阅读说明：本技术 便携式主动控温装置 (Portable active temperature control device ) 是由 麦启康 廖敏璍 于 2021-04-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种便携式主动控温装置包括绝缘外壳、真空隔热层、盛物容器、顶盖以及加热模块。绝缘外壳设有主控单元。主控单元提供高频交变电流。真空隔热层为金属材质。盛物容器设置于绝缘外壳内。加热模块包括导电线圈及热电偶。导电线圈接收来自主控单元的高频交变电流以持续产生交变磁场。热电偶与导电线圈与主控单元连接,用以反馈温度至主控单元。主控单元基于温度与组成导电线圈的电线直径大小调节操作电压,以改变所述高频交变电流。导电线圈产生的交变磁场令真空隔热层的金属发热并与盛物容器之间进行热交换。本发明的便携式主动控温装置可提供一种非交流电驱动的主动式控温装置,实现低功耗、环保、高安全性且能长时间保温的效果。(A portable active temperature control device comprises an insulating shell, a vacuum heat insulation layer, a storage container, a top cover and a heating module. The insulating housing is provided with a main control unit. The main control unit provides a high frequency alternating current. The vacuum heat insulation layer is made of metal. The storage container is arranged in the insulating shell. The heating module comprises a conductive coil and a thermocouple. The conductive coil receives high-frequency alternating current from the main control unit to continuously generate an alternating magnetic field. The thermocouple and the conductive coil are connected with the main control unit and used for feeding back temperature to the main control unit. The main control unit adjusts the operating voltage based on the temperature and the size of the diameter of the wire constituting the conductive coil to change the high frequency alternating current. The alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil makes the metal of the vacuum heat-insulating layer generate heat and exchange heat with the container. The portable active temperature control device can provide a non-alternating current driven active temperature control device, and achieves the effects of low power consumption, environmental protection, high safety and long-time heat preservation.)

1. A portable active temperature control device, comprising:

the insulating housing is provided with a main control unit, and the main control unit provides high-frequency alternating current;

the vacuum heat insulation layer is made of metal and is arranged in the insulation shell;

the object containing container is arranged in the insulating shell;

the top cover is arranged on the insulating shell in a covering mode; and

the heating module, with main control unit electric connection, the heating module includes:

a conductive coil receiving the high-frequency alternating current from the main control unit to continuously generate an alternating magnetic field; and

the thermocouple is connected with the conductive coil and the main control unit and used for feeding back temperature to adjust operation voltage for the main control unit to change the high-frequency alternating current;

the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil enables the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer to generate heat and exchange heat with the object container.

2. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, further comprising an inner insulating housing, wherein the heating module is located between the inner insulating housing and the vacuum insulation layer.

3. The portable active temperature control device of claim 2, wherein the outer insulating housing, the main control unit, the vacuum insulation layer, the inner insulating housing, and the heating module are disposed in a space of a closed system.

4. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, wherein the shape design of the electrically conductive coil comprises a two-dimensional planar circular shape design.

5. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, wherein the shape design of the electrically conductive coil comprises a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design.

6. The portable active temperature control device of claim 5, wherein the electrically conductive coil further comprises:

a body portion; and

the plurality of protruding parts are connected with the body part and stand on the body part, and the plurality of protruding parts are symmetrically arranged according to the central axis of the portable active temperature control device.

7. The portable active temperature control device of claim 6, wherein the shape of the body portion comprises a circle.

8. The portable active temperature control device of claim 6, wherein the shape of the protrusion comprises a diamond shape, a circular shape, an hourglass shape, or a quadrilateral shape.

9. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, wherein the master control unit is connected to a power source, the master control unit comprises a ac-dc high frequency conversion circuit, and the ac-dc high frequency conversion circuit is configured to convert a dc current from the power source into the high frequency alternating current.

10. The portable active temperature control device of claim 9, wherein the power source comprises a mobile power source, a USB power source, or a battery built into the portable active temperature control device.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a temperature control device, in particular to a portable device capable of actively heating or preserving heat.

Background

There are many and varied portable insulated containers on the market, but these insulated containers are not very efficient. According to the journal of Choice (Choice Magazine) published by the Hongkong consumer Committee on 14.1.1.2021 (https:// echoice. consumer. org. hk/article/531-thermal-food-flashes), the storage-safe temperature of hot meals needs to be greater than 60 degrees Celsius. If the heat preservation container needs to keep the storage safety temperature at 60 ℃ or above for a long time, the heat preservation container usually needs to be powered and preserved by an external alternating current power supply. The portable heat-insulating container consumes energy and is also limited to be used in occasions where alternating current can be supplied. Therefore, the heat preservation container on the market can not achieve the effect of real convenience and portability.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages, an object of the present invention is to provide an active temperature control device driven by non-ac power, which achieves the effects of low power consumption, environmental protection, high safety and long-term heat preservation.

The portable active temperature control device in one embodiment of the invention comprises an insulating shell, a vacuum heat insulation layer, a storage container, a top cover and a heating module. The insulating housing is provided with a main control unit. The main control unit provides a high frequency alternating current. The vacuum heat insulation layer is made of metal and is arranged in the insulation shell. The storage container is arranged in the insulating shell. The top cover is arranged on the insulating shell. The heating module is electrically connected with the main control unit. The heating module comprises a conductive coil and a thermocouple. The conductive coil receives high-frequency alternating current from the main control unit to continuously generate an alternating magnetic field. The thermocouple is connected with the conductive coil and the main control unit and used for feeding back temperature to adjust the operating voltage of the main control unit so as to change the high-frequency alternating current. The alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil makes the metal of the vacuum heat-insulating layer generate heat and exchange heat with the container.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the portable active temperature control device further includes an insulating inner housing. The heating module is positioned between the insulating inner shell and the vacuum heat insulation layer.

In one embodiment of the invention, the insulating outer shell, the main control unit, the vacuum heat insulation layer, the insulating inner shell and the heating module are arranged in a space of a closed system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the shape design of the electrically conductive coil comprises a two-dimensional planar circular shape design.

In one embodiment of the invention, the shape design of the conductive coil comprises a three-dimensionally symmetric shape design.

In an embodiment of the invention, the conductive coil further includes a body portion and a plurality of protruding portions. The protruding parts are connected with the body part and stand on the body part, and the protruding parts are symmetrically arranged according to the central axis of the portable active temperature control device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the shape of the body portion comprises a circle.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the protrusion includes a diamond shape, a circular shape, an hourglass shape, or a quadrangular shape.

In an embodiment of the invention, the main control unit is connected to the power source, the main control unit includes an ac/dc high-frequency converting circuit, and the ac/dc high-frequency converting circuit is configured to convert a dc current from the power source into a high-frequency alternating current.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the power source includes a mobile power source, a USB power source, or a battery built in the portable active temperature control device.

In view of the above, in the portable active temperature control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the metal in the vacuum heat insulation layer and the conductive coil generate an alternating magnetic field, which is heated by electromagnetic induction, and further exchanges heat with the storage container, so as to achieve the effect of heating or insulating the contents in the storage container. The thermocouple feeds back the temperature to adjust the heating power, and the use safety is improved. In addition, the shape of the conductive coil is designed into a three-dimensional symmetrical shape, so that the heating uniformity of the heating area can be effectively improved. In addition, an alternating current-direct current high-frequency conversion circuit is arranged in the main control unit and can convert direct current into high-frequency alternating current, so that the portable active temperature control device provided by the embodiment of the invention can be used in occasions without being limited by alternating current, a user can conveniently carry the portable active temperature control device to various different occasions for heating or meet the requirement of long-time heat preservation, and the portable active temperature control device with low power consumption and high safety is realized.

While the prior art approaches have been directed to portable insulated containers in response to the inventive contributions of the present application, the cooling/heating assemblies/systems do not have the specific uses and configurations of induction heating as described herein. For example, regarding at least some technical features of the present patent application: "heating module, with main control unit electric connection, heating module includes: a conductive coil receiving the high-frequency alternating current from the main control unit to continuously generate an alternating magnetic field; the thermocouple is connected with the conductive coil and the main control unit and used for feeding back temperature to adjust operation voltage for the main control unit to change the high-frequency alternating current; the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil enables the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer to generate heat and exchange heat with the container, and the technical effect is that the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil enables the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer to generate heat and exchange heat with the container. However, prior art approaches often use heating wires, resistive heaters, or thermoelectric systems including one or more peltier elements, rather than inductive heating as described in the present invention. Structurally, the present patent application is induction heating of the entire insulating inner shell or vacuum insulation layer, whereas the cooling/heating assembly/system of the prior art approach is itself heating/cooling and radiating or absorbing thermal energy from that portion. Therefore, compared with the technical means in the prior art, the portable active temperature control device with lower power consumption and higher safety can be provided.

Drawings

Aspects of this disclosure can be readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the various features may not be drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion.

Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a portable active temperature control device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a portable active temperature control device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a two-dimensional conductive coil formed in a winding manner according to example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating temperature changes of a portable active temperature control device under a heating condition according to a comparative example;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the temperature change under the same heating conditions as those of comparative example of FIG. 4 in example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the temperature distribution of a vacuum thermal insulation layer measured by an infrared thermometer according to example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a portable active temperature control device according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 8 is an expanded view of various embodiments of the three-dimensional conductive coil in example 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the temperature distribution of a vacuum thermal insulation layer measured by an infrared thermometer according to example 2 of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 shows a graph of the temperature distribution of a vacuum insulation layer measured by an infrared thermometer after heating by a general resistance heating method.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that many of the applicable concepts provided by the present invention can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of the invention.

In the spatial description, terms such as "upper," "lower," "above," "left," "right," "below," "top," "bottom," "longitudinal," "lateral," "side," "upper," "lower," "upper," "above," "below," and the like are defined with respect to a component or a plane of a group of components, as oriented in the corresponding figure. It will be appreciated that the spatial description used herein is for illustrative purposes only, and that the structural embodiments described herein may be spatially arranged in any orientation or manner, provided that the advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure are not so limited.

In the following description, several examples will be preferred to describe the portable active temperature control device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications, including additions and/or substitutions, may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Certain details may be omitted in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure; this summary, however, is provided to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings of this summary without undue experimentation.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in embodiment 1 of the present invention, a portable active temperature control device 100 includes an insulating outer shell 10, a vacuum insulation layer 20, an insulating inner shell 30, a container 40, a top cover 50, and a heating module 60.

The insulating housing 10 is provided with a main control unit 12. The master control unit 12 is connected to a source of electrical power (not shown). The power source is, for example, used to provide a direct current. The main control unit 12 is provided with an ac/dc high-frequency converting circuit, and is adapted to receive a dc current from a power source and convert the dc current into a high-frequency alternating current by the ac/dc high-frequency converting circuit. In some embodiments, the power source may be an external power source such as an external mobile power source or a USB power source, or an internal power source such as a battery built in the portable active temperature control device 100, but the invention is not limited thereto. The material of the insulating housing 10 is, for example, an insulating material.

The vacuum insulation layer 20 is made of metal and is disposed in the insulation housing 10.

The inner insulating shell 30 is disposed inside the vacuum insulation layer 20, wherein the material of the inner insulating shell 30 is, for example, an insulating material. The insulating inner housing 30 is primarily a conductive coil that covers the heating module 60 and is not one of the primary heating or insulating structures.

The container 40 is disposed inside the inner insulating housing 30, and the container 40 is used for containing contents (not shown), which may be water, food or other different substances to be contained, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The top cover 50 covers the insulating housing 10 to block the contents of the container 40 from the outside.

The heating module 60 is disposed between the inner insulating housing 30 and the vacuum insulation layer 20 (as shown in fig. 1) and electrically connected to the main control unit 12 (as shown in fig. 2). The heating module 60 includes a conductive coil 62 and a thermocouple 64. Referring to fig. 1 and 3, in embodiment 1 of the present invention, the shape design of the conductive coil 62 includes a two-dimensional planar circular shape design. Specifically, the conductive coil 62 is formed by concentric circular conductive wires. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, after the diameter of the conductive coil 62, the diameter of the wire and the number of turns thereof are calculated (set in the main control unit 12), the conductive coil 62 receives a high-frequency alternating current from the main control unit 12 to continuously generate a constantly changing alternating magnetic field. The alternating magnetic field will generate heat in the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20.

On the other hand, the thermocouple 64 is connected to the conductive coil 62 and the main control unit 12 for feeding back the temperature to adjust an operating voltage for the main control unit 12 to change the high frequency alternating current, so as to achieve the effect of controlling the temperature. In some embodiments, the operating voltage of the master control unit 12 is in the range of 3 to 12 volts, the high frequency alternating current is in the range of 1 to 3.5 amperes, and the power consumption of the overall master control unit 12 output can be controlled to be in the range of less than 30 watts.

Since the conductive coil 62 is disposed between the vacuum insulation layer 20, the thermocouple 64 and the inner insulating shell 30, the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 can react with the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil 62 to generate heat energy by the principle of electromagnetic Induction heating (Induction heating). The heat energy can effectively exchange heat with the object container 40, which is beneficial to increasing the effect of heating or insulating the objects in the object container 40, and realizes the high-safety temperature control effect of low energy consumption, low voltage, low current and no active heat dissipation.

In addition, the insulating outer shell 10, the main control unit 12, the vacuum insulation layer 20, the insulating inner shell 30 and the heating module 60 can be arranged in a space of a closed system, so that a waterproof function is realized.

To more clearly illustrate the technical effects of embodiment 1 of the present invention, a comparative embodiment is given, and the portable active temperature control device of the comparative embodiment is substantially similar to the portable active temperature control device 100 of fig. 1, and the main differences are: the portable active temperature control device of the comparative example was not provided with a vacuum insulation layer 20 as in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, the comparative example takes approximately 3 hours or more to reach the thermal equilibrium temperature (e.g., about 50 degrees) when it is in an 8 watt environment. In a reverse view of FIG. 5, the embodiment of FIG. 1 takes approximately 1-2 hours to reach the thermal equilibrium temperature (e.g., about 90 degrees) under the same 8W power supply. It can be seen that under the same heating conditions, the heating speed of the comparative example is not fast and high temperature cannot be achieved, and the embodiment of fig. 1 is contrary to the above-mentioned that the heating speed is fast and high temperature environment can be maintained because the heat loss is less.

Fig. 6 shows a graph of the temperature distribution of the vacuum insulation layer measured by an infrared thermometer according to example 1 of the present invention. As can be seen from fig. 6, the temperature difference between the bottom and upper layers of the vacuum insulation layer is relatively large, which proves that the heating is not even.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, fig. 7 is an exploded schematic view of a portable active temperature control device according to embodiment 2 of the present invention; fig. 8 is a schematic expanded view of various embodiments of the three-dimensional conductive coil in example 2 of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 7, in embodiment 2 of the present invention, a portable active temperature control device 100' is substantially similar to the portable active temperature control device 100 shown in fig. 1, and the main differences are: the portable active temperature control device 100 'includes an insulating outer shell 10, a vacuum insulation layer 20, a container 40, a top cover 50, a heating module 60', and a conductive coil 62 'using the design of fig. 8(a), wherein the conductive coil 62' replaces the insulating inner shell 30 and the conductive coil 62(60) of fig. 1. Moreover, the shape design of the conductive coil 62' is different from the shape design of the conductive coil 62 in fig. 1 and 3.

In detail, the shape design of the conductive coil 62' includes a three-dimensionally symmetric shape design. Referring to fig. 7, the conductive coil 62 ' includes a body portion 62a ' and a plurality of protrusions 62b '. These projections 62b 'are connected to and stand on the body portion 62 a' (as shown in fig. 7). These projections 62b 'are symmetrically arranged with respect to the central axis I of the portable active temperature control device 100'. The body portion 62 a' is provided at the bottom of the vacuum insulation layer 20 and is designed in a two-dimensional planar circular shape. These projections 62 b' are provided along the inner surface of the vacuum insulation layer 20. With this arrangement, the electromagnetic induction heating areas on the vacuum insulation layer 20 can be distributed more widely.

In the embodiment of fig. 7 and 8(a), the shape of the projection 62 b' is a rhombus. In another embodiment, the shape of the protrusion 62b 'of the conductive coil 62' of fig. 7 may also be a circle as shown in fig. 8 (b). In one embodiment, the protrusion 62b 'of the conductive coil 62' of fig. 7 may also have an hourglass shape as shown in fig. 8 (c). In another embodiment, the shape of the protrusion 62b 'of the conductive coil 62' of fig. 7 may also be a quadrilateral as shown in fig. 8(d), and is, for example, a trapezoid, which is not limited in the invention. In other embodiments, not shown, the protrusion 62 b' may also be designed in different shapes, and the invention is not limited thereto. The conductive coil 62 'with three-dimensional symmetrical shape design is not limited by the shape of the vacuum insulation layer 20, and the protrusion 62 b' with different shapes controls the peripheral heating range of the protrusion 62b ', so that the conductive coil 62' can further realize temperature distribution of different areas on the vacuum insulation layer 20 to further optimize the heating effect, and the invention is not limited thereto.

Fig. 9 shows a temperature distribution diagram of the vacuum insulation layer according to example 2 of the present invention. Under the environment of 8 watts of power supply, the infrared thermometers are used for detecting different positions of the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer 20 in the figure 7, as shown in the figure 9, the temperature difference of the bottom layer, the middle layer and the high layer is within 12 ℃. In a reverse view of fig. 6, the temperature difference between the bottom layer, the middle layer and the upper layer of the vacuum insulation layer 20 according to the embodiment 1 of the present invention is about 20 ℃. Because the conductive coil 62 ' of the portable active temperature control device 100 ' adopts a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design, the thermal equilibrium of the conductive coil 62 ' on the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer 20 is effectively improved, and the bottom, middle and high layers of the conductive coil achieve the effect of nearly consistent temperature.

Also, the conductive coil 62' changes from a circular design, as shown in fig. 3, with a two-dimensional plane, to a three-dimensional symmetrical design, as shown in fig. 7, which has never been reported. It should be noted that if the conductive coil 62 is changed from a two-dimensional planar circular design to a three-dimensional circular design, the power consumption required is very high, which may be in excess of 12 watts. On the other hand, if the design of fig. 3 is changed to a three-dimensional circular design and compared with fig. 8, more than 30% of the conductive line material is required. In addition, the design shown in fig. 8(a) and fig. 7 can be moved out from the same plane position (as shown by the dotted line in fig. 7) after the inlet is formed to bypass the bottom and periphery of the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20, thereby reducing the space for wire hiding and facilitating the connection with the main control unit 12.

To demonstrate the advantage of the electromagnetic induction heating of the present invention over the conventional resistance heating, fig. 10 shows the temperature distribution of the vacuum thermal insulation layer measured by infrared thermometry after heating by the conventional resistance heating method. After measurement, fig. 10 shows that the heat generated by the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 is not even, and it is found that the temperature difference between the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 and the temperature is more than 30 degrees celsius, in other words, the temperature of the vacuum insulation layer heated at different positions is uneven, and the required power consumption is also high. In contrast to fig. 9, the embodiment of fig. 2 is shown to have a lower power consumption than the resistive heating method of fig. 10.

In summary, in the embodiment of the invention, the portable active temperature control device provides the high-frequency alternating current to be applied to the conductive coil to generate the alternating magnetic field, the alternating magnetic field further acts with the metal of the vacuum heat insulation layer to generate the heat energy, and the heat energy can effectively exchange heat with the storage container to heat or insulate the contents in the storage container. And, the thermocouple feeds back the temperature to make the main control unit adjust the current magnitude and further adjust the heating power. The embodiment of the invention further provides a three-dimensional symmetrical conductive coil design, and the heating uniformity is further optimized. In addition, an alternating current-direct current high-frequency conversion circuit is arranged in the main control unit and can convert direct current into high-frequency alternating current, so that the temperature control device can be used in occasions where alternating current can be supplied, a user can conveniently carry the temperature control device to different occasions for heating or meet the requirement of long-time heat preservation, and a portable active temperature control device with low power consumption and high safety is achieved.

The foregoing summary of the present disclosure is provided for illustration and is not intended to exhaust or limit the present disclosure to the details of the description. And various obvious modifications and improvements can be made thereto by those skilled in the art.

The embodiment has been chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, so that other people skilled in the art can understand the modifications and adaptations of the various modes and the adaptation to specific applications of the invention.

While the present disclosure has been described and illustrated with reference to specific embodiments thereof, these descriptions and illustrations are not intended to be limiting. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the inventive concept as defined by the appended claims. The drawings are not necessarily to scale. Due to manufacturing process and tolerance factors, there may be a distinction between the processes presented in this summary and the actual devices. Other embodiments of the inventive concepts may not be specifically illustrated. The specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. Modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, method, or process, to the objective, spirit and scope of the present disclosure. All such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto. Although the methods disclosed herein are described by performing particular operations in a particular order with reference to that order, it should be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided, or reordered to form equivalent methods without departing from the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of such operations is not limiting.