JPH1054624A - Thermoelectric cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To further greatly improve the heat absorbing and heat radiation performance than conventionally is in a thermoelectric cooling device using a Peltier element. SOLUTION: A p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 and an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 are alternately arranged in series with intervals, an electric conductive part 41 of a heat pipe unit 39 for heat absorption and an electric conductive part 45 of a heat pipe unit 39 for heat radiation are alternately interposed between the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 and the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31, and a heat pipe 47 of the heat pipe unit 39 for heat absorption and a heat pipe 51 of the heat pipe unit 43 for heat radiation are projected in the opposite direction to each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a thermoelectric cooling device using a Peltier element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, thermoelectric cooling devices such as spot coolers using Peltier elements have been developed. Generally, a Peltier device is a device using the Peltier effect in which two kinds of metals are connected in series and when a direct current is applied, heat is absorbed at one junction and heat is generated at the other junction. ,
A p-type thermoelectric semiconductor and an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor are used for the two types of elements.

FIG. 6 shows the principle of a thermoelectric cooling device using a Peltier element, in which an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 and a p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 13 are arranged in series, and the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 at the end is viewed from the end. Electric current is flowing. Then, the junction surface electrode 15 in which a current flows from the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 13 and the junction surface electrode 17 in which the current flows from the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 13 to the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 are located on the same side. Are arranged.

Thus, when a current flows from the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 at the end, the junction surface electrode 15 flowing from the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 13 becomes an endothermic side,
The junction surface electrode 17 side flowing from the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 to the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 becomes the heat generation side, and an electric refrigeration cycle is formed. However, the bonding surface electrode 1 on the heat absorbing side described above
5 and the bonding surface electrode 17 on the heating side need to be electrically insulated from each other, and the coefficient of performance (CO
In order to improve P), for example, as shown in FIG. 7, even when the heat sink 19 is joined, it is necessary to interpose an electric insulating plate 23 made of ceramic or the like. To use conductive grease 25, etc.
The thermal resistance increases, causing a decrease in the coefficient of performance.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the bonding surface electrode 15 on the heat absorption side and the bonding surface electrode 17 on the heat generation side. Since electrical insulation is not required on the heat sink 21 side,
The electric insulating plate 23 is not interposed. On the other hand, generally, the fins 19a, 21
A heat sink with a is used. In this case,
The thermal conductivity of the fins 19a and 21a becomes a thermal resistance, and there is a limit in improving the performance even if the fins 19a and 21a are extended to increase the heat radiation area.

Therefore, recently, as shown in FIG. 8, plate fins 27, 29 are directly interposed between the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 11 and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 13, and the plate fins 27, 2
There has been proposed a thermoelectric cooling device in which an electric insulating plate is eliminated using 9 as a bonding surface electrode and the thermal resistance is improved. In this thermoelectric cooling device, the plate fins 27 on the heat absorbing side and the plate fins 29 on the heat radiating side are arranged so as to protrude in opposite directions, and corrugated fins 28 are joined to the plate fins 27, 29 to reduce the heat absorbing and heat radiating area. It is expanding, and the coefficient of performance of the Peltier device is improved.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional thermoelectric cooling device, the plate fins 27, 2
Since heat is transmitted to the corrugated fins 28 via the fins 9, there is a problem that heat flow is limited, and even if the area of the plate fins 27, 29 and the corrugated fins 28 is increased, heat absorption or heat dissipation performance is limited. Was.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric cooling device capable of greatly improving heat absorption and heat radiation performance as compared with the related art.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermoelectric cooling device in which a p-type thermoelectric semiconductor and an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor are alternately arranged in series at an interval, and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor and the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor are arranged. The conductive part of the heat-absorbing heat pipe unit and the conductive part of the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit are alternately interposed between the semiconductor and the heat pipe of the heat-absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat pipe of the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit. It protrudes in the direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermoelectric cooling device according to the first aspect, wherein the heat absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit are formed of a flat and long multi-hole tube plate made of a conductive material. Bending the center in the longitudinal direction, forming a pair of multi-hole tube container portions in parallel at a predetermined interval on both sides of the bent portion, and forming an end of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions as refrigerant. It is characterized by being connected to a tank for use.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the thermoelectric cooling device according to the second aspect, the heat absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit are stacked in plurality via a corrugated fin, and the adjacent heat absorbing heat pipe units are stacked. An electric insulator is interposed between the pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit. A thermoelectric cooling device according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that, in the thermoelectric cooling device according to the second or third aspect, a corrugated fin is arranged between a pair of multi-hole tube container portions of the heat pipe unit.

(Function) In the thermoelectric cooling device of the first aspect, n
The conductive part of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit is directly interposed at the position where current flows from the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor,
The conductive portion of the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit is directly interposed at a position where current flows from the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor to the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor.

The heat of a fluid such as air flowing through the heat absorbing heat pipe unit side is quickly absorbed by the Peltier element through the heat pipe of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit, while the heat from the Peltier element is released by the heat radiating heat. The heat is quickly radiated to a fluid such as air flowing on the heat radiating heat pipe unit side through the heat pipe of the pipe unit. In the thermoelectric cooling device according to the second aspect, by bending the center in the longitudinal direction of the flat long multi-hole tube plate made of a conductive material, a pair of parallel members are provided at predetermined intervals on both sides of the bent portion. A multi-well container section is formed.

Further, the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions are
The heat pipe unit for heat absorption and the heat pipe unit for heat radiation are connected to the refrigerant tank. In the thermoelectric cooling device according to the third aspect, a plurality of heat pipe units for heat absorption and heat pipe units for heat radiation are stacked via corrugated fins. In addition, an electric insulator is interposed between the adjacent heat-absorbing heat pipe units and the heat-dissipating heat pipe units to insulate each other.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the corrugated fin is disposed between the pair of multi-hole tube containers of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a thermoelectric cooling device according to the present invention. In this thermoelectric cooling device, an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 and a p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 are alternately connected in series at intervals. Are located in The plus electrode 35 is connected to the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 on the right end of the drawing, and the minus electrode 37 is connected to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 on the left end.

From the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 3
3, a conductive portion 41 of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 39 is directly interposed, and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 3
The conductive portion 45 of the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit 43 is directly interposed at a position where a current flows from 3 to the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31. A heat-absorbing heat pipe 47 projects from the conductive portion 41 of the heat-absorbing heat pipe unit 39 downward in FIG.

Further, a heat-radiating heat pipe 51 projects from the conductive portion 45 of the heat-radiating heat pipe unit 43 toward the upper side of the figure to form a heat-radiating heat exchange portion 53.
Heat pipe 47 for heat absorption and heat pipe 51 for heat radiation
Are provided with fins 55, respectively. As the refrigerant of the heat-absorbing heat pipe 47, a refrigerant that boils due to the temperature of a fluid such as air passing through the heat-absorbing heat exchange section 49 and condenses at the temperature of the junction 31a of the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 is selected.

The refrigerant in the heat-radiating heat pipe 51 includes a refrigerant that boils at the temperature of the junction 33 a of the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 and condenses due to the temperature of a fluid such as air passing through the heat-radiating-side heat exchange unit 53. Selected. In the above-described thermoelectric cooling device, the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 to the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 3
When an electric current is caused to flow toward 3 and a fluid such as air is caused to flow through the heat-absorbing heat exchange section 49, the refrigerant in the heat-absorbing heat pipe 47 boils through the fins 55, and the fluid such as air is cooled by latent heat.

The boiling refrigerant is condensed at the temperature of the junction 31 a of the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 and is returned to the end of the heat absorbing heat pipe 47. On the other hand, at the same time, at the same time, the bottom of the heat-radiating heat pipe 51 joined to the joint 33a of the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 via the conductive portion 45 is heated, and the refrigerant boils. Is cooled by a fluid such as air flowing through the heat-dissipating-side heat exchanging section 53 through the fins 55 at the leading end of the heat pipe 51.
Refluxed to the bottom of the

Such a recirculation cycle is generated in the heat absorbing heat pipe 47 and the heat radiating heat pipe 51, so that the temperature of the junction 31 a of the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 and the root of the fin 55 of the heat absorbing heat pipe 47 are increased. And the temperature of the junction 33a of the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 and the temperature of the root of the fin 55 of the heat-radiating heat pipe 51 are almost the same.

That is, the heat resistance becomes extremely small, and the heat absorbing and radiating performance can be improved in proportion to the increase in the area of the fins 55, so that the coefficient of performance can be greatly improved as compared with the prior art. 2 to 4 show a second embodiment of the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention. In these drawings, reference numeral 61 denotes a heat absorbing heat pipe unit.
Reference numeral 63 indicates a heat pipe unit for heat radiation.

These heat absorbing heat pipe units 61
The heat-dissipating heat pipe unit 63 is horizontally stacked in large numbers via corrugated fins 65 made of aluminum clad material, and a heat-absorbing heat exchange section 67 and a heat-dissipating heat exchange section 69 are formed. An electric insulating plate 71 is interposed between the adjacent heat absorbing heat pipe units 61 and heat radiating heat pipe units 63.

FIG. 5 shows details of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating heat pipe unit 63, and reference numeral 73 denotes a flat and long multi-hole tube plate. The multi-hole tube plate 73 is formed of, for example, a metal having good heat conductivity such as aluminum. Further, the multi-well tube plate 73 is formed by extrusion molding, and as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of pipelines 73a are formed at predetermined intervals in the width direction.

A wick (not shown) composed of minute irregularities is formed on the inner surface of the conduit 73a. The center in the longitudinal direction of the multi-hole tube plate 73 is bent in a U-shape, and a pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d are formed on both sides of the bent portion 73c in parallel at a predetermined interval.

The ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d are in contact with each other via a brazing material 75, and are fitted into connection holes 79a formed in the tank body 79 of the refrigerant tank 77. . The tank body 79 is made of aluminum, and both sides of the tank body 79 are sealed by patch ends 81 and 83 made of aluminum.

A working fluid supply pipe 84 for supplying a coolant as a working fluid is opened at one of the patch ends 81. Corrugated fins 85 are arranged between the pair of multi-hole tube container parts 73d. A plate 87 made of aluminum is brazed to the outside of the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container parts 73d.

The surface of the plate 87 is nickel-plated and then solder-plated. Similarly, the nickel-plated and solder-plated n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 is formed.
Alternatively, the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 is joined. In the thermoelectric cooling device according to the second embodiment, unlike the thermoelectric cooling device according to the first embodiment, the end of the multi-hole tube container 73d is directly used as a conductive portion.

In the above-described thermoelectric cooling device, first, the corrugated fin 85 is inserted between the pair of multi-hole tube containers 73d, and the plate-shaped brazing material 75 is inserted into the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d. In this state, the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d are inserted into the connection holes 79a of the tank body 79 in which the patch ends 81 and 83 are inserted, and in this state, the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d are inserted. Plate 87 outside the part
And the corrugated fins 65 are brought into contact with each other and brazed integrally in a heat treatment furnace, whereby the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating heat pipe unit 63 shown in FIG. 5 are manufactured.

Next, an electric insulating plate 71 is disposed between the corrugated fins 65 of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating heat pipe unit 63, and the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 are placed on the plate 87.
Are alternately arranged, electrodes 35 and 37 are arranged at both ends, and a heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and a heat radiating heat pipe unit 63 are stacked as shown in FIG.
In this state, by melting the solder plating in the heat treatment furnace, the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating heat pipe unit 63 are soldered to each other via the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 31 and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33. A thermoelectric cooling device of the shape shown is manufactured.

Since the melting point of the solder is sufficiently lower than the melting point of the brazing material, the soldering does not affect the brazing. Finally, a predetermined amount of refrigerant such as acetone or freon is injected into the refrigerant tank 77 from a refrigerant injection port 84a formed in the working fluid supply pipe 84 of the patch end 81, and thereafter, from the refrigerant injection port 84a. The inside of the refrigerant tank 43 and the multi-well tube container 73d is evacuated,
The thermoelectric cooling device is manufactured by sealing the refrigerant injection port 84a of the working fluid supply pipe 84.

In the above-described thermoelectric cooling device, the center of the flat long multi-hole tube plate 73 in the longitudinal direction is bent, and a pair of multi-hole tube container portions 73d are formed on both sides of the bent portion 73c. Therefore, a pair of multi-hole container sections 73d can be obtained by one component. Further, since the bent portion 73c is formed on one side of the multi-hole tube container portion 73d, a lid member for sealing the multi-hole tube container portion 73d is not required.

In the above-described thermoelectric cooling device, the pair of multi-hole tube containers 73d is formed in a loop through the bent portion 73c and the refrigerant tank 77, so that the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating The rigidity of the heat pipe unit 63 becomes very high. Furthermore, in the thermoelectric cooling device described above, the heat pipe unit 6 for absorbing heat is used.
Since one and a plurality of heat pipe units 63 for heat radiation are laminated via the corrugated fins 65, the heat exchange efficiency can be improved.

Further, since the corrugated fins 85 are arranged between the pair of multi-hole tube containers 73d of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit 61 and the heat radiating heat pipe unit 63, the heat exchange efficiency can be further improved. In addition,
The above-described thermoelectric cooling device can be widely used for various simple cooling such as cooling of a casing of a control panel or the like, as well as a spot cooler or a portable cooler.

[0036]

As described above, in the thermoelectric cooling device according to the first aspect, the heat of the fluid such as air flowing on the heat absorbing heat pipe unit side is quickly supplied to the Peltier element through the heat pipe of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit. The heat from the Peltier element is quickly absorbed by the fluid such as air flowing through the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit via the heat-dissipating heat pipe unit. It can be greatly improved.

In the thermoelectric cooler according to the second aspect, the center of the flat long multi-hole tube plate made of a conductive material in the longitudinal direction is bent, and a pair of multi-hole tube container portions are provided on both sides of the bent portion. Since it is formed, a pair of multi-hole tube container portions can be obtained by one component. In addition, since a bent portion is formed on one side of the multi-hole tube container portion, a lid member for sealing the multi-hole tube container portion becomes unnecessary.

Further, since the pair of multi-hole pipe container portions are formed in a loop through the bent portion and the coolant tank, the heat-pipe unit for heat absorption and the heat-pipe unit for heat dissipation have extremely high rigidity. Become. Claim 3
In the thermoelectric cooling device described above, a plurality of heat pipe units for heat absorption and heat pipes for heat radiation are stacked via corrugated fins, so that the heat exchange efficiency can be improved.

Further, since an electric insulator is interposed between the adjacent heat absorbing heat pipe unit and heat radiating heat pipe unit, mutual insulation can be ensured. In the thermoelectric cooling device according to the fourth aspect, since the corrugated fins are arranged between the pair of multi-hole tube containers of the heat absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit, the heat exchange efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the thermoelectric cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the heat absorbing heat pipe unit and the heat radiating heat pipe unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of a Peltier element.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a conventional thermoelectric cooling device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional thermoelectric cooling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31 n-type thermoelectric semiconductor 33 p-type thermoelectric semiconductor 39, 61 heat-absorbing heat pipe unit 41, 45 conductive portion 43, 63 heat-radiating heat pipe unit 47 heat-absorbing heat pipe 51 heat-radiating heat pipe 65, 85 corrugated fin 71 electric insulating plate 73 Multi-hole tube plate 73c Bent portion 73d Multi-hole tube container portion 77 Refrigerant tank

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A p-type thermoelectric semiconductor (33) and an n-type thermoelectric semiconductor (31) are alternately arranged in series at intervals and the p-type thermoelectric semiconductor (33) and the n-type thermoelectric semiconductor (31) are arranged. Heat pipe unit for heat absorption (39,
61) and the conductive portions (45) of the heat-dissipating heat pipe units (43, 63) are alternately interposed, and are connected to the heat pipes (47) of the heat-absorbing heat pipe units (39, 61). Heat pipe unit for heat dissipation (43, 6
3) A thermoelectric cooling device characterized by projecting the heat pipe (51) in the opposite direction. 2. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 1, wherein said heat-absorbing heat pipe unit (39, 61) and said heat-dissipating heat pipe unit (43, 63) are flat, multi-holes made of a conductive material. The center in the longitudinal direction of the tube plate (73) is bent, and a pair of multi-hole tube container portions (73) are arranged on both sides of the bent portion (73c) in parallel at a predetermined interval.
d) The thermoelectric cooling device, wherein d) is formed and the ends of the pair of multi-hole tube container parts (73d) are connected to a refrigerant tank (77). 3. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 2, wherein the heat absorbing heat pipe unit (39, 61) and the heat radiating heat pipe unit (43, 63) are stacked in plurality via a corrugated fin (65). A thermoelectric cooling device, wherein an electric insulator (71) is interposed between adjacent heat absorbing heat pipe units (39, 61) and heat radiating heat pipe units (43, 63). 4. The thermoelectric cooling device according to claim 2, wherein a pair of multi-hole tube containers (73d) of said heat absorbing heat pipe unit (39, 61) and said heat radiating heat pipe unit (43, 63). Between corrugated fins (8
(5) A thermoelectric cooling device characterized by being arranged.