JP2021034544A - Thermoelectric module and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a thermoelectric module with improved degree of freedom in circuit design within a thermoelectric module.SOLUTION: A thermoelectric module 1 includes a storage chamber 40 which is an area sealed by a sealing material 30, a plurality of thermoelectric units 20 housed in the storage chamber 40 and including a thermoelectric element 200, an electrode plate 210 that is connected to each of the thermoelectric units 20 and is exposed to the outside of the storage chamber 40, and a lead wire that electrically connects the electrode plate 210 of one of the thermoelectric units 20 to an electrode plate 210 of the other thermoelectric unit 20 outside the storage chamber 40. The thermoelectric units 20 are not electrically connected to each other in the storage chamber 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a thermoelectric module and a method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a pair of substrates, a plurality of thermoelectric conversion elements provided between the pair of substrates, and a plurality of thermoelectric conversion elements composed of conductors provided on the surface of the substrate are interposed between the pair of substrates. A thermoelectric conversion module is disclosed, which includes wiring for connecting to form a circuit and a terminal portion having terminals connected to the circuit, and the terminal portion is flexibly configured by laminating an insulating layer and a conductor layer. ing.

JP-A-2017-208478

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric module having an improved degree of freedom in circuit design in the thermoelectric module.

The thermoelectric module according to the present invention includes an accommodation chamber, a plurality of thermoelectric units housed in the accommodation chamber and including a thermoelectric element, and electrodes connected to each of the thermoelectric units and exposed to the outside of the accommodation chamber. The thermoelectric units are not electrically connected to each other in the accommodation chamber.

Preferably, outside the containment chamber, it further has a lead wire that electrically connects the electrode of one thermoelectric unit and the electrode of the other thermoelectric unit.

Further, the method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module according to the present invention includes a step of arranging a plurality of thermoelectric units including thermoelectric elements in the accommodation chamber and connecting to each of the thermoelectric units so as not to electrically connect to each other in the accommodation chamber. It has a step of accommodating the thermoelectric unit in the accommodating chamber so that the electrode is exposed to the outside of the accommodating chamber.

Preferably, it further comprises a step of electrically connecting the electrode of one thermoelectric unit and the electrode of the other thermoelectric unit by a lead wire outside the storage chamber.

Preferably, in the step of electrically connecting by the lead wire, one thermoelectric unit and the other thermoelectric unit are electrically connected by at least one connection form of series connection and parallel connection.

According to the present invention, the degree of freedom in circuit design in the thermoelectric module can be improved.

It is an assembly perspective view which illustrates the structure of the thermoelectric module 1 in this embodiment. It is an exploded perspective view which illustrates the structure of the thermoelectric module 1 in this embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the details of the structure of the thermoelectric unit 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is a flowchart explaining the manufacturing method (S10) of a thermoelectric module 1. It is a schematic diagram which illustrates the structure of the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the structure of the thermoelectric unit 20A, 20C, 20E, and 20G in FIG. It is a figure explaining the structure of the thermoelectric unit 20B, 20D, 20F, and 20H in FIG. It is a graph which shows the Peltier module characteristic of the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 1. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which illustrates the structure of the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 3. It is a schematic diagram which illustrates the structure of the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 4. It is a graph which shows the Peltier module characteristic of the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 5.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
FIG. 1 is an assembly perspective view illustrating the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the present embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the sealing material 30 of FIG. 2 is excluded.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the details of the configuration of the thermoelectric unit 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 3A illustrates the configuration of the thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20C, and FIG. 3B illustrates the configuration of the thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20C. , The configuration of the thermoelectric unit 20B and the thermoelectric unit 20D will be illustrated.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the thermoelectric module 1 has a substrate 10, a thermoelectric unit 20, a sealing material 30, a storage chamber 40, and a lead wire 50. The thermoelectric unit 20 and the sealing material 30 are provided between a set of two substrates 10 (a substrate 10A and a substrate 10B). The electrodes of the thermoelectric unit 20 are exposed to the outside of the region (accommodation chamber 40) sealed by the sealing material 30. Further, the plurality of arranged thermoelectric units 20 are electrically connected by lead wires 50 outside the region (accommodation chamber 40) sealed by the sealing material 30.

The substrate 10 is a metal flat plate having an insulating film on one surface, an insulating ceramic flat plate, or a synthetic resin flat plate. A material that can be molded with aluminum or copper in the case of a metal substrate, alumina or aluminum nitride in the case of a ceramic substrate, glass epoxy resin in the case of a synthetic resin substrate, etc., and has high thermal conductivity is used. The substrate 10 of this example is a metal flat plate, and an aluminum plate whose surface is anodized, an aluminum plate having an organic thin film or an oxide layer formed on the surface, or an organic thin film or an oxide layer formed on the surface. It is a copper plate. The insulating film provided on one surface of the substrate 10 is a film in which the substrate 10 and the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212 included in the thermoelectric unit 20 described later are electrically disconnected from each other. ..

The thermoelectric unit 20 is a unit of a thermoelectric element housed in a storage chamber 40 and includes a thermoelectric element 200. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the thermoelectric unit 20 is configured by linearly connecting the thermoelectric elements 200 in a line in the left-right direction, and a plurality of thermoelectric units 20 are provided side by side from the front side to the back side. The provided thermoelectric units 20A to 20D are not electrically connected to each other in the accommodation chamber 40. In this embodiment, the thermoelectric unit 20A, the thermoelectric unit 20B, the thermoelectric unit 20C, and the thermoelectric unit 20D are arranged in this order from the back side to the front side. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20D, they are simply referred to as the thermoelectric unit 20.
The thermoelectric unit 20 is a unit of a unireg type thermoelectric element in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements 200 are electrically connected in series. The thermoelectric unit 20 is configured by connecting only an n-type thermoelectric element or only a p-type thermoelectric element. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3 (A), the thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20C illustrated in FIG. 2 have substantially the same structure, and as illustrated in FIG. 3 (B), they are exemplified in FIG. The thermoelectric unit 20B and the thermoelectric unit 20D have substantially the same structure. The thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20C and the thermoelectric unit 20B and the thermoelectric unit 20D have a structure in which the thermoelectric unit 20A and the thermoelectric unit 20D are reversed left and right. That is, the plurality of thermoelectric units 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 are arranged so that their orientations are staggered from the back side to the front side. Hereinafter, the configurations of the thermoelectric units 20A and 20C illustrated in FIG. 3A will be referred to as pattern A, and the configurations of the thermoelectric units 20B and 20D exemplified in FIG. 3B will be referred to as pattern B.

The thermoelectric unit 20 illustrated in FIG. 3 has a thermoelectric element 200, a first electrode plate 210, and a second electrode plate 212.
The thermoelectric element 200 is an element in which a material that mutually converts heat and electric energy (hereinafter referred to as a thermoelectric material) is formed into a columnar shape. The thermoelectric element 200 may be a triangular prism, a quadrangular prism, or a pentagonal prism when it is a polygonal prism, but a quadrangular prism (for example, a rectangular parallelepiped or a cube) is preferable for efficient arrangement. The thermoelectric material used for the thermoelectric element 200 is, for example, a silicide-based thermoelectric material. Specifically, a thermoelectric material of magnesium silicide _(Mg 2 Si) system, more specifically MgSiSn alloy, or a thermoelectric material mainly composed of _Mg 2 Si alloy. Here, magnesium silicide has very high performance as an n-type thermoelectric conversion material, and is preferable for forming a uni-leg type element. The thermoelectric material used for the thermoelectric element 200 of this example is a material containing MgSiSn alloy as a main component. This thermoelectric material includes _{a matrix composed of Mg 2} Si and Mg O, pores formed in the matrix, and a silicon layer containing silicon as a main component attached to the wall surface of the pores. The matrix phase has two Si-rich phases (referred to as a first Si-rich phase and a second Si-rich phase) having different chemical compositions in the MgSiSn alloy. The first Sn-rich phase has a higher Sn composition ratio than the second Si-rich phase, and the second Si-rich phase has a higher Si composition ratio than the first Sn-rich phase. Further, the thermoelectric material contains MgO of 1.0 wt% or more and 20.0 wt% or less with respect to the weight of the thermoelectric material. Further, the silicon layer constituting the thermoelectric material is composed of amorphous Si or amorphous Si and microcrystalline Si.

The first electrode plate 210 is a thin metal electrode that is electrically connected to the thermoelectric element 200 located at the end of the plurality of thermoelectric elements 200 arranged in a row. As the material of the first electrode plate 210, materials such as stainless steel, nickel-iron alloy, copper / nickel alloy, phosphor bronze, and copper / iron alloy are used. The first electrode plate 210 of the present embodiment is a thin plate of SUS304 plated with tin. The first electrode plate 210 is connected to each of the thermoelectric elements 200A and 200D and is exposed to the outside of the accommodation chamber 40. That is, the first electrode plate 210 is connected to each of the thermoelectric units 20 and is exposed to the outside of the accommodation chamber 40. The first electrode plate 210 is an example of an electrode according to the present invention.
Further, solder, a conductive paste (for example, silver paste or copper paste) or a conductive adhesive is used for joining the first electrode plate 210 and the material (for example, the thermoelectric element 200 or the substrate 10). In this embodiment, solder is used for joining.

The second electrode plate 212 is a thin metal electrode in which two adjacent thermoelectric elements 200 are electrically connected in series among a plurality of thermoelectric elements arranged in a row. Similar to the first electrode plate 210, the second electrode plate 212 uses materials such as stainless steel, nickel-iron alloy, copper / nickel alloy, phosphor bronze, and copper / iron-based alloy. The second electrode plate 212 of the present embodiment is a thin plate of SUS304 plated with tin. The second electrode plate 212 electrically connects the top surface of one thermoelectric element 200 and the bottom surface of the other thermoelectric element 200 of the two adjacent thermoelectric elements 200. Solder, a conductive paste (for example, silver paste or copper paste) or a conductive adhesive is used for joining the second electrode plate 212 and the material (for example, the thermoelectric element 200 or the substrate 10). In this embodiment, solder is used for joining.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the sealing material 30 connects the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, and seals the thermoelectric element 200, a part of the first electrode plate 210, and the second electrode plate 212. .. The sealing material 30 of the present embodiment is sealed with an inert gas or a filler filled between the substrates 10A and the substrate 10B to form a storage chamber 40.
The storage chamber 40 is a sealing region formed by the substrate 10A, the substrate 10B, and the sealing material 30. The inside of the accommodation chamber 40 is filled with an inert gas and also contains a thermoelectric element 200. Further, the first electrode plate 210 of each thermoelectric unit 20 is exposed on the outside of the accommodation chamber 40.

The lead wire 50 is an example of a lead wire according to the present invention, and as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of thermoelectric units 20 arranged on the substrate 10B are electrically connected to another thermoelectric unit 20. It is a lead wire. The lead wire 50 of the present embodiment electrically connects the first electrode plates 210 of the thermoelectric units 20 to each other outside the region sealed by the sealing material 30. That is, the lead wire 50 electrically connects the first electrode plate 210 of one thermoelectric unit 20 and the first electrode plate 210 of the other thermoelectric unit 20.
As described above, the thermoelectric module 1 of the present embodiment has a plurality of thermoelectric modules 1 outside the region sealed by the sealing material 30 by projecting the first electrode plate 210 outside the region sealed by the sealing material 30. The structure is such that the thermoelectric units 20 of the above can be electrically connected to each other.

Next, a method of manufacturing the thermoelectric module 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing method (S10) of the thermoelectric module 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, in step 100 (S100), focusing on the pattern A illustrated in FIG. 3 (A), the manufacturer may describe the solder, silver paste, copper paste, or conductive adhesive ( Hereinafter, the thermoelectric elements 200A to 200D are joined in series via the second electrode plate 212 by using a joining member). The joining member is determined by the usage environment such as the temperature at which the module is used. Hereinafter, in this example, solder will be taken as a specific example. Next, the manufacturer joins the first electrode plate 210 to the top surface of the thermoelectric element 200A and the bottom surface of the thermoelectric element 200D, respectively. As a result, the manufacturer manufactures a row of thermoelectric element units 20.

In step 102 (S102), the manufacturer arranges and joins a plurality of manufactured thermoelectric units 20 on the substrate 10B by using a joining member (solder in this example) to integrally configure the plurality of thermoelectric units 20. The plurality of thermoelectric units 20 are not electrically connected to each other. In this way, by combining the thermoelectric unit 20 in which a plurality of thermoelectric elements 200 are unitized in advance, the time for arranging the thermoelectric element 200 on the substrate 10B can be shortened.

In step 104 (S104), the manufacturer joins the substrate 10A and the thermoelectric unit 20 using a joining member (solder in this example) so that the thermoelectric unit 20 is located between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B. .. Next, the manufacturer fills the inside of the region to be sealed while wrapping the thermoelectric unit 20 with the sealing material 30 and seals the thermoelectric unit 20 (manufacturing of the accommodation chamber 40). At this time, the plurality of thermoelectric units 20 are not electrically connected to each other in the accommodation chamber 40. That is, in the accommodation chamber 40, a plurality of thermoelectric units 20 are arranged in the accommodation chamber 40 so as not to be electrically connected to each other. Further, the first electrode plate 210 is exposed outside the accommodation chamber 40.

In step 106 (S106), the manufacturer connects the lead wire 50 to the first electrode plate 210 exposed to the outside of the region sealed by the sealing material 30, and electrically connects the thermoelectric units 20 to each other. The manufacturer electrically connects one thermoelectric unit 20 and the other thermoelectric unit 20 by at least one connection form of series connection and parallel connection.
As described above, according to this manufacturing method, the thermoelectric module 1 can be efficiently manufactured.

[Example 1]
Hereinafter, the thermoelectric module 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a illustrated example viewed from the upper surface side of the substrate A, and the substrate 10A is excluded for convenience of explanation.
6A and 6B are views for explaining the configurations of the thermoelectric units 20A, 20C, 20E, and 20G in FIG. 5, FIG. 6A is a view illustrating a side view, and FIG. 6B is an electric flow. It is a schematic diagram which shows.
7A and 7B are views for explaining the configurations of the thermoelectric units 20B, 20D, 20F, and 20H in FIG. 5, FIG. 7A is a view illustrating a side view, and FIG. 7B is an electric flow. It is a schematic diagram which shows.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the thermoelectric module 1 of the first embodiment, eight rows of thermoelectric units 20 are arranged on the substrate 10B, and eight rows of thermoelectric units 20 are electrically connected through lead wires 50 outside the accommodation chamber 40. Are connected in series. When it is not necessary to distinguish the thermoelectric units 20A to 20H, they are simply referred to as the thermoelectric unit 20. Eight thermoelectric elements 200 are linearly arranged in series in a row of thermoelectric units 20.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the thermoelectric unit 20 is a uni-leg type thermoelectric unit using an n-type thermoelectric element 200. When the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern A illustrated in FIG. 6 is used as a power generation unit, the substrate 10A is on the low temperature side, and the substrate 10B is on the high temperature side, the left side is the positive (+) pole and the right side is the negative (-). ) A polar electromotive force is generated. That is, the current flows from the left side to the right side. When the thermoelectric unit 20 is used as a Peltier unit and a voltage is applied with the left side as a positive (+) pole and the right side as a negative (−) pole, a current flows from the left side to the right side. That is, the substrate 10A is heated and the substrate 10B is cooled.
Further, the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern B illustrated in FIG. 7 has a configuration in which the thermoelectric unit 20 illustrated in FIG. 6 is reversed left and right. When the thermoelectric unit 20 is used as a power generation unit, the substrate 10A is on the low temperature side, and the substrate 10B is on the high temperature side, an electromotive force is generated in which the left side is the negative (-) pole and the right side is the positive (+) pole. .. That is, the current flows from the right side to the left side. When the thermoelectric unit 20 is used as a Peltier unit and a voltage is applied with the left side as a negative (−) pole and the right side as a positive (+) pole, a current flows from the right side to the left side. That is, the substrate 10A is heated and the substrate 10B is cooled.

The thermoelectric element 200 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 is an n-type thermoelectric element containing MgSiSn alloy as a main component, and is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped. The size of the thermoelectric element 200 is 2 mm in length × 2 mm in width × 4 mm in height.
For the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, a flat plate having a length of 40 mm, a width of 40 mm, and a thickness of 0.5 mm was produced by anodizing one side of an aluminum plate.
For the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212, a stainless steel plate (SUS304) having a thickness of 0.1 mm and tin plating on the entire surface was manufactured.
In this way, a row of thermoelectric units 20 was manufactured using the thermoelectric element 200, the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, and the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212. Then, the manufactured eight rows of thermoelectric units 20 were arranged on the substrate 10B and electrically connected in series outside the accommodation chamber 40 via the lead wires 50. As a result, a total of 64 thermoelectric elements 200 illustrated in FIG. 5 are connected in series.

(Experimental conditions)
A current of 1A to 2A was passed through the thermoelectric module 1 illustrated in FIG. 5, and the Peltier module characteristics were measured.
(Experimental result)
FIG. 8 is a graph showing the Peltier module characteristics of the thermoelectric module 1 in the first embodiment.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, when there is no temperature difference between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B (that is, the temperature difference is 0 ° C.), a heat absorption amount of 10 W to 15 W was obtained from the substrate 10A.
On the other hand, it was confirmed that when the temperature of the substrate 10A rises and a temperature difference occurs between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, heat is absorbed from the substrate 10B up to 13 ° C. when a current of 1A is passed. Further, it was confirmed that when a current of 2 A was passed, heat was absorbed from the substrate 10B up to 17 ° C.

[Example 2]
In the thermoelectric module 1 in the second embodiment, the number of arrangements of the thermoelectric units 20 of the thermoelectric module 1 in the first embodiment was increased, and 16 rows of thermoelectric units 20 were arranged on the substrate 10B. Then, outside the accommodation chamber 40, 16 rows of thermoelectric units 20 were electrically connected in series through lead wires 50. Similar to the thermoelectric module 1 of the first embodiment, eight thermoelectric elements 200 are linearly arranged in series in a row of thermoelectric units 20.
The thermoelectric element 200 is an n-type thermoelectric element containing MgSiSn alloy as a main component, and is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped. The size of the thermoelectric element 200 is 2 mm in length × 2 mm in width × 5 mm in height.
For the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, a flat plate having a length of 20 mm, a width of 20 mm, and a thickness of 1 mm was produced by anodizing one side of an aluminum plate.
The first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212 have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and a stainless steel plate (SUS304) having a thickness of 0.1 mm and tin plating on the entire surface was manufactured.
In this way, a row of thermoelectric units 20 was manufactured using the thermoelectric element 200, the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, and the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212. Then, the manufactured 16 rows of thermoelectric units 20 were arranged on the substrate 10B and electrically connected in series through the lead wires 50 outside the accommodation chamber 40. As a result, in the thermoelectric module 1 of the second embodiment, a total of 128 thermoelectric elements 200 are connected in series.

(Experimental conditions)
A current of 2 A was passed through the thermoelectric module 1 of this example, and the characteristics of the Peltier module were measured.
(Experimental result)
It was confirmed that a temperature difference of 17 ° C. was generated between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B when a current of 2A was passed.

[Example 3]
Next, the thermoelectric module 1 in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the third embodiment.
As illustrated in FIG. 9, in the thermoelectric module 1 in the third embodiment, ten rows of thermoelectric units 20 are arranged on the substrate 10B, and they are electrically connected in series by lead wires 50 outside the accommodation chamber 40. Has been done. When it is not necessary to distinguish the thermoelectric units 20A to 20J, they are simply referred to as the thermoelectric unit 20. Ten thermoelectric elements 200 are linearly arranged in a row of thermoelectric units 20.
The thermoelectric unit 20 is a uni-leg type thermoelectric unit using a p-type thermoelectric element 200. When the thermoelectric unit 20 using the p-type thermoelectric element 200 is used as a power generation unit, the positive and negative polarities are opposite to those of the thermoelectric unit 20 using the n-type thermoelectric element 200. Specifically, when the substrate 10A of the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern A illustrated in FIG. 6 of Example 1 is on the low temperature side and the substrate 10B is on the high temperature side, the positive and negative polarities are reversed, and the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern A The current flows from the right side to the left side. When a current is passed from the right side to the left side and the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern A is used as a Peltier unit, the substrate 10A is heated to the high temperature side, and the substrate 10B is cooled to the low temperature side.
Similarly, when the thermoelectric unit 20 using the p-type thermoelectric element 200 is used as the power generation unit, the substrate 10A of the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern B illustrated in FIG. 7 of Example 1 is set to the low temperature side, and the substrate 10B is used. When is set to the high temperature side, the positive and negative polarities are reversed, and the current flowing through the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern B flows from the left side to the right side. When a current is passed from the left side to the right side and the thermoelectric unit 20 of the pattern B is used as a Peltier unit, the substrate 10A is heated to the high temperature side, and the substrate 10B is cooled to the low temperature side.

The thermoelectric element 200 is a _{p-type thermoelectric element containing Bi 0.3} Sb _1.7 Te ₃ as a main component, and is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped. The size of the thermoelectric element 200 is 1.5 mm in length × 1.5 mm in width × 2 mm in height.
For the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, a flat plate having a length of 30 mm, a width of 30 mm, and a thickness of 0.5 mm was produced by anodizing one side of an aluminum plate.
For the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212, a stainless steel plate (SUS304) having a thickness of 0.1 mm and tin plating on the entire surface was manufactured.
In this way, a row of thermoelectric units 20 was manufactured using the thermoelectric element 200, the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, and the first electrode plate 210 and the second electrode plate 212. Then, the manufactured 10 rows of thermoelectric units 20 were arranged on the substrate 10B and electrically connected in series through the lead wires 50 outside the accommodation chamber 40. As a result, a total of 100 thermoelectric elements 200 illustrated in FIG. 9 are connected in series.

(Experimental conditions)
The substrate 10A of the thermoelectric module 1 illustrated in FIG. 9 was set to 100 ° C., and the substrate 10B was set to 20 ° C., and the generated power was measured.
(Experimental result)
The generated electromotive force was 1.2V, and the resistance value of the entire thermoelectric module 1 was 2.5Ω. From this result, it was confirmed that the electric power of about 0.3 W can be taken out by connecting the external resistance 2.5Ω to the thermoelectric module 1.

[Example 4]
Next, the thermoelectric module 1 in the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the fourth embodiment.
In the thermoelectric module 1 in the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the configuration of the thermoelectric module 1 in the third embodiment is simplified by omitting a part of the number of arrangements of the thermoelectric units 20 and the number of the thermoelectric elements 200. It is displayed in.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, the thermoelectric module 1 in the fourth embodiment is formed by connecting a part of the wiring of the thermoelectric module 1 in the third embodiment in parallel. In the wiring method in the thermoelectric module 1, the resistance of the thermoelectric module 1 can be reduced by using both the series connection and the parallel connection together. When the thermoelectric module 1 in the second embodiment has an external resistance, the resistance of the entire module can be appropriately selected, so that the maximum output from the thermoelectric module 1 can be obtained. Since the voltage generated in this case also changes, it is necessary to calculate the connection method in which the maximum output from the thermoelectric module 1 can be obtained. The maximum output from the thermoelectric module 1 can be obtained by calculating with a computer and wiring according to the result. This time, it was confirmed that a maximum output of 0.5 W can be obtained by using both series connection and parallel connection so that the total resistance of the thermoelectric module 1 becomes 1 Ω with respect to the external resistance of 1 Ω.

[Example 5]
Next, the thermoelectric module 1 in the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In Example 5, a current was passed through the thermoelectric module 1 in Example 3 and it was used as a Peltier module.
(Experimental conditions)
A current of 1A to 2A was passed through the thermoelectric module 1 illustrated in FIG. 9 in Example 3, and the Peltier module characteristics were measured.
(Experimental result)
FIG. 11 is a graph showing the Peltier module characteristics of the thermoelectric module 1 in the first embodiment.
As illustrated in FIG. 11, when there was no temperature difference between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B (that is, the temperature difference was 0 ° C.), a heat absorption amount of 14 W to 20 W was obtained from the substrate 10B.
On the other hand, it was confirmed that when the temperature of the substrate 10A rises and a temperature difference occurs between the substrate 10A and the substrate 10B, heat is absorbed from the substrate 10B up to 18 ° C. when a current of 1A is passed. Further, it was confirmed that when a current of 2 A was passed, heat was absorbed from the substrate 10B up to 24 ° C.
As described above, according to the thermoelectric module 1 having a uni-leg structure in Examples 1 to 5, it can be used as both a power generation module and a Peltier module.

As described above, according to the thermoelectric module 1 of the present embodiment, the maximum output can be obtained according to the internal resistance of the connected power source, rather than electrically connecting the thermoelectric units 20 to each other outside the accommodation chamber 40. Wiring can be performed while selecting the connection method so that it becomes a resistor.
Further, when the thermoelectric module 1 is used as a Peltier module, the cooling distribution can be performed in the module by selecting the electrode connection.

1 ... Thermoelectric module 10 ... Substrate 20 ... Thermoelectric unit 200 ... Thermoelectric element 210 ... 1st electrode plate 212 ... 2nd electrode plate 30 ... Encapsulant 40 ... Containment chamber 50 ... Lead wire

Claims (5)

Containment room and
A plurality of thermoelectric units housed in the storage chamber and containing a thermoelectric element, and
It has electrodes that are connected to each of the thermoelectric units and are exposed to the outside of the containment chamber.
The thermoelectric unit is a thermoelectric module that is not electrically connected to each other in the accommodation chamber. The thermoelectric module according to claim 1, further comprising a lead wire that electrically connects the electrode of one thermoelectric unit and the electrode of the other thermoelectric unit outside the accommodation chamber. A process of arranging a plurality of thermoelectric units including thermoelectric elements in the containment chamber so as not to electrically connect to each other in the containment chamber.
A method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module, which comprises a step of accommodating the thermoelectric unit in the accommodation chamber so that electrodes connected to each of the thermoelectric units are exposed to the outside of the accommodation chamber. The method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module according to claim 3, further comprising a step of electrically connecting the electrode of one thermoelectric unit and the electrode of the other thermoelectric unit by a lead wire outside the storage chamber. .. The fourth aspect of claim 4, wherein in the step of electrically connecting by the lead wire, one thermoelectric unit and the other thermoelectric unit are electrically connected by at least one connection form of series connection and parallel connection. Manufacturing method of thermoelectric module.

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