Cooling/heating system

A flexible heat exchange structure having a pair of superposed sheets of flexible material sealed together to form a plurality of fluid-conducting channels which tend to inflate and decrease in width when a pressurized liquid passes through them, and a manifold in fluid communication with the channels at one end thereof which also tends to be inflated by the pressurized liquid, the manifold having an undulating wall which is oriented and dimensioned to decrease in dimension to the same degree that the width of the channels decreases upon pressurization of the structure.

A heat exchange system for thermal treatment of a body, comprising a heat exchange panel having first and second superposed sheets of flexible material sealed together to form a plurality of fluid-conducting channels which tend to inflate and decrease in width when a pressurized liquid passes through them, and a manifold in fluid communication with the channels at one end thereof which also tends to be inflated by the pressurized liquid, the manifold having an undulating wall which is oriented and dimensioned to decrease in dimension to the same degree that the width of the channels decreases upon pressurization of the panel, an outer layer which is adapted to be wrapped about the body to hold the panel on the body with the first sheet facing the body, an air chamber between the outer layer and the second sheet, means for pressurizing the air chamber to urge the heat exchange panel against the body, and a heating/cooling unit for circulating liquid of predetermined temperature through the panel.

A personal. heating/cooling system, comprising a heat exchange panel having a pair of superposed sheets of flexible material sealed together to form a plurality of fluid-conducting channels which tend to inflate and decrease in width when a pressurized liquid passes through them, and a manifold in fluid communication with the channels at one end thereof which also tends to be inflated by the pressurized liquid, the manifold having an undulating wall which is oriented and dimensioned to decrease in dimension to the same degree that the width of the channels decreases upon pressurization of the panel, a heated liquid reservoir, a cooled liquid reservoir, an adjustable mixing valve connected between the reservoirs and the panel for mixing liquids from the two reservoirs in any desired proportion for delivery to the panel, a return reservoir for receiving liquid from the panel, and a pump for pumping liquid from the return reservoir through the heated reservoir and the cooled reservoir to the flow channels.

A flexible heat exchange structure having a pair of superposed sheets of flexible material sealed together in a plurality of spaced apart descrete areas to form a fluid-conducting channel which inflates and decreases in lateral dimension upon pressurization by a fluid, and means sealing the sheets together along an undulating line to form a chamber which communicates with the channel and also inflates and decreases in lateral dimension upon pressurization, the undulating line being oriented and dimensioned to make the decreases in lateral dimension substantially equal in the channel and in the chamber.