Water cooling device for water purifiers

A water cooling device for water purifiers is disclosed. In the above cooling device, the hot junction of a thermoelement compositely dissipate heat due to both latent heat of vaporization generated by water vaporization and air current blown by a blower fan, thereby cooling the purified water contained in the cold water tank more rapidly. The above thermoelement absorbs heat from the cold water tank at its cold junction and dissipates the heat to atmosphere at its hot junction. The above hot junction has a plurality of radiating fins which is covered with a zigzagged cooling water absorbing member saturated with cooling water. The cooling water is heated and vaporized by the heat of the hot junction thereby cooling the hot junction. The above radiating fins and zigzagged water absorbing member are clipped together by a clip unit in order to be brought into close contact with each other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates in general to a water cooling device for 
water purifiers and, more particularly, to a structural improvement in 
such a cooling device for more cooling purified water contained in the 
cold water tank of a water purifier more rapidly. The above structural 
improvement is achieved by cooling the hot junction of a thermoelement 
coupled to the cold water tank by water and air, thereby promoting heat 
dissipation of the hot junction by both latent heat of vaporization and 
air current. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Typical water purifiers are not provided with means for cooling purified 
water. In this regard, the purified water of a typical water purifier is 
preserved in a refrigerator in order to be cooled prior to being 
distributed to users for drinking. This particularly true in the summer 
season. In addition, it has been noted that hexagonal water having a 
hexagonal molecular structure is good for one's health. Therefore, 
purified water has been recently required to be cooled regardless of the 
season as this water becomes healthful hexagonal water when it is cooled. 
However, as typical water purifiers are not provided with the purified 
water cooling means as described above, typical water purifiers cannot 
directly give cold water to users and thereby reduce their operational 
efficiency. 
In an effort to rectify the above problems, Korean Patent Appln. No. 
94-25892 applied by the applicant of this invention discloses a water 
purifier which has such a function for cooling a part of the purified 
water. In accordance with the above Korean water purifier, users 
selectively drink either normal temperature purified water or cold 
purified water as desired. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is for improving the structure of the above Korean 
water purifier. 
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a water 
cooling device for water purifiers which causes a thermoelement mounted to 
a cold water tank to compositely dissipate heat due to both the latent 
heat of vaporization generated by water vaporization and the air current 
blown by a blower fan, thereby cooling the purified water contained in the 
cold water tank more rapidly. 
In order to accomplish the above object, a water cooling device for water 
purifiers comprising a cold water tank for containing purified water and a 
thermoelement for absorbing heat from the cold water tank at its cold 
junction and dissipating the heat to the atmosphere at its hot junction, 
further comprising: a cool water absorbing member covering the hot 
junction and adapted for absorbing cooling water in order to be saturated 
with the cooling water, the cooling water of the above member being heated 
and vaporized by the heat of the hot junction thereby cooling the hot 
junction; and a cooling water supplying unit for continuously supplying 
cooling water to the water absorbing member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a water purifier provided with a water 
cooling device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present 
invention. As shown in the drawing, the water purifier includes a room 
water tank 10 which contains room temperature purified water coming out of 
a water purification system (not shown) of the water purifier. A cold 
water tank 20 is connected to the bottom of the above room water tank 10 
through a connection pipe 92. The above cold water tank 20 is supplied 
with the normal temperature purified water from the normal water tank 10 
in order to cool the purified water thereby forming cold purified water. 
The above cold water tank 20 is surrounded by an insulating outer casing 
70 which is filled with a thermal insulating material 71. In addition, the 
top of the cold water tank 20 is covered with an insulating cover 80 which 
is filled with the same thermal insulating material 71. The water cooling 
device for the water purifier of this invention includes a thermoelement 
40 which is mounted to a side wall of the outer casing 70. The above 
thermoelement 40 has an N-P type semiconductor. The above thermoelement 40 
is coupled to the cold water tank 20 through a cold junction 30, thereby 
absorbing heat from the cold water tank 20 at the cold junction 30 and 
dissipating the heat to the surroundings at a hot junction 50. The above 
thermoelement 40 thus cools the purified water contained in the cold water 
tank 20. 
The cold junction 30 of the above thermoelement 40 is brought into direct 
contact with the side wall of the cold water tank 20, thus absorbing heat 
from the tank 20. The above thermoelement 40 also includes the hot 
junction 50. The hot junction 50 is exposed to the atmosphere in order to 
dissipate the absorbed heat to the atmosphere. In the present invention, 
it is preferable to form both the cold water tank 20 and the cold junction 
30 using aluminum having an excellent thermal conductivity. In addition, 
the hot junction 50 includes a plurality of radiating fins 51 in order to 
enlarge its heat dissipating surface and rapidly dissipate the heat to the 
atmosphere. The above water cooling device also includes a blower fan 60 
which is driven by a motor 62. Due to the blower fan 60, the hot junction 
50 is air-cooled. That is, the above blower fan 60 is directed toward the 
radiating fins 51 of the hot junction 50, thereby blowing air on the fins 
51 in order to cool the radiating fins 51 by the air. The above hot 
junction 50 is also water-cooled. That is, a cooling water circulating 
means 1 is provided in the hot junction 50 of the thermoelement 40, 
thereby cooling the radiating fins 51 of the hot junction 50 with cooling 
water. The above cooling water circulating means 1 thus cooperates with 
the blower fan 60 to promote heat dissipation of the hot junction 50. 
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the above water cooling device of 
the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the cooling water 
circulating means 1 includes a zigzag-type cooling water absorbing member 
2 which has good water absorbency. The above zigzag-type absorbing member 
2 has a plurality of bent portions 2a. The above cooling water circulating 
means 1 also includes a clip unit 4 which clips the zigzag-type water 
absorbing member 2 and radiating fins 51 together thereby allowing the 
water absorbing member 2 to come into close contact with the radiating 
fins 51. The cooling water circulating means 1 further includes a water 
supplying unit 3 which supplies cooling water to the water absorbing 
member 2. 
The above cooling water absorbing member 2 absorbs the cooling water from 
the water supplying unit 3 in order to be saturated with cooling water. 
The water absorbing member 2 is generally made of fabrics and is fitted 
down over the dissipating fins 51 of the hot junction 50 from the top. The 
above clip unit 4 includes a plurality of pairs of pressing arms 4a. The 
above pressing arms 4a are arranged in two rows, that is, upper and lower 
rows, such that two pairs of pressing arms 4a corresponding to each 
radiating fin 51 vertically face each other. The pressing arms 4a of the 
clip unit 4 are elastically fitted over the radiating fins 51 covered with 
the zigzag-type member 2. The rear portion of each radiating fin 51 is 
provided with a pair of vertical grooves 52 on its opposite sides, thereby 
elastically engaging with the pressing arms 4a. 
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the above water cooling device taken along 
the section line A--A of FIG. 1. As shown in the drawing, the water 
supplying unit 3 comprises a hollow horizontal pipe body which is provided 
with a plurality of fitting slots 3b on its bottom. The above fitting 
slots 3b tightly receive the top bent portions 2a of the zigzag-type water 
absorbing member 2 respectively. A water inlet pipe 3c extends from the 
top center of the above hollow pipe body of the water supplying unit 3. 
Placed in the above hollow pipe body of the water supplying unit 3 is a 
water absorbing material 3a which is saturated with cooling water. The 
water absorbing material 3a is exposed to the fitting slots 3b. Therefore, 
the above water absorbing material 3a is brought into contact with the 
water absorbing member 2 when the top bent portions 2a of the above member 
2 are fitted into the fitting slots 3b. In the above state, the cooling 
water saturated in the water absorbing material 3a is absorbed by the 
water absorbing member 2. In the present invention, it is preferable to 
use a sponge, having good formability and water absorbency, as the water 
absorbing material 3a. 
In the drawings, the reference numeral 91 denotes a cold water serving cock 
91 which is connected to a water pipe 90 extending from the cold water 
tank 20, thereby selectively distributing the cold purified water to users 
for drinking. The numeral 61 denotes an air filter for filtering the 
cooling air sucked into the water purifier by the blowing force of the fan 
60. The numeral 2b denotes a water pan which is placed under the hot 
junction 50 of the thermoelement 40 in order to collect water dropped from 
the water absorbing member 2. 
In order to assemble the above elements into the water cooling device of 
the present invention, the water absorbing member 2 covers the radiating 
fins 51 of the hot junction 2. In the above state, the zigzag-type member 
2 is fitted down on the radiating fins 51 from the top. Thereafter, the 
pressing arms 4a of the clip unit 4 are elastically fitted over the 
radiating fins 51 covered with the zigzag-type member 2. In the above 
case, the pressing arms 4a of the clip unit 4 engage with the vertical 
grooves 52 formed on both sides of the radiating fins 51, thereby causing 
the zigzag-type water absorbing member 2 to come into close contact with 
the radiating fins 51. The pressing arms 4a of the above clip unit 4 are 
tightly fitted over the upper and lower portions of the zigzag-type water 
absorbing member 2, thus to stably hold the member 2 over the radiating 
fins 51. Thereafter, the cooling water supplying unit 3 engages with the 
zigzag-type member 2 by fitting the top bent portions 2a of the member 2 
into the fitting slots 3b of the water supplying unit 3 respectively. 
After assembling the elements into the water cooling device as described 
above, the cooling water is supplied to the water absorbing materials 3a 
of the unit 3 through the water inlet pipe 3c. The water absorbing 
materials 3a is thus saturated with cooling water. 
As the water absorbing materials 3a saturated with the cooling water comes 
into contact with the top bent portions 2a of the water absorbing member 2 
at the fitting slots 3b as described above, the cooling water of the water 
absorbing material 3a is absorbed by the water absorbing member 2. The 
water absorbing member 2 is thus saturated with cooling water. The 
radiating fins 51 of the hot junction 50 are wet by the cooling water 
saturated in the water absorbing member 2. 
When the water purifier is turned on, the water purification system 
purifies fresh water thereby forming purified water. The purified water is 
introduced into the normal water tank 10 and in turn introduced into the 
cold water tank 20 through the connection pipe 92. When the thermoelement 
40 of the water cooling device is turned on in order to cool the purified 
water in the cold water tank 20, the thermoelement 40 absorbs heat from 
the cold water tank 20 and dissipates the heat to the atmosphere. In the 
above case, the cold junction 30 of the thermoelement 40 absorbs the heat 
from the cold water tank 20 thereby cooling the purified water contained 
in the tank 20. The absorbed heat is transmitted to the hot junction 50 of 
the thermoelement 40. The hot junction 50 dissipates the heat to the 
atmosphere. 
The above hot junction 50 in the above state is heated as its dissipates 
the absorbed heat. Therefore, the cooling water saturated in the water 
absorbing member 2 is heated by the hot junction 50, thereby being 
vaporized and generating latent heat of vaporization. The above latent 
heat of vaporization is generated from the member 2 when the cooling water 
saturated in the members 2 is vaporized due to the heat absorbed from the 
radiating fins 51 of the hot junction 50. The above latent heat of 
vaporization causes the radiating fins 51 to momentarily dissipate the 
heat to the atmosphere. In addition, the radiating fins 51 are also 
air-cooled. That is, the blower fan 60 is driven by the rotating force of 
the motor 62 thereby blowing cooling air on the fins 51. Vaporization of 
the water of the member 2 is thus promoted to cause the radiating fins 51 
to dissipate the heat to the atmosphere more rapidly. 
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the temperature difference between the normal 
temperature and cold water tanks of the water purifier provided with the 
purified water cooling device of the present invention. As shown in the 
graph, the temperature difference between the normal and cold water tanks 
10 and 20 after the lapse of 90 minutes when the hot junction 50 is 
exclusively air-cooled by the blower fan 60 is 16.degree.. However, when 
the hot junction 50 is water-cooled by the water saturated in the water 
absorbing member 2 and air-cooled by the blower fan 60, the temperature 
difference between the normal and cold water tanks 10 and 20 is 
20.degree.. Therefore, it is noted that the cold water tank 20 is cooled 
more rapidly when the hot junction 50 is water-cooled and air-cooled than 
when the junction 50 is exclusively air-cooled. That is, when the hot 
junction 50 of the water cooling device is compositely cooled by the water 
of the member 2 and the air of the blower fan 60, the hot junction 50 
dissipates heat to the atmosphere more rapidly in order to cool the cold 
water tank 20 more rapidly. The water cooling device in the above state 
cools the purified water contained in the cold water tank 20 more rapidly. 
As described above, the present invention provides a structurally improved 
water cooling device for water purifiers. In accordance with the above 
water cooling device, the cold junction of a thermoelement absorbs heat 
from the purified water contained in a cold water tank, thereby forming 
cold purified water. The absorbed heat is transmitted to the hot junction 
in order to be dissipated to the atmosphere therefrom. In accordance with 
the present invention, the above hot junction is covered with a water 
absorbing member saturated with cooling water. The cooling water saturated 
in the above water absorbing member is heated and vaporized by the heat of 
the hot junction, thus generating latent heat of vaporization. Due to the 
latent heat of vaporization, the hot junction momentarily dissipates the 
absorbed heat to the atmosphere. The water cooling device of this 
invention also includes a blower fan which blows air on the hot junction 
covered with the water absorbing member. The blower fan thus promotes heat 
dissipation of the hot junction. In this regard, the water cooling device 
for water purifiers cools the purified water contained in the cold water 
tank more rapidly. 
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been 
disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will 
appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are 
possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as 
disclosed in the accompanying claims.