DESCRIPTION

of the invention having TITLE "Paned windows and doors in which there is a plurality of Peltier cells"

to Berto Giampaolo and Vignaga Silvano.

The present invention regards paned windows and doors in which there is a plurality of Peltier cells, according to the general part of claim 1.

It is known that, especially over the last years, devices and systems have been conceived that are adapted to reduce the energy consumed for heating offices, civil and community environments and the like.

On the one hand, this is due to the cost of the energy sources, which tends to continue to increase or remains substantially high; such sources generally consist of methane gas, heating petrol and charcoal in some countries or, alternatively, electrical energy in case of use of heat pumps or normal electrical heaters for such environments.

In addition, besides this economic factor, which is also extremely important, it should be observed that there is an attempt to reduce energy consumption for heating domestic environments and the like with the aim of reducing the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which causes the "greenhouse effect". Such emissions are always somehow related to the consumption of fossil fuels, directly in case of combustion of the aforementioned in loco, or indirectly in cases where the appliance utilises the electrical energy from the supply system. The various attempts aimed at attaining the aforementioned objects are included in the following patent documents:

EP 0061989 Al , FI 89337 A, GB 2424059 A, WO 201 1/1 10988 A, GB 1 169556 A and DE 102012208406 Al .

These documents describe devices utilising Peltier cells.

However, in such documents the cells were inserted into paned doors and windows in which air flows are channelled through climate-control systems. In other words, these Peltier cells present in the devices of the known type essentially serve as accessory elements for heating/cooling the previously climate-controlled air through air conditioners, heat pumps, heaters and other similar devices of the known type.

It is known that the Peltier cells are thermo-electric devices constituted by many joints arranged in series. Actually, said cells are basically heat pumps in the solid state, which have the aspect of a thin plate. As a matter of fact, one of the two surfaces of the cell absorbs the heat, while the other emits heat.

The main characteristic of these cells actually consists of the fact that the direction with which the heat is transferred depends on the direction of the direct current applied to the terminals of the plate. In practice, inverting the direction of the direct current which traverses the cell also allows inverting the direction of the transferred heat; thus, if with one direction of such current one of the two surfaces is heated and the other is cooled, the reversal of the direction of the current reverses the heated and cooled surfaces. An object of the present invention is that of providing doors and windows and paned doors and windows within which there is a plurality of Peltier cells, wherein said cells are capable of effectively acting, without external help, as elements for the main climate control of the environments in which such doors and windows are arranged.

According to the invention, this is obtained by shaping the doors and windows and paned doors and windows in which there is a plurality of Peltier cells according to the characteristics of the characterising part of claim 1.

These and other characteristics of the device according to the invention are described in the dependent claims.

These and other characteristics of the invention shall be described hereinafter in detail, with reference to some embodiments of the invention, with the help of the attached drawings, wherein:

figure 1 illustrates a schematic view of a paned door and window obtained according to the invention, supplied through an electrical power supply system;

figure 2 illustrates the same door and window, supplied through photovoltaic panels;

figure 3 illustrates a transverse sectional view of a portion of a door and window according to the invention, which operates during summer;

figure 4 illustrates the same door and window, which operates during winter; - figures 5, 6 and, respectively, 7 and 8 show two views of the mobile and fixed contacts for supplying current to the Peltier cells present in a door and window according to the invention;

figure 9 illustrates an overall views of said two contacts.

With reference to figure 1 , it is observed that a paned door and window 1 according to the invention (but the description below may easily refer to any type of paned door and window) has, as usually, a frame 2, with a fixed portion 2' and a mobile portion 2", in which there is at least one double glazing unit 3.

A main characteristic of the device according to the invention lies in the fact that, as better observable in the figures that follow, in the frame there is a plurality of Peltier cells. In order to power supply the latter, an electric circuit 4 is provided with at least two conductors 4', 4", which power supply said Peltier cells through contact pairs, respectively fixed and mobile 20', 20", respectively present in the fixed frame 2' and mobile frame 2". Said contacts 20', 20" shall be better illustrated and described hereinafter.

The electrical circuit 4 is supplied through a power supply unit 6, which transforms the alternating current coming from the electrical mains 7 (through a usual electricity meter 8) in direct current.

Reference 9 indicates an inverter, capable of inverting the direction of the current that supplies the Peltier cells, essentially to pass from the summer position to the winter position in that, as known, according to such inversion - given that the Peltier cells are of the reversible type - the surfaces of the plates of the aforementioned invert their cold/hot state. Figure 2 shows a door or window according to the invention, but power supplied through a battery of photovoltaic panels 10 in this case.

In this case, as usual, they serve as support for the electrical power supply of the mains 7; a load regulator 1 1 is advantageously provided, adapted to accurately determine the electric circuit 4 supply voltage, said load regulator in turn being connected, in a per se known manner, to an direct- current accumulator 32,

Figure 3 shows that, according to the invention, it is provided for that the Peltier cells 1 1 be arranged in the interspace 3' present in the double glazing unit 3 at an edge of the aforementioned, arranged in the mobile frame 2'. This figure also shows that the cell 1 1 is power supplied by the two conductors 4 and 4'.

This Peltier cell is surmounted, at the inner part of the double glazing unit, by a first heat sink 13, made of material with high heat conductivity. Conversely, below the cell 1 1 , interposed between it and the mobile frame 2' of the double glazing unit, a further heat sink 12 is present, also made of high heat conductivity material, which also continues towards the exterior with the portion 12' thereof acting as a heat sink, surmounting a portion of the external surface of the mobile frame 2'.

In practice, in the operation of the device illustrated in figure 3, which essentially refers to summer, the surface of the Peltier cell 1 1 " arranged towards the double glazing unit is intended to be cooled, determining the cooling of the air contained in the double glazing unit and thus the introduction of "cold air" towards the interior of the environment closed double glazing unit. At the same time, the heat generated in the hot surface 1 1 ' of the Peltier cell is brought towards the exterior, to be dispersed through the portion 12', which acts as a heat sink towards the external.

Obviously, the surface 1 1 " of the cell, which is on the contrary cooled, introduces the "cold air" into the double glazing unit through an inward heat sink 13.

Conversely, with reference to figure 4, which refers to the operation of the device in winter, it is immediately observable that the polarity of the conductors 4' and 4" is now inverted, this determining that towards the interior there is now the "hot air" (arrows F), same case applying to the interior of the double glazing unit through an inward heat sink 13.

This is obviously due to the fact that the Peltier cell 11 has the surface 1 1 " towards the interior of the "hot" double glazing unit, while the face 1 1 ' arranged towards the edge of the frame is "cold" and the cold air is taken towards the exterior through the portion 12', which acts as an outward heat sink.

Tests carried out allowed verifying that by using a suitable number of Peltier cells, it is possible to obtain ideal climate control of the environment, said cells being inserted in the doors and windows.

Advantageously, it was verified that each door is advantageously provided with two Peltier cells continuously supplied with a current of about 1A to about 4Vcc. This regardless of whether one wishes to cool or heat the environment, obviously with reference to a normal temperate climate. However, there is no construction, structural or functional limitation to having a higher number of Peltier cells on each door, in relation to possible more extreme climates in which the environment to be climate-controlled is placed.

Figures 5 to 9 advantageously show that the supply of the electrical current to the Peltier cells is guaranteed through electrical currents, οΐ per se known type, indicated in their entirety with reference 20, having portions 20' arranged on the fixed frames 2 ¹ (fig. 1 ), while the portions 20" are arranged on the mobile frames 2" (fig. 1 ).

The mobile portions 20" have contacts 21 intended to slide in their seat 22, in relation to the contact generated between the aforementioned and the corresponding "fixe