Patent ID: 7650757

Claim:
A thermoelectric heat transfer system for establishing a desired temperature of at least one item, comprising: a coolant circuit, a pump in fluid communication with said coolant circuit for circulating coolant through said coolant circuit, a first heat exchanger in fluid communication with said coolant circuit for removing heat from the coolant being circulated through said coolant circuit, a sleeve adapted to receive the at least one item and including a manifold in fluid communication with said coolant circuit, a first unitary thermoelectric module disposed within said sleeve for creating a temperature differential between said manifold and the at least one item to establish the desired temperature of the at least one item, said thermoelectric module being annular in shape such that in operation the resulting temperature differential is produced between the region corresponding to the inner diameter and the region corresponding to the outer diameter of the first thermoelectric module, and said first thermoelectric module completely surrounds the item circumferentially, and a second unitary thermoelectric module disposed within said sleeve for creating a temperature differential between said manifold and the at least one item to establish the desired temperature of the at least one item, said second thermoelectric module being annular in shape such that in operation the resulting temperature differential is produced between the region corresponding to the inner diameter and the region corresponding to the outer diameter of the second thermoelectric module, and said second thermoelectric module completely surrounds the item circumferentially, wherein said second thermoelectric module is disposed with respect to the first thermoelectric module such that the item can be advanced through the two thermoelectric modules sequentially, and wherein said second thermoelectric module has a thermal capacity that is different than a thermal capacity of said first thermoelectric module such that as a plurality of the items move through said sleeve one of said thermoelectric modules is capable of providing greater cooling capacity than the other of said thermoelectric modules.