Evaporative cooler
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional evaporative cooling systems require a large amount of space for both operation and storage due to their rigid structures, making them difficult to transport and store, especially when their effectiveness is hindered by high humidity.
Innovation Solution
An evaporative cooling system with an expandable and collapsible housing that allows for compact storage and transportation, featuring a water reservoir, air inlet and outlet, evaporative media, and a water distribution subsystem connected to a collapsible support structure, which can be easily converted between operating and storage positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a large cooling area is provided to improve cooling effectiveness, then the cooling performance is enhanced, but the system becomes more difficult to store and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed to be expandable and collapsible, allowing it to transition between a large operating configuration that provides effective cooling and a compact storage configuration that reduces volume for easy transport and storage
Solution Approach 2:
The housing is divided into multiple panels that can be folded relative to each other, enabling the structure to collapse into a compact form while maintaining the full cooling surface area when deployed
2Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid enclosure structure is used to support evaporative cooling media, then structural stability is maintained, but the system occupies excessive space during storage and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid enclosure is replaced with a collapsible framework of panels that can maintain structural stability during operation but fold into a compact configuration for storage, dynamically adapting between stable and compact states
Solution Approach 2:
The housing panels are designed to nest within each other when collapsed, with each panel containing or overlapping the previous one, creating a compact nested structure that minimizes storage volume while preserving the full structural form during operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively cools air by evaporation and can be easily transported and stored in a compact form, maintaining efficiency while minimizing space requirements, and optional features like ozone generation enhance air disinfection and cooling.
Implementation Method 1
As the air flowing over or through the evaporative media, the air is cooled by evaporation of water from the media
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for evaporatively cooling air wherein a cooling system enclosure is alternately expandable and contractible. The housing is expandable for operation and contractible for storage or transportation. A water distribution subsystem delivers water from a reservoir to evaporative media within the enclosure. Air is circulated over the evaporative media to cool the air. The enclosure may be expanded by creating a positive pressure differential between the interior and exterior of the enclosure. The water distribution subsystem and evaporative media may be configured to move from storage to operating positions within the enclosure as the enclosure moves from the contracted position to the expanded position. The enclosure may include substantially rigid portions that form a protective housing for the internal cooling components when in the contracted storage position. Wheels and stowable handles may facilitate transportation of the system.