Thermoelectric conversion module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9793460-B2
Application number	US-201414499396-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2014
Priority date	May 22, 2014
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A thermoelectric conversion module is disclosed that corrects the difference in thermal resistance between a P-type thermoelectric conversion member and an N-type thermoelectric conversion member. In this thermoelectric conversion module, since insulators included in the P-type thermoelectric conversion member and the N-type thermoelectric conversion member have a different thermal resistance, it is possible to correct the difference in thermal resistance between the P-type thermoelectric conversion element and the N-type thermoelectric conversion element.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermoelectric conversion module comprising:
a plurality of P-type thermoelectric conversion elements each having a P-type thermoelectric conversion member and a first insulator to cover the P-type thermoelectric conversion member;
a plurality of N-type thermoelectric conversion elements each having an N-type thermoelectric conversion member and a second insulator to cover the N-type thermoelectric conversion member, wherein the first insulators and the second insulators are formed of different materials; and
a plurality of electrodes that electrically connects the P-type thermoelectric conversion members with the N-type thermoelectric conversion members,
wherein a cross-sectional area of the first insulators and a cross-sectional area of the second insulators are selected to be different,
a cross-sectional area of each P-type thermoelectric conversion member and a cross-sectional area of each N-type thermoelectric conversion member are the same,
all of the cross-sectional area of each first insulator, the cross-sectional area of each second insulator, the cross-sectional area of each P-type thermoelectric conversion member and the cross-sectional area of each N-type thermoelectric conversion member are disposed in a same cross section orthogonal to a direction of current flowing in the P-type thermoelectric conversion members or the N-type thermoelectric conversion members, and
a difference in thermal resistance between the P-type thermoelectric conversion elements and the N-type thermoelectric conversion elements is smaller than a difference in thermal resistance between the P-type thermoelectric conversion members and the N-type thermoelectric conversion members, and
the cross-sectional area of each first insulator being formed larger than the cross-sectional area of each second insulator in a case where the thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is larger than the thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members, and
the cross-sectional area of each first insulator being formed smaller than the cross-sectional area of each second insulator in a case where the thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is smaller than the thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members.

2. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 1 , wherein thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is larger than thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members and the cross-sectional area of each first insulator is larger than the cross-sectional area of each second insulator in the cross section.

3. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 1 , wherein thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is smaller than thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members and the cross-sectional area of each first insulator is smaller than the cross-sectional area of each second insulator in the cross section.

4. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 1 , wherein:
the P-type thermoelectric conversion members and the N-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Bi—Te-based material; and
the cross-sectional area of each second insulator is larger than the cross-sectional area of each first insulator in the cross section.

5. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 1 , wherein:
the P-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Zn—Sb-based material and the N-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Co—Sb-based material; and
the cross-sectional area of each second insulator is smaller than the cross-sectional area of each first insulator in the cross section.

6. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 1 , wherein:
the P-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Zn—Sb-based material and the N-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Co—Sb-based material;
the first insulators are formed of heat-resistant glass and the second insulators are formed of quartz; and
the cross-sectional area of each second insulator is smaller than the cross-sectional area of each first insulator in the cross section.

7. A thermoelectric conversion module comprising:
a plurality of P-type thermoelectric conversion elements each having a P-type thermoelectric conversion member and a first insulator to cover the P-type thermoelectric conversion member;
a plurality of N-type thermoelectric conversion elements each having an N-type thermoelectric conversion member and a second insulator to cover the N-type thermoelectric conversion member, wherein a cross-sectional area of the first insulators and a cross-sectional area of the second insulators are selected to be different; and
a plurality of electrodes that electrically connects the P-type thermoelectric conversion members with the N-type thermoelectric conversion members,
wherein a material of the first insulators and a material of the second insulators are different and a difference in thermal resistance between the P-type thermoelectric conversion elements and the N-type thermoelectric conversion elements is smaller than a difference in thermal resistance between the P-type thermoelectric conversion members and the N-type thermoelectric conversion members,
the first insulators being selected from a material with a smaller thermal resistivity than the second insulators as a material in a case where the thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is larger than the thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members, and
the first insulators being selected from a material with a larger thermal resistivity than the second insulators as a material in a case where the thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is smaller than the thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members,
a cross-sectional area of each P-type thermoelectric conversion member and a cross-sectional area of each N-type thermoelectric conversion member are the same, and
all of the cross-sectional area of each first insulator, the cross-sectional area of each second insulator, the cross-sectional area of each P-type thermoelectric conversion member and the cross-sectional area of each N-type thermoelectric conversion member are disposed in a same cross section orthogonal to a direction of current flowing in the P-type thermoelectric conversion members or the N-type thermoelectric conversion members.

8. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 7 , wherein thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is larger than thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members and thermal resistance of the first insulators is smaller than thermal resistance of the second insulators.

9. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 7 , wherein thermal resistance of the P-type thermoelectric conversion members is smaller than thermal resistance of the N-type thermoelectric conversion members and thermal resistance of the first insulators is larger than thermal resistance of the second insulators.

10. The thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 7 , wherein:
the P-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Zn—Sb-based material;
the N-type thermoelectric conversion members are formed of a Co—Sb-based material; and
the first insulators are formed of heat-resistant glass and the second insulators are formed of quartz.

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp
• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Toyoda Kaori
• Maeshima Satoshi

Classifications

• H01L35/08

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L35/32

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L35/04 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L35/18

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10N10/81 Primary

  Structural details of the junction · CPC title