JPH08288558A - Thermoelectric converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a thermoelectric converter of a constitution wherein a reduction in the number of components constituting the converter is contrived, the mountability of the converter is improved and for example, the converter is used for an electronic refrigeration device and the like. CONSTITUTION: A thermoelectric converter is formed into a constitution wherein the thermoelectric converter has groups of thermionic elements, which are respectively constituted by providing N-type semiconductor thermionic elements 14 and P-type semiconductor thermionic elements 15 alternately and in a series manner, and electrode plates 16 and 17, which are respectively adjacent to the elements 14 and the elements 15 and are respectively provided with the elements 14 and the elements 15 in a series manner, and is provided with many groups of plates 11 and 12, 21 and 22 and 31 and 32 for heat exchange, which are alternately mounted to the ends of the plates 17 and 16. Moreover, one sheet of a corrugated fin 41, which is used as a heat conduction means, is bridged over and extended between the many groups of the plates 11, 12... for heat exchange, which are respectively bonded with these electrodes 15 and the other electrodes 14 and are provided in opposition to each other, in the arrangement direction of the thermionic elements, is electrically insulation-bonded to the plates and a multitude of units, which respectively consist of three heat exchangers 10, 20 and 30, are laminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermoelectric converter which constitutes an electronic refrigerating apparatus or the like using a thermoelectric conversion element made of a predetermined semiconductor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a thermoelectric converter that constitutes an electronic refrigerating apparatus or the like, a thermoelectric conversion element composed of an N-type semiconductor or a P-type semiconductor has been adopted. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-63244, which has already been filed and published, shows in detail the basic configuration of such a conventional thermoelectric conversion device.

As an example of a conventional technique used as a heat exchanger, there is an electronic refrigerator. However, in this conventional structure, it is necessary to increase the number of these elements in order to increase the capacity of the entire device because one heat exchanger is required for each element. As a result, the number of required parts also increases, and as a result, the assembling property of the device itself is significantly deteriorated. In addition, when the number of elements is increased, the size of the device becomes extremely large in the stacking direction of the units forming the device.

Therefore, as the plurality of thermoelectric converters become smaller and more efficient, there is a tendency to desire the work steps for assembling the device itself and the reduction of the time required. Therefore, there has been a demand to reduce the number of components of the thermoelectric converter without impairing the basic performance such as the desired heat exchange efficiency.

[0005]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the conventional thermoelectric converter as described above.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts constituting the thermoelectric converter, and to improve the assembling property by improving the shape of the parts, for example, a thermoelectric converter used in an electronic refrigerating device or the like. To provide.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention takes the following means. That is, in the thermoelectric converter of the present invention, with respect to the increase in the number of parts accompanying the increase in capacity, attention is paid to the state in which a plurality of electronic refrigerators are arranged in parallel, This is a structure that passes the corrugated fins. For example, for one of the three heat exchangers, one corrugated fin is bridged between the plates for heat exchange to be shared.

Specifically, a plurality of electronic refrigerators are arranged in a row and a plurality of different types of thermoelectric elements are alternately and serially arranged, and a thermoelectric element group adjacent to each other and the thermoelectric elements , A heat exchange means having an electrode plate arranged in series at its end is provided, and between the plurality of sets of heat exchange means arranged facing each other, the thermoelectric elements being joined, One corrugated fin extends in the arrangement direction of the thermoelectric elements, and is electrically insulated and joined by an insulating adhesive to form a heat exchange unit.

Further, a plurality of sets of the heat exchange units are electrically connected in series via the electrodes to constitute an electronic refrigerating apparatus. Further, a vacuum heat insulating material serving as heat insulating means is inserted and filled in the gap between the thermoelectric element of the heat exchange unit and the heat exchange plate.

[0009]

The thermoelectric converter of the present invention constructed by taking such means has the following effects. That is, a plurality of thermoelectric elements having two kinds of semiconductor functions are alternately and serially arranged to form a thermoelectric element group, and two heat exchanging plates facing each other serve as heat exchanging means. Corrugated fins that are sandwiched between the two thermoelectric elements and extend between a plurality of sets of one plate in the arrangement direction of the thermoelectric element group are interposed between the heat exchange means forming a set. Therefore, for example, one continuous corrugated fin that is common to one heat exchange unit having three sets of plates can be shared.

As a result, the total number of corrugated fins, which is always required for each heat exchange unit of the conventional heat exchanger, is reduced to 1/3 of the conventional case in this case by the common structure. Therefore, the assembly work process is also reduced accordingly.

Further, when the thermoelectric converter is assembled, since the upper plane of the plate is flattened vertically, the corrugated fins can be easily inserted from above, and thus the assembling property is remarkably improved.

Further, according to this structure, the surface area is increased by the amount corresponding to the corrugated fin corresponding to the transfer portion between the adjacent plates as compared with the conventional structure, and as a result, the heat transfer performance is improved accordingly.

Further, since the corrugated fins which are commonly integrated in the same unit are present, the physical strength of the unit is also improved. Further, the vacuum heat insulating member fills the gap between the heat exchanging means and the thermoelectric element group, and prevents heat conduction to improve the heat efficiency.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Examples of the thermoelectric converter of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. (First Embodiment) In the perspective view of FIG. 1, the construction of the main part of a thermoelectric converter 100 according to this embodiment is shown in an assembled view.

As shown in the figure, a flat plate is bent substantially at a right angle and one end thereof is further bent at a right angle to prepare plates 11 and 12 having a shape having two parallel surfaces with steps. These plates 11 and 12 form a set of two plates and are symmetrical. Further, each plate has electrode plates 16 and 17 at the ends thereof, and these electrode plates 16 and 17 are sandwiched between two types of thermoelectric elements, for example, an N-type thermoelectric element 14 and a P-type thermoelectric element 15. There is. Similarly plates 21 and 2
2, the plates 31 and 32 are also sandwiched in the vicinity of the electrode plate by a thermoelectric element (not shown), and are arranged as a thermoelectric element group in the direction in which these three plates having the same shape are arranged.

That is, these two different types of thermoelectric elements form a group of thermoelectric elements that are alternately arranged in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the electrode plates 16 and 17 of the plate are sandwiched.

Further, in the direction in which the thermoelectric element groups are arranged, a corrugated fin 41, which is a bent plate formed by multiple bending at an acute angle, is sandwiched between a pair of plates 11 and 12 facing each other. 1 set of heat exchanger with a structure
Configures 0. The corrugated fins 41 are formed as a whole by bending a corrugated fin having a high thermal conductivity into a corrugated shape, and innumerable louvers are formed in a predetermined pattern on the surface thereof in order to improve heat exchange efficiency.

Similarly, each set of the plates 21 and 22 and the plates 31 and 32 is arranged as shown in the figure to form the heat exchangers 20 and 30. That is, it can be seen from FIG. 1 that the corrugated fins 41 made of one sheet are commonly provided between the two opposing plates of the heat exchangers 10, 20, 30. .

Such a structure is a kind of so-called "series laminated structure" and constitutes the endothermic heat exchanger 101. Moreover, as a whole of the thermoelectric converter 100 of the present invention,
A radiation heat exchanger 102 (not shown) having the same structure as the above-mentioned heat absorption heat exchanger 101 is configured on the opposite side with the thermoelectric element group as a boundary. (However, the overall view of the present invention is a basic structure similar to FIG. 3 described later.) In the present embodiment, the increase in the number of parts accompanying the increase in capacity of the thermoelectric converter 100 causes the beginning of part design. From this, for example, paying attention to the characteristics in the case where a plurality of electronic refrigerators (not shown) as the thermoelectric converters 100 are arranged in parallel, this thermoelectric converter 100 has a plurality of heat exchangers 10, 20, 30 The structural feature is that the structure in which one corrugated fin 41 is bridged is adopted.

Specifically, a plurality of electronic refrigerators are arranged in a row, and plate portions 11, 12, 21, 22 and 3 which constitute the heat exchangers 10, 20 and 30, respectively.
When the upper parts of 1, 32 are installed vertically and linearly parallel to the upper part thereof, these plate parts 11, 12 and 2 are
1, 22 and 31, 32 are individually heat exchangers 10, 20,
Form 30.

Further, these heat exchangers 10, 20, 30
Since it is necessary for each heat exchanger to be electrically insulated, the insulating adhesives 13, 23, 33 having an electrically insulating effect and having high thermal conductivity are attached to the plates 11, 12, 2
After being applied to the inside of each of 1, 22, 31, and 32, the single corrugated fin 41 is passed over the gap formed between them and adhered to each other.

The effects of this embodiment are as follows. That is, between the plurality of heat exchange plates 11 and 12 facing each other to which the thermoelectric element 14 is joined, and 21, 21 and
A common corrugated fin 41 is electrically insulated and joined between the two, and between 31 and 32, and the thermoelectric exchange unit 1
According to the structure of 0, 20, and 30, the characteristic shape of these plates 11, 12, 21, 22, 31, and 32 is that the end portion of the electrode plate that faces the thermoelectric element 14 and is adjacent to it. When installed as the main body of the thermoelectric converter 100, the opposite end is erected vertically upward in FIG. 1, and since the plate surface thereof is a flat surface, a plurality of arranged plates are assembled. Even after the opening, by lowering the corrugated fin 41 from above, it is possible to easily insert and store the corrugated fin 41 in a predetermined gap into which the fin is to be incorporated. As a result, these components,
In particular, due to this improvement in the shape of the corrugated fins as the heat conducting means, in the assembling property as the main body of the thermoelectric converter 100, the flexibility of the assembling method can be provided as well as the flexibility of the manufacturing process sequence.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an overall image of the thermoelectric converter 100 shown in FIG. The illustrated thermoelectric converter 100 is, for example, a cube formed by laminating a large number of units each including the heat exchangers 10, 20, 30 of the present invention which form an electronic refrigerator.

The characteristic of this structure is that the three heat exchangers 10, 20, 30 are integrally formed in place of the conventional structure in which electronic refrigerators are arranged in three rows in tandem. . The units of the electronic refrigerator that function as the heat exchangers 10, 20, 30 are electrically interconnected in series, and the outer surface of a given plate is connected to the frontmost unit in series. The last unit has a pair of electrodes 51 and 52 which are attached to the outer side of the respective plates so as to project therefrom.

Also, one common corrugated fin 41 constituting each heat exchanger 10, 20, 30 (see FIG. 1)
Between these heat exchangers facing each other in the electronic refrigerator,
The one fin 41 is shared.

Further, a large number of each unit composed of the above heat exchangers 10, 20, 30 is laminated as shown in FIG. 2 to form a solid body composed of an endothermic heat exchanger 101 and a radiant heat exchanger 102, Both ends of the connection in which the units are electrically connected to each other in series are provided with a pair of electrodes 51 and 52, and the whole is configured as a refrigerator of one electronic refrigerator.

The effect of this embodiment is, for example, in the endothermic heat exchanger 101 or the radiant heat exchanger 102 formed by laminating a large number of units as described above, one corrugated fin 41 and three heat exchangers 10 are provided. , 20, 30 reduces the number of parts of all corrugated fins required for the thermoelectric converter 100 as a whole to 1/3 of the conventional structure in this case. At the same time, for example, since the assembling property relating to the number of steps until completion as an electronic refrigerating device is significantly improved, it is possible to reduce the total cost and the difficulty level of the work itself.

Further, according to the laminated structure of the units having such characteristics, even when the electronic refrigerators are arranged in a plurality of rows as shown in the drawing, the same or better performance can be obtained without impairing the desired performance. It is possible to provide a series laminated structure that exhibits the heat exchange efficiency of 1 and is stronger than the conventional one.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the construction of the main part of the thermoelectric converter 100 of this embodiment in a cross-sectional view. The cross-sectional view shown in the drawing is a group of thermoelectric elements constituting each unit of the endothermic heat exchanger 101 or the radiant heat exchanger 102 and the plates 11, 12, 21, 22, 3 for heat exchange.
A vacuum heat insulating material 61 having a heat insulating effect is inserted into the gaps 1, 32, and a part of the space is filled.

For example, in the case of an electronic refrigerator having a basic structure similar to the above-mentioned structure, in order to prevent heat loss generated in the vicinity of the joint portion of the thermoelectric elements 14 and 15, at least a corrugated cross section is used. A vacuum heat insulating material 61 made of a material having a predetermined length and having a size corresponding to the length of the fins 41 in the longitudinal direction, and having a "string-like" shape and being deflated, is attached to the thermoelectric generator as shown in the drawing. The relative position of the adjacent parts is fixed by inserting in the gap generated between the element group and the plate.

The effects of the above-described embodiment are as follows. That is, this structure, which fills the gap with a member having a heat insulating effect, is particularly effective when a plurality of electronic refrigerators are arrayed and integrally assembled. That is, the heat transmitted from the parts of the electrode plates 16 and 17 of the thermoelectric elements 14 and 15 in which a plurality of them are joined to each other, and the heat loss due to the recirculation or convection of air caused by the temperature difference are prevented. The vacuum heat insulating material 61 can also fix the positional relationship between adjacent parts and structurally increase the rigidity as a whole to some extent.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the functional heat-absorption heat exchanger 101 and the heat-radiation heat exchanger 102 are spatially separated from each other at the bridging portion of the corrugated fin 41. It is also effective to lay the plate 71 in a plane between the endothermic heat exchanger 101 and the radiant heat exchanger 102 with the position of the thermoelectric element group as the boundary. That is, the heat radiation side heat exchanger 101 and the heat absorption side heat exchanger 102, which are respectively arranged above and below, are separated into upper and lower two by this partition plate 71.

As an effect of this, in the thermoelectric converter 100 in which a large number of heat exchangers are arranged and integrally formed, the mutual thermal exchange between the heat exchangers on the heat absorption side and the heat radiation side is spatially cut off. However, it is possible to effectively prevent the heat loss of the entire apparatus.

(Modification) The above-mentioned explanatory diagram is for showing the structure of the thermoelectric converter 100 of the present invention, and in actual use, heat easily diffuses upward. Thus, the radiant heat exchanger 102 may be installed on the upper side and the one endothermic heat exchanger 101 may be installed on the lower side.

Further, the heat insulating material employed is not limited to the vacuum heat insulating material, but may be any member having a predetermined heat insulating effect and permitting some deformation. As the embodiments relating to the thermoelectric converter of the present invention related to the present invention described above, various modifications can be made in addition to the embodiments described above without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the total number of corrugated fins, which is always required for each unit constituting the heat exchanger in the conventional thermoelectric converter, is drastically reduced, and the number of parts is reduced. Is planned.

Further, as the number of the corrugated fins 41, which is a basic component, is reduced and the insertion is facilitated, the assembling property is remarkably improved. For the same reason, work such as replacement and repair becomes convenient.

Further, since the area is increased by the amount of the corrugated fin of the transfer portion between the adjacent heat exchangers, the heat transfer performance can be improved by that amount. Furthermore,
Since the corrugated fins are common to a plurality of heat exchangers and have an integrated structure, for example, the physical strength of the refrigeration system itself is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a thermoelectric converter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of a thermoelectric converter according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Heat exchanger, 11-12 ... Plate, 13 ... Insulating adhesive, 14-15 ... Thermoelectric element, 16-17 ... Electrode plate,
20 ... Heat exchanger, 21-22 ... Plate, 23 ... Adhesive application surface, 30 ... Heat exchanger, 31-32 ... Plate, 33
... Adhesive coated surface, 41 ... Corrugated fins 51 to 52
... electrodes, 61 ... direct air insulating material having a circular cross section, 71 ... partition plates, 100 ... thermoelectric converters, 101 ... radiating heat exchangers, 10
2 ... Endothermic heat exchanger.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A thermoelectric element group in which a plurality of different types of thermoelectric elements are alternately and serially arranged, and a heat exchange means having adjoining thermoelectric elements at ends of serially arranged thermoelectric elements. , And one heat conducting means extends in the arrangement direction of the thermoelectric elements between the heat exchanging means composed of a plurality of sets of the thermoelectric elements joined to each other and facing each other. A thermoelectric converter, which is electrically insulated and joined to form a plurality of thermoelectric exchanger units. 2. The thermoelectric converter according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of thermoelectric exchange units are electrically connected in series via one set of electrodes to constitute an electronic refrigeration system. 3. The thermoelectric conversion unit according to claim 1, further comprising a vacuum heat insulating unit inserted and filled in a gap between the thermoelectric element of the thermoelectric exchange unit and the heat exchanging unit. vessel. 4. The heat exchange means is a plate having two approximately parallel surfaces with a gap formed by bending a flat plate piece at a substantially right angle and further bending one end portion at a substantially right angle. The thermoelectric converter according to claim 1, wherein the heat conducting means is a corrugated fin in which a thin plate material having heat conductivity is bent in a corrugated shape, and innumerable louvers are formed on a surface thereof.