Draft Beer Machine Helical Quick Cooler for Rapid Refrigeration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional draft beer machines have slow refrigeration speeds due to the time it takes for the water in the tank to cool, resulting in beer not being chilled quickly enough when dispensed.
Innovation Solution
A draft beer machine design featuring a refrigeration circuit with refrigeration tubes and beer pipes wound in a helical manner to form a quick cooler, utilizing dry contact cooling with thermal conductive mediums to enhance cooling efficiency and achieve rapid refrigeration, along with a single cavity structure to optimize cooling capacity utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If beer is cooled by placing beer pipes inside a water tank that is refrigerated by a compressor, then the beer can be refrigerated, but the refrigeration speed is slow because it takes time for the water temperature to drop
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the beer pipes from the water tank environment and directly exposes them to the refrigeration circuit. The beer pipes are wound in a helical manner around the refrigeration tubes, allowing direct thermal contact between the beer and the refrigeration system, eliminating the water tank as an intermediate cooling medium and thereby significantly improving refrigeration speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces thermal conductive medium as an intermediary substance filled in the spaces between the helically wound beer pipes and refrigeration tubes. This thermal conductive medium enhances the heat transfer efficiency between the refrigeration tubes and beer pipes, facilitating faster and more uniform heat exchange, thus improving refrigeration speed while maintaining efficient thermal contact.
2Productivity
If refrigeration tubes and beer pipes are wound in a helical manner to form a quick cooler, then cooling efficiency is improved, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the refrigeration tubes and beer pipes into a single integrated helical quick cooler structure. Both tubes are wound together in a helical pattern around a common central axis, forming a compact unified structure that combines the refrigeration and beer flow functions in one assembly, thereby improving refrigeration efficiency while controlling structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs helical curvature for both refrigeration tubes and beer pipes, winding them in a spiral pattern around a central axis. This curved helical configuration increases the surface area for heat exchange, improves fluid flow characteristics, and enhances thermal contact between the tubes, thereby improving refrigeration efficiency while maintaining a compact and manageable structure.
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 design achieves quick cooling of beer by efficiently transferring cooling capacity through dry contact cooling, ensuring uniform refrigeration and preventing ice buildup, thereby improving the overall refrigeration efficiency and speed.
Implementation Method 1
The refrigeration tube and the beer pipe are wound into a quick cooler of a round or an elliptic cylindrical shape, in a helical manner... the adjacent beer pipe and refrigeration tube adheres to each other... the cooling capacity is transferred between the refrigeration tubes and the beer pipes in the form of dry contact cooling
Data Source
AI summary
A draft beer machine comprising a cabinet and a refrigeration circuit inside the cabinet, including a compressor, a condenser, and refrigeration tubes. Beer pipes are also arranged inside the cabinet and a beer tap is fixed to the outside of the cabinet. The outer end of the beer pipes is connected to the beer tap. The refrigeration tube and the beer pipe are wound into a quick cooler of a round or an elliptic cylindrical shape, in a helical manner. The quick cooler comprises at least one mixing layer, which is formed by winding the refrigeration tube and the beer pipe into a round or elliptic cylinder, in an abreast and helical manner. In the same mixing layer, the adjacent beer pipe and refrigeration tube adhere to each other. The adjacent two mixing layers directly adhere or a thermal conductive medium is filled in between the two layers.