HEAT EXCHANGER AND FLUID RESERVOIR.

摘要

Improved fluid reservoir (100) designs providing for little or no dead volume or un-swept volume while providing efficient heat exchange are disclosed. Representative fluid reservoirs can have a serpentine flow passage (102) with a cross-section selected such that fluid flow sweeps the entire cross-sectional volume while reducing or eliminating dead volume. The fluid reservoirs (100) can be molded from two sheets of polymer material that are joined to form the fluid reservoir(100). Alternatively, the fluid reservoir (100) can be formed from flexible polymer materials that are bonded along seams (118) to demarcate a flow channel(102). Fluid reservoirs (100) can be located either upstream or downstream of a filtering system to provide chilled filtered liquid. Fluid reservoirs (100)can be associated with an appliance, such as a refrigerator. Methods of fabricating the fluid reservoirs (100) are also disclosed.