U.S. patent application number 13/676435 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-15 for thermoelectric water cooling tower.
The applicant listed for this patent is Mark Charles Kitchens, Adam Lee Kling, Regis Marie-Jean Wandres. Invention is credited to Mark Charles Kitchens, Adam Lee Kling, Regis Marie-Jean Wandres.
Application Number | 20140130812 13/676435 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50680466 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140130812 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kling; Adam Lee ; et
al. |
May 15, 2014 |
Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower
Abstract
The present invention is an improved medicinal herb or tobacco
smoking device making use of thermoelectric technology to increase
performance over thermally passive systems, provides built-in
self-cleaning properties, and utilizes easy to use electrical
arrangement.
Inventors: |
Kling; Adam Lee; (Athens,
TX) ; Wandres; Regis Marie-Jean; (Canton, TX)
; Kitchens; Mark Charles; (Athens, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kling; Adam Lee
Wandres; Regis Marie-Jean
Kitchens; Mark Charles |
Athens
Canton
Athens |
TX
TX
TX |
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
50680466 |
Appl. No.: |
13/676435 |
Filed: |
November 14, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
131/173 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24F 1/30 20130101; A24F
47/008 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
131/173 |
International
Class: |
A24F 1/30 20060101
A24F001/30 |
Claims
1. A Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower comprising: a water cooling
tower for storing water therein; a receptacle for holding media to
be vaporized or smoked; a thermoelectric engine assembly to cool or
heat said water in said water cooling tower; a power base to
electrically power said thermoelectric engine assembly.
2. A Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said media vapors or smoke are drawn to said water cooling
tower by way of externally applied depressurization at the top area
of said water cooling tower and where said vapors or smoke are
cooled or heated as they mix with said water.
3. A Thermoelectric Water cooling Tower as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said thermoelectric engine assembly comprises a thermally
conductive metallic rod, a thermoelectric chip, a metallic thermal
exchanger, and an air circulating fan and where said thermoelectric
chip is sandwiched between said thermally conductive metallic rod
and said metallic thermal exchanger and where said thermally
conductive metallic rod is at the bottom section of said water
cooling tower and submerged in said water and affects the
temperature of said water; further configured where said metallic
thermal exchanger is ventilated by said air circulating fan.
4. A Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower as claimed in claims 1 and
3, wherein said water cooling tower is fluid-sealed from said
thermoelectric engine assembly by way of a seal compressed between
said thermally conductive metallic rod and said water cooling tower
and where said thermoelectric engine assembly is thermally
insulated by way of thermally non-conductive materials and where
said thermally non-conductive materials insulate said thermally
conductive rod and said thermoelectric chip.
5. A thermoelectric water cooling Tower as claimed in claim 1
wherein said water cooling tower, receptacle, and thermoelectric
engine assembly are mated together in an external enclosure and
where said external enclosure is equipped at its bottom external
face with 2 electrically conductive rings where one ring carries
positive side electrical current and alternatively the other
carries negative side electrical current.
6. A thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower as claimed in claim 1 where
said power base comprises an nesting enclosure generally configure
to provide structurally balanced and stable support, a non-slip
resting surface, an electrical power receptacle and a pair of
spring-loaded electrical contacts wherein said electrical power
receptacle allows to connect Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower to
external power, wherein said spring-loaded electrical contacts are
electrically connected to said electrical power receptacle
respectively establishing positive side and negative side
electrical current connections and where said non-slip resting
surface is non-permanently friction fitted to bottom edge of said
power base.
7. A thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower as claimed in claims 5 and
6 where said external enclosure nests onto said nesting enclosure
and form a free vertical axis rotating interface and when said
external enclosure is nested with said nesting enclosure said
electrically conductive rings establish electrical connection with
said spring-loaded electrical contacts and where said electrical
connection remains at any angle of rotation of the free vertical
axis rotating interface.
8. A Thermoelectric Water Cooling Tower as claimed in claim 3,
where thermally conductive metallic rod enables the build-up of
protective and performance-increasing layer of water-ice onto its
surface.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of Invention
[0002] The present invention broadly relates to the field of
medicinal herbs and tobacco-related inhalation devices.
Particularly, the present invention improves the quality and
comfort of use by actively controlling smoke or vapors
temperature.
[0003] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0004] The use of water pipe for the consumption of medicinal herbs
and tobacco was introduced in ancient time originating in Asia. The
premise of these devices is to make use of a fluid, often water, as
a mean to cool, filter, and moisten the smoke or vapors to reduce
the harshness of such smoke or vapors. In modern times various
inventions provide for various means of achieving such functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,353 to Kahler (1977); U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,109
to Kahler (1977) for example describe inventions making use of
serpentine or pluralities of liquid passageways to improve on the
device ability to cool vapors of smoke. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,950 to
Bechtold (1979) describes the use of a solid-phase medium to
achieve the cooling mean. Other prior arts, such as the invention
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,031 to Clark (1999) disclose a mean for
easier maintenance of such apparatus, and prior art U.S. Pat. No.
7,445,007 to Balch (2008) discloses an alternative mean to generate
smoke or vapors.
[0005] It is a common limitation of the prior inventions to make
use of the passive thermal exchange occurring between the smoke or
vapors and the cooling media via various heat exchanger
configurations. Practicality of use and manufacturing constraints
of those devices in this field of use limits the extent to which
the system's efficiency can be expanded. More particularly,
high-efficiency ratio heat exchangers quickly reach size,
technological advancements unpractical to this field of use. Other
prior arts making use of solid-phase cooling medium, such as
water-ice, does help increase the cooling capacity of such devices,
but has the disadvantage of requiring user to plan for, and have
access to such medium. A natural side effect of making use of such
devices is their tendency to accumulate debris, as a result of the
by-product of consuming tobacco or medicinal herbs, maintaining
cleanness of such device, and therefore their ability to perform is
an issue, some prior art do partially improve of this effect by
allowing easier disassembly of the device for cleaning. Other prior
art use a heat-based mean to generate smoke or vapors instead of
flamed-based to alleviate such effect but not eliminate it and do
not necessarily provide any cooling mean.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] With the prior art cited in this disclosure in mind, it is a
primary object of the present invention to alleviate or partially
alleviate the disadvantages of the prior inventions by providing a
novel mean to actively rather than passively affect the temperature
of smoke or vapors in the field of devices for use with tobacco
consumption and/or medicinal herbs.
[0007] It is another important aspect of the present invention to
make use of phase-changing property of the cooling medium to induce
a self-cleaning behavior of the device.
[0008] Other novel features and novel objects of this invention
will become apparent in the following detailed description,
accompanying drawings, and appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention, showing a
general external view of the invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the invention, showing an
external view of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a side section view of the invention, showing the
inner details of the invention.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a side partial section view of the invention, to
detail the inner workings of the active cooling mean.
[0013] FIG. 5a is a perspective view of the invention, illustrating
a specific function of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 5b is a perspective view of the invention, further
illustrating a specific function of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the invention, detailing a
specific function of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the invention, further
explaining a specific function of the present invention.
REFERENCED NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS
[0017] 10 Invention [0018] 12 Water Cooling Tower [0019] 14
Receptacle [0020] 20 Thermoelectric Engine Assembly [0021] 40 Power
Base [0022] 16 Medium/Media [0023] 17 Water Level [0024] 22 Cooling
Rod [0025] 24 Thermoelectric Chip [0026] 26 Heat Sink [0027] 28 Fan
[0028] 30 Water-proofing Seal [0029] 31 Water Cooling Tower
Insulator [0030] 32 Thermoelectric Engine Insulator [0031] 33 Upper
Enclosure [0032] 34 Lower Enclosure [0033] 35 and 36 Electrical
Rings [0034] 42 and 44 Spring Electrical Contacts [0035] 46
Electrical Plug
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0036] The present invention provides the mean to actively change
the temperature of vapors or smoke for human inhalation using
thermoelectric technology. Turning to FIG. 1 there is shown a
perspective view of the present invention 10. The present
invention's function is to change the temperature of vapors or
smoke prior to inhalation as to enhance said vapors or smoke
effectiveness or comfort.
[0037] Now turning to FIG. 2 there is shown a plan side view of the
invention with its main components identified. The invention
principally consists of a Water Cooling Tower 12, a Receptacle 14,
a Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20, and a Power Base 40. Media to
be gasified or vaporized is placed onto Receptacle 14. In an
example typical application, the media is gasified or vaporized by
means of an open flame, where such process most commonly releases
the gasified or vaporized media at elevated temperatures higher
than that of common surrounding ambient air. Said gasified and
vaporized media is channeled and delivered to the user by way of
Water Cooling Tower 12. Typically, Water Cooling Tower 12 consists
of a generally tubular shape, made of temperature resistant
materials such as non-flammable plastics or borosilicate glass.
Mean to actively change the temperature of said gasified or
vaporized Media is provided by Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20
where said Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20 draws electrical power
from Power Base 40.
[0038] Principally, the present Invention utilizes thermoelectric
technology to affect the temperature of vapors or smoke.
[0039] Now Turning to FIG. 3 there is shown a plan section view of
present Invention 10. Media 16 to be gasified or vaporized is
placed into Receptacle 14. Using an external source of heat Media
16 is gasified or vaporized. By applying Suction Action at top
section of Water Cooling Tower 12, gas or vapors are drawn down the
Receptacle's 14 tubular section, submerged and mix with water
present at the lower section of Water Cooling Tower 12 and finally
exit at the top of the device. Water Level in FIG. 3 is represented
by Line 17, for illustrative purpose. General movement of vapors or
gas is indicated by the directional black arrows shown on
drawing.
[0040] As gas or vapors travel down Receptacle 14 and enter the
bottom section of Water Cooling Tower 12, said gas or vapors become
submerged in water. Said water temperature is actively changed by
the Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20. In a typical application,
water is cooled by Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20 to
temperatures near water's freezing point. Gas or vapors are rapidly
cooled by the water as they mix, delivering gas or vapors at much
lower temperatures when they exit the system then without the aid
of such device. Water is a very effective thermal transfer element,
having a heat capacity of 4.18 joules per gram-Centigrade
(j/g-c).
[0041] Now Turning to FIG. 4 there is shown a plan section Partial
View of the present invention. The focus of FIG. 4 is to describe
the workings of Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20. Receptacle 14
and Water Cooling Tower 12 are partially shown. Gas or Vapors are
cooled when they come in contact with the water. Water in turn is
cooled to near freezing temperature as it remains in contact with
Cooling Rod 22. Cooling Rod 22 is generally made of metallic
element that exhibit good to excellent thermal conductivity, such
as aluminum or copper. Said Cooling Rod 22 in turn is cooled by a
typical industry standard Thermoelectric Chip 24. Heat extracted
from the water, conducted through Cooling Rod 22, actively
transferred by Thermoelectric Chip 24, is absorbed via thermal
conduction by Heat Sink 26. Similar to Cooling Rod 22, Heat sink 26
is generally made of aluminum or copper. Lastly, captured and
conducted heat is finally expelled from the system where Heat sink
26 release its heat via convection at its finned area, and is
expelled to the surrounding ambient air aided by air circulating
Fan 28. Additional necessary components are part of Thermoelectric
Engine Assembly 20, to make the invention practical for use and
realistically functioning and comprises a Water-proofing Seal 30
that prevents water from leaking out of Water Cooling Tower 12; a
Water Cooling Tower Insulator 31 that thermally insulates Water
Cooling Tower 12; a Thermoelectric Engine Insulator 32 that
thermally insulates Cooling Rod 22 and Thermoelectric Chip 24.
Thermal insulators, while not absolute necessity to achieve cooling
function, are instrumental to achieve notable performance in case
of elevated ambient air temperatures. The various components
comprised in Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20, are housed in Upper
enclosure 33 and Lower Enclosure 34. Said enclosures can be made of
various structurally supporting materials such as polypropylene
plastics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or sheet metals. Small,
commonly used and miscellaneous hardware such as screws, washers,
nuts, are not detailed here but expected to be present in the
invention.
[0042] Another important aspect of the present invention is its
ability to build up and accumulate water in the form of ice on the
surface of Cooling Rod 22 further increasing the performance of the
heat exchange setup as ice has 100 times the heat-calorie
absorbency versus liquid water. This unique configuration allows
the device to cool vapors or smoke via both means of liquid water,
and keeping said water at very near freezing temperature, even
during active use, by the constant exposure to an ice layer built
upon Cooling Rod 22, and where said ice layer continues to build
upon itself so long the device is energized.
[0043] The invention's ability to build up an ice layer, also
provides for another beneficial aspect of the present invention.
Said ice layer provides a natural physical barrier between Cooling
Rod 22 and debris resulting from the vaporization or burning of
tobacco or herbal medicine media. Debris accumulation onto surfaces
meant to cool vapors and smoke has always been a major shortcoming
of this type of devices, some inventions even provide for easy
access to internal parts for easier cleaning, but do not
incorporate built-in means to alleviate of prevent such
accumulation, the present invention remedies this issue by tackling
the root cause of the effect, while still allowing for easy access
to critical components where the bond between Water-proofing Seal
30 and Water Cooling Tower 12 is a non-permanent, user detachable
interface, allowing user to remove Water Cooling Tower 12 and
directly access Cooling Rod 22.
[0044] Now turning to FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b there is shown an
important feature of the present Invention. Thermoelectric Engine
Assembly 20 while comprising all the required components to realize
a functioning thermoelectric engine, draws its electrical power
from said Power Base 40. The novelty in this field of invention is
where the electrical bond between those two assemblies neither
permanent nor at a fixed orientation. FIG. 5a demonstrates the
ability of Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20 to be detached from
Power Base 40. FIG. 5b shows when Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20
is installed onto Power Base 40. The directional arrows in FIG. 5b
show Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20, able to rotate freely 360
degrees around the Power Base 40. This configuration enables the
system to continuously cool vapors or smoke while not in active use
by a user, and when ready for use, user simply picks up
Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20 off its Power Base 40. While off
said Power Base, said Thermoelectric Engine Assembly becomes
unpowered. The ability to freely rotate 360 degrees allow for
"blind insertion" when mating the these two assemblies, "blind
insertion" here being commonly referred in technical lingo as a
system where the user does not need to mate two parts together at a
specific angle or orientation, rendering the whole device more
intuitive and easier to use. Turning to FIG. 6 details the
electrical interface between Thermoelectric Engine Assembly 20 and
Power Base 40. Electrical Rings 35 and 36 capture electricity from
Power Base, rings are generally made of electrically conducting
material, such as copper. FIG. 7 respectively shows the matching
electrical connections of Power Base 40, where Spring Electrical
Contacts 42 and 44 will make electrical contacts with Electrical
Rings 35 and 36. External power connects to Power Base 40 via
Electrical Plug 46.
* * * * *