Cup holder for vehicle

A cup holder for a vehicle may include a holder body having a thermoelectric element to perform cooling and/or heating of a cup stored in the holder body and having a blower to circulate air in the holder body to enhance heat convention, a heat exchanging part provided on a heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element to perform heat exchange, and a moisture absorption part having one end portion disposed at a lower portion of the blower of the holder body to absorb moisture and the other end portion disposed at a side of the heat exchanging part to vaporize the moisture.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2013-0157911 filed on Dec. 18, 2013, the entire contents of which application are incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a cup holder for a vehicle having a structure capable of safely discharging condensate water generated at the time of cooling the cup holder in a cooling and heating cup holder using a thermoelectric element.

Description of Related Art

A cup holder has been provided for a vehicle, and the like. This cup holder generally possesses a simple pick-up function, but a cup holder with cooling and heating functions in addition to the pick-up function has been suggested according to some car models.

Meanwhile, this cup holder may be installed at an armrest or provided to a tray of a front seat in order to increase marketability of a back seat. However, since the tray or the armrest is provided with various switches and storage spaces, a design having a structure capable of effectively cooling a thermoelectric element has been required.

In addition, in order to improve typical convenience, when the cup holder is mounted on the armrest, a controller controlling heating and cooling of the cup holder, a controller for an audio and other equipment for convenience, or the storage space for storage is present at a back surface of the cup holder. Therefore, an internal structure of the armrest becomes very narrow and complex and each component needs to be arranged to secure performance.

Thus, there is a need for a cup holder for a vehicle having a structure capable of safely discharging condensate water generated at the time of cooling the cup holder in a cooling and heating cup holder using the thermoelectric element.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a cup holder for a vehicle having a structure capable of safely discharging condensate water generated at the time of cooling the cup holder in a cooling and heating cup holder using a thermoelectric element.

According to various aspects of the present invention, there is provided a cup holder for a vehicle, the cup holder including: a holder body having a thermoelectric element to perform cooling and/or heating of a cup stored therein and having a blower to circulate air therein to enhance heat convention, a heat exchanging part provided on a heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element to perform heat exchange, and a moisture absorption part having one end portion disposed at a lower portion of the blower of the holder body to absorb moisture and the other end portion disposed at a side of the heat exchanging part to vaporize the moisture.

The holder body may be made of a metal material capable of conducting heat. The thermoelectric element may have an air conditioning surface contacting the holder body and the heat radiating surface contacting the heat exchanging part. One side surface of the heat exchanging part may contact the thermoelectric element and the other side surface of the heat exchanging part may contact the other end portion of the moisture absorption part. The moisture absorption part may include a moisture absorption paper made of a paper material.

The blower may be provided to a side portion of the holder body and may be provided between an upper hole of the holder body and a lower hole of the holder body. The blower may be provided in a housing connecting the upper hole and the lower hole of the holder body, the housing may have a drain hole formed at a lower end thereof, and the one end portion of the moisture absorption part may be provided at a lower portion of the drain hole.

The moisture absorption part may have the one end portion provided at the lower portion of the blower, extend to pass through and beneath the lower portion of the holder body, and have the other end portion contacting the heat exchanging part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1is a cross-sectional structure view of a cup holder for a vehicle,FIG. 2is a perspective view of the cup holder for the vehicle, andFIG. 3is a top view of the cup holder for the vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention.

A cup holder for a vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention may include a holder body100having a thermoelectric element300to thereby perform cooling and/or heating of a cup stored therein and having a blower600performing convection of air therein, a heat exchanging part400provided on a heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element300to thereby perform heat exchange, and a moisture absorption part700having one end or one end portion720disposed at a lower portion of the blower600of the holder body100to thereby absorb moisture and the other end or the other end portion740disposed at the heat exchanging part400side to thereby vaporize moisture.

The cup holder according to various embodiments of the present invention is to implement cooling and/or heating of a cup stored therein using the thermoelectric element300and a configuration thereof is as follows.

First, the holder body100has the thermoelectric element300to thereby perform cooling and heating of the cup stored therein and has the blower600performing convection of air therein. The holder body100may be made of a metal material capable of conducting heat. Therefore, the holder body100may directly conduct heat to the cup stored therein and may simultaneously perform a convection heat transfer by the blower600.

In addition, the thermoelectric element300may have an air conditioning surface contacting the holder body and a heat radiating surface contacting the heat exchanging part400. The thermoelectric element performs desired heat radiation or heat absorption on the air conditioning surface using an internal semiconductor according to an electrical operation and performs an opposite or reverse operation on the heat radiating surface. However, in the case in which the thermoelectric element has an intention of the cooling, efficiency of a structure discharging heat immediately ensures efficiency of the air conditioning. Therefore, to this end, the heat exchanging part400provided on the heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element300to thereby perform the heat exchange is provided.

The heat exchanging part400is a heat exchanging fin stored in a housing as shown and it is also possible to effectively perform the heat radiation by providing a separate external blower to the heat exchanging part400.

Meanwhile, the moisture absorption part700has one end720disposed at a lower portion of the blower600of the holder body100to thereby absorb moisture and the other end740disposed at the heat exchanging part400side to thereby vaporize moisture. That is, when the thermoelectric element300performs a cooling operation, the holder body100becomes very cold. As a result, ambient air is condensed, such that condensate water is generated. The condensate water as mentioned above is collected in the holder body100, such that damage to the blower600, the thermoelectric element300, or other electronic components may be caused. Therefore, the moisture absorption part700absorbs and transfers the condensate water dropped from the lower portion of the blower600and the heat exchanging part400dries and vaporizes the condensate water, such that moisture may be completely removed.

Specifically, one side surface of the heat exchanging part400may contact the thermoelectric element300and the other side surface thereof may contact the other end740of the moisture absorption part700. Therefore, an affect of moisture for the thermoelectric element300may be minimized.

In addition, the moisture absorption part700may be a moisture absorption paper made of a paper material.

Meanwhile, the blower600may be provided to a side portion of the holder body100and may be provided between an upper hole120of the holder body100and a lower hole140of the holder body100. Specifically, the blower600may be provided in a housing500connecting the upper hole120and the lower hole140to each other, the housing500may have a drain hole520formed at a lower end thereof, and one end720of the moisture absorption part700may be provided at a lower portion of the drain hole520.

The moisture absorption part700may have one end720provided at the lower portion of the blower600and extended so as to pass through the lower portion of the holder body100and the other end740contacting the heat exchanging part400. Since the water is collected at the lower portion, the water is easily gathered at the lower portion and may be easily collected by the moisture absorption part700.

Therefore, the moisture absorption part700absorbs moisture discharged through the drain hole520of the lower end of the housing500and transfers the absorbed moisture, such that the absorbed moisture is discharged by drying and vaporizing. Particularly, in the case in which the heat exchanging part400is provided with an external blower, moisture may be discharged to the outside of the cup holder.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the cup holder for the vehicle may have the structure capable of safely discharging the condensate water generated at the time of cooling the cup holder in the cooling and heating cup holder using the thermoelectric element.