JPH0829009A - Thermo-cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the economical efficiency of a thermo-cooling device by providing a new functional unit on feeder control members for a thermobattery in order to place the thermobattery of the thermo-cooling device in a mode of a maximum working efficiency. CONSTITUTION:A thermo-cooling device comprises at least one internal radiator 6 provided in a cooling chamber 3 which contains a cooling body, a device for conveying heat to a cold junction portion of the thermobattery 1 from the internal radiator 6, at least one external radiator 7 provided outside the cooling chamber 3, a device for conveying heat to the external radiator 7 from a hot junction portion of the thermobattery 1, a temperature sensor provided on a low temperature side 4 and a high temperature side 5 of the thermobattery 1 to be connected to feeder control members for the thermobattery, at least one fan provided with an electric motor 10 which is mounted to one of the radiators, and a cooling chamber heat-insulating body 14. Supply current fed to the thermobattery 1 is changed by signals from the temperature sensor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermoelectric cooling device, and more particularly to a thermoelectric cooling device utilizing the Peltier effect.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Thermoelectric coolers utilizing the Peltier effect can be applied to cool various things in daily life, business relations, measuring instrument industry, electronics, computers and other fields.

A thermal battery or thermo module,
A thermoelectric cooling device including a member that controls a supply current to a thermal battery, a device that transfers heat from a thermal junction of the thermal battery, and a device that transfers heat from a cold junction of the thermal battery is well known. These devices are disclosed in WO88 / 02836 and WO9.
2/13243, WO84 / 01816, WO89
/ 06335, WO90 / 00708, WO90 /
02301, WO91 / 11666, US Pat. No. 4,782,664, and US Pat. No. 4,764,193.

The electronic cooling device described in WO 81/01739 is most similar to the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention. The device described in that publication includes a switch that controls the current supplied to the thermal battery and a fan that enhances the operation of the thermal battery. This switch connects the thermal cells in parallel or in series according to the temperature of the hot junction and the cold junction of the thermal cell to increase the economic efficiency of the cooling device. The maximum mode that enhances the economical efficiency of the cooling device is the supply current I to the thermal battery.

[0005]

[Equation 1] It is well known that this is the case.

[0006]

However, none of the known thermoelectric cooling devices are provided with means for maintaining this mode. In general, the supply current to known thermoelectric coolers did not match the above equation, which impaired the usefulness of the cooler.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new functional unit in the power supply control member of the thermoelectric battery in order to put the thermoelectric battery of the thermoelectric cooling device into the mode of maximum operating efficiency, thereby enhancing the economical efficiency of the thermoelectric cooling device. Especially.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention has a cooling chamber for containing what is to be cooled, and at least one disposed inside the cooling chamber.
An internal radiator of the pedestal, a device for transferring heat from the internal radiator to a cold junction of the thermal battery, at least one external radiator arranged outside the cooling chamber, and a thermal junction of the thermal battery to the external A device for transmitting heat to a radiator, a member for controlling power supply to the thermal battery, and a temperature sensor connected to a member for controlling power supply to the thermal battery, which is arranged at a cold joint and a thermal joint of the thermal battery. The power supply control member is configured to change the power supply to the thermal battery according to a signal from the temperature sensor, and at least one fan including an electric motor attached to one of the radiators, and the cooling chamber. And a heat insulator provided, wherein the power feeding control member always causes the supply current to the thermal battery to be in a mode of maximum operating efficiency at all temperatures of the thermal junction and the cold junction of the thermal battery. It comprises a function unit.

The thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention is provided with an internal radiator having a heat insulating body having a plurality of openings, and heat is exchanged between the radiator and the air in the cooling chamber through these openings.

In the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention, the number of openings of the heat insulator and the size of the openings are determined by the coefficient of heat transfer between the radiator and the air in the cooling room during the operation of the fan attached to the radiator. It should be selected so that it is twice the heat transfer coefficient when the fan is stopped.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the power supply control member is provided with an additional function unit for switching off the thermal battery when the temperature in the cooling chamber reaches the specified cooling temperature, and heat is supplied from one of the radiators. The device that transfers heat to the junction of the battery is a closed circulation loop filled with liquid and a pump that circulates the liquid in this loop, and a heat exchanger is provided between the radiator and the junction of the thermal battery, Further, the thermoelectric cooling device is provided with a member for switching off the pump when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to the specified cooling temperature, and operates one fan and at least one pump by the electric motor, and further, Is turned off when is equal to the specified cooling temperature and the fan and pump are assembled on a common shaft driven by the electric motor.

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention, the thermoelectric cooling device comprises at least two thermal cells, namely a main thermal cell and at least one second thermal cell, the second of which The hot junction and cold junction of the thermal battery are arranged on the high temperature side and the cold temperature side, and an internal radiator arranged inside the cooling chamber, an external radiator arranged outside the cooling chamber, and an internal radiator from the second thermal battery Device for transferring heat to the cold junction, device for transferring heat from the thermal junction of the second thermal battery to the radiator, temperature sensor provided on the cold side and high temperature side of the second thermal battery, and the second And a member for controlling the supply current flowing through the thermal battery.

In another embodiment of the invention, the cooling capacity of the second thermal cell for bringing the specified cooling temperature to a minimum of 20% accuracy is fed into the cooling chamber via the insulation of the cooling chamber. A function unit for turning off the main thermal battery when the temperature inside the cooling chamber is equal to the specified cooling temperature, and the power supply control member for equalizing the amount of heat,
At least one separate device consisting of at least one fan, one radiator, one liquid circulation loop, one heat exchanger and one pump is provided in the cooling chamber of the cooling device. It is arranged.

According to the present invention, the functional unit incorporated in the power supply control member controls the current of the thermal battery according to the temperature at the hot junction and the cold junction of the thermal battery for all operating modes of the cooling device. The functional unit further enhances the cooling performance of the thermoelectric cooling device in order to adjust the current to the maximum coefficient of operation. It is well known that the coefficient of operation of any cooling device is equal to the ratio of the amount of heat removed by the cooling object to the power applied. Therefore, this functional unit removes a certain amount of heat from the cooling object with a minimum of energy consumption.

The performance of the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention is further improved by a few additional devices. The additional device is a functional unit that switches off the thermal battery when the temperature inside the cooling chamber is equal to the specified cooling temperature, and a closed circulation loop filled with liquid that transfers heat from one of the radiators to the junction of the thermal battery. Type heat transfer device, a pump that circulates liquid in this closed circulation loop, a switch device that turns off the pump when the temperature inside the cooling chamber is equal to the specified cooling temperature, and a temperature when the temperature inside the cooling chamber is equal to the specified cooling temperature. A switch device for switching off at least one fan, at least one electric motor for driving at least one fan and at least one pump, one fan and at least one pump, A common shaft, some second thermal battery, an internal radiator arranged inside the cooling chamber, an external radiator arranged outside the cooling chamber, A device for transferring heat from the cold junction of the thermal battery to the internal radiator, a device for transferring heat from the thermal junction of the second thermal battery to the radiator, and a high temperature side and a low temperature side of the second thermal battery. And a device for controlling the supply current flowing through the second thermal battery.

When the temperature inside the cooling chamber of the thermoelectric cooling device reaches the specified cooling temperature, these additional devices switch off the respective devices of the cooling device to control the operation of the thermoelectric cooling device in a wider range. By maintaining the most economical mode and using the fan and the liquid circulation loop for positive heat exchange, the heat loss generated in the thermal battery during heat exchange is reduced.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The thermoelectric cooling device according to the present invention can be implemented in various forms. A basic embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. A thermal battery 1 is arranged in an opening of a case 2 of a cooling chamber 3 that accommodates what is to be cooled. The cold junction of the thermal battery 1 is arranged on the low temperature side 4 inside the cooling chamber, and the thermal junction of the thermal battery 1 is outside the cooling chamber on the high temperature side 5.
It is located at Temperature sensors are arranged on the low temperature side 4 and the high temperature side 5. A radiator 6 is arranged on the low temperature side 4 of the thermal battery 1, and a radiator 7 is arranged on the high temperature side 5 thereof. The cooling device further comprises fans 8 and 9 and an electric motor 10.

The cooling device includes a power source 11 and a cooling device controller 12.
It has and. The control unit 12 is connected to the thermal battery 1, the temperature sensor and the electric motor 10.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 12 controls the power supply to the thermal battery 1 and controls the current of the battery 1 by the control command C1.
It consists of a functional device 13 that keeps equal to Ie max.

A heat insulator 14 is arranged in the cooling chamber 3. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, this insulation 14 has openings 1
5 is provided. The heat exchange coefficient K1 for exchanging heat with the heat insulator as a boundary when the fan 8 is not driven is determined by the number of openings 15 and the cross-sectional area Si of the openings 15 (i indicates the number of openings). During the operation of the fan, the heat exchange coefficient K2 for exchanging heat with the heat insulator as a boundary is determined by the flow velocity V4 of the air passing through the opening 15. The size and the number of the openings 15 are generally calculated by a well-known calculation method for heat exchange in a pipe, and a heat exchange coefficient K2 (N, Si, Vi) of heat exchange with a heat insulator as a boundary is used during operation of the fan. Heat exchange coefficient K1 (N,
Si) to be double.

In the cooling device of the present invention, the cooling chamber 3
The second thermal battery 1 ′ can be installed in the opening of the case 2. The cold junction of the second thermal battery 1'is arranged on the low temperature side inside the cooling chamber 3, and the hot junction is arranged on the high temperature side outside the cooling chamber.

Temperature sensors are arranged on the low temperature side 4'and the high temperature side 5 ', respectively. Further, a radiator 6'is attached to the low temperature side 4 ', and a radiator 7'is attached to the high temperature side 5'. The cooling device further includes fans 8'and 9'and an electric motor 1
It has 0 '. The second thermal battery 1 ′, the temperature sensor of the second battery 1 ′, and the electric motor 10 ′ are connected to the control unit 12.

According to the invention, this second thermal battery 1 '
And the power supply auxiliary variable are determined so that the cooling capacity at the specified cooling temperature becomes equal to the amount of heat sent into the cooling chamber through the heat insulator of the cooling chamber.

According to the present invention, the thermal battery 1 is provided in the cooling device.
And the radiator of 1'to the respective radiator 6, 7,
Active devices can be provided that transfer heat to 6 ', 7'.

FIG. 2 shows a device for transferring heat from the cold junction of the thermal battery 1 to the internal radiator 6, which device is in the form of a cooling liquid circulation loop 16 comprising a liquid pump and a heat exchanger 18. There is. The cooling liquid circulation loop 16 is provided in the thermal battery 1 to transfer heat from its joint to the radiator 6 on the low temperature side 4 and to transfer heat from the joint of the thermal battery 1 to the radiator 7 on the high temperature side 5. Can be provided.

FIG. 3 shows a liquid transfer device for transferring heat from the joint portion of the second thermal battery 1'to the radiators 6 ', 7'when the cooling device of the present invention comprises the second thermal battery 1'. Coolant circulation loop 1 including pump 17 and heat exchanger 18
It is shown that it can be in the form of 6.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the power supply control member 12 has a switch device for turning off the thermal battery by the control command device C2 when the temperature in the cooling chamber becomes equal to the specified cooling temperature. 19 are provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the power feeding control member 1
2 includes a switch device 20 for turning off one or several pumps by the control command device C3 when the temperature in the cooling chamber becomes equal to the specified cooling temperature.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, when the temperature of the cooling chamber becomes equal to the specified cooling temperature, the power supply control member 12 is provided with one or several fans by the control command device C4. A switch device 21 for turning off is provided.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the electric motor drives at least one fan and one pump mounted on the common shaft. As shown in FIG. The member 12 is provided with an additional function unit 23 that turns off the electric motor 10 by the control command device C5 when the temperature inside the cooling chamber becomes equal to the specified cooling temperature.

According to the present invention, the fan, the radiator,
The liquid circulation loop, the heat exchanger, and the pump are independent components, and are an integrated combined structure 24, as shown by hatching in FIG.

[0032]

The operation and effect of the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention will be described. When current is supplied to the thermal battery, heat is removed from the cooling chamber by the low temperature side of the thermal battery, and the cooling chamber is cooled by the Peltier effect of the joining member of the thermal battery. Therefore, the temperatures of the low temperature side and the high temperature side of the battery change accordingly. This temperature change is recorded by the temperature sensor and produces a signal S, which is sent to the functional unit 13 of the control member 12. This functional unit 13 generates a power supply control command C1 and maintains the thermal battery current at Ie max. As a result, the thermal battery operates with the maximum coefficient of the operation mode, the cooling chamber is cooled by the heat exchange between the thermal battery 1 and the cooling chamber 3, and the heat is dissipated to the surroundings by the heat exchange via the radiator 7. The electric motor 10 rotates the fans 8 and 9,
Promotes heat exchange in the radiators 6, 7.

In the present invention, the cooling device is "on".
In the mode, the control member 12 activates the liquid circulation loop, so that heat is actively transferred from the junction of the thermal cells 1, 1'to the radiators 6, 7, 6 ', 7'.

According to the present invention, when the cooling device is in operation, not only the thermal battery 1 is turned on, but also the second thermal battery 1'is turned on, so that the specified temperature cooling can be performed quickly. It can be carried out. The operation of the second thermal battery 1 ′ is similar to the operation of the first thermal battery 1. When the predetermined cooling temperature is reached, the thermal battery 1 is turned off by the command C2 of the functional device 19 to suppress the consumption of extra current. Since the cooling capacity of the second thermal battery 1 ′ is equal to the heat loss for the cooling chamber thermal insulator, the specified cooling temperature is maintained by the operation of the second thermal battery 1 ′, so that the thermal battery 1 that is turned off. Does not lower the specified cooling temperature.

According to the present invention, when the cooling temperature in the cooling chamber reaches the specified cooling temperature, the pump 17, the fans 8, 9, 8 ', 9'and the electric motors 10, 10' of the liquid circulation loop function units 20, 21 ,. It is turned off by 23 (commands C3, C4, C5) and further prevents consumption of electric energy.

The thermoelectric cooling device constructed according to the present invention was tested with the power supplied to the first thermal battery 1 being 500 W, the cooling capacity being 500 W, and the supply current being 20 A.
It was possible to save 1.2 to 1.5 times the electric energy. A thermoelectric material of bismuth tellurium (Bi2Te3) was used as the element of the thermal battery.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic embodiment of a thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for transferring heat from a cold junction of a thermal battery according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second thermal cell with a device for transferring heat from the junction of the thermal cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a control member of the thermoelectric cooling device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1'Thermal battery 2 Case 3 Cooling chamber 4 Low temperature side 5 High temperature side 6, 6 ', 7, 7'Radiator 8, 9 Fan 10 Electric motor 11 Power supply 12 Control member 13, 19, 20, 21, 21, 23 Functional unit 14 Heat insulator 15 Opening 16 Liquid circulation loop 17 Pump 18 Heat exchanger 22 Common shaft

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A at least one thermal battery comprising a hot joint and a cold joint provided on a high temperature side and a low temperature side of a thermal battery, a cooling chamber for containing what is to be cooled, and a cooling chamber for the cooling chamber. At least one internal radiator disposed inside, a device for transferring heat from the internal radiator to a cold junction of the thermal battery, at least one external radiator disposed outside the cooling chamber, and the thermal battery A device that transfers heat from the thermal joint to the external radiator, a member that controls the power supply of the thermal battery, and a cold joint and a thermal joint of the thermal battery that are arranged to control the power supply of the thermal battery. At least a temperature sensor connected to a member, the power supply control member to change the power supply to the thermal battery according to a signal from the temperature sensor, and an electric motor attached to one of the radiators. In a thermoelectric cooling device comprising one fan and a heat insulator provided in the cooling chamber, the current supplied to the thermal battery is always at the maximum operating efficiency at all temperatures of the thermal junction and the cold junction of the thermal battery. A thermoelectric cooling device, which is provided with a functional unit for setting the mode. 2. The internal radiator is arranged in a heat insulating body having a plurality of openings, and heat is exchanged between the radiator and the air in the cooling chamber through the openings. Thermoelectric cooling device according to. 3. A fan is attached to the internal radiator, the number and size of openings of the heat insulator, the heat exchange coefficient between the radiator and the temperature in the cooling chamber during operation of the radiator, and the heat exchange coefficient of the radiator. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 2, wherein the heat exchange coefficient between the radiator and the temperature in the cooling chamber at the time of stop of operation is set to twice or more. 4. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 3, further comprising a power supply control device including an additional function unit that turns off the thermal battery when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to the designated cooling temperature. apparatus. 5. A heat transfer device in the form of a closed circulation loop filled with liquid is provided to transfer heat from one of the radiators to the junction of the thermal battery, and the liquid is sent to the closed circulation loop. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 1, wherein a heat exchanger is provided at a joint between the pump, the radiator, and the thermal battery. 6. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 5, further comprising a member for turning off the pump when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to the designated cooling temperature. 7. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 5, further comprising a member for turning off at least one fan when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to the designated cooling temperature. 8. A member for turning off an electric motor for driving at least one fan and at least one pump when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to the designated cooling temperature. Thermoelectric cooling device according to. 9. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 8, wherein at least one fan and at least one pump assembled on a common shaft driven by the electric motor are provided. 10. The thermoelectric cooling device further comprises at least two thermal cells comprising a main thermal cell and at least one second thermal cell having a cold junction on the low temperature side and a cold junction on the high temperature side. An internal radiator arranged inside the cooling chamber, an external radiator arranged outside the cooling chamber, a device for transferring heat from the internal radiator to the cold junction of the second thermal battery, and the second thermal battery A device for transmitting heat from a thermal junction to the radiator, temperature sensors provided on a low temperature side and a high temperature side of the second thermal battery, and a power supply control device for the second thermal battery are provided. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 1. 11. The cooling capacity of the second thermal battery is controlled with an accuracy of 20% or more in order to bring the cooling chamber to a designated temperature via an insulator of the cooling chamber. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 10. 12. A functional unit is arranged in a power supply control member of the main thermal battery, which turns off the main thermal battery when the temperature in the cooling chamber is equal to a designated cooling temperature. Item 10. A thermoelectric cooling device according to Item 10. 13. The cooling chamber includes at least one fan, one radiator, one liquid circulation loop, and one.
11. A separate assembly device comprising a heat exchanger and a pump is provided.
Thermoelectric cooling device according to.