JPH09181362A - Flexible thermoelectric device and cooler/heater employing it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a thermoelectric device having large cooling/heating area and applicable to an apparatus having intricate shape in which the additional heat dissipation facility can be reduced in size by employing a flexible thermoelectric chip unit where the substrate is made of a flexible insulator. SOLUTION: A p-type whisker single crystal 21 and an n-type whisker single crystal are passed through a hole 24 made in a bored insulating board 23. In this regard, p-type and n-type crystals are arranged alternately. The semiconductor crystals are then bonded to the bored insulating board 23 through an adhesive, e.g. polyimide resin. It is then cut to produce a thermoelectric chip unit where semiconductor devices are held on one insulating board while being arranged and fitted therein. A flexible thermoelectric chip unit is obtained by using a flexible material and selecting the material of bored insulating board 23. Since the board is flexible, the crystal is not split even when the board is bent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermoelectric chip unit, a thermoelectric unit, a thermoelectric module, a thermoelectric element such as a flexible thermoelectric element, which utilizes a thermoelectric semiconductor element, and a cooling and heating apparatus using them. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thermoelectric element using a thermoelectric semiconductor element made of a compound such as bismuth-tellurium-based, iron-silicon-based or cobalt-antimony-based compound is used for cooling and heating devices. The thermoelectric element is useful as a cooling and heating source that does not use liquid or gas, does not occupy space, does not rotate and does not require maintenance. Here, the thermoelectric element is an element in which a plurality of two types of thermoelectric semiconductor elements of p-type and n-type are arranged in the same number, and the thermoelectric semiconductor elements are bonded to electrodes to form a π-type series circuit. By doing so, it is used as an energy source for cooling or heating.

In this thermoelectric element, generally, two types of thermoelectric semiconductor elements of p-type and n-type are arranged in order, and the semiconductor elements are soldered to electrodes to form a π-type series circuit. The thermoelectric semiconductor element and the metal electrode each having a structure including a ceramic substrate having a metal film are widely used as a thermoelectric module. Connect a power source to the electrodes of this thermoelectric module,
When a current is passed in the direction of the die element, the Peltier effect causes heat absorption in the upper part of the π type and heat generation in the lower part. At this time, if the connection direction of the electrodes is reversed, the directions of heat absorption and heat generation change. Utilizing this phenomenon, the thermoelectric element is used in the cooling and heating device. Thermoelectric modules have a wide range of applications including cooling of LSIs, CPUs of computers, lasers, etc., and also to heat insulation refrigerators.

Bismuth used in this thermoelectric module
A semiconductor element made of a compound such as tellurium-based, iron-silicon-based or cobalt-antimony-based has a problem that it is easily divided at the cleavage plane of the crystal. Therefore, conventionally, the grown single crystal is first sliced, and the sliced crystal is diced into a rectangular shape having a size of about 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm × 2 mm, which is used for a thermoelectric module. Since it is easy to be divided at the cleavage plane of the crystal, the semiconductor element in the shape of a square is usually soldered to a metal electrode on a ceramic substrate treated with a thin metal film. Therefore, the thermoelectric module is extremely rigid and has no flexibility.

The soldering itself loses flexibility,
Make the thermoelectric module rigid. Moreover, since the ceramic substrate is used, the thermoelectric module is flexible,
It is hard and inflexible. Further, since the thermoelectric semiconductor element is easily broken, the thermoelectric module is manufactured by increasing the mounting density of the element on the ceramic substrate.
As a result, the area in which the thermoelectric semiconductor elements are arranged, that is, the cooling or heating area is reduced, which is extremely inefficient when cooling or heating an object having a large area. In addition, there is a drawback that a heat sink for heat dissipation and incidental equipment of a fan become large.

[0006] In this conventional thermoelectric module, the ceramic substrates provided above and below the thermoelectric module constitute a sandwich structure and are held, and the substrates provided above and below support the structure of the module. Therefore,
There is also a problem that the thermoelectric element as a whole is thick and the heat conduction efficiency is not good. In order to improve the thermal conductivity, it has been attempted to use an insulating film or a flexible resin sheet for the substrate instead of the ceramic. Since this uses a film or resin sheet for the substrate, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the substrate structure on which the thermoelectric semiconductor element is mounted.
As a result, the thermal conductivity is improved.

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-137462 discloses a technique of arranging semiconductor elements on an insulating film substrate. Further, JP-A-7-202275 discloses a technique in which a copper plate is attached to a flexible and heat-resistant resin sheet to form an electrode, and a thermoelectric semiconductor element is mounted on this electrode.
All of these are intended to reduce the overall thickness of the thermoelectric element and improve heat transfer efficiency. But,
In both technologies, since thermoelectric semiconductor elements are arranged and mounted at high density, the thermoelectric element as a whole lacks flexibility.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-137462 is shown in FIG. The semiconductor elements 32 and 34 are arranged on the insulating film 31, but the arrangement density is quite high. Also, on the heat absorbing side, the pressure vessel 3
Since 6 is provided, the cooling and heating device is rigid. The technique disclosed in JP-A-7-202275 is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG.
Shows a state in which the thermoelectric semiconductor element 44 is mounted on an etched copper plate on a resin sheet. FIG.
In FIG. 11, a copper plate 41 etched on a resin sheet 42 is further mounted on top of FIG. The semi-finished product of FIG. 11 is said to be flexible and rollable. However, since the completed thermoelectric module is firmly soldered to the copper plate on the resin, it is rigid and inflexible as a whole. Both of them have mentioned that the effect of improving the heat transfer efficiency is their effect, but no technology is disclosed regarding a cooling and heating element having flexibility.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A main object of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric chip unit, a thermoelectric unit, a thermoelectric module or a thermoelectric sheet having flexibility in a thermoelectric element using a thermoelectric semiconductor element. It is what Further, it is intended to provide a cooling and heating device using these thermoelectric elements. Since the thermoelectric unit, the thermoelectric module, or the thermoelectric sheet has flexibility, a large cooling and heating area can be obtained, the auxiliary equipment for heat dissipation can be small, and it can be applied to things with complicated shapes. It is possible to provide a cooling and heating device having.

[0010]

The gist of the present invention is as follows. A thermoelectric chip unit in which the same number of n-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements and p-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements are fitted and held in a single substrate, and the substrates are made of a flexible insulator and are flexible. It is a thermoelectric chip unit having. A flexible thermoelectric unit in which electrodes are connected to the thermoelectric chip unit, and the thermoelectric unit is covered with a flexible material, and the thermoelectric unit or the thermoelectric unit A thermoelectric sheet having flexibility obtained by mounting a module on a sheet having flexibility.

Furthermore, a thermoelectric module having a sandwich structure in which a thermoelectric semiconductor element is sandwiched between a heat absorption side substrate and a heat radiation side substrate without being fitted into the substrate,
It is a flexible thermoelectric sheet which is attached to a flexible sheet at intervals.

[0012] Further, it is a cooling and heating device which uses a thermoelectric element such as the thermoelectric unit, the thermoelectric module or the thermoelectric sheet as a heating and cooling source.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of a conventionally known thermoelectric module is shown in FIG. The n-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements 2 are alternately arranged (in FIG. 1, only one of the thermoelectric semiconductor elements is represented as a representative), and the n-type element and the p-type element Is connected to the electrode 1. The thermoelectric semiconductor elements are alternately connected to the electrodes on the upper side and the lower side, and finally all the elements are connected in series. The electrodes and the semiconductor elements are connected by soldering. Then, the upper and lower electrodes are bonded and fixed to the ceramic substrate 3 metallized with a metal such as copper or aluminum. What was made in this way is usually called a thermoelectric module.

As described above, the thermoelectric module has a structure in which the semiconductor element is connected to the electrode by soldering and the electrode is bonded to the metallized ceramics. Therefore, the module is stiff, inflexible and completely inflexible. Since the crystal of the semiconductor element is easily broken from the cleaved surface, the size of the semiconductor element itself is as small as about 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm × 2 mm. Therefore, the thermoelectric element itself sold as a product has a small size. The size is very small, about 60 x 60 mm at the most.

On the other hand, the present inventor has invented a novel method for producing a semiconductor crystal and a novel method for producing a thermoelectric semiconductor device using the semiconductor crystal produced from the method,
On September 29, 1995, the application number "Japanese Patent Application No. 7-2767
No. 15 ”, the patent application was filed as the invention“ thermoelectric semiconductor element and its manufacturing method ”. A feature of the present invention is a method for producing a semiconductor single crystal such as bismuth tellurium as a needle-shaped single crystal having a small diameter of about 0.5 to 3.0 mm. It was confirmed that the columnar semiconductor crystal rod manufactured by this method has a characteristic that division at the cleavage plane is less likely to occur as compared with the rectangular semiconductor crystal manufactured by the conventional method.

The present inventor has further invented a novel method for producing a new thermoelectric device using this small diameter semiconductor crystal. Details are described in the patent application, and the outline is as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the p-type acicular single crystal 21 and the n-type acicular single crystal are passed through the hole 24 of the perforated insulating plate 23. At this time, the p-type and the n-type are passed so that they are alternately arranged (here, for convenience, only one needle-shaped single crystal is shown and only two perforated insulating plates are shown). Then, the semiconductor crystal and the perforated insulating plate are adhered with an adhesive such as a polyimide resin. The semiconductor crystal thus obtained, which is bonded to a perforated insulating plate, is cut. As a result, there is obtained one in which the semiconductor elements 2 are fitted and arranged in the single insulating substrate 9 shown in FIG. 4 to hold the semiconductor elements. The present inventor calls this a thermoelectric chip unit.

The thermoelectric chip unit thus obtained is a novel one manufactured for the first time by the present invention. The structure in which the thermoelectric semiconductor element is held by one substrate has never existed in the past. The patent application discloses a technique of using a hard insulator as the insulator substrate. The present invention provides a flexible thermoelectric element by using a flexible material for this substrate.

When a thermoelectric chip unit is manufactured, a flexible thermoelectric chip unit can be manufactured by using a flexible material. Then, by appropriately selecting the material of the perforated insulating plate, a thermoelectric chip unit having excellent flexibility can be obtained. It is also possible to appropriately adjust the mounting density of the semiconductor elements depending on the arrangement of the holes in the perforated insulating plate. Furthermore, the arrangement configuration of the elements in the thermoelectric chip unit can be arbitrarily selected depending on the number of holes, the number of columns, and the number of rows of the perforated insulating plate.
As the flexible insulating substrate, for example, plastic, plastic elastic body, rubber, various elastomers, etc. can be used.

The thermoelectric chip unit according to the present invention comprises 1
Since the thermoelectric semiconductor element is fitted and held on a single substrate, the semiconductor crystal has a characteristic that it is difficult to divide the semiconductor crystal at the cleavage plane. In the conventional thermoelectric module, since the semiconductor crystal is held by the two substrates, the crystal division occurs when the substrate is bent. In this respect, in the thermoelectric chip unit of the present invention, since the substrate is flexible, the crystal division is unlikely to occur even when the substrate is bent.

The thermoelectric unit can be obtained by, for example, soldering the electrodes to the semiconductor element of the thermoelectric chip unit thus manufactured. This thermoelectric unit is naturally flexible. In addition, the present inventor has connected the thermoelectric chip unit with electrodes,
It is called a thermoelectric unit. As the electrode used in this thermoelectric unit, it is of course possible to use a commonly used metal plate such as a copper plate, or it is possible to use a flexible electrode. Examples of the flexible electrode include a thin metal plate such as a copper plate and a phosphor bronze plate, a conductive rubber or plastic having a sufficiently small resistance as compared with a thermoelectric element, and a metal wire mesh. In this way, when the flexible electrode is used, the flexibility of the thermoelectric unit itself is further increased.

FIG. 5 shows a thermoelectric unit obtained by soldering the n-type semiconductor element and the p-type semiconductor element 2 of the thermoelectric chip unit using the thin copper plate as the electrode 4. Reference numeral 9 is a flexible insulator substrate in which semiconductor element crystals are fitted. Of course, it is possible to ship as a product even in this state. The electrode used here has a thin thickness of about 0.1 mm, and thus has sufficient flexibility. The flexibility is further enhanced by increasing the spacing between the semiconductor elements. As for the mounting density of the semiconductor elements, in practice, the optimum value is obtained in consideration of the relationship between flexibility and cooling / heating efficiency.

Various types of thermoelectric units can be produced by designing the arrangement of the holes in the perforated insulating plate. One example is shown in FIG. (A) is three n-type and p
It is a thermoelectric unit assembled from three elements.
(B) is a thermoelectric unit consisting of four combinations of n-type elements and p-type elements. (C) shows 14 semiconductor elements arranged in two rows. In (d), 10 semiconductor elements are arranged in two rows.

FIG. 6 shows a thermoelectric module in which the thermoelectric unit of FIG. 5 is covered with an insulating cover. This thermoelectric module is sufficiently flexible as compared with the rigid module which is not flexible at all in the conventional module. As described above, the conventional thermoelectric module has a sandwich structure in which the thermoelectric semiconductor element is not fitted into the substrate but is sandwiched between the heat absorption side substrate and the heat radiation side substrate. In FIG. 6, a flexible insulator 11 is provided on the electrode 4 of the thermoelectric chip unit, and a flexible insulating cover 10 can be further provided thereon. Of course, the insulator 11 can also serve as a flexible sheet.
For example, when a heat conductive silicone sheet is used as an insulator, it also serves as a flexible sheet.

In this way, a flexible thermoelectric module can be obtained. At this time, needless to say, a flexible sheet other than the heat conductive silicone sheet may be used. Further, a wire mesh or a thin metal plate may be used on the thermoelectric module covered with the silicone sheet.

The thermoelectric unit and thermoelectric module described above can be marketed individually as products, and can be directly used for various purposes. However, if these are processed into a thermoelectric sheet, the commercial value will be further increased and the application range will be widened. A flexible thermoelectric sheet can be obtained by attaching the thermoelectric unit or the thermoelectric module to a flexible sheet. The inventor refers to a thermoelectric element in which a thermoelectric unit or a thermoelectric module is attached to an insulating sheet as a thermoelectric sheet.

2 and 3 show examples of thermoelectric sheets. The thermoelectric sheet is obtained by mounting the thermoelectric module 7 on the flexible insulating sheet 6. A flexible cover 10 may be provided for protection. FIG.
Is a plan view, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are elevation views.
FIG. 3B shows an example in which sheets are used on both the upper and lower surfaces, and FIG. 3A shows an example in which sheets are used only on the lower surface and a cover is attached on the upper surface. A flexible thermoelectric sheet can be obtained by using the flexible thermoelectric unit or thermoelectric module of the present invention. The flexible material used for the thermoelectric sheet may be a thin copper plate or a phosphor bronze plate, a metal wire mesh, or a resin sheet having excellent heat conductivity, such as a heat conductive silicone sheet. In addition, plastics, elastomers, etc. can be used as appropriate.

Although an example of the thermoelectric sheet is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shape of the thermoelectric sheet is not limited to this. Various forms of thermoelectric sheets can be made, such as various forms and thermoelectric units or thermoelectric modules having different arrangement densities. For example, if the spacing between the thermoelectric modules is increased, the flexibility of the thermoelectric sheet is increased and the thermal efficiency is improved. For example, in the case of a box for cooling and heating, conventionally, one or two thermoelectric modules each having a size of about 40 mm are used. Since the thermoelectric module itself is small, it will be installed in a limited small part of the box. Therefore, the inside of the box is 5 ℃
In order to keep it forward and backward, the temperature of the thermoelectric module itself must be lowered to about -5 ° C, and the box must be cooled or heated for a long time due to the heat conduction of the aluminum or copper plate. On the other hand, in the thermoelectric sheet in which the mounting density of the thermoelectric unit or the thermoelectric module of the present invention is reduced, the thermoelectric sheet itself can have a relatively large area. Therefore, it can be widely installed as a whole rather than being installed locally in the box, and the thermal efficiency is necessarily improved. That is, since the thermoelectric sheet can be provided on the entire surface of the box, it is not necessary to extremely lower the temperature of the thermoelectric semiconductor element itself, and the desired temperature is reached in a short time.

In the thermoelectric sheet, the sheet can have various shapes. For example, FIG.
In this case, five thermoelectric modules 12 are arranged on the sheet on the belt. Similarly, in (b), eight thermoelectric modules are arranged in three rows on a rectangular sheet.
The arrangement method can be freely selected in this way.
Further, the shape of the sheet may be circular, concentric, triangular or star-shaped. The most suitable shape can be selected according to the object to be cooled.

The thermoelectric sheet, which has never been known in the past, was introduced by the present inventor for the first time.
It is sufficiently possible to finish a conventionally known thermoelectric module as a thermoelectric sheet. It is expected that the thermoelectric sheet including the conventionally known thermoelectric element and the thermoelectric element of the present invention can be processed, thereby rapidly expanding the application range of the thermoelectric semiconductor element.

Next, the flexible thermoelectric sheet is not limited to the thermoelectric unit or the thermoelectric module of the present invention, that is, the conventional thermoelectric module may be arranged on the flexible sheet at intervals. You can get it.
FIG. 13 shows a specific example of a belt that is an application example of the belt to be wrapped around the head, arms, legs or the like of a human body. A commercially available thermoelectric module 52 is arranged at intervals on a flexible sheet 51 made of a thin and elongated phosphor bronze plate. 5
Reference numeral 3 is a band for holding the cooling / heating device on a human body when the cooling / heating device is used.

The thermoelectric module 52 has a length of 20 mm and a width of 6 mm.
In this case, seven semiconductor elements are arranged and held by an aluminum or copper substrate. The eight thermoelectric modules are arranged on a thin phosphor bronze plate 51 having a thickness of 0.4 mm, a length of 150 mm and a width of 40 mm. Since the phosphor bronze plate used as a sheet is thin, it is flexible, and if it is used in place of a headband, a learning effect can be expected due to the heat effect of head cold feet.

Here, the density when the thermoelectric module is mounted on the sheet is expressed as a ratio of the area of the thermoelectric semiconductor element to the substantial area of the sheet, and the density is 3 to 55%. Is preferred. If the density is higher than 55%, the flexibility is lost, and if it is lower than 3%, the effect in terms of thermal efficiency cannot be obtained.
In addition, what is referred to as a substantial area here is a portion where the sheet is used for other purposes (for example, a portion where the band 53 is connected to the sheet in FIG. 13). It means to exclude. The mounting density of the thermoelectric module on the sheet is actually determined as an optimum value in consideration of the cooling heating efficiency and the flexibility.

The thermoelectric element of the present invention is based on a thermoelectric chip unit. The thermoelectric element inevitably has a high temperature on one of the upper and lower surfaces of the element and a low temperature on the other surface. Since the thermoelectric chip unit, which is the basis of the present invention, has a structure in which the thermoelectric semiconductor element is fitted into the substrate, the substrate serves as a separator. That is, in a normal thermoelectric module, air convection occurs on the upper and lower surfaces of the module and the thermal efficiency decreases, but in the thermoelectric element of the present invention, the substrate suppresses the air convection on the upper and lower surfaces. Therefore, the thermal efficiency is improved.

Further, in a normal thermoelectric element, due to the temperature difference between the upper and lower surfaces, expansion occurs on the surface having a high temperature and contraction occurs on the surface having a low temperature, and the entire thermoelectric element bends,
Inevitably receives strain of stress. On the other hand, in the thermoelectric element according to the present invention, since the substrate serving as the separator has flexibility, there is an advantage that the strain due to stress is absorbed and the resistance against repeated stress strain is large.

The thermoelectric unit, thermoelectric module and thermoelectric sheet of the present invention described above can be used in a cooling and heating device. One example of its application is sports equipment, health equipment or medical equipment used in heating or cooling in the form of a belt. Another application is cooling and heating of outdoor products. As a specific example,
There is a box for cooling and heating. The effect of using the cooling and heating element of the present invention in the box has already been described.

The third application is for agriculture and fisheries. Specifically, it is the temperature control of the water tank or bowl. The fourth application is in the industrial field. In particular, since the thermoelectric sheet of the present invention has the characteristic of having flexibility, it can be applied to a product having a complicated shape without any problem. For example, by winding the thermoelectric sheet around a cylindrical object such as a shaft or a bearing, the thermoelectric sheet can sufficiently function as a cooling / heating device.

Further, by winding the thermoelectric sheet around the pipe,
The temperature of the fluid flowing in the pipe can be adjusted, and if the fluid in the pipe has a relatively high melting point,
When the temperature of the pipe decreases, the fluid solidifies and causes blockage in the pipe. In such a case, by keeping the temperature with the thermoelectric sheet of the present invention, the fluid can be transported without solidifying the fluid. In addition, it can be used for cooling and heating motors and various machine tools.

The fifth application is clothing. For example, it can be applied to racer clothes, clothes for cold weather in the outdoors, cold clothes for working in a freezer, work clothes for heating or cooling in extremely cold places or extremely hot places, and fire fighting clothes.

[0039]

The present invention is based on a flexible thermoelectric chip unit in which the same number of n-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements and p-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements are fitted and held in a flexible substrate. The present invention provides a thermoelectric element such as a thermoelectric unit, a thermoelectric module and a thermoelectric sheet, and a conventionally known thermoelectric module having a sandwich structure mounted on a flexible sheet. Since all of these thermoelectric elements have flexibility, they have good cooling and heating efficiency, and can be easily attached to objects with complicated shapes. A cooling and heating device using these thermoelectric elements can be efficiently and easily used. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general configuration of a conventional thermoelectric module.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a flexible thermoelectric sheet.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view showing an example of a flexible thermoelectric sheet, FIG. 3 (b) shows an example in which sheets are used on both upper and lower surfaces, and FIG. 3 (a) shows a sheet only on the lower surface. The upper surface shows an example with a cover attached

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a thermoelectric chip unit, FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view, and FIG. 4 (b) is an elevation view.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a thermoelectric unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a thermoelectric module.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a manufacturing principle of a thermoelectric chip unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the thermoelectric unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a thermoelectric sheet.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a thermoelectric device disclosed in JP-A-3-137462.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a semi-completed assembly of electronic cooling elements disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-202275.

FIG. 12 is a view showing an assembly of electronic cooling elements disclosed in JP-A-7-202275.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a thermoelectric element formed by mounting a conventional thermoelectric module on a flexible sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electrode 2 Semiconductor Element 3 Ceramic Substrate 4 Flexible Electrode 5 Cover 6 Flexible Sheet 7 Thermoelectric Module 9 Flexible Insulator Substrate 10 Flexible Cover 11 Thermal Conductive Insulator 12 Conventional Thermoelectric Module 21 p-type Needle Single crystal 23 Perforated insulating plate 24 Hole 25 Groove side plate 26 Groove 28 Bottom plate 31 Insulating film substrate 32 n-type semiconductor element 33 Conductor 34 p-type semiconductor element 35 Fin 36 Pressure vessel 37 Flow path 41 Copper band 42 Polyimide film 44 Semiconductor element 45 Processed polyimide sheet 51 Flexible sheet 52 Conventional thermoelectric module 53 Band

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A thermoelectric chip unit in which the same number of n-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements and p-type thermoelectric semiconductor elements are fitted and held in a single substrate, and the substrate is made of a flexible insulator. , A flexible thermoelectric chip unit. 2. A flexible thermoelectric chip unit according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric semiconductor elements of the thermoelectric chip unit are connected by electrodes. 3. The flexible thermoelectric unit according to claim 2, wherein the electrode connected to the thermoelectric semiconductor element is made of a conductive material having flexibility. 4. The thermoelectric module according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the thermoelectric unit is covered with a flexible material. 5. A flexible thermoelectric unit according to claim 2 or 3, and / or a flexible thermoelectric module according to claim 4 mounted on a flexible sheet. A thermoelectric sheet having flexibility. 6. A thermoelectric module having a sandwich structure in which a thermoelectric semiconductor element is sandwiched between a heat absorbing side substrate and a heat radiating side substrate without being fitted into the substrate, and a thermoelectric module is mounted on a flexible sheet at intervals. Flexible thermoelectric sheet 7. A thermoelectric unit according to claim 2 or 3, a thermoelectric module according to claim 4, or a thermoelectric element comprising a thermoelectric sheet according to claim 5 or 6, used as a source for cooling and heating. Cooling and heating device