Thermoelectric beverage cooler

A thermoelectric beverage cooler, comprising:

• a cooler housing;
• a reservoir mounted within said cooler housing for receiving and storing a supply of a selected beverage;
• and
• a thermoelectric chiller unit including a thermoelectric heat transfer module having a hot side and a cold side, and means for transferring thermal energy from said cold side to said hot side;
• said chiller unit further including a chiller element in thermal communication with the beverage within said reservoir, a heat sink including a generally planar backing plate with a plurality of heat dissipation fins extending downwardly therefrom and cooperatively defining a downwardly open slot, and an elongated spring strip having an upwardly extending offset central segment for bearing engagement with the underside of said backing plate, and fastener means coupled to opposite ends of said spring strip and extending through said backing plate and connected to said chiller element for compressively sandwiching said heat transfer module between said chiller element and said heat sink to apply a substantially uniformly distributed clamping pressure to said heat transfer module.

A thermoelectric beverage cooler, comprising:

• a cooler housing;
• insulation means mounted within said housing and defining an upwardly open insulation shell;
• a reservoir for receiving and storing a supply of a selected beverage, said reservoir being removably mounted within said housing in nested relation within said insulation shell;
• a dispense faucet mounted on said reservoir;
• a thermoelectric chiller unit including a thermoelectric heat transfer module having a hot side and a cold side, and means for transferring thermal energy from said cold side to said hot side;
• said chiller unit further including a heat sink, and means for mounting said heat transfer module with said cold side in thermal communication with the beverage within said reservoir and with said hot side in thermal communication with said heat sink;
• said insulation shell and said housing having upwardly open aligned gaps formed therein for receiving said dispense faucet for operative access at a front side of said housing, when said reservoir is mounted within said housing;
• and
• a trim plate carried by said dispense faucet for substantially closing said gap formed in said housing, when said reservoir is mounted therein.