JPH0555639A - Thermoelectric device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an aging change due to the crack or the peeling of a semiconductor to be used for an electronic thermoelectric device and to suppress decreases in heat exchange capacity and efficiency due to a heat flow in a board. CONSTITUTION:A P-type semiconductor 12, a conductor 13, an N-type semiconductor 14 and a conductor 15 are formed on one side surface of an insulation film board 11. Corrugated fins 16 are disposed at the upper side of the board 11 in contact with the conductor 13. Corrugated fins 17 are arranged at the opposite side of the board 11 to the fins 16. The fins 17 are disposed under the conductor 15, and thermally connected through the film 11. The wedge- shaped P-type semiconductor 12, the conductor 14 and the conductors 13, 15 are laminated at the ends. With the structure, a heat flow flowing in the board is suppressed or shut OFF to improve heat exchange capacity and efficiency, and a thermoelectric device having a small aging change can be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention utilizes the Peltier effect,
The present invention relates to a thermoelectric device useful for an air conditioner that electrically cools or heats, or a power generator that uses the temperature difference due to the Seebeck effect to generate electricity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, a thermoelectric device for converting heat into electricity or converting electricity into heat has corrugated fins for heat radiation on both sides of a thermoelectric element and has corrugated fins on both sides. Power is generated according to the temperature difference between the two, or cooling is performed by passing an electric current. The cooling by the Peltier effect will be described below.

An N-type semiconductor 42, a conductor 43, a P-type semiconductor 44, and a conductor 43 are sequentially formed on one surface of an insulating film substrate 41. The two corrugated fins 45 are located on both sides of the film substrate 41, and are arranged such that every other conductor 43 is in contact with a different conductor 43. The N-type semiconductor 42, the conductor 43, and the P-type semiconductor 44 have a structure in which their respective end portions are overlapped with each other.
The current flowing into the thermoelectric device generates or absorbs heat at the interface between the N-type semiconductor 42, the P-type semiconductor 44 and the conductor 43 due to the Peltier effect. At this time, since the N-type semiconductors 42 and the P-type semiconductors 44 are alternately arranged, the conductors 43 alternately serve as heat generating portions or heat absorbing portions, and as described above, the conductors 4 are used.
One of the corrugated fins 45 that comes into contact with every other three of the corrugated fins 3 serves as a heat-producing fin and the other serves as a heat-absorbing fin. Therefore, the heat is absorbed from the air above the film 41 (or the heat is dissipated into the air), and the heat is dissipated into the air below the film 41 (or the heat is absorbed from the air).

[0004]

However, in such a conventional thermoelectric device, (1) due to the temperature difference between both ends of the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor, heat flows through the film substrate 41 to the heat absorbing side, Capacity and conversion efficiency are reduced. (2) The film thickness of the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor depends on the film formation method, but is generally thinner than the conductor portion, and the thermoelectric material is relatively fragile. Insufficient mechanical strength and adhesion strength with the conductor, such as cracks in the semiconductor part or peeling between the conductor part during the production process and use process, increased resistance and performance deterioration. there were.

The present invention is intended to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a thermoelectric device having improved conversion capability and conversion efficiency and having little secular change.

[0006]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides an insulating film substrate and a plurality of sets of N-type semiconductors whose ends are in thermal contact with each other in the plane direction on the insulating film substrate. A first conductor, a P-type semiconductor, and a second conductor, first heat exchange means located on one side of the film substrate and in thermal contact with the first conductor, and the film substrate. A second heat exchanging means which is located on the other side of the semiconductor and is in thermal contact with the second conductor, and the shape of the semiconductor in the plane direction is a wedge shape or an uneven shape.

Further, an insulating substrate, a plurality of insulators having a trapezoidal cross-section having a small thermal conductivity and having a constant interval in the plane direction, and N-type semiconductors P each located around both ends of the insulator, P Type semiconductor, an N-type semiconductor on the same insulator, a first conductor that makes electrical contact with a P-type semiconductor, and a second conductor that makes electrical contact between N-type semiconductor and a P-type semiconductor of adjacent insulators
Of the conductor, a second insulating substrate that is in thermal contact with the first conductor, a first heat exchange unit that is in thermal contact with the insulating substrate, and the second insulating substrate. It is provided with a second heat exchange means that is in thermal contact with.

Further, a first insulating substrate, a first conductor having a constant distance in the plane direction, and an N-type semiconductor and a P-type semiconductor located at the end of the first conductor, respectively. A second insulating substrate having a plurality of second conductors whose end portions are located above the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor of the different first conductors of the first insulating substrate; The first heat exchanging means is in thermal contact with the first insulating substrate, and the second heat exchanging means is in thermal contact with the second insulating substrate.

[0009]

In the conventional thermoelectric device, the force applied to the semiconductor portion is supported by the semiconductor portion and the insulating substrate.
Therefore, it is necessary to increase either thickness in order to increase the mechanical strength. However, if the thickness of the semiconductor thin film is increased, the time required for film formation increases and the cost increases. On the other hand, when the thickness of the substrate is increased, the temperature difference generated at both ends of the semiconductor increases the heat flow flowing to the cooling side through the substrate and reduces the cooling capacity.

Since cracks and peeling of the semiconductor portion are often caused by a bending moment, in order to increase the mechanical strength while suppressing an increase in heat flow, the rigidity can be improved by changing the shape of the conductor in the plane direction. Can be increased. Further, strength can be improved by using an insulator having a thermal conductivity smaller than that of the substrate member. Further, strength can be improved by supporting the bending moment not by the thickness of the thin film but by the surface.

With this configuration, it is possible to improve the capacity and efficiency of the thermoelectric device and reduce the secular change.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a thermoelectric device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a P-type semiconductor 12, a conductor 13, an N-type semiconductor 14, and a conductor 15 are sequentially formed on one surface of the insulating film substrate 11. The corrugated fin 16 is located on the upper side of the film substrate 11 and is installed so as to be in contact with the conductor 13. On the other hand, the corrugated fins 17 are located on the opposite side of the corrugated fins 16 with respect to the insulating film substrate 11. The corrugated fin 17 is located below the conductor 15 and is installed so as to be in thermal contact with the film substrate 11. The P-type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14 and the conductors 13 and 15 have a structure in which their respective end portions are overlapped with each other, and the electric resistance and thermal resistance of the contact portion do not increase.
The P-type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14 have a wedge-shaped structure in the depth direction. Therefore, the rigidity against bending is improved.

When used as a cooling device, a current is passed through the P-type semiconductor 12, the N-type semiconductor 14 and the conductors 13 and 15 in parallel with the insulating film substrate 11. As a result, the P-type semiconductor 12, the N-type semiconductor 14 and the conductors 13, 1
At the interface of No. 5, heat generation or heat absorption occurs due to the Peltier effect. At this time, due to the temperature difference between the end faces of the P-type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14, a heat flow is generated in the film substrate 11, and the cooling capacity is reduced. However, in this embodiment, P
Since the type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14 have the wedge-shaped structure, the rigidity of the semiconductor portion is improved, and the film substrate 11 can be made thinner than before. Therefore, the heat flow in the film substrate 11 decreases and the amount of heat absorption increases. When the current flows in the direction shown in FIG. 1, the right interface of the P-type semiconductor 12 absorbs heat and the left interface thereof generates heat. Therefore, the corrugated fins 16 in contact with the conductor 13 serve as a heat absorbing portion. On the other hand, the corrugated fin 17 serves as a heat generating portion. Therefore, a heat pump is formed that radiates heat to the air below the insulating film substrate 11 and cools the air above.

When used as a power generator, the air contacting the corrugated fins 16 and 17 has a temperature difference. As a result, both ends of the P-type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14 are at high temperature and low temperature, and electromotive force can be generated by the Seebeck effect.

Although the P-type semiconductor 12 and the N-type semiconductor 14 are wedge-shaped in this embodiment, any shape may be used as long as the structure increases rigidity. For example, the same effect can be obtained with an uneven shape or a wavy shape.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a thermoelectric device which suppresses the reduction in performance and efficiency due to the heat flow of the substrate and has little secular change.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a thermoelectric device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. On one surface of the insulating substrate 21, insulators 22 having a low thermal conductivity are arranged at regular intervals. The insulator 22 has a trapezoidal cross section, and a P-type semiconductor 23 and an N-type semiconductor 24 are formed on the tapered portions on both sides of the insulator 22. Further, conductors 25 and 26 are formed between the P-type semiconductor 23 and the N-type semiconductor 24. P-type semiconductor 2
3. The N-type semiconductor 24 and the conductors 25 and 26 have a structure in which their end portions are in contact with each other, and the electric resistance and thermal resistance of the contact portion do not increase. In addition, an insulating substrate 27 is located above the conductor 26,
Is in thermal contact with.

When used as a cooling device, an electric current is applied to the semiconductor and the conductor along the insulating substrate 21. Due to this current, the P-type semiconductor 23, the N-type semiconductor 24 and the conductor 2
At the interface between 5 and 26, heat generation or heat absorption occurs due to the Peltier effect. At this time, the heat generation or heat absorption effect generated in the conductors 25 and 26 is directly generated from the conductors 25 and 26, or
Insulating substrate 2 via P-type semiconductor 23 and N-type semiconductor 24
1 and 27 respectively. Conductors 25, 26
Since the film thickness is small, there is almost no thermal resistance and heat is transferred to the insulating substrate 21 or 27. Further, since the insulator 22 has extremely low thermal conductivity, the heat flow flowing through the insulator 22 is small. Note that the insulator 22 is made of, for example, a material having a porous structure in order to improve thermal insulation.

Further, in this embodiment, since the insulating substrate 21 is not in contact with the conductor 26, the temperature inside the insulating substrate 21 is substantially uniform, and the heat absorption does not decrease due to the heat flow. Therefore, even if the insulating substrates 21 and 27 are made thick to increase the mechanical strength, the amount of heat absorption does not decrease. Further, since the insulating substrates 21 and 27 are fixed to the insulator 22 by a surface, the mechanical strength in the vertical direction is large.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the insulating substrate 2
By providing heat exchange means of arbitrary shape on both sides of 1, 27, it is possible to form a heat pump that absorbs heat from one fluid and pumps heat to the other fluid.

When used as a power generator, the insulating substrates 21 and 27 are provided with a temperature difference so that both ends of the P-type semiconductor 23 and the N-type semiconductor 24 become high temperature and low temperature, and an electromotive force is generated by the Seebeck effect. be able to.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the heat flow flowing through the insulating substrate is suppressed, it is possible to suppress a decrease in heat exchange capacity and efficiency, and to provide a thermoelectric device with little secular change. it can.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a thermoelectric device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the conductors 32 are provided on one surface of the insulating substrate 31 at regular intervals. The conductor 32 has a trapezoidal cross section, and a P-type semiconductor 33 and an N-type semiconductor 34 are formed in the vicinity of the tapered portions on both sides of the conductor 32. On the other hand, the insulating substrate 35 and the conductor 3 having the same structures as the insulating substrate 31 and the conductor 32, respectively.
6 is positioned above the P-type semiconductor 33 and the N-type semiconductor 34, and both ends of the conductor 36 are fixed in a surface contact manner with the P-type semiconductor 33 and the N-type semiconductor 34 located at both ends of the adjacent conductor 32. Has been done.

When used as a cooling device, an electric current is applied to the semiconductor and the conductor along the insulating substrate 31. At this time, the current is the conductor 32, the P-type semiconductor 33, the conductor 36,
The N-type semiconductor 34 flows in this order, and heat or heat is generated at each interface by the Peltier effect, and the heat is transferred to the insulating substrates 31 and 35 via the conductors 32 and 36, respectively.
Since the conductors 32 and 35 have small film thicknesses, they have almost no thermal resistance and heat is transferred to the insulating substrate 31 or 35.
In the thermoelectric device according to the present invention, insulating substrates 31 and 35 are used.
Are in contact with only one of the conductors 32 or 36, the temperatures in the insulating substrates 31 and 35 are substantially uniform, and the heat absorption does not decrease. Therefore, in order to increase the mechanical strength, the insulating substrate 3
Even if 1 and 35 are thickened, the endothermic amount does not decrease. Further, since the insulating substrates 31 and 35 are fixed to the P-type semiconductor 33 and the N-type semiconductor 34 on their respective surfaces, the mechanical strength in the vertical direction is large. Although not shown in FIG. 3, by providing heat exchange means of arbitrary shape on both sides of the insulating substrates 31 and 35, it is possible to form a heat pump that absorbs heat from one fluid and pumps heat to the other fluid. ..

When this device is used as a power generator, a temperature difference is created between the insulating substrates 31 and 35, so that both ends of the semiconductors 33 and 34 become high temperature and low temperature, and electromotive force is generated by the Seebeck effect. it can.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a thermoelectric device which suppresses a decrease in heat exchange capacity and efficiency due to the heat flow of the substrate and has little secular change.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, in the thermoelectric device of the present invention, as a first means, an insulating film substrate and end portions of the insulating film substrate in the plane direction are formed. A plurality of sets of N-type semiconductor, a first conductor, a P-type semiconductor and a second conductor that are in thermal contact with the first conductor, which is located on one of the film substrates and is in thermal contact with the first conductor. And a second heat exchange means located on the other side of the film substrate and in thermal contact with the second conductor, and the semiconductor has a wedge shape or an uneven shape in the surface direction.

As a second means, an insulating substrate,
A plurality of trapezoidal cross-sectional insulators having a small thermal conductivity and arranged at regular intervals in the surface direction of the insulating substrate, and N-type semiconductors and P-type semiconductors located around both ends of the insulators. A first conductor that electrically contacts the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor on the same insulator, and a second conductor that electrically contacts the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor on the adjacent insulator. A second insulating substrate in thermal contact with the first conductor, a first heat exchanging means in thermal contact with the insulating substrate, and a second insulative substrate in thermal contact with the second insulating substrate. 2 heat exchange means.

As a third means, the first insulative substrate, the first conductor disposed at a constant distance in the surface direction of the first insulative substrate, and the first electrically conductive substrate. N-type semiconductors and P-type semiconductors respectively located at the ends of the body, and a plurality of first-type N-type semiconductors and P-type semiconductors whose ends are different from the first conductor of the first insulating substrate. A second insulating substrate having a second conductor, first heat exchanging means that makes thermal contact with the first insulating substrate, and second heat exchanging member that makes thermal contact with the second insulating substrate. Heat exchange means.

With this configuration, it is possible to suppress or block the heat flow flowing through the substrate, improve the heat exchange capacity and efficiency, and provide a thermoelectric device with little secular change.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermoelectric device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a thermoelectric device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of essential parts of a thermoelectric device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional thermoelectric device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12, 23, 33, 42 P-type semiconductor 14, 24, 34, 44 N-type semiconductor 11, 41 Insulating film substrate 21, 27, 31, 35 Insulating substrate 13, 15, 25, 26, 32, 35 Conductor 22 Insulator

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Nakagiri 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An insulating film substrate, and a plurality of sets of N whose ends are in thermal contact with each other in a plane direction on the insulating film substrate.
-Type semiconductor, a first conductor, a P-type semiconductor and a second conductor, a first heat exchange means located on one side of the film substrate and in thermal contact with the first conductor, and the film. A thermoelectric device comprising a second heat exchange unit located on the other side of the substrate and in thermal contact with the second conductor, wherein the shape of the semiconductor in the surface direction is a wedge shape or an uneven shape. 2. An insulating substrate, a plurality of insulators having a trapezoidal cross section having a small thermal conductivity, which are arranged at regular intervals in the surface direction of the insulating substrate, and are located around both ends of the insulator. The N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor are electrically connected to the N-type semiconductor on the same insulator, the first conductor electrically contacting the P-type semiconductor, and the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor of the adjacent insulator. A second conductor in contact, a second insulating substrate in thermal contact with the first conductor, a first heat exchange means in thermal contact with the insulative substrate, and the second A thermoelectric device comprising a second heat exchange means which is in thermal contact with the insulating substrate. 3. A first insulative substrate, a first conductor disposed at a constant interval in the surface direction of the first insulative substrate, and each of which is located at an end of the first conductor. N-type semiconductor,
A second insulation comprising a P-type semiconductor and a plurality of second conductors located on top of the N-type semiconductor and the P-type semiconductor of the first conductor whose ends are different from each other on the first insulating substrate. A thermoelectric device comprising a conductive substrate, a first heat exchange unit that is in thermal contact with the first insulating substrate, and a second heat exchange unit that is in thermal contact with the second insulating substrate.