DE102010020262A1 - Device for temperature degradation for objects, has phase change material and heat exchanger, which stay in heat-transferring contact, where heat exchanger precipitates medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The device comprises a phase change material and a heat exchanger, which stay in heat-transferring contact. The heat exchanger precipitates a medium, through which the temperature of the phase change material is placed below the melting range. The phase change material is present in the form of phase change material-containing modules.

Description

The invention relates to a device for reducing the temperature due to accumulated body heat.

It is known that in certain places such as under helmets, on soles in sneakers, on car seats, on the bicycle saddle, under a saddle and last but not least in body orthotics or body prostheses accumulates body sweat, because the warming of the body is intense there and comparatively only insufficiently dissipated, so it comes to a heat accumulation of the body at the site.

The problem is already addressed in many ways, for example, in summer shoes that are to be closed, partially above the upper material, such as leather, interrupted by air holes, so that there is a certain draft in the shoe. The holes are partially covered by nets, so that the appearance of a closed shoe is created. The same is true of all types of helmets, where in narrow places the helmet is simply broken or nets are installed so that cooling air can absorb the body's waste heat. A disadvantage of the air holes is that they expose the function of the helmet at the affected areas and secondly, that at various points, such as soles or prostheses, such a disruption of the material would render the entire part useless. Air holes on textile tops are also offered by zips under the armpits in jackets, etc.

Furthermore, there are storing textiles such. B. Einlegeschuhsohlen, bedding, etc., but without active heat dissipation.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a device for temperature reduction, which is used in hard, such as prostheses, as well as flexible, such as shoe soles, with the body of a living being thermally in direct contact objects, the device can be integrated into the object without the functionality of the item being deleted at the location.

The solution of the problem is disclosed below with reference to the description, the figures and the claims.

General knowledge of the invention is that with the help of so-called PCMs (phase change materials, ie non-toxic materials with extreme heat storage capacity), for example, in conjunction with corresponding heat exchangers on flexible and / or rigid objects that are in physical contact, can form heat storage which maintain the contact temperature of the article in a comfortable range and at the same time do not alter the wearing comfort and / or the functionality of the article.

Accordingly, the subject of the present invention is a device for reducing the temperature of objects in direct thermal contact with the body of a living being, comprising a phase change material (PCM) and a heat exchanger. In addition, the invention relates to the use of PCMs in pure form and / or in the form of compounds with plastic polymers, coupled to a heat exchanger, in orthoses and / or prostheses, in garments, in shoes, helmets, saddles or seats.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the heat exchanger keeps the temperature of the PCM below the melting range during operation. Thus, both the cooling effect of the PCMs is maintained, and the temperature of the PCM surrounding the body part held approximately constant, so that no undesirable harsh temperature fluctuations occur.

A heat exchanger is a device that gives off heat at one point and absorbs heat elsewhere. Particularly advantageous is a heat exchanger in which a medium through a conduit system in the heat exchanger is performed, that receives the heat in one place, leads with it and gives off again at a second location. Heat exchangers can be run as open or closed circuits. For example, heat exchangers, which are operated with ambient air and / or, for example, air pumps, can be routinely opened. On the other hand, heat exchangers with special cooling media, such as water, are preferably closed, wherein the water or cooling medium absorbs heat at one point and releases it again at another point, ie is cooled or regenerated as a cooling medium.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the heat exchanger according to the present invention is realized by a conduit system which is designed so that on the one hand, the medium of the heat exchanger in thermally conductive contact with the phase change material and on the other hand, the functionality of the object is fully retained during regeneration of the medium.

For example, the heat exchanger comprises a hose system through which water or ambient air is passed.

For example, the heat exchanger also includes an annular gap of a double-walled article.

According to another embodiment, the heat exchanger comprises micro-holes or micro-gaps, through which ambient air flows or is pumped.

In the present case, for example, helmets, prostheses, orthoses, shoes, saddles, (of bicycles and on horses) car seats, gloves, all types of textiles, surfing suits, diving suits, spectacles, as "objects in direct thermal contact with the body of a living being" and the like. For the purposes of the invention, it should be understood to include anything that generates heat accumulated in the body or that acts as a heat-insulating agent through the direct heat-conducting contact with the body.

Phase change material is any type of market PCM that is capable of latent heat storage.

Latent heat storage refers to the storage of heat in a material that experiences a phase transition, predominantly solid-liquid (English: Phase Change Material, PCM). In addition to the solid-liquid phase transition, fixed-solid phase transitions can also be used in principle. However, these usually show far lower storage densities.

When storing heat into the storage material, the material begins to melt on reaching the temperature of the phase transition and then, despite further storage of heat, its temperature does not increase until the material has completely melted. Only then does an increase in temperature occur again.

Since there is no appreciable temperature increase for a long time despite heat supply, the heat stored during the phase transition is called "hidden heat" or "latent heat". In the case of a solid-liquid phase transition, the latent heat is equal to the heat of fusion or crystallization of the storage material.

However, latent heat storage can also be used in other temperature ranges. Depending on the application, a material with a suitable phase change temperature must be selected. Depending on the temperature range, different material classes are used.

For the purposes of the invention, paraffins or salt hydrates are generally proposed as PCMs in the field of body heat. This also PCM "in pure form" are called.

However, in particular the paraffins may also be present in the form of compounds, ie the PCMs such as, for example, the paraffins are bound to polymers or embedded in a polymer matrix and can thus be shaped (eg by rolling, extruding) that, for example, by the PCM itself, the piping system, such as a hose is formed.

As a preferred variant, compounds of paraffin have proven with block polymers.

On the other hand, the PCM may also be present in the form of particles which are housed in bulk in cavities of the conduit system or as modules, with PCM in powder or solid form being in packages which are in heat-conducting connection to the conduit system of the medium.

Ambient air and / or water is preferably used as the medium for the heat exchanger, so that the device for reducing the temperature works solely by the passage of the surrounding ambient air or water surrounding the PCM.

The medium can in turn be subjected to cooling, for example, it can be connected to a mobile cooling unit.

According to another embodiment, the medium is, for example, water that flows through the conduit system and is regenerated by a entrained cooling unit again.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to selected examples:

1 shows the example of a leg or arm prosthesis or orthosis with a device for temperature degradation according to the present invention,

2 shows another prosthesis in which the device is integrated and

3 Finally, the cross section through a hose, wherein a compound is used as the material of the hose.

1 shows a prosthesis, in which in the case of amputation so-called stump so the rest of the amputated limb is introduced. Usually, this prosthesis is made of resin, which is single-walled.

According to the embodiment of the invention shown here, a double-walled construction is used instead of the single-walled resin construction, wherein the two walls 1 and 2 , so the inner wall 1 and the outer wall 2 define a cavity that forms an annular gap 3 forms. The annular gap 3 is here, as shown above full-page open. In the annular gap 3 are PCM modules as shown here 4 incorporated, for example, on a rubber surface 5 are arranged. At the bottom of the prosthesis is the suction valve 6 , which maintains the negative pressure in the prosthesis and on the other between the two walls 1 and 2 the suction valve 7 , through the cooling medium passing through the annular gap 3 around the PCM modules 4 flows, is sucked off. The arrows 9 denote the path of the cooling medium through the annular gap 3 around the PCM modules 4 around. The valve 7 is for example connected to a pump, to a fan and / or to an external cooling unit (not shown), through which the air or the cooling medium through the annular gap 3 passed through, sucked and / or cooled and whereby the PCM modules are cooled, or whereby moisture is absorbed from the orthosis. The heat exchanger is here therefore open, because, for example, just ambient air through the valve 7 through the open annular gap 3 is sucked through.

According to a preferred embodiment is located on the inner wall 1 the prosthesis still a temperature sensor, through which the internal temperature is detected. The temperature sensor is connected to an external control and regulating device, which regulates the flow and / or the temperature of the cooling medium.

After the in 1 shown embodiment of the invention are still microholes 8th in the outer wall 2 provided by the prosthesis, through the further cooling medium, for example in the form of ambient air, through the annular gap 3 is directed. The microholes are shown here only by way of example, they can of course be arranged arbitrarily, both in the size of the arrangement and in the form.

The PCM modules may be in the form of discrete packets or paraffin-polymer compound fill, but they may also be in any other arbitrary form, and also as a single fill in the closed-bottom annular gap. Finally, the inner wall 2 consist entirely or partially of a compound, a PCM and a plastic in the form of a polymer, comprising.

The PCM modules 4 can also be distributed according to the invention as desired in the annular gap 3 available. For example, if less cooling is needed at the top and more at the bottom, the density of the PCM modules may be above the annular gap 3 vary randomly. Finally, the PCM modules can also be movably and / or detachably arranged so that modules can be moved or additional modules added or removed.

2 shows how 1 , the example of an orthosis or prosthesis. Again, the double-walled construction with inner wall 1 and outer wall 2 to recognize. Here will not, as in 1 , the cooling medium through an open annular gap 3 led, but there is a hose winding 10 that exist between the PCM modules 4 is laid and in which the cooling medium of the heat exchanger flows. The hose winding as a heat exchanger is not necessarily a closed system and can be operated, for example with air as a cooling medium so that the ends of the blown cooling air in the interior of the orthosis / prosthesis end. On the other hand, as a cooling medium and a liquid medium, such as water can be used and the heat exchanger is then operated as a closed system with a return of the hoses to a water connection, another heat exchanger or a water cooling system (externally, not shown).

3 finally shows a cross section through a hose 11 which can be used according to the invention together with a double-walled system in which PCM modules are present, or even without further PCM modules. The hose 11 is characterized by having a channel 13 forms for the cooling medium and the hose 11 a compound 12 because it is comprised of PCM in a polymer matrix. So the cooling of the PCM is most directly guaranteed.

A hose like in 3 can be manufactured in different thicknesses and integrated into all types of rigid and flexible objects. The most diverse requirements can be met here, because the diameter of the tube wall, the inner diameter of the flow space and finally the polymer, in which the PCM is incorporated, are freely selectable.

As an example, the application in shoe soles is briefly sketched here. Instead of a complex pumping or suction device, the walking movement can simply cause the pumping of the cooling medium through the hose. In helmets, the wind can replace the external pump or the fan. The embodiment as a PCM-containing hose can be used in a variety of ways, wherever physical movement of the body replaces the external devices for moving the cooling medium, the hose can be incorporated. The hose can be integrated into rigid as well as flexible objects because it is flexible and flexible.

The invention discloses a device made of PCM and an actively cooling heat exchanger system whose use in humans and animals reliably solves the previous problem of temperature jamming. This results in the most diverse fields of application of the described technique, the PCMs through modules in coolant channels or PCM-containing compounds from which hoses are made, in which cooling medium can flow to dissipate PCMs with heat exchanger, the heat accumulation of the body.

Claims (9)

A device for reducing the temperature of objects in direct thermal contact with the body of a living being, comprising a phase change material (PCM) and a heat exchanger in heat transferring contact. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger carries a medium by which the temperature of the PCM is brought below the melting range. Device according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the PCM is present in the form of PCM-containing modules and / or from a bed of PCM-containing particles. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the PCM is in the form of a compound of a PCM and a polymer and / or salt hydrate. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the compound is in the form of a tube. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the heat exchanger is in the form of a cavity through which cooling medium flows. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the heat exchanger is guided open. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein ambient air is used as the medium of the heat exchanger. Use of PCMs in pure form and / or in the form of compounds with plastic polymers coupled to a heat exchanger, in orthoses and / or prostheses, in garments, in shoes, helmets, saddles or seats.

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