Portable Cold Therapy System with Dual Heat Exchangers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cold therapy systems and devices face inefficiencies in cooling, high power consumption, and limited adaptability, necessitating an improved system for cold and heat therapy with enhanced efficiency and versatility.
Innovation Solution
A portable system incorporating separate cooling and heating mechanisms, each with a heat exchanger, allows liquid to circulate through the body wrap for cooling or heating, reducing power consumption and enabling immediate therapy use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional cold therapy systems cool all liquid in the reservoir, then cooling coverage is complete, but power consumption is high and cooling efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-cools a portion of the liquid in the reservoir before therapy begins, so that cooling is already in progress and does not need to start from scratch during therapy. This preliminary cooling action reduces the overall power consumption and increases cooling efficiency during actual use.
Solution Approach 2:
The reservoir liquid is divided into multiple portions, with only a subset being cooled by the cooling mechanism. This segmentation allows the system to cool less liquid at a time, reducing power consumption while still providing effective therapy through controlled liquid circulation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional cold therapy systems use a single reservoir for both cold and heat therapy, then device structure is simplified, but adaptability to diverse scenarios is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates separate reservoirs for cold and heat therapy, each with its own heating or cooling mechanism. This multi-functionality design allows the device to adapt to diverse therapy scenarios (cold compression, hot compression, or both) while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure through modular organization.
3Loss of time
If conventional cold therapy systems cool the entire reservoir before use, then therapy readiness is achieved, but time consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary cooling of a portion of the reservoir liquid in advance, so that when therapy is needed, pre-cooled liquid is already available for immediate use. This reduces waiting time while ensuring therapy readiness through the pre-prepared cooled liquid.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling mechanism continues to operate during therapy, continuously cooling liquid that circulates through the body wrap and returns to the reservoir. This continuous cooling action ensures sustained therapy effectiveness without requiring complete reservoir cooling beforehand.
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 achieves rapid cooling and heating rates with low power consumption, providing efficient cold and hot compression therapy, and is compact and lightweight for convenient portability.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling mechanism comprises a cooling component and a first heat exchanger, and the cooling component is used for cooling the first heat exchanger; the liquid in the reservoir can flow into the first heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
the heating mechanism comprises a heating component and a second heat exchanger, and the heating component is used for heating the second heat exchanger; the liquid in the reservoir can flow into the second heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
a portable system and device for cold therapy with optional heat and compression therapy
Data Source
AI summary
A portable system for cold therapy with optional heat and compression therapy is disclosed, including a cooling mechanism, a heating mechanism, a reservoir, and a control assembly. The cooling mechanism comprises a cooling component and a first heat exchanger, and the cooling component is used for cooling the first heat exchanger. The heating mechanism comprises a heating component and a second heat exchanger, and the heating component is used for heating the second heat exchanger. The liquid in the reservoir can flow into the first heat exchanger for cooling, or flow into the second heat exchanger for heating, and then flow into the body wrap, and the liquid in the body wrap can flow into the first heat exchanger or second heat exchanger, or flow back into the reservoir.