JP2001185768A - Peltier module and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve strength without deteriorating cooling performance. SOLUTION: In this Peltier module, parts between adjacent thermoelectric elements 1 are connected by using electrodes 2, and the plurality of thermoelectric elements 1 are electrically connected in series by using the plurality of electrodes 2 in a plane. Reinforcing members 3 which have insulating property and are thermal bad conductor and in contact with side surfaces of the adjacent thermoelectric elements 1, and with which air layers are interposed in spaces to the electrodes 2, are arranged between the respective thermoelectric elements 1. Improvement of strength due to the reinforcing members 3 can be obtained, and at the same time, deterioration of cooling performance which is caused by heat leakage can be restrained by existance of the air layers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a Peltier module formed by electrically connecting thermoelectric elements and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a Peltier module, a thermoelectric element, which is a component of the Peltier module, is very fragile in terms of strength.
Alternatively, if thermal stress is applied during use of the module, breakage often occurs at the interface between the thermoelectric element and its electrode.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, it has been attempted to improve the strength of a Peltier module by filling a reinforcing resin 8 such as a curable liquid resin filler between thermoelectric elements 1 and 1 and between electrodes 2 as shown in FIG. Have been.

[0004]

However, even though the strength can be reinforced by filling and curing the liquid resin, heat leakage occurs between the electrodes due to the filled resin, resulting in a problem that the cooling performance is greatly reduced.

[0005] Reinforcement by thin resin coating has also been attempted, but this has not been able to obtain a sufficient reinforcing effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a Peltier module capable of improving strength without lowering cooling performance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a Peltier module that can easily manufacture the Peltier module.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series on a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements with electrodes. A Peltier module, wherein a reinforcing member that is an insulating and thermally defective conductor, is in contact with a side surface of an adjacent thermoelectric element, and has an air layer interposed between the electrode and the thermoelectric element is disposed between the thermoelectric elements. Has features.

[0008] A hollow cylindrical molded product can be suitably used for the reinforcing member.

[0009] It is also preferable to provide a resin coating layer for covering the reinforcing member, the thermoelectric element and the electrode.

A Peltier module in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series in a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements by electrodes, and is a Peltier module having an insulating property. A hollow reinforcing member that is a heat-defective conductor and is in contact with a side surface of an adjacent thermoelectric element is disposed between the thermoelectric elements, and a resin filling between the reinforcing member, the thermoelectric element, and the electrode is provided. May be available.

In the method of manufacturing a Peltier module according to the present invention, a rod-shaped thermoelectric element is sandwiched between two plates each having an electrode on one side to electrically connect the thermoelectric element and the electrode and to form a rod-shaped thermoelectric element. A rod-shaped reinforcing member that is an insulating and poorly-heated conductor is disposed between the thermoelectric elements, and thereafter, the rod-shaped thermoelectric element and the rod-shaped reinforcing member are cut together with the plate, and the electric power is applied to a plurality of electrodes in a plane. It is characterized in that a Peltier module is provided in which a reinforcing member is located between a plurality of thermoelectric elements connected in series.

Prior to cutting, resin coating or resin filling may be performed, and it is also preferable to use a rod-shaped reinforcing member in which a plurality of reinforcing members are connected at one end.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to an example of an embodiment. An n-type thermoelectric element 1 and a p-type thermoelectric element 1 are alternately connected in a plane by an electrode 2 and π By adopting a mold arrangement, these thermoelectric elements 1 are connected in series. A reinforcing member 3 which is a hollow cylindrical molded product is provided between the pair of thermoelectric elements 1 and 1 connected by the electrodes 2.
Is arranged. The reinforcing member 3 includes a pair of thermoelectric elements 1 and
Although it is in contact with the side surface of 1, it is slightly separated from the electrode 2 so that an air layer is interposed between the electrodes 2 and 2. The material of the reinforcing member 3 is not particularly limited as long as it has insulating properties, but a resin molded product having a low thermal conductivity can be suitably used.

As shown in FIG. 3, the space between the thermoelectric element 1, the electrode 2, and the reinforcing member 3 may be filled with a resin 4. In this case, the reinforcing effect is very high. The resin 4 is desirably a liquid curable resin such as an epoxy resin, a urethane resin, and a silicone resin in terms of low thermal conductivity and workability.

Instead of filling the resin, the resin coating layer 40 may be formed by coating the surfaces of the thermoelectric element 1, the electrode 2, and the reinforcing member 3 as shown in FIG. In this case, a low-viscosity resin is used as the coating resin in order to guide the narrow space between the thermoelectric element 1, the electrode 2, and the reinforcing member 3 by the capillary phenomenon. Although the type is not particularly limited, a Peltier module in which the reinforcing member 3 is disposed between the thermoelectric elements 1 and 1 which are preferably formed of an epoxy resin, a urethane resin, a silicon resin, or the like may be manufactured as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, two rod-shaped p-type thermoelectric elements and a rod-shaped n-type thermoelectric element 1 are arranged at an interval, and two electrodes are provided on each side (or become the electrodes themselves). For the structure in which the thermoelectric element 1 and the electrode are electrically connected by being sandwiched between the plates 5 and 5, the rod-shaped reinforcing member 3 which is an insulating and thermally defective conductor is inserted between the rod-shaped thermoelectric elements 1. After that, the rod-shaped thermoelectric element 1 and the rod-shaped reinforcing member 3 are cut together with the plate 5 by a dicing saw 6, and a plurality of electrodes electrically connected in series with a plurality of electrodes 2 in a plane. The Peltier module in which the reinforcing member 3 is located between the thermoelectric elements 1 is obtained.

If the resin coating is performed before cutting, the one shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained. If the resin 4 is filled before cutting as shown in FIG. 2 can be obtained.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the workability is further improved by using a rod-shaped reinforcing member 3 in which a plurality of reinforcing members 3 are connected at one end.

[0018]

As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series in a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements by electrodes. In the module, a reinforcing member that is insulative and has poor thermal conductivity, is in contact with the side surface of the adjacent thermoelectric element, and has an air layer interposed between the thermoelectric element and the electrode is disposed between the thermoelectric elements. Therefore, the strength can be improved, and at the same time, the cooling performance can be prevented from being deteriorated due to heat leakage due to the presence of the air layer.

If a hollow cylindrical molded product is used as the reinforcing member, a decrease in cooling performance can be further suppressed.

If a reinforcing member, a thermoelectric element and a resin coating layer for covering the electrodes are provided, the strength can be further improved.

A Peltier module in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series in a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements by electrodes, and is a Peltier module having insulating properties and A hollow reinforcing member that is a heat-defective conductor and is in contact with a side surface of an adjacent thermoelectric element is disposed between the thermoelectric elements, and a resin filling between the reinforcing member, the thermoelectric element, and the electrode is provided. As a result, it is possible to improve the strength and suppress a decrease in the cooling performance.

In the method of manufacturing a Peltier module according to the present invention, a rod-shaped thermoelectric element is sandwiched between two plates each having an electrode on one side to electrically connect the thermoelectric element and the electrode and to form a rod-shaped thermoelectric element. A rod-shaped reinforcing member that is an insulating and poorly-heated conductor is disposed between the thermoelectric elements, and thereafter, the rod-shaped thermoelectric element and the rod-shaped reinforcing member are cut together with the plate, and the electric power is applied to a plurality of electrodes in a plane. Since a Peltier module in which a reinforcing member is located between a plurality of thermoelectric elements connected in series is obtained, the reinforcing members can be arranged without separately arranging the reinforcing members between all the thermoelectric elements. It is possible to easily manufacture a Peltier module in which the strength is improved by providing the reinforcing member.

If a resin coating or resin filling is performed prior to cutting, a product having higher strength can be easily manufactured, and a plurality of reinforcing members are connected at one end as a rod-like reinforcing member. The use of such a material further improves the workability during manufacturing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a)
Is a sectional view, (b) is a plan view, and (c) is a perspective view of a reinforcing member.

2A and 2B show another example, in which FIG. 2A is a sectional view and FIG. 2B is a perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing still another example.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a manufacturing method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another example of the manufacturing method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing still another example of the manufacturing method.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Description of Signs] 1 Thermoelectric element 2 Electrode 3 Reinforcing member

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A Peltier module in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series in a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements with electrodes, and are insulative and A Peltier module, wherein a reinforcing member that is a thermally defective conductor and is in contact with a side surface of an adjacent thermoelectric element and has an air layer interposed between the thermoelectric element and the electrode is provided between the thermoelectric elements. 2. The Peltier module according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing member is a hollow cylindrical molded product. 3. The Peltier module according to claim 1, further comprising a resin coating layer covering the reinforcing member, the thermoelectric element, and the electrode. 4. A Peltier module in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements are electrically connected in series in a plane by a plurality of electrodes by connecting adjacent thermoelectric elements with electrodes, and wherein the thermoelectric elements are insulative and A hollow reinforcing member that is a heat-defective conductor and is in contact with a side surface of an adjacent thermoelectric element is disposed between the thermoelectric elements, and a resin filling between the reinforcing member, the thermoelectric element, and the electrode is provided. Peltier module 5. A rod-shaped thermoelectric element is sandwiched between two plates provided with electrodes on one side to electrically connect the thermoelectric element and the electrode, and the insulation and thermal failure between the rod-shaped thermoelectric elements. A bar-shaped reinforcing member, which is a conductor, is arranged.
Cutting the rod-shaped thermoelectric element and the rod-shaped reinforcing member together with the plate to obtain a Peltier module in which the reinforcing member is located between a plurality of thermoelectric elements electrically connected in series with a plurality of electrodes in a plane. A method for manufacturing a Peltier module. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein a resin coating is performed prior to the cutting. 7. The method for manufacturing a Peltier module according to claim 5, wherein a resin is filled before cutting. 8. The method for manufacturing a Peltier module according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of reinforcing members connected at one end are used as the bar-shaped reinforcing members.