JP6802450B2 - Absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module, defroster and snow melting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heat absorbing / radiating semiconductor module, and an absorbing / radiating semiconductor device, a defrosting device, and a snow melting device configured by using the semiconductor module.

As an example of the prior art relating to a thawing device, the following patent document states that in a thawing device for thawing frozen foodstuffs, fin-shaped protrusions are provided on the back surface of a thawing plate supported by a case, and the outside of the case is provided there. It is described that air is forcibly supplied to promote the conduction of heat from the thaw plate to the food.

JP-A-2015-202092

However, the defroster described in the patent document is enlarged because it is provided with a blower for sucking air from the outside of the device and sending it to the back surface side of the thaw plate, a case serving as an air passage, and the like. There was a problem such as the need for a power supply to operate. The present invention has been made focusing on such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module that operates without an external power source, and a defrosting device and a snow melting device as its application products.

In the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module according to the present invention, P and N semiconductors are alternately connected in series by conductive connecting members to form an internal circuit, the ends of the internal circuits are connected, and the conductive connecting members are alternately connected to the front side. The front side of the internal circuit, which is joined to the insulating layer and the backside insulating layer,
The back surface is covered with the front-side insulating layer and the back-side insulating layer .
A diode element is interposed at the end of the internal circuit so that the front-side insulating layer has a heat-dissipating action and the back-side insulating layer has an endothermic action .
An electric heater may be arranged outside the backside insulating layer, and the electric heater may be interposed at the end of the internal circuit.
The absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor device according to the present invention is formed by aligning two or more of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor modules and stacking them one above the other.
The defrosting device according to the present invention includes the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module.
The snow melting device according to the present invention includes the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module.

When a temperature difference is applied between the front surface and the back surface, the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module according to the present invention operates without an external power source or the like because a current spontaneously flows through the internal circuit due to the Seebeck effect. Therefore, application products of this semiconductor module such as a defrosting device and a snow melting device can be easily and compactly configured.

It is an exploded view of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module which is an example of an embodiment. It is a front view of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module shown in FIG. (A) and (b) are both perspective views of an absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor device in which a plurality of the semiconductor modules are laminated. It is an exploded view of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module which is another example of an embodiment. It is a front view of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module as an example of an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module.

The semiconductor module 1 has a flat panel shape, and its front surface and back surface are a front surface insulating layer 10 and a back surface insulating layer 11, respectively. Between the front surface insulating layer 10 and the back surface insulating layer 11, P and N semiconductors 12 and 13 are alternately connected in series by conductive connecting members 14 to form an internal circuit. The end of the internal circuit is connected to form a loop-shaped closed circuit. The conductive connecting member 14 is, for example, a metal piece or the like, and these are alternately joined to the front-side insulating layer 10 and the back-side insulating layer 11, so that the front-side insulating layer 10 and the back-side insulating layer are insulated on the front and back surfaces of the internal circuit. It is configured to cover the layer 11. As will be described later, in the semiconductor module 1 having such a basic configuration, when a temperature difference is applied between the front surface and the back surface, a current flows through this internal circuit due to the Seebeck effect, so that the semiconductor module 1 is spontaneous without an external power supply. Works on. Moreover, no special control circuit or the like is required. Therefore, for example, an applied product of the semiconductor module 1 such as a defrosting device can be easily and compactly configured.

The front surface insulating layer 10 and the back surface insulating layer 11 are made of ceramic such as alumina. Further, the entire outer surface of the semiconductor module 1 or the entire outer peripheral surface including the gap between the front surface insulating layer 10 and the back surface insulating layer 11 may be waterproofed with a resin or the like.

The semiconductors 12 and 13 all have a minute rectangular parallelepiped shape. The internal circuit connects all semiconductors 12 and 13 in series by a path that can be written in one stroke without intersecting in the middle. An example of such a route is shown by a broken line. At each connection point of the series connection, the semiconductors 12 and 13 are electrically connected via the conductive connecting member 14, and the conductive connecting member 14 is joined to the front surface insulating layer 10 or the back surface insulating layer 11. This bonding is based on a method in which good heat conduction is achieved between the conductive connecting member 14 and the front surface insulating layer 10 or the back surface insulating layer 11.

As described above, when a temperature difference is applied between the front surface and the back surface of the semiconductor module 1, electromotive force is generated in each of the semiconductors 12 and 13 due to the Seebeck effect, and a spontaneous current flows in the internal circuit.

The above action will be described in more detail. When a temperature difference is given to the upper and lower ends of the semiconductors 12 and 13, a large number of carriers are generated in the high temperature portion of each of the semiconductors 12 and 13, and a phenomenon occurs in which the carriers diffuse to the low temperature portion. The carriers of the semiconductor 12 are holes, and the carriers of the semiconductor 13 are electrons. Therefore, a current flows from the semiconductor 12 to the semiconductor 13 at the connection point on the low temperature side, and a current flows from the semiconductor 13 to the semiconductor 12 at the connection point on the high temperature side. At the same time, energy is absorbed when carriers are generated in the high temperature portion, and the energy is released when the carriers disappear in the low temperature portion. That is, when a temperature difference is applied between the front surface and the back surface of the semiconductor module 1, a current flows through the internal circuit composed of the semiconductors 12 and 13, and heat is absorbed by the surface on the high temperature side and the heat is absorbed by the surface on the low temperature side. It has a unique endothermic / heat dissipation effect of dissipating heat.

As an application of the semiconductor module 1 utilizing the peculiar absorption / heat dissipation action as described above, for example, a thawing device for thawing frozen food can be considered. Specifically, a defrosting device composed of the semiconductor module 1 is set on a table, and food or the like to be defrosted is placed on the surface thereof. Then, the absorption / heat dissipation action is generated in the thawing device, and thawing of foods and the like is promoted (thawing can be performed faster than natural thawing). It should be noted here that the semiconductor module 1 does not require an external power supply or special control. Further, when the food is thawed, the absorption / heat dissipation action is stopped spontaneously, so that the food does not become hot.

3 (a) and 3 (b) are both perspective views of an absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor device in which a plurality of the semiconductor modules are laminated. There is no particular limitation on the number of semiconductor modules 1 constituting the semiconductor device 2. Further, the entire outer surface or the entire outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor device 2 may be waterproofed with a resin or the like.

If a plurality of semiconductor modules 1 are stacked as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, each of the semiconductor modules 1 shares the temperature difference between the front surface and the back surface of the semiconductor device 2. Since the above-mentioned absorption / dissipation action has an optimum range for the temperature difference that is the premise, it is very effective to adjust the temperature difference carried by each of the semiconductor modules 1 depending on the usage environment of the semiconductor device 2. ..

In the example shown in FIG. 3A, a plurality of the semiconductor modules are stacked. It is advisable to bond the modules with an adhesive or the like so as not to include air bubbles there. In this configuration, since the semiconductor modules 1 are laminated as they are, there is an effect that the manufacturing is easy.

In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the front surface insulating layer 10 and the back surface insulating layer 11 of the semiconductor module 1 arranged in the intermediate portion are shared with the modules adjacent to the upper and lower surfaces thereof. In this configuration, since the number of the insulating layers 10 and 11 is reduced, there is an effect that the absorption / heat dissipation action becomes quick. However, manufacturing is considered to be more difficult than described above.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a semiconductor module as another example of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the semiconductor module.
In this example, a diode element 15 and an electric heater 16 are interposed at the end of an internal circuit formed by alternately connecting two types of semiconductors 12 and 13 in series. The diode element 15 is a chip type as an example, and its anode and cathode terminals are connected to the conductive connecting member 14. The diode element 15 regulates the current direction of the internal circuit so that the connection point bonded to the front surface insulating layer 10 has a heat dissipation effect and the connection point bonded to the back surface insulating layer 11 has an endothermic effect. Is aimed at. The diode element 15 may not be arranged between the front surface insulating layer 10 and the back surface insulating layer 11 but may be arranged outside.
The electric heating body 16 is arranged so as to spread over the entire outer surface of the back surface insulating layer 11. Specifically, the conductive wire 18 connected to the conductive connecting member 14 is derived from the notch or hole 11a formed at the edge of the back surface insulating layer 11, and the electric heating body 16 is connected to the conductive wire 18. It spreads over the entire outer surface of the back surface insulating layer 11 (see the alternate long and short dash line). The electric heating body 16 may be a pattern formed in advance with a nichrome wire or the like attached to the back surface insulating layer 11, or may be printed and formed on the back surface insulating layer 11 with a conductive paint or the like.
Further, the heat insulating layer 17 is formed so as to cover the entire back surface insulating layer 11 on which the electric heating body 16 is arranged. The heat insulating layer 17 is for preventing the heat generated by the electric heating body 16 from escaping to the outside. The material of the heat insulating layer 17 is not particularly limited. For example, Styrofoam or the like may be used as the heat insulating layer 17. The entire outer surface or the entire outer peripheral surface of the semiconductor module 1 may be further waterproofed with a resin or the like.

Since the diode element 15 is inserted in the internal circuit of the semiconductor module 1, the current due to the Seebeck effect is allowed only when the front surface is low temperature and the back surface is high temperature. This current causes the electric heating body 16 to generate heat, and the heat is absorbed from the back surface side of the semiconductor module 1 and dissipated from the front surface. That is, in the present embodiment, the semiconductor module 1 operates reliably even when the temperature difference between the front surface and the back surface is small. The diode element 15 has an object of preventing a situation in which the entire semiconductor module 1 becomes hot due to the heat generated by the electric heating body 16 when heat is applied to the surface of the diode element 15.

As a preferable application of the semiconductor module 1 of the present embodiment, for example, a snow melting device (snow melting tile) can be considered. Specifically, the semiconductor module 1 may be incorporated on the surface side of the snow melting device. Then, even when the temperature is low, the effect of melting the snow accumulated on the snow melting device without an external power source can be obtained. The semiconductor module 1 can of course be applied to a defrosting device.

1 Absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module 10 Front surface insulation layer 11 Back surface insulation layer 12, 13 P, N semiconductor 14 Conductive connection member 15 Diode element 16 Electric heater

Claims (5)

P and N semiconductors are alternately connected in series with conductive connecting members to form an internal circuit, the ends of the internal circuit are connected, and the conductive connecting members are alternately joined to the front side insulating layer and the back side insulating layer. In this way, the front and back surfaces of the internal circuit are covered with the front-side insulating layer and the back-side insulating layer .
An endothermic / heat-dissipating semiconductor module in which a diode element is interposed at the end of the internal circuit so that the front-side insulating layer has a heat-dissipating action and the back-side insulating layer has a heat-absorbing action. The absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module according to claim 1, wherein an electric heating element is arranged outside the backside insulating layer, and the electric heating element is interposed at the end of the internal circuit. An absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor device in which two or more absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor modules according to claim 1 are aligned and laminated one above the other. A defrosting device including the absorption / heat dissipation semiconductor module according to claim 1 or 2. A snow melting device including the heat absorbing / radiating semiconductor module according to claim 2.

Images