US2577574A

US2577574A - Liquid cooling apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2577574A
Application number: US45958A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clyde P Freer
Original assignee: Halsey W Taylor Co
Current assignee: Halsey W Taylor Co
Priority date: 1948-08-24
Filing date: 1948-08-24
Publication date: 1951-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 1968-12-04

Description

Dec. 4, 195] c. P. FREER LIQUID COOLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1948 INVENTOR. CLYDE R FREER Patented Dec. 4, 1951 Clyde P;- Freerggwarren, Ohio, assignor: tomHalse'y' W Taylor (30., Warren, Ohio-,i a corporatiomof Ohio' Application-August 24, 194lsrial Nb;45,958

(Cl. (R -141),

1 Claim; 1.-

My' invention. relates. to liquid; cooling? appa-- ratus, more particularly to water cooling appa ratus'. such as drinking fountains, andthe' prin-' cipal object of my invention is to provide new and improved apparatus. of such character In liquid cooling. apparatus, every effort is made to obtain maxim'umefliciency, so that input energy required to coola certain amountof liquid;

is held tc'a minimum.- When input energy is reduced, not only are operating costs correspondingly reduced, but by reason of increasedeiiiciency, maintenance costs are also reduced.

Generally, my invention makes use of cooling energy which is normally wasted in the ordinary liquid cooling apparatus. More specifically, my invention utilizes the cooling.v effect. of liquid passing through the exhaust outletor drain to pre-cool incoming liquid flowing to. the apparatus.

In the drawing accompanying this specification, and formingpar-tof this application, there is shown, for purposesofillustration, an emb'odiZ- ment which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a water cooler of the drinking fountain type embodying my invention, with parts broken away and parts shown in section to better illustrate the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure l, with a portion broken away to illustrate an interior construction, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding generally to the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is shown in use,

with a water cooler of the drinking fountain type, although it will be appreciated that my invention is not limited to the particular use disclosed.

The water cooler herein illustrated comprises a casing 50 enclosing at its lower portion an apparatus H such as the compressor-condenser unit of a usual refrigerator. Since the apparatus ll may be of any well known type, detailed description thereof is believed unnecessary.

A water storage tank 12 is housed within the upper portion of the casing I0, this tank being adapted to contain a suitable supply of cooled water to meet demand requirements. A refrigerant coil 13 encircles the tank l2, and is in good thermal transfer relationship therewith, preferably by tinning the coil l3 to the exterior surface of the tank [2.

Tme'inlet of the coil I32 is at the lower: endz'o'f the tank l2, and is connected by: a conduit I142 to' tliel apparatus" lzl and: the outlet of the coil l3 i's at the upper end of the tank" I2 andrrefrige er'a'nt; is'returned 'to the apparatus: H= by means".- of' as co'nduit 1.5.

Cooled' w'ater from the tank 12 isfdrawn' offi fromlthe bottom-cf-fthertank l2 byfmeans of a? c'oncluitlfirwhich leads-:to a valve" "1. Thefvalve:

it ill? mayxb'ei' of! any) suitable: construction; and ass here'sl'io'wn is manually controlled by a rotatable: handz piece:- IB.. Water" from. the valve." l li is delivered". to? a bubbler I9.= bymeans; of a con duit 2.0.. 1

In usualrtypcs" ofwatencoolers;.the' uppeir po1t-- ticnfisrprovided with." a: depressed: basini-fornnng portiona z'l and; to? the I lowermost part: of: this. basinist'cbnnefitedrthe drain' outlet 22i Asfhereein shown; theoutleti-TZ is connected: to: an elbow? ztfwhichs 'ini'turmis connected: tov an'otherrelbow 2 by=means7of ashort lengthrof pipe 25:

Extending: downwardly from theelbolw ztl i's'r' a drain conduit- 2:6 connectsito an' elbowfl; the latter in turn being connected to a pipe 28 leading to a suitable drain.

In use of a water cooler such as herein disclosed, I have found that a user will open the valve I! and let a certain amount of water flow from the bubbler [9 before taking a drink. Further, during the time the user takes a drink, quite frequently not all of the water flowing from the bubbler I9 is consumed. Also, there is a lag between the time the user completes his drink and the time the valve 5? is closed. All of the foregoing heretofore resulted in a Waste of cooled water, since water flows to the drain and ordinarily performs no useful function.

My invention minimizes the waste before mentioned by utilizing the cooling effect of water flowing to the drain to pre-cool incoming water. In the embodiment herein shown, the incoming water is delivered to the water cooler by means of a conduit 3! which is connected to a suitable source of water supply.

The conduit 3%) is connected to the bottom of a coil 3! which encircles the drain conduit 26 and is held in good thermal transfer relationship therewith, as by means of tinning or the like. The top of the coil 3| is connected to the inlet of the tank I 2 by means of a conduit 32.

Within the drain conduit 26 is a means for establishing a trough of water, such means also providing a lip over which the water spills when drain water overflows the trough, the lip being so constructed and arranged that drain Water is caused to flow along the inner peripheral surface of the drain conduit.

In the embodiment herein disclosed, a ringshaped element 35 is provided near the upper end of the drain conduit 26, such element being suitably secured in place, such as by welding, brazing, or the like. The element 35 is generally triangu lar in cross-section, the upper surface inclining downwardly toward the inner wall of the conduit 26, to form a trough 36. The opening 31 through the element 35 is defined by a conical surface which is of greater diameter at the bottom than at the top, the bottom diameter generally merging with the inner diameter of the conduit 23.

As cooled waste water flows from the drain outlet 22, it passes through elbow 23, pipe 25, elbow 24, and to drain conduit 26. This water will collect in the trough 38, until it overflows the trough, and then it will spill over the lip 38 and flow generally uniformly down over surfaces 31 of element 35 and the inner peripheral surface of the drain conduit 26.

'Thus, the cool drain water is brought into intimate contact with the surface defining the drain conduit 26 so as to effect the ultimate in thermal transfer between cooled drain water and incoming water, and in such manner the incoming water is pre-cooled so that less energy is required to cool the water when it reaches the storage tank I2. In some instances, it may be desirable to use more than one element 35, and it is intended to include in this invention the use of one or more of such elements, the elements being disposed in series relationship with respect to the conduit 26 when more than one is used.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal, object of my invention, and it also will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment of the invention herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

A pre-cooler device for use in conjunction with a substantially vertically disposed drain pipe of a drinking fountain, said drain pipe having a supply pipe for drinking water disposed in a coil therearound, comprising a ring member of generally angular cross-section closely fitting within said drain pipe and having an upwardly and inwardly inclined top surface forming with the adjacent inner wall surface of said drain pipe an annular trough terminating in an inner elevated peripheral discharge lip disposed in a substantially horizontal plane, the lower wall surface of said ring member extending downwardly and outwardly from said lip and terminating closely adjacent the inner wall surface of said drain pipe, a portion of the chilled waste water entering said drain pipe being collected by said trough and discharged over said lip in a uniform peripheral overflow, a portion of said overflow water thereafter adhering to said lower wall surface of said ring member and thence adhering to the inner peripheral inner surface of said drain pipe and passing by gravity substantially directly downwardly therethrough, whereby drinking water in said supply pipe is initially-pre-cooled by the chilled waste water adhering to and discharged through said drain pipe.

CLYDE P. FREER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date