Patent Application
20220018579
The present invention refers to a thermoelectric portable unit to increase the comfort of a user, according to a non-limiting example, in clothing to withstand high temperatures, such as a fire retardant suit for an automobile driver.
A user can be exposed to extreme climatic conditions and the need is felt to provide a portable aid that allows to reduce the impact of these conditions both for heating and for cooling the user according to the situation. It is known to provide heating devices, but the possibilities of providing cooling are less common.
US-2001/0007952 describes a garment provided with a thermoelectric module having a first and a second heat exchange face both exposed to a relative forced air flow within the same environment, delimited by an internal lining on one side and one outer layer of the garment on the other. In this configuration, during operation, the two heat exchange faces initially assume different temperatures for the purpose of heat exchange with the person wearing the garment. However, after a relatively short transient, these faces both go to an intermediate temperature, thus ceasing to define a temperature regulation action for the person wearing the garment.
The scope of the present invention is to provide a portable thermoelectric unit for regulating over time the temperature perceived by the user and is, at the same time, efficient and compact.
The scope of the present invention is achieved by a portable thermoelectric unit having a face towards the body comprising:
This unit is compact, light and offers effective heat exchange with the user towards the thermally active area. In fact, only the heat exchanger is exposed to the air flow in order to increase the thermal gradient of the thermoelectric device with the thermally active area. In addition, efficiency is increased because the fan and the distal opening are spaced from each other via the channel that leads the air from the heat sink to the distal opening. In this way the air exhausted through the distal opening is not re-aspirated by the fan. In this regard, the duct has a minimum length of at least 3 times the diameter of a fan impeller.
According to a preferred embodiment, the thermoelectric device adheres to the thermally active area or the casing defines a window facing a face of the thermoelectric device opposed to the exchanger. In both cases, the air flow is adducted through the exchanger and is inside the casing while the opposite side of the thermoelectric device exchanges heat outside the casing. This increases the thermal gradient achieved by the unit for the benefit of a greater control of the heat exchange with the body.
According to a preferred embodiment, the casing is substantially flattened and oblong so as to keep the fan, the heat exchanger and the air flow side by side and substantially aligned along its axis, and also allows to convey in an orthogonal direction to its axis the incoming and outgoing air flows.
The flattened and oblong shape is compact and allows the unit to be mountable, for example in clothing filling.
According to a preferred embodiment, the casing is soft and elastically hand deformable, for example manufactured by including a polymeric material based on silicone or thermoplastic polyurethane. Preferably the polymeric material comprises a polyol and an isocyanate to obtain the best compromise between flexibility and flame resistance. In particular, flexibility can be further regulated through a ‘chain extender’, i.e. an add-on to polyol and isocyanate.
Furthermore, the casing defines precise shapes, e.g. the duct, the housing for the fan and the thermoelectric device, at least in an undeformed condition and allows to absorb shocks or take the position of the body maintaining high user comfort.
According to a preferred embodiment, the channel comprises one or more spacers arranged in a transverse position of the channel to avoid or limit collapses of the channel in case of applied loads having a component parallel to a height of the cross section of the channel.
According to a preferred embodiment, the casing defines an intake opening for feeding the fan, the intake opening and the distal opening being both arranged on a face of the housing opposite to that of the thermally active area.
Being designed for interaction with a user on the part of the thermally active area, the most favorable area for the exchange of air flows is the one opposite to the face facing the body.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a garment comprises the thermoelectric unit as described in the previous paragraphs, in which the casing is arranged in a multilayer fabric (so-called “compound”) or in a filling delimited towards the outside from a textile layer. Preferably, the garment is a fire retardant suit, for example a suit for a race car driver, and the thermoelectric device is configured to absorb heat through the thermally active surface.
The present invention will be described below by means of some preferred embodiments, given as a non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings. These drawings illustrate different aspects and examples of the present invention and, where appropriate, structures, components, materials and/or similar elements in different figures are indicated by similar reference numbers.
In particular:
In
Furthermore, unit 1 comprises a heat sink 7 inside casing 3 and arranged between fan 5 and channel 6 to receive the air flow and increase the efficiency of the thermoelectric device 4. Heat sink 7 operates when the thermoelectric device cools the body; more generally, an air-solid heat exchanger, for example with fins, is associated with the thermoelectric device.
In particular, thermoelectric device 4 is a solid state heat pump, e.g. a Peltier cell, and is powered by direct current and, in a first polarity, a face 8 of thermoelectric device 4 facing the user absorbs heat and produces a cooling sensation; and in an opposite polarity, face 8 provides heat and produces a feeling of warming for the user. Consequently, a face of thermoelectric device 4 opposed to face 8 and arranged in heat exchange with heat sink 7 raises its temperature with respect to face 8 when the power supply is according to the first polarity; and such a face with heat exchanger 7 has a lower temperature than that of face 8 when the polarity is reversed.
Fan 5 is preferably a radial fan and generates an air flow having a predefined rectilinear direction that reaches channel 6 through heat sink 7 so as to increase the efficiency of thermoelectric device 4. Channel 6 extends in a substantially parallel direction to that of the air flow and opens into a discharge opening 9 distal from fan 5, preferably arranged at one end of casing 3.
Casing 3 is connected to flexible layer 2 according to different methods applied in the clothing manufacturing industry, for example, both disconnectable through e.g. velcro, snap buttons, laces or the like, and permanently, for example through adhesives, welds between polymeric materials or the like. In the diagram of
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in particular when external flexible layer 10 is breathable or is a fabric, the cooling or heating action via face 8 requires an air flow through fan 5 such as to pass through flexible layer external 10 without particular difficulties or impact on the efficiency of thermoelectric device 4.
Flexible layer 2 towards the body can also have a weft and warp spaced apart so as to allow the transmission of heat through face 8 or require a modification in the area superimposed on face 8 to increase the efficiency of heat transmission. For example, the modification involves the application of openings and may include the opening of a window having for example the size of face 8 and, optionally, the application to the window of a fabric with a sufficiently spaced weft and warp or the like.
Face 8 can be completely exposed to flexible layer 2 through e.g. a window open in casing 3 or casing 3 comprises an area in contact with face 8 having openings arranged in a matrix or in another way and shaped in such a way as to allow the heat exchange between face 8 and the user's body.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, both distal opening 9 and an intake opening 11 of fan 5 are either peripheral or opposite to face 8 and to flexible layer 2 so as to face towards a more free area and not occupied by the user's body and, therefore, more efficiently generate the air flow.
According to the embodiment of
Preferably casing 3, for example comprising two half-shells, is manufactured of an elastically hand deformable polymeric material, for example based on silicone or thermoplastic polyurethane. The latter also has a flame-resistant behavior and is suitable for applications within heat-resistant clothing such as a suit for a race car driver. When casing 3 is thus manufactured, it is important to always keep channel 6 clear even when, for example, the user presses against the casing with his whole body against a rigid wall. To counteract this load, one or more spacing projections 12 are arranged in channel 6, elongated in a transverse direction, preferably approximately perpendicular, to face 8.
Finally, it is clear that modifications or variations can be made to the portable thermoelectric unit according to the present invention without thereby departing from the scope of protection as defined by the attached claims.
For example, the unit is also applicable within sleeping bags, backs of backpacks, hammocks etc. with or without filling and with the flexible layer facing the body.
It is also possible that the user is an individual or an animal, for example a companion animal.
Based on these numerous applications, it is possible that the flexible layer 2 is not of fabric or non-woven fabric, but a continuous membrane, for example made by molding or laminating, of a polymeric material.
According to the embodiment illustrated in
Further applications in heat-resistant clothing include the use on board of firefighter suits and for personnel working in furnaces for metalworking or for foundry work.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102018000010879 | Dec 2018 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2019/060352 | 12/2/2019 | WO | 00 |
