent power source for driving, and small desktop refrigerators are not considered to be carried around in a handy size (Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, it was difficult to exhaust heat from a cooling container using a Peltier element (Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Documents

[0004]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Portable coolers for outdoor use and small desktop refrigerators are commercially available. However, portable coolers for outdoor use are large and heavy to carry around daily when including an independent power source for driving, and small desktop refrigerators are not considered to be carried around in a handy size (Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, it was difficult to exhaust heat from a cooling container using a Peltier element (Patent Document 1).

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] This palm-sized handy cooler (Figure 1) consists of a Peltier element (1), a heat sink (2), thermal conductive tape (3), a cooling fan (4), a DC-DC converter (5), a mobile battery (6), a cooler (7), and an aluminum insulation sheet (8). The Peltier element (1) receives power from the mobile battery (6) and absorbs heat from the heat sink (2) inside the cooler (7). This heat is then dissipated through the thermal conductive tape (3) to the heat sink (2) outside the cooler. To improve the efficiency of heat dissipation, the heat sink (2) outside the cooler is cooled by the cooling fan (4), and the heat absorption capacity of the heat sink (2) is finely adjusted by the DC-DC converter (5). [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] This invention constructs a palm-sized handy cooler (Figure 1) consisting of a Peltier element (1), a heat sink (2), a thermal conductive tape (3), a cooling fan (4), a DC-DC converter (5), a mobile battery (6), a cooler (7), and an aluminum insulation sheet (8). The Peltier element (1) receives power from the mobile battery (6) and absorbs heat from the heat sink (2) inside the cooler (7). This heat is then dissipated through the thermal conductive tape (3) to the heat sink (2) outside the cooler. To improve the efficiency of heat dissipation, the heat sink (2) outside the cooler is cooled by the cooling fan (4), and the heat absorption capacity of the heat sink (2) is finely adjusted by the DC-DC converter (5). This allows for cooling to be started when needed, solving the aforementioned problems simply and inexpensively. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a conceptual diagram of a portable cooler. [Figure 2] This is cooling data from a portable cooler. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] This palm-sized handy cooler (Figure 1) consists of a Peltier element (1), a heat sink (2), thermal conductive tape (3), a cooling fan (4), a DC-DC converter (5), a mobile battery (6), a cooler (7), and an aluminum insulation sheet (8). The Peltier element (1) receives power from the mobile battery (6) and absorbs heat from the heat sink (2) inside the cooler (7). This heat is then dissipated through the thermal conductive tape (3) to the heat sink (2) outside the cooler. To improve the efficiency of heat dissipation, the heat sink (2) outside the cooler is cooled by the cooling fan (4). The heat absorption capacity of the heat sink (2) is finely adjusted by the DC-DC converter (5), allowing cooling to begin when needed. [Examples]

[0010] Two Peltier elements (1) (TEC1-004902K16 20×20mm), which operate on DC 5V or less, were stacked and connected in parallel to a USB 5V power supply (6) via a DC-DC converter (5) (KKHMF 1.2~24V step-up / step-down converter). A heat sink (2) (20×20×6mm aluminum, 1D, 7 fins) was attached to the inside of the cooler on the surface of the Peltier elements, and four 40×40mm heat sinks (2) (20×20×6mm aluminum, 1D, 7 fins each) were attached to the outside of the cooler. Thermal conductive tape (3) (DY.2ten) was used to bond these together. To promote heat dissipation from the heat sink on the outside of the cooler, a cooling fan (4) (Pengda Technology 60×60mm DC5V) was attached 2mm away from the heat sink (2) and connected to the USB 5V power supply (6) for airflow. I attached an aluminum insulation sheet (8) (Seria Co., Ltd. Cooling and Heating Guard Sheet JAN 4982790352179) to the inside of a homemade cooler (7) (external dimensions 116 x 86 x 88 mm, internal dimensions 78 x 48 x 51 mm, made of styrofoam) that contained the mobile battery and DC-DC converter, excluding the other components. (Figure 1) One pack of almond chocolates (21 pieces of semi-chocolate from AEON Co., Ltd.) was placed inside the refrigerator. In this state, the DC-DC converter (5) was set to 2.3V, and after sufficient time (76 minutes) had passed since power was applied, the surface temperature of the chocolate outside and inside the cooler (7) was measured with a radiation thermometer (CUSTUM CT-2000D). The results showed that the surface temperature of the chocolate inside the cooler was 15°C, compared to 23°C outside the cooler. (Figure 2) [Industrial applicability]

[0011] This invention can be manufactured using commercially available Peltier elements, heat sinks, refrigerators, and battery manufacturing technologies, and can be easily and inexpensively mass-produced by home appliance manufacturers. In a super-aging society, food aspiration is a problem, so easily melting foods like chocolate are attracting attention. Also, in nursing homes, snack time is a treat, and snacks that melt easily and are less likely to cause aspiration are being considered. When bringing easily melting snacks as gifts for the elderly, a portable cooler allows them to eat the snacks at their convenience, provided they have a mobile battery or USB power supply, and it doesn't take up any storage space. Japan is said to be the largest consumer of chocolate in Asia, and it is a very popular food. Leonidas (manufactured by Confiserie Leonidas SA), a long-established Belgian chocolate brand, is known for being sold by weight in stores. There, you can buy it one piece at a time, and although this type of chocolate is easy to eat and has a great texture, it melts easily. When you stop by such a store after running errands all day and buy chocolate by weight, this handy cooler allows you to start cooling it with a mobile battery when needed, so you can keep a few pieces of chocolate cool and easily carry it with you without having to ask the store staff for ice packs. Small items that require refrigeration include food items such as chocolate, mini cakes, jelly, waffles, yogurt, ham, sausages, strawberries, and berries, and pharmaceutical items such as suppositories, syrups, eye drops, and herbal medicines. When large-scale disasters such as major earthquakes occur, power outages and evacuation issues arise. In such situations, if you want to keep your regularly taken medications cool, a portable cooler is small, lightweight, highly portable, and can start cooling when needed using a general-purpose mobile battery or USB power source with low power consumption. It is said that Japan is experiencing a faster rate of temperature increase than the global average due to global warming. [Explanation of symbols]

[0012] 1 Peltier element 2 Heatsink 3. Thermal conductive tape 4 Cooling fan 5 DC-DC converter 6 Mobile Battery 7. Cooler 8. Aluminum insulation sheet

Claims

[Claim 1] This palm-sized handheld cooler (Figure 1) consists of a Peltier element (1), a heat sink (2), thermal conductive tape (3), a cooling fan (4), a DC-DC converter (5), a mobile battery (6), a cooler (7), and an aluminum insulation sheet (8). The Peltier element (1) receives power from the mobile battery (6) and absorbs heat from the heat sink (2) inside the cooler (7). This heat is then dissipated through the thermal conductive tape (3) to the heat sink (2) outside the cooler. To improve the efficiency of heat dissipation, the heat sink (2) outside the cooler is cooled by the cooling fan (4), and the heat absorption capacity of the heat sink (2) is finely adjusted by the DC-DC converter (5).

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