KR100900993B1 - Device for cooling drinking water - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to cool the liquor, such as a drink or beer cool anywhere, the supply part which is supplied with the liquor, such as a drink or beer, and the cooling part for cooling the liquor, such as a drink or beer which flows in connection with the said supply part, is included. .

Enclosure, cooling tube, cooling fin, connection hose, thermoelectric element

Description

Drink chiller {DEVICE FOR COOLING DRINKING WATER}

The present invention relates to a chiller. More particularly, the present invention relates to a beverage chiller for cooling a beverage such as beer.

Generally, a refrigerator or a freezer is mainly used to drink alcoholic beverages such as drinks or beer.

However, the refrigerator or freezer has a bulky structure and is inconvenient to move, and is mainly installed in a predetermined place of the room and used for indoor use only. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to use outdoors or for mobile use.

In addition, even if the beverage or beer cooled in the refrigerator or freezer when left exposed to the outdoors, the first cooling state is maintained to drink cool, but the cooling state does not continue over time.

In particular, in the case of beer the cooling is more important because the flavor is lowered when the temperature rises. Recently, large-capacity beer packs have been developed and sold, but the development of the technology is insufficient for the portion of the beer pack to properly cool and maintain the beer.

This provides a beverage cooling device that can cool the liquor, such as drinks or beer cool regardless of place.

To this end, the apparatus may include a supply unit for supplying liquor, such as a beverage or beer, and a cooling unit for cooling the liquor, such as a beverage or beer, which is connected to the supply unit.

In addition, the apparatus may be connected to the cooling unit may include an auxiliary cooling unit for maintaining the cooling state of the cooling unit.

Here, the supply unit may include a supply container for containing alcohol, such as drinks or beer.

In addition, the supply unit may include a fixture for seating and holding a container containing alcohol, such as beverages or beer, and a connection hose installed in the fixture to connect the cooling unit and the inlet of the container.

The connection hose is made of a flexible corrugated pipe, the fastening member may be installed at the front end to be coupled to the container.

The cooling unit may include a housing in which a storage space is provided and a refrigerant is filled therein, and a cooling tube connected to the supply unit to distribute alcohol, such as a beverage or beer, and be disposed in the enclosure to exchange heat with the refrigerant. .

Accordingly, the beverage, beer, and the like are heat-exchanged with the refrigerant while passing through the cooling tube, and are cooled and discharged through the cooling tube end.

The cooling tube has a heat sink or a heat radiation fin is installed on the surface to increase the cooling efficiency.

The auxiliary cooling unit may include a thermoelectric element installed in close contact with one side of the enclosure, a heat sink installed on a heat generating surface of the thermoelectric element, and a blowing fan for cooling the heat sink.

In this way, the present apparatus can cool and drink alcoholic beverages such as beverages and beer regardless of the location.

In addition, the cooling state can be maintained for a long time.

In addition, it is possible to use commercially available beverage containers as well as large-capacity beverages to increase the versatility.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

It is noted that the figures are schematic and not drawn to scale. The relative dimensions and ratios of the parts in the figures have been exaggerated or reduced in size for clarity and convenience in the figures and any dimensions are merely exemplary and not limiting. And the same structure, element or part that appears in more than one figure the same reference numerals are used in different embodiments to indicate corresponding or similar features.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a beverage cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the beverage is applicable to both alcoholic beverages such as water, other carbonated water, beer, etc. Hereinafter, beer will be described as an example in the present embodiment.

According to FIG. 1, the present cooling apparatus includes a supply unit to which beer is supplied, a cooling unit connected to the supply unit, and a cooling unit for cooling the introduced beer, and an auxiliary cooling unit for maintaining a cooling state of the cooling unit.

First, from the cooling unit, the cooling unit is provided with a housing 10 having a storage space to fill a refrigerant such as ice or cooling water therein, and wound around the inner circumferential surface of the housing 10 and installed at an upper end thereof. 10 includes a cooling tube 11 protruding upward from the center to form an inlet, and a lower end penetrating from the bottom of the enclosure 10 to an outlet.

The beer is cooled by heat exchange with the refrigerant filled in the housing 10 while passing along the cooling tube (11).

In this embodiment, the cooling fin 12 is further installed on the outer surface of the cooling tube 11 to increase the heat transfer efficiency. The cooling fin 12 increases the area where the cooling tube and the refrigerant contact each other, thereby maximizing the cooling efficiency due to the expansion of the heat exchange area.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a support plate 13 is installed at an upper portion of the enclosure 10 to support an upper end of the cooling tube 11 protruding to a central upper portion of the enclosure 10. .

The support plate 13 is coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the housing 10, the support 15 is installed in the center via a plurality of fork members 14, the upper end of the cooling tube 11 is the support ( 15) is fixed through.

Here, the inner diameter of the cooling tube 11 may be 120 ~ 250mm. When the inner diameter of the cooling tube 11 is less than 120mm, smooth flow is not achieved due to the generation of bubbles due to friction in the process of beer flowing down along the cooling tube. In addition, when the inner diameter of the cooling tube 11 is larger than 250mm, the speed at which the beer passes through the cooling tube is increased so that the beer cannot be cooled to a sufficient temperature.

In addition, at the end of the cooling tube 11 protruding through the main body side, a discharge valve 16 for selectively discharging beer if necessary is provided. Accordingly, when the discharge valve 16 is opened, the beer cooled by the refrigerant while passing through the cooling pipe 11 is discharged through the discharge port 17 of the discharge valve.

In this embodiment, the supply unit is capable of supplying beer from a large-capacity beer container B which is generally commercially available.

To this end, the supply unit is placed on the top of the housing 10 and the container 20 containing the beer is seated, and is installed in the center of the lower end of the fixing body 20 to the cooling tube 11 and the container It includes a connection hose 25 for connecting.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fixing body 20 is provided with a seating groove 21 corresponding to the container, and when the container is fitted into the seating groove 21, the container does not fall down and stably stands up. Will be maintained.

A water sealing ring 26 is further provided on the lower inner circumferential surface of the connection hose 25 to maintain the airtightness with the upper end of the cooling pipe 11. In addition, the upper end of the connection hose 25 is provided with a female screw member 27 to be engaged with the inlet of the beer container (B) is to be screwed with the inlet of the container.

In addition, in the present embodiment, a plurality of grooves 50 are formed at intervals on the inner circumferential surface of the connection hose 25 to couple the upper end of the cooling pipe 11 and the connection hose 25 to the groove 50. In the inside, the ball 51 elastically supported by the elastic spring 52 is a structure which protrudes to the inner peripheral surface of the front end of the connection hose 25. As shown in FIG. And the outer circumferential surface of the upper end of the cooling tube 11 has a structure formed along the outer circumferential surface is a seating groove 53 for seating the ball at a position corresponding to the ball 51 when combined with the connection hose 25.

When the connection hose 25 is inserted into the cooling tube 11, the ball 51 is pressed by the cooling tube and is pushed into the seating groove 53 by the elastic return force of the elastic spring 52. (11) and the support hose 25 is coupled to support.

The coupling structure of the upper end of the cooling pipe 11 and the connection hose 25 may be applied in various ways in addition to the above structure, and is not particularly limited. For example, a male screw and a female screw may be processed on the outer circumferential surface of the upper end of the cooling tube and the inner circumferential surface of the connection hose, and may be fastened to each other by screwing.

The connection hose 25 is made of a flexible corrugated pipe to extend the free end coupled to the container to the outside of the fixing body 20. This is to prevent the beer from spilling in the process of installing the container (B) upright and upside down in the fixed body (20). As described above, the connection hose 25 is made of a corrugated pipe structure so that the connection hose 25 can be extended to be easily coupled to the container inlet from the outside of the fixed body 20.

The connection hose 25 coupled to the container B is contracted in the process of seating the container in the seating groove 21 of the fixed body 20, as shown in Figure 3 and the connection state of the container and the cooling tube 11 Will remain the same.

The auxiliary cooling unit is installed inside the base frame 30 on which the housing 10 is supported, and a heat sink 31 installed on the heat generating surface of the thermoelectric element 31 and the thermoelectric element 31 in contact with the bottom surface of the housing 10. 32, a blowing fan 33 for distributing outside air to the heat sink 32.

The thermoelectric element 31 is an element using a cooling effect generated when a bipolar semiconductor is combined. That is, in the dissimilar metals, since the potential energy of electrons in the metal is different, it is necessary to obtain energy from the outside in order to transport electrons from the metal in the low state to the metal in the high state. In the opposite case, thermal energy is released. According to this principle, the temperature rises and falls by changing the direction of the current.

The thermoelectric element 31 has already been disclosed at the level of those skilled in the art, so a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the thermoelectric element 31 itself generates heat by heating one side of the heating surface along the direction of the current, and cools the cooling surface on the opposite side, thereby applying cold air to the enclosure 10.

The opposite side of the housing 10 of the thermoelectric element 31 should dissipate heat generated according to the operating state of the thermoelectric element 31. In the present embodiment, as mentioned, an air cooling method using a heat sink 32 and a blower fan 33 is used. Therefore, the outside air is forced by the blowing fan 33 to cool the heat transferred to the heat sink 32 while passing through the heat sink 32.

Here, the housing 10 is made of a material such as steel or copper having a high heat transfer rate.

Beer contained in the commercially available beer vessel (B) as described above can also be simply cooled using the present cooling device for drinking. Hereinafter, the operation of the present cooling device is as follows.

First, the coolant such as ice is filled in the enclosure 10, and the fixed body 20 used for the beer container B is placed on the enclosure 10. When the fixed body 20 is seated on the upper body 10, the lower end of the connection hose 25 installed in the center of the fixed body 20 is coupled in a state of maintaining the airtight with the upper end of the cooling tube (11).

In this state, the inlet of the beer container B is opened and the female screw member 27 provided at the tip of the connecting hose 25 is fastened with the inlet of the beer container.

When the connection hose 25 and the inlet of the beer container is coupled, the beer container (B) is upside down to be fitted into the seating groove 21 of the fixing body 20.

When the beer container is installed as described above, the beer in the container flows into the cooling pipe 11 through the connection hose 25 and flows down along the cooling pipe 11.

As the beer passes through the cooling tube 11 as described above, heat is exchanged between the refrigerant filled in the housing 10 and the cooling tube 11 to cool the beer.

Accordingly, when the discharge valve 16 installed at the end of the cooling tube 11 is opened, the beer cooled by the discharge port 17 is discharged. In any place, the beer in the beer container can be coolly drink.

In addition, the cooling tube 11 may be cooled by applying current to the thermoelectric element 31 and the blower fan 33 if necessary. As the thermoelectric element 31 is applied with a current, the temperature of the cooling surface in contact with the housing 10 is lowered and the temperature of the heating surface in contact with the heat sink 32 is increased to cool the housing 10. .

Accordingly, the cool air is transferred to the coolant filled in the enclosure 10 and the cooling tube 11 directly contacting the enclosure 10 to further cool the cooling tube 11. In addition, the heat of the thermoelectric element 31 transferred to the heat sink 32 is heat-dissipated by outside air introduced by the blower fan 33.

On the other hand, Figure 4 illustrates a case of cooling a large amount of beer as another embodiment of the present cooling device.

Except for the structure of the supply unit for supplying beer among the components constituting the cooling device in Figure 4, the structure of the cooling unit and the sub-cooling unit is the same as the above-mentioned structure will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the supply part is placed on the housing 10 and provided with a storage space for filling beer therein, and the cooling tube 11 is formed in the center of the lower end of the supply cylinder 40 The discharge hole 41 is coupled to the top of the, and the discharge hole 41 is installed on the inner circumferential surface includes a water sealing ring 42 to maintain the airtight with the tip of the cooling tube (11).

Accordingly, when the supply container 40 is placed on the upper end of the housing 10, the upper end of the cooling pipe 11 is fitted into the discharge hole 41 of the supply container 40 so that the beer in the supply container 40 is combined. It can be introduced into the cooling tube (11).

Unexplained reference numeral 43 is a handle which is installed on the outer surface of the supply cylinder 40 and used when moving.

In the structure described above, when a large-capacity beer is ordered in a beer house or the like, the supply container 40 is mounted on the housing 10 of the present cooling device, and when the beer is stored in the supply container 40, the beer disappears for a long time. You will be able to drink the beer while it is cooled.

On the other hand, the cleaning operation for the inside of the cooling tube 11 in the present embodiment can be simply processed by introducing a cleaning solution into the cooling tube (11).

That is, when the operator installs a hose for supplying the cleaning solution to the outlet 17 of the discharge valve 16 or the upper end of the cooling pipe 11 installed at the lower end of the cooling pipe 11 and injects the high pressure cleaning solution, As the cleaning solution passes through the inside of the cooling tube 11, the cleaning is performed.

Here, the cooling pipe 11 may be provided with a separate coupler (not shown) for fastening with the hose at the outlet 17 or the upper end of the discharge valve 16. The fastener may be applied to a variety of structures, such as one-touch coupler to plug the plug into the socket is not particularly limited.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to the range of.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a beverage cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a beverage container commercially available in the beverage cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the beverage supply container is mounted on the beverage cooling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: enclosure 11: cooling tube

12 cooling pin 13 support plate

15 support body 16 discharge valve

17 outlet 20: fixed body

21: seating groove 25: connection hose

26,42: Water milling 27: Female thread member

31: thermoelectric element 32: heat sink

33: blower fan 40: supply container

41: discharge hole 50: groove

51: ball 52: elastic spring

53: seating groove

Claims (7)

A housing having a storage space to fill a refrigerant therein, Cooling pipes are wound and installed at intervals along the inner circumferential surface of the enclosure and the upper end protrudes from the center to the upper part to form an inlet, and the lower part penetrates from the bottom to the side to form an outlet, It is installed on the upper portion of the enclosure and connected to the upper end of the cooling pipe for supplying a drink, The supply unit is a beverage cooling device including a fixed body which is placed on the upper end of the housing and the container containing the beverage is seated, and a connection hose is installed in the center of the lower end of the fixing body to connect the cooling tube and the container. The method of claim 1, And a thermoelectric element installed in the base frame in which the housing is placed and supported to contact the bottom of the housing, a heat sink installed on a heat generating surface of the thermoelectric element, and a blower fan for distributing outside air to the heat sink. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The cooling pipe is a beverage cooling device having a cooling fin protruding from the outer surface. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The inner diameter of the cooling tube is 120 ~ 250mm beverage cooling device. delete The method of claim 1, The connection hose is made of a flexible corrugated pipe and the water inner ring is installed on the lower inner circumferential surface, the drinking water cooling device is installed on the top of the female screw member is fastened to the container. A housing having a storage space to fill a refrigerant therein, Cooling pipes are wound and installed at intervals along the inner circumferential surface of the enclosure and the upper end protrudes from the center to the upper part to form an inlet, and the lower part penetrates from the bottom to the side to form an outlet, It is installed on the upper portion of the enclosure and connected to the upper end of the cooling pipe for supplying a drink, The supply part is placed on the housing and provided with a storage space for filling the beer in the interior, the discharge hole formed in the center of the lower end of the supply tube coupled to the upper end of the cooling pipe, the discharge hole is installed on the inner peripheral surface of the cooling Drinking water chiller comprising a water milling to maintain the airtight with the tube tip.

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