JP3467891B2 - Multi-stage electronic cooler - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-stage electronic cooler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique of this kind, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 10781 is known. The multi-stage electronic cooler disclosed in this publication is composed of a substrate formed of an insulator and a thermoelectric conversion element having a Peltier effect which is connected in a stepwise manner through the substrate. This is because the number of thermoelectric conversion elements is reduced and the size of the substrate is reduced from the lower stage to the upper stage.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned technique, the area of the substrate increases as it goes to the lower stage.
Since the heat-dissipating surface of the upper step is not in contact with the entire heat-absorbing surface of the second and subsequent steps from the top, the heat-absorbing surfaces of the steps other than the uppermost step are exposed, resulting in wasteful heat absorption and heat dissipation. The heat conduction between the surface and the heat absorbing surface is not performed efficiently.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the heat conduction loss generated in the substrate by making the sizes of the substrates uniform and making the number of thermoelectric conversion elements the same.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the means taken in the invention of claim 1 has a substrate formed of an insulator and a Peltier effect which is sequentially stacked and connected through the substrate. In a multi-stage electronic cooler consisting of thermoelectric conversion elements, the number of thermoelectric elements arranged in each stage is made equal, and the thermoelectric conversion elements are arranged from the heat absorbing side stage to the heat radiating side stage while making the sizes of the substrates uniform. That is, the amount of current supplied is increased successively.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, one power source is connected in parallel to a thermoelectric conversion element such that one power source is connected in parallel so as to be controlled by a current that increases by an integral multiple from the heat absorbing side stage to the heat radiating side stage. That is, the electric current is supplied.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned means of claim 1, when current is supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element, heat is radiated on one surface and heat absorption is started on the other surface. For example, in the thermoelectric conversion element located in the upper stage, the upper surface absorbs heat, and the lower surface absorbs heat by the upper surface in the next stage. In the thermoelectric conversion element in the next stage, heat is similarly absorbed by the heat absorption surface of the next thermoelectric conversion element. Further, since the size of the substrates arranged in each stage and the number of thermoelectric conversion elements are made equal, there is no part of the heat absorbing surface that does not contact the heat radiating surface, and heat absorption loss of the heat absorbing surface can be prevented. .
Further, the amount of heat absorbed by the heat absorbing surface that absorbs heat from the heat radiating surface needs to increase as it goes to the heat radiating side, but is supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element from the heat absorbing side to the heat radiating side. The Peltier effect of the thermoelectric conversion element can be improved by connecting in parallel so that the amount of current increases.

According to the means of claim 2, the current is supplied from one power source by connecting in parallel so as to be controlled by the current which increases by an integral multiple from the stage on the heat absorption side to the stage on the heat radiation side. In addition, since the voltage applied to the entire thermoelectric conversion element increases as it goes to the stage on the heat dissipation side, it is possible to improve the heat absorption efficiency of the heat absorption surface that absorbs heat from the heat dissipation surface.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a multi-stage electronic cooler 10, and FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram. As shown in the figure, the multi-stage electronic cooler 10 includes a first substrate made of, for example, copper on a substrate 11 made of a material such as alumina ceramic or aluminum nitride.
The electrode 12 is patterned by a known method such as etching. Further, one surface of the P-type and N-type semiconductors (thermoelectric elements) 13 is bonded onto the first electrode 12 by a method such as soldering. Also, the second electrode 14 is joined to the other surface of the P-type and N-type semiconductors 13 by a method such as soldering. At this time, the P-type and N-type semiconductors 13 are connected to the first electrode 1
2 and the second electrode 14 electrically connected in series,
The thermoelectric conversion element 15 is configured. In the present embodiment, the thermoelectric conversion element 15 has three stages as shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the first stage (uppermost stage), a circuit 17 is connected in parallel to an input electrode 16 connected to a power source (not shown).
Is supplied with current. The second stage is from the input electrode 16 to 2
Two circuits 18 are connected in parallel, and the thermoelectric conversion element 15 of the second stage is composed of two circuits 18 for the P-type and N-type semiconductor 1
Current is supplied to 3. Further, the circuits 19 of the input electrodes 16 to 4 are connected in parallel in the third stage, and the thermoelectric conversion element 15 in the third stage is composed of the four circuits 19 to form the P-type and N-type semiconductors 1.
Current is supplied to 3. On the lower surface of the third stage thermoelectric conversion element, cooling means such as a radiation fin (not shown) is provided.

In order to operate the multi-stage electronic cooler 10, electric power must be supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element 15. By connecting the input electrode 16 to the substrate 11 by soldering, a current can be passed through each thermoelectric conversion element 15. When a voltage is applied from the input electrode 16, the same voltage is applied to each circuit, but since one circuit 17 is connected in the first stage, 16 semiconductors 13 are electrically connected in series. As a result, heat absorption starts on the upper surface of the upper thermoelectric conversion element 15 and heat dissipation starts on the lower surface. Since two circuits 18 are connected in the second stage, eighteen semiconductors 13 are electrically connected in series, and the second stage thermoelectric conversion element 15 is the first stage thermoelectric conversion element. A double current will be supplied. As a result, the amount of heat absorbed on the upper surface of the second stage increases, and the heat radiating surface of the first stage can be cooled sufficiently. Since four circuits 19 are connected in the third stage, fourteen semiconductors 13 are electrically connected in fours, and the thermoelectric conversion element 15 in the third stage is more than the thermoelectric conversion element in the second stage. Double the current will be supplied. As a result, the amount of heat absorbed on the upper surface of the third tier increases, and the radiating surface of the second tier with the increased amount of heat radiation can be sufficiently cooled. Again 3
The lower surface of the step is sufficiently cooled by the aforementioned cooling means (not shown). Further, in order to improve the balance between heat absorption and heat dissipation and reduce loss, it is preferable to finely adjust by changing the aspect ratio (ratio between area and height) of the semiconductor in each stage. In this embodiment, the substrates are arranged on the uppermost surface and the lowermost surface of the multi-stage electronic cooler 10, but the same can be used when there is no substrate.

As described above, by making the size of the substrates 11 uniform and making the number of semiconductors 13 arranged in each step the same, there is no part of the heat absorbing surface that does not contact the heat radiating surface and heat absorption loss is prevented. can do. Further, in order to increase the amount of heat absorbed by the thermoelectric conversion element 15 located on the lower stage (heat radiation side), the amount of current flowing from the uppermost stage to the lower stage is increased, so that the heat radiation surface located on the upper stage is sufficiently An endotherm that can be cooled can be obtained.

[0013]

According to the multistage electronic cooler of the first aspect, when current is supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element, heat is radiated on one surface and heat absorption is started on the other surface. Since the size of the substrates and the number of thermoelectric conversion elements arranged in each stage are made equal, there is no part of the heat absorbing surface that does not contact the heat radiating surface, and heat absorption loss of the heat absorbing surface can be prevented. Also, the amount of heat absorbed by the heat-absorbing surface that absorbs heat from the heat-dissipating surface needs to increase as it goes to the heat-dissipating side, but is supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element from the heat-absorbing side to the heat-dissipating side. Since they are connected in parallel so as to increase the amount of current generated, it is possible to improve the Peltier effect of the thermoelectric conversion elements located in the stage on the heat radiation side than the stage on the heat absorption side.

According to the multi-stage electronic cooler of the second aspect, by connecting in parallel so as to be controlled by the current that increases by an integral multiple from the heat absorbing side stage to the heat radiating side stage, the current is supplied by one power source. Since the voltage can be supplied and the voltage applied to the entire thermoelectric conversion element increases as it goes to the lower stage, the heat absorption efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion element located at the lower stage can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a multi-stage electronic cooler according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of a multi-stage electronic cooler according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of sign]

10 ... Multi-stage electronic cooler 11 ... Substrate 13 ... P-type and N-type semiconductors (thermoelectric elements) 15 ... Thermoelectric conversion element

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A multi-stage electronic cooler comprising a substrate formed of an insulator and a thermoelectric conversion element which has a Peltier effect and is sequentially stacked and connected via the substrate. A multi-stage electronic cooler characterized in that the number of thermoelectric elements arranged in each stage is made equal, and the amount of current supplied to the thermoelectric conversion elements is increased sequentially from the stage on the heat absorption side to the stage on the heat radiation side. 2. A single power source is connected in parallel so as to be controlled by a current that increases by an integral multiple from the heat absorption side stage to the heat radiation side stage, and the current is supplied to the thermoelectric conversion element. The multi-stage electronic cooler according to claim 1.