Patent Publication Number: US-2016242955-A1

Title: Body Temperature Control System

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application claims priority from and is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/904,005, filed Nov. 14, 2013, this U.S. Provisional Patent Application incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the technical field of temperature control systems and more particularly to an electrical body temperature control system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The mammal body regulates its own temperature, but in cases that the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate, the temperature of the mammal rises. A good example can be physical exertion or a hot day. 
     There are several known devices for cooling the mammal internal temperature. Most of these devices are based on pre-stored thermal or chemical energy or evaporation-based clothing such as cold vests and ice packs. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a body temperature control apparatus comprising: a container comprising a heat absorbent substance; a heat sink in communication with the container; a thermal isolation element connected with the container; a plate supported on thermal isolation element and designed to contact the human skin; a thermoelectric module connected with the heat sink and with the plate; a temperature sensor connected with the plate; and a controller configured to electrically control the thermoelectric module and the temperature sensor. 
     The heat absorbent substance may be water. 
     The heat sink may be made from high thermal conductivity material. 
     The plate may be made from high thermal conductivity material. 
     The thermoelectric module may be a single-stage thermoelectric module or a multi-stage thermoelectric module. 
     The apparatus may further comprise a power source configured to power the controller. 
     The power source may be a battery. 
     The apparatus may further comprise at least one additional sensor, which may be selected from the group consisting of: GPS sensor, accelerometer sensors, motion sensor, UV radiation sensor and pedometer. 
     The controller may further control the at least one additional sensor. 
     The controller may further comprise memory and processing means configured to run at least one application. 
     The at least one application may be configured to process data from the at least one sensor. 
     The apparatus may further comprise user interface means. 
     The user interface means may comprise a display configured to display the processed data. 
     The display may comprise a touch screen. 
     The touch screen may be configured to receive user selections. 
     The user selections may comprise cooling or heating. 
     The user interface means may comprise one of a speaker and a buzzer. 
     The controller may further control the user interface means. 
     The apparatus may be configured to be attached to a human limb. 
     The attaching may comprise contacting the plate with the limb&#39;s pulse point. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings. 
       With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. In the accompanying drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sliced perspective view of a system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a sliced side view of a system according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing of an exemplary control device according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is applicable to other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and includes combinations and sub-combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description. 
     Referring now to the invention in more detail,  FIGS. 1 and 2  show respectively perspective and side views of the device of the present invention in an assembled state. 
     Temperature control system  10  includes:
         A control housing  28 , which contains various components as will be detailed in conjunction with  FIG. 3 ;   A container  18  designed to be attached to an optional thermal isolation element  26 , which is configured to fit the limb  40  and to provides thermal isolation between container  18  and limb  40 . Container  18  is configured to contain a heat absorbent substance  24 , which is preferably a highly absorbent substance such as water. The heat absorbent substance  24  is configured to absorb thermal energy from the heat sink  22 . The container  18  is preferably made from a water resistant material (only if the heat absorbent material is liquid). The volume of liquid in the container is preferably between 30 and 200 cm 3 .   Elastic side bands  14  connecting between control housing  28  and thermal isolation element  26 ; The side bands  14  are designed to enable fitting of the temperature control system  10  to the limb  40 ;   An optional plate  16  supported on thermal isolation element  26  and designed to contact the human skin. In a preferred embodiment the plate  16  contacts limb  40 , preferably close to the limb&#39;s pulse point, to have maximum effectiveness. Plate  16  is preferably made from high thermal conductivity material such as copper or aluminum, or any other high thermal conductivity material. Plate  16  is mounted onto the thermal isolation element  26 , preferably attached thereto by adhesive.   Heat sink  22 , preferably made from high thermal conductivity material such as copper or aluminum, or any other high thermal conductivity material. Heat sink  22  is configured to absorb thermal energy from the thermoelectric module  20 . The heat sink  22  is preferably mounted in container  18 . The connection between heat sink  22  and container  18  is preferably made with a sealer, to create a sealed container. The thermal isolation element  26  provides thermal isolation between container  18  and limb  40 .   A temperature sensor  36  mounted on plate  16 .       

     In further detail, referring now to  FIGS. 3 and 4  that represent a sliced view of the temperature control system  10 , control housing  28  contains:
         A control device  30 , preferably a printed circuit board, containing suitable electronic components for controlling and operating the temperature control system  10 , as will be described in detail in conjunction with  FIG. 5 ;   A thermoelectric module  20  connected to the control device  30 . The thermoelectric module  20  is preferably a typical single-stage thermoelectric module, such as Peltier Cooler Model 9502/065/012 M available from Ferrotec (htts://www.ferrotec.com/) and can also be a multi-stage module, such as Peltier Cooler Model 9530/119/045 B, also available from Ferrotec. Preferably, the connection wires of thermoelectric module  20  go through side band  14  and thermal isolation element  26 . Preferably, the thermoelectric module  20  is also attached to the plate  16  by thermal grease. Thermoelectric module  20  can also be in direct contact with limb  40 . Preferably the thermoelectric module  20  is attached to heat sink  22  by thermal grease.   A control switch  38  connected to control device  30 . Control switch  38  can enable or disable the operation of temperature control system  10 .   A power source  32 , such as a battery, preferably chargeable, provided to power the temperature control system  10 . Power source  32  is typically connected with the control device  30 . Alternatively the temperature control system  10  may be powered by an external power source;   Optional USB port  12 , which can be any USB connector, may be provided for charging the optional battery  32  and for importing and exporting data. Alternatively USB port  12  may be replaced with any other suitable connector such as, for example, AUX or Thunderbolt;   Optional touch screen  34  may be provided for controlling and operating the temperature control system  10 , e.g. for selecting cooling or warming mode and for displaying various data and information;       

     In operation, when cooling is desired, the control device  30 , powered by power source  32 , operates the thermoelectric module  20 , which uses the Peltier effect to cool the plate  16 , i.e. when DC current flows through the thermoelectric module  20 , it brings heat from one side to the other, so that one side gets cooler while the other gets hotter. Temperature sensor  36  measures the temperature of plate  16  (or of the limb  40 ) and transfers the temperature data to the control device  30  for controlling the operation intensity of thermoelectric module  20  accordingly, e.g. to maintain plate  16 &#39;s temperature in the range of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. 
     The system of the present invention may alternatively serve as a heating system by reversing the current direction because the direction of heating and cooling is determined by the polarity of the applied voltage. 
     In operation, when reversing the current polarity, the control device  30 , powered by power source  32 , operates the thermoelectric module  20 , which uses the Peltier effect to heat the plate  16 , i.e. when DC current flows through the thermoelectric module  20 , it transfers cold from one side to the other, so that one side gets hotter while the other gets cooler. Temperature sensor  36  measures the temperature of plate  16  (or of the limb  40 ) and transfers the temperature data to the control device  30  for controlling the operation intensity of thermoelectric module  20  accordingly, e.g. to maintain plate  16 &#39;s temperature in the range of 37 to 50 degrees Celsius. 
     According to embodiments of the invention, various additional sensors can be added to the device of the present invention. Preferably sensors that need to come in contact with limb  40  such as pulse and temperature sensors, etc. Other types of sensors that do not need to contact limb  40  such as GPS and accelerometer sensors, motion sensor, UV radiation sensor, pedometer etc. can be mounted on control device  30 . 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing of the control device  30  comprising microcontroller, such as EFM32ZG222, available from Silicon Labs (www.silabs.com), a display, preferably touch screen for bi-directional communication with the device  10  and a number of interfaces to auxiliary modules such as a power management module for controlling the power supply, an analog front-end for controlling analog sensor such as temperature, calories and UV sensors such as SI1145 Digital UV Index, available from Grobotronics (www.grobotronics.com), a serial interface for controlling e.g. serial flash memory, a motion sensor such as Si114x, available from Silicon Labs (www.silabs.com), GPS or Bluetooth, an output driver for controlling e.g. a buzzer for notification, an audio interface for controlling e.g. a speaker for notification and a General-purpose input/output (GPIO) for controlling other optional auxiliary devices. 
     According to embodiments of the invention, various applications can be hosted on the CPU for retrieving sensors data, processing it and displaying it to the user on the touch screen. Such data may include battery usage, time, distance calculator, etc. 
     According to embodiments of the invention, the various parts of cooling system  10  may be interconnected using a variety of methods, such as, for example, ultrasonic soldering, adhesive such as epoxy or silicon, injection techniques such as insert molding and mechanical grippers such as snap fasteners or screws. 
     In an experiment done we used a 3.7V 1500 mAh battery and a container holding 60 cm 3  of water. We achieved approximately 100 minutes of continuous work. 
     While this invention has been described as having an exemplary design, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains. For example, the cooling system  10  could take many different forms. Thus the scope of the invention should be limited only by the following claims.