1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling/heating pad that may be applied to a local area and, more particularly, to a portable cooling/heating pad that can be used on beds, chairs or clothes.
2. Description of the Related Art
People who need to sit or lay down for long periods of time, such as drivers, office workers and paralyzed patients, may suffer discomfort because the portion of skin under pressure cannot easy disperse heat and evaporated sweat. As a solution, a cooling fan may be added under the mattress or seat pad to assist in the radiation of heat. However, this product is always pinched by the weight of the user, and the fan is a source of noise.
For paralyzed patients, to avoid bedsores and rashes, a mattress with an internal liquid filling can be heated or cooled by way of an electrical heater and Freon compressor cooler that respectively heat and cool the liquid. However, this mattress is too large to be portable, and is also noisy.
Furthermore, for people who spend time outdoors, especially police or soldiers, the requirement of wearing a uniform can be a source of suffering in temperature extremes.
A cooling/heating pad is disclosed in Taiwan patent No. 361249. As shown in
Although, this prior art is an improvement on the drawbacks of large size and noise, it still suffers from problems; for example, most of the liquid (40) is in the pad (30), and a user may need to touch the pad(30) before it has reached the desired temperature, which can be uncomfortable. Furthermore, the pad (30) is heavy, and so cannot be used in clothing. Additionally, an insufficient amount of liquid in the heat collector (11) and the conduit (20) has a tendency to cause the pump (14) to break easily.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cooling/heating pad to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
A main objective of the present invention is to provide a cooling/heating pad.
In order to achieve the above mentioned problems, a cooling/heating pad of the present invention comprises a pad portion, a water reservoir system and a heat exchanger, wherein the pad portion has the pad portion is a foldable, thin, double-layered bag and has a plurality of adhered regions formed by a hot-press or ultrasonic hot melting process to form the water channel between the adhered regions; the water reservoir system has a water reservoir and a water circulating pump, the water reservoir having a water inlet and a water outlet, the water inlet of the water reservoir connected to the water outlet of the water channel, and the water circulating pump moving the cooling water in the water reservoir from the water outlet of the water reservoir to the water inlet of the water channel; and the heat exchanger includes an electrical heating semiconductor chip, radiator fins disposed on one side of the electrical heating semiconductor chip, a radiator fan mounted outside of the radiator fins, and a thermal conductor mounted on an opposite side of the electrical heating semiconductor chip; wherein the thermal conductor directly contacts the cooling water in the water reservoir, or is mounted on a water path between the water outlet of the water reservoir to the water inlet of the water channel, so that the cooling water is capable of exchanging heat with the thermal conductor.
Preferably, a cooling water storage amount of the water reservoir is 1.5 to 4 times a cooling water storage amount of the water channel in the pad portion, and 2-3 times is the best. Therefore, there is enough water to keep the circulating water pump operating normally and to reduce the weight of the pad portion filled with cooling water. Furthermore, the cooling water in the present invention can be any well known cooling liquid.
The present invention provides smaller size and foldable pad. Furthermore, a hose coupler on the water inlet and the water outlet of the water channel of the pad portion, so the pad potion can be used along and connected to the pipe of the water reservoir portion and the heat exchange portion when the pad portion needs to be heated up or cooled down.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Please refer to
The water reservoir system (20) has a water reservoir (21) and a water circulating pump (22). The water reservoir (21) has a water inlet (23) and a water outlet (24). The water outlet (24) is connected to the water outlet of the water circulating pump (22).
The heat exchanger (30) includes a water cooling cartridge (31), an electrical heating semiconductor chip (32) mounted on the water cooling cartridge (31), radiator fins (33) mounted on the electrical heating semiconductor chip (32), and a radiator fan (34) mounted outside of the radiator fins (33). The water cooling cartridge (31) has a thermal conductor (310), a water inlet (35) and a water outlet (36). In order to cool the water flowing in the cooling water cartridge (31), the thermal conductor (310) in the water cooling cartridge (31) conducts the heat from the flowing water to the electrical heating semiconductor chip (32) on the water cooling cartridge (31), and the radiator fan (34) and the radiator fins (33) radiate the heat; alternatively, the electrical heating semiconductor chip (32) can heat the water flowing in the water cooling cartridge (31). The pad portion (10), the water reservoir (21) of the water reservoir system (20) and the water cooling cartridge (31) of the heat exchanger portion (30) are connected together by a water circulating pipe (40). In this manner the cooling water is able to flow through the pad portion (10), the water reservoir system (20) and the heat exchanger (30).
In the first embodiment, the water in the water reservoir system is moved from the water outlet of the water reservoir along a water conduit of the water inlet of the water channel to the thermal conductor to exchange heat. First, the water circulating pump (22) of the water reservoir system (20) pumps the water to the cooling water cartridge (31) via the water circulating pipe (40) for heating or cooling, and then the water moves to the pad portion (10) via the water circulating pipe (40). Finally, the water circulates from the pad portion (10) back to the water reservoir (21) of the water reservoir system (20) via the water circulating pipe (40).
Please refer to
Please refer to
In this embodiment, the water circulating pump (51) moves the water in the cooling water reservoir (55) to the pad portion (50), and then the water circulating pipe (60) sends the water in the pad portion (50) back to the cooling water reservoir (55). The heat exchanger (52) can heat or cool the water.
The cooling/heating pad of the present invention can not only be used on seats and mattresses, but also with clothing. As shown in
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.