Patent ID: 7559204

Claim:
An improved water generating device for extracting water vapor from ambient air circulated therethrough, the device comprising: an air pathway including an air inlet and an air outlet wherethrough the ambient air passes, the air pathway defining first and second sections; a fan being disposed along the air pathway and being operative to induce flow of the ambient air into the air inlet and out of the air outlet; a peltier module being disposed along the air pathway and comprising: thermally conductive cold and hot sides, the cold side being disposed adjacent the first section of the air pathway, the hot side being disposed adjacent the second section of the air pathway; a plurality of thermocouples being disposed intermediate the cold and hot sides, the thermocouples being in thermal communication with the cold and hot sides; and first and second electrodes being in electrical communication with the plurality of thermocouples for producing a temperature gradient, the temperature gradient being defined by the cold side reaching a first temperature and the hot side reaching a second temperature upon passage of a voltage through the first and second electrodes and the thermocouples, the first temperature being less than the dew point of the ambient air for facilitating extraction of the water vapor from the ambient air to thereby produce reduced air and water, the reduced air having a lower moisture content than the ambient air; a collection reservoir being disposed adjacent the peltier module for receiving the water extracted by the cold side, the collection reservoir being sized and configured to hold a volume of the water; and a heat sink defining a rear surface and first and second ends, the heat sink being disposed in the second section of the air pathway with the rear surface contacting the hot side of the peltier module for removing heat from the hot side, the heat sink including at least one capillary tube being disposed internally within the heat sink, the capillary tube extending from the first end toward the second end, the first end extending toward the collection reservoir and being at least partially disposable within the volume of water obtainable in the collection reservoir, the capillary tube being configured to contact the volume of water and to draw water thereinto via capillarity, the heat sink being operative to extract additional water vapor from the reduced air to produce substantially dry air and additional water, the additional water being receivable by the collection reservoir.