Cooler device and methods for storing and cooling an electronic mobile device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling devices for electronic mobile devices are often expensive, complex, and ineffective in managing overheating issues, particularly in high ambient temperatures and direct sunlight.
Innovation Solution
A cooler device with a housing filled with refrigerant, featuring a cradle and air-flow conduits that surround the device, providing direct cooling and airflow to maintain a low temperature, while being portable, inexpensive, and simple in structure with no moving parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling devices are used to cool mobile devices, then cooling effect is achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling device is segmented into distinct functional components: a housing defining an enclosed volume, a cradle with storage compartment, air-flow conduits with channels, and refrigerant filling. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently while contributing to the overall cooling system, reducing complexity compared to integrated solutions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces air-flow conduits as intermediary elements that mediate between the refrigerant (cooling source) and the mobile device (heat source). These conduits contain air-flow channels that direct cooled air from the refrigerant to the device, creating an intermediate cooling pathway that simplifies the direct thermal management interface.
2Temperature
If conventional cooling devices are used to cool mobile devices, then cooling effect is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed as a segmented structure with distinct components (housing, cradle, conduits) that can be manufactured separately using standard manufacturing processes and then assembled. This segmentation enables cost-effective production through modular manufacturing and assembly, reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The refrigerant within the enclosed volume provides self-regulating cooling through natural thermal conduction and convection processes. The system utilizes the inherent thermal properties of the refrigerant and housing materials to maintain cooling without requiring external power sources, controllers, or active management systems, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.
3Temperature
If refrigerant is used in direct contact with cradle and air-flow conduits, then cooling efficiency improves, but risk of refrigerant leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The air-flow conduits serve as intermediary containment structures that hold the refrigerant in a controlled environment. The conduits with their defined channels create a barrier between the refrigerant and the external environment, allowing efficient thermal contact between refrigerant and cooling surfaces while maintaining containment reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing and conduits form enclosed shell structures that contain the refrigerant. These shell-like structures provide reliable containment while allowing the refrigerant to be in direct contact with the cooling surfaces (cradle and conduit surfaces) that need to be cooled, balancing containment safety with cooling efficiency.
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
Effectively cools electronic mobile devices by using a thermally-conductive housing and refrigerant to maintain a low temperature, preventing overheating and ensuring device functionality in high ambient conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The volume is filled with a refrigerant in direct contact against the volume-facing surface of the cradle and the continuous volume-facing surface of the at least one air-flow conduit
Implementation Method 2
The at least one air-flow conduit is coupled between the base of the cradle and the bottom of the housing and includes a continuous volume-facing surface from the base of the cradle to the bottom of the housing, and a continuous inner surface from the base of the cradle to the bottom of the housing and defining an airflow channel coupling the storage compartment of the cradle to an ambient atmosphere outside the housing in gaseous communication
Data Source
AI summary
A cooler device for receiving, storing, and cooling an electronic mobile device includes a housing defining an enclosed volume and including, a top, a bottom, a cradle, and air flow conduits. The cradle depends downwardly from the top to a base in the volume, has an opening at the top, and defines a storage compartment between the opening and the base and configured to receive the electronic mobile device therein through the opening. The air-flow conduits are coupled between the base of the cradle and the bottom of the housing and define air flow channels coupling the storage compartment at the base of the cradle to an ambient atmosphere outside the housing at the bottom of the housing in gaseous communication. The volume is filled with a refrigerant in direct contact against a volume-facing surface of the cradle and a continuous volume-facing surface of each of the air-flow conduits.