JP2005079210A - Thermoelectric converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermoelectric conversion device having a small thermal resistance and capable of effectively preventing problems due to thermal stress.
SOLUTION: A plurality of metal plates are arranged on the other surfaces 20b and 30b of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 and / or the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 so as to be separated from each other. On top of that, cooling (heating object) is metal-bonded to effectively disperse the thermal stress generated at the joint, thereby contributing to prevention of breakage. Further, the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side metal plate 41 is used as the arrangement pattern of the heat dissipation side electrode 14 and the arrangement pattern of the heat dissipation side metal plate 51 is used as the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode 12, so A common metal plate and electrode can be used.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The invention of this application relates to a thermoelectric conversion device such as a temperature control device using the Peltier effect or Seebeck effect, and particularly relates to a technique for alleviating thermal stress generated by a temperature difference.

  A thermoelectric conversion device using the Peltier effect is configured to cause a current to flow from an N-type thermoelectric element to a P-type thermoelectric element by sequentially connecting and energizing a plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements and P-type thermoelectric elements. The electrode (heat-dissipation-side electrode) side that absorbs heat on the electrode (heat-absorption-side electrode) side disposed between the two and passes current from the P-type thermoelectric element to the N-type thermoelectric element Radiates heat. In the thermoelectric converter having such a configuration, in order to improve the heat absorption efficiency or the heat dissipation efficiency, a structure is adopted in which the heat dissipation side electrode is collected on one side and the heat absorption side electrode is collected on the other side to form a unit. . Generally, a heat-dissipation-side electrode is disposed on one surface of the heat-dissipation-side insulating substrate, a heat-absorption-side electrode is disposed on one surface of the heat-absorption-side insulating substrate, and one surface of both substrates is disposed opposite to each other. Structure is adopted.

  When using an thermoelectric converter to cool an object or to adjust the temperature at a low temperature, the object to be cooled / temperature-controlled is brought into thermal contact with the insulating substrate on the heat-absorption side to cool or adjust the temperature. When the insulating substrate and the object to be cooled are bonded, if the both are bonded with a resinous adhesive or the like, the thermal resistance increases and the cooling efficiency decreases. Therefore, as a means for bonding the object to be cooled to the heat absorption side insulating substrate without impairing the cooling efficiency, a metal thin film or a metal plate is disposed on the other surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate to form a metal surface. Means for joining the object to be cooled by soldering, metal joining such as copper brazing or silver brazing is employed. Such a metal surface is generally called a metallized surface (see page 40 of Non-Patent Document 1). By adopting such a configuration, the cooling target and the heat absorption side insulating substrate can be brought into thermal contact without using a material having high thermal resistance such as resin, so that the cooling efficiency is not impaired. It is.

  However, in the thermoelectric conversion device of the type that joins the object to be cooled by metal bonding to the metallized surface as described above, the thermal stress due to the difference in linear expansion coefficient of each material is applied to each joint due to the generated temperature difference, In particular, there is a problem that the device may be damaged because the thermal stress cannot be sufficiently absorbed at the metal bonded portion.

  In order to solve the above problem, a thermoelectric conversion device having a skeleton structure without an insulating substrate has been proposed (see, for example, P.41 of Non-Patent Document 1, FIG. 3.2). In the skeleton-structured thermoelectric conversion device, the heat absorption surface or heat dissipation surface is the heat absorption side electrode or the heat dissipation side electrode itself, so that the insulating substrate having a particularly large difference in linear expansion coefficient with respect to the electrode made of metal is eliminated. Further, with respect to the bonding between the object to be cooled and the electrode, the stress is dispersed as a result of the stress being dispersed in each electrode.

In addition, there has been proposed a structure in which a stress relaxation layer is provided in a thermoelectric conversion device, thereby relieving thermal stress (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Isao Nishida and Junichi Uemura, “Thermoelectric Semiconductors and Their Applications”, published by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, 1988, P.A. 39-41 JP 2000-183409 A

  However, in the thermoelectric conversion device having the skeleton structure described in Non-Patent Document 1, in order to reliably insulate the exposed electrodes, it is necessary to take measures such as providing an insulating layer or increasing the thickness of the grease layer. There is a problem that the thermal resistance increases due to the presence of such an insulating layer and a grease layer.

  Further, in the thermoelectric conversion device provided with the stress relaxation layer described in Patent Document 1, since the stress relaxation layer is generally formed of a resin, the thermal resistance is also increased due to the presence of the resin layer. There is a problem.

  That is, in any method, since a material having a large thermal resistance such as a resin is interposed in order to perform the insulating process or the thermal stress relaxation process, the cooling efficiency is lowered.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is a technical problem to provide a thermoelectric conversion device that has a low thermal resistance and can effectively prevent problems due to thermal stress. is there.

The invention of claim 1 made to solve the above technical problem is:
A plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements made of an N-type semiconductor material; a plurality of P-type thermoelectric elements made of a P-type semiconductor material; and a plurality of heat radiation side electrodes and heat absorption side electrodes made of a metal material, Thermoelectric conversion means in which the element, the heat absorption side electrode, the P-type thermoelectric element, and the heat radiation side electrode are electrically connected in this order;
A heat-absorbing-side insulating substrate having the plurality of heat-absorbing-side electrodes disposed on one surface;
In the thermoelectric conversion device having a heat radiation side insulating substrate on which one of the plurality of heat radiation side electrodes is disposed,
The thermoelectric conversion device is characterized in that a plurality of metal plates are disposed separately on the other surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat radiation side insulating substrate.

The invention of claim 2 is the invention of claim 1,
The arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode arranged on one surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate is the same as the arrangement pattern of the metal plate arranged on the other surface of the heat radiation side insulating substrate,
The disposition pattern of the heat dissipating side electrode disposed on one surface of the heat dissipating side insulating substrate is the same as the disposition pattern of the metal plate disposed on the other surface of the heat absorbing side insulating substrate. It is said.

The invention of claim 3 is the invention of claim 1,
The area of the surface of each metal plate facing the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat dissipation side insulating substrate is the area of the surface of all metal surfaces facing the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat dissipation side insulating substrate. It is characterized by being less than or equal to 1/25 of the sum of.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the plurality of metal plates are separately disposed on the other surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat radiation side insulating substrate, the metallized surface is divided into each insulating substrate. Formed. Therefore, when a cooling object (heating object) is metal-bonded to the metallized surfaces divided in this way, the thermal stress due to the temperature difference is distributed to each metal plate (each metallized surface), so that stress relaxation is achieved. I can plan. Therefore, it is possible to provide a thermoelectric conversion device that has a low thermal resistance and can effectively prevent problems due to thermal stress.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode arranged on one side of the heat absorption side insulating substrate is changed to the arrangement pattern of the metal plate arranged on the other side of the heat radiation side insulating substrate. The heat dissipating side electrode disposition pattern disposed on one surface of the heat dissipating side insulating substrate is the same as the metal plate disposing pattern disposed on the other surface of the heat absorbing side insulating substrate. Here, assuming that the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode is pattern A and the arrangement pattern of the heat radiation side electrode is pattern B, the arrangement pattern of one side of the heat absorption side insulating substrate is pattern A, and the arrangement pattern of the other side is pattern. On the other hand, the arrangement pattern on one side of the heat radiation side electrode is pattern B, and the arrangement pattern on the other side is pattern A. Therefore, if the metal plate and the heat absorption side electrode arranged on both sides of the heat absorption side electrode are turned upside down, the metal plate and the heat radiation side electrode are arranged on the both sides of the heat dissipation side electrode. Therefore, both substrates can be shared. For this reason, it is possible to provide a thermoelectric conversion device that has a low thermal resistance, can effectively prevent problems due to thermal stress, and can reduce production costs.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the area of the surface of each metal plate facing the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat radiation side insulating substrate (that is, the area of the metallized surface formed by each metal plate) is all The total surface area of the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the surface facing the heat dissipation side insulating substrate of the metal surface (that is, the area of the metallized surface formed by all the metal plates disposed on one insulating substrate) The sum is less than 1/25. By doing in this way, the thermal stress concerning the metal junction part of a metal plate and a cooling (heating) target object can be disperse | distributed more effectively, and the reliability of a thermoelectric conversion apparatus can be improved reliably.

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

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a thermoelectric conversion device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the thermoelectric conversion device 100 of this example includes a thermoelectric conversion means 10, a heat absorption side insulating substrate 20, and a heat dissipation side insulating substrate 30.

  The thermoelectric conversion means 10 includes a plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements 11, a plurality of P-type thermoelectric elements 13, a plurality of heat absorption side electrodes 12, and a plurality of heat radiation side electrodes 14.

The N-type thermoelectric element 11 is composed mainly of an N-type semiconductor alloy having electrons as carriers, and is formed in a columnar shape or a rectangular parallelepiped shape. Examples of the alloy composition of the N-type semiconductor include, but are not limited to, Bi ₂ Te ₃ system, Bi ₂ Se ₃ system, and composite system thereof.

The P-type thermoelectric element 13 is composed mainly of a P-type semiconductor alloy having holes as carriers, and is formed in a cylindrical shape or a rectangular parallelepiped shape like the N-type thermoelectric element 11. Examples of the alloy composition of the P-type semiconductor include, but are not limited to, a Bi ₂ Te ₃ system, a Sb ₂ Te ₃ system, or a composite system thereof.

  As shown in the figure, the N-type thermoelectric elements 11 and the P-type thermoelectric elements 13 are alternately arranged. A lead electrode 15 is electrically connected to the lower end of the rightmost N-type thermoelectric element 11a in the drawing. The lead electrode 15 is electrically connected to the lead wire 16 by soldering.

  Also, the upper end of the rightmost N-type thermoelectric element 11a in the drawing is electrically connected to the upper end of the adjacent P-type thermoelectric element 13a by the heat absorption side electrode 12a. Furthermore, the illustrated lower end of the P-type thermoelectric element 13a and the illustrated lower end of the adjacent N-type thermoelectric element 11b are electrically connected by the heat radiation side electrode 14a. In this way, the electrical connection relationship is sequentially formed in the order of N-type thermoelectric element 11a-heat-absorption side electrode 12a-P-type thermoelectric element 13a-heat-dissipation side electrode 14a-N-type thermoelectric element 11b-. Has been.

  The heat absorption side electrode 12 is disposed on one surface (the lower surface in the drawing) of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20. On the other hand, the heat radiation side electrode 14 is disposed on one surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30. As can be seen from the figure, the one surface (lower surface in the drawing) of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 and the one surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 are arranged to face each other, and therefore sandwiched between these insulating substrates. The thermoelectric conversion means 10 is formed in the formed area.

  FIG. 2 is a view of the heat-absorbing-side insulating substrate 20 as viewed from one side (the lower side in FIG. 1) 20a. As shown in the figure, the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 has a substantially square shape and is formed of an insulating material such as ceramics. A plurality of heat absorption side electrodes 12 are arranged in a predetermined arrangement pattern on the one surface 20a of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20. These heat absorption side electrodes 12 are formed of a copper alloy in this example.

  FIG. 3 is a view of the heat-dissipation-side insulating substrate 30 as viewed from one side (upper surface in FIG. 1) 30a. As shown in the figure, the heat-dissipation-side insulating substrate 30 also has a substantially square shape, like the heat-absorption-side insulating substrate 20, and is formed of an insulating material such as ceramics. A plurality of heat radiation side electrodes 14 are arranged in a predetermined arrangement pattern on the one surface 30 a of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30. In this example, the heat dissipation side insulating substrate 30 is formed of the same material and the same shape as the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20, and the heat dissipation side electrode 14 is formed of the same copper alloy as the heat absorption side electrode 12.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, a plurality of heat absorption side metal plates 41 are disposed on the other surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) 20 b of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 so as to be separated from each other. FIG. 4 is a view of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 as viewed from the other surface 20b. As can be seen from the figure, the heat absorption side metal plate 41 is arranged on the other surface 20b of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 in a predetermined arrangement pattern. Here, as can be seen by comparing FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the arrangement pattern of the heat radiation side electrode 14 (see FIG. 3) disposed on the one surface 30 a of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 and the heat absorption side insulation substrate. The arrangement pattern (see FIG. 4) of the heat absorption side metal plate 41 arranged on the other surface 20b of the film 20 is exactly the same.

  Further, as can be seen from FIG. 1, a plurality of heat-dissipation-side metal plates 51 are spaced apart from each other on the other surface (lower surface in FIG. 1) 30 b of the heat-dissipation-side insulating substrate 30. FIG. 5 is a view of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 as viewed from the other surface 30b. As can be seen from the figure, the heat radiation side metal plate 51 is disposed on the other surface 30b of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 in a predetermined arrangement pattern. Here, as can be seen by comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode 12 (see FIG. 2) disposed on the one surface 20 a of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 and the heat radiation side insulation. The arrangement pattern (see FIG. 5) of the heat radiation side metal plate 51 arranged on the other surface 30b of the substrate 30 is exactly the same.

  Therefore, when the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode 12 arranged on the one surface 20a of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 is the pattern A and the arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side metal plate 41 arranged on the other surface 20b is the pattern B. The arrangement pattern of the one surface 20a of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 is the pattern A, and the arrangement pattern of the other surface 20b is the pattern B, whereas the arrangement pattern of the one surface 30a of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 is the pattern B. The arrangement pattern of the other surface 30b is pattern A. Therefore, if the materials and shapes of both the insulating substrates 20 and 30 are made common, and the materials of the electrodes and the metal plate are made common and the respective shapes are the same, it is only necessary to replace the front and back sides of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20. The heat absorption side electrode 12 is disposed on the surface 20a, and the heat absorption side metal plate 41 is disposed on the other surface 20b. Alternatively, the heat radiation side electrode 14 is disposed on the one surface 30a of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30, and the heat radiation side metal is disposed on the other surface 30b. The plate 51 may be provided, and parts can be shared.

  There are various methods for disposing metal electrodes and metal plates on the insulating substrate, but these are generally formed by plating. Therefore, masking is performed so that the pattern A is formed on one surface of one insulating substrate, masking is performed so that the pattern B is formed on the other surface, and plating is performed, thereby easily manufacturing the substrate of this example. be able to. And by replacing the front and back, it can be used as a heat absorption side substrate unit or a heat dissipation side substrate unit, so that it has a great practical effect that production cost can be greatly reduced. Play.

  In the thermoelectric conversion device 100 configured as described above, when a current is passed from the lead wire 16, the current flows from the lead wire 16 to the lead electrode 15, and further from the lead electrode 15 to the N-type thermoelectric element 11, the heat absorption side electrode 12, and the P-type thermoelectric. A current sequentially flows to the element 13, the heat radiation side electrode 14, the N-type thermoelectric element 11. At this time, the heat absorption side electrode 12 absorbs heat and cools the surroundings, while the heat radiation side electrode 14 dissipates heat and heats the surroundings.

  The heat absorption side electrode 12 absorbs heat and cools the surroundings as follows. That is, when a current flows from the N-type thermoelectric element 11 to the heat absorption side electrode 12, an electron flow flows from the heat absorption side electrode 12 to the N type thermoelectric element 11. At this time, the N type thermoelectric element is more than the electrode (metal). (Semiconductor) has higher potential energy for electrons, so energy to supplement that amount is required, and the energy of the lattice vibration (thermal energy) of the electrode (metal) is deprived to compensate for that energy, resulting in endotherm. . Further, when a current flows from the heat absorption side electrode 12 to the P-type thermoelectric element 13, the hole flow also flows in the same direction as the current. At this time, the energy difference between the P-type thermoelectric element 13 and the heat absorption side electrode 12 is absorbed. Endothermic. In this way, it is considered that the endothermic electrode absorbs heat.

  It is considered as follows that heat is radiated and heated around the heat radiation side electrode 14. That is, when current flows from the heat dissipation side electrode 14 to the N-type thermoelectric element 11, the electron flow flows from the N-type thermoelectric element 11 to the heat dissipation-side electrode 14, but at this time, the electrode flows more than the N-type thermoelectric element (semiconductor). Since (metal) has lower potential energy for electrons, energy is released to the heat radiation side electrode 14. Since this energy becomes energy of lattice vibration, heat dissipation occurs. Further, when a current flows from the P-type thermoelectric element 13 to the heat dissipation side electrode 14, the hole flow also flows in the same direction as the current. At this time, the difference in energy between the heat dissipation side electrode 14 and the P-type thermoelectric element 13 Heat is released to release energy. Thus, it is considered that heat is radiated by the heat radiation side electrode.

  Due to the Peltier effect as described above, the heat absorption side electrode 12 absorbs heat and cools the surroundings. Since the heat absorption side electrode 12 is disposed on the one surface 20 a of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20, the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 is also cooled, and a plurality of heat absorption sides disposed on the other surface 20 b of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20. The metal plate 41 is also cooled. Therefore, if a cooling target object is thermally joined to the heat absorption side metal plate 41, the cooling target object is also cooled.

  Further, the heat dissipation side electrode 14 dissipates heat and heats the surroundings. Since the heat radiation side electrode 14 is disposed on the one surface 30 a of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30, the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30 is also heated, and a plurality of heat radiation sides disposed on the other surface 30 b of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30. The metal plate 51 is also heated. Therefore, if a heating object is thermally connected to the heat radiation side metal plate 51, the heating object is also heated. When the object to be cooled is thermally joined to the heat-absorbing side metal plate 41 in order to use the apparatus for cooling or temperature control at a low temperature, the heat-dissipation side metal plate 41 has a heat dissipation fin or the like. The structure is connected for the purpose.

  When the object to be cooled and the heat absorption side metal plate 41 are connected, or when the object to be heated and the heat dissipation side metal plate 51 are connected, metal bonding such as soldering is performed in order to reduce the thermal resistance. Conventionally, since this metal joining portion is a joining between dissimilar metals, thermal stress due to the difference in linear expansion coefficient is applied to this joining portion, which may cause damage such as peeling. However, in this example, a plurality of heat absorption side metal plates or heat dissipation side metal plates are spaced apart from each other and disposed on the heat absorption side insulating substrate or heat dissipation side insulating substrate, and the metallized surface is divided. For this reason, linear expansion acting in a direction parallel to the metallized surface is dispersed in each metal plate. For this reason, the thermal stress at the joint between the metal plate and the object to be cooled (heated) can be relaxed as compared with the case where the metal plate is not divided, and damage such as peeling can be prevented. Therefore, a highly efficient and highly reliable thermoelectric conversion device can be provided.

  In order to demonstrate the reliability of the thermoelectric conversion device 100 of this example, a reliability evaluation test was performed. The test method is as follows.

  First, 192 thermoelectric elements (96 N-type thermoelectric elements, 96 P-type thermoelectric elements) were used to produce the thermoelectric conversion device shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and the metal shown in FIG. Pieces 70 (material: Cu / W alloy) were joined by soldering.

  Next, 22 thermoelectric conversion devices prepared as described above were prepared, and intermittent conduction (1.5 minutes of energization and 4.5 minutes of non-energization) was repeatedly performed on each thermoelectric conversion device. The internal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion device 100 (resistance value when conducting from the lead wire to the thermoelectric conversion means) when the number of repeated cycles is 500, 1000, 3000, 5000, 10000 is measured, and the rate of change of internal resistance ( The test was accepted when the rate of change between the measured value of the internal resistance before the start of the test (at the time of 0 cycle) and the measured value of the internal resistance after the end of the test was 2% or less. In addition, when the metallized surface is not divided, if the thermoelectric conversion device is repeatedly energized, the thermal stress resulting from the difference in the coefficient of linear expansion is applied to the solder joint part that joins the metallized surface and the object to be cooled. It has been experimentally confirmed that the portion damaged by the thermal stress is not a joint between the metallized surface and the object to be cooled but a joint between the thermoelectric element and the electrode. This is because a difference between the thermal stress applied to the metallized surface side and the thermal stress applied to the electrode side occurs in the heat-absorbing side insulating substrate or the heat-radiating side insulating substrate, and the insulating substrate warps due to such a stress difference. It is considered that the solder joint between the thermoelectric element having the weakest joining force and the electrode is damaged by the warp. Therefore, after measuring the internal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion device after the intermittent energization test, if the resistance value is large, damage has occurred between the thermoelectric element and the electrode, that is, the thermoelectric conversion device has been damaged by thermal stress. Can be guessed.

  As a result of the intermittent energization test, the change rate of the internal resistance measured at 500, 1000, 3000, 5000, and 10000 cycles in all 22 thermoelectric conversion devices remained within 2%. Thereby, the high reliability of the thermoelectric converter of this example was demonstrated.

  The thermoelectric converter in this example is shown in FIGS. 6 is a front view of the thermoelectric conversion device 200 of this example, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 of the thermoelectric conversion device of this example when viewed from the other surface 20b, and FIG. 8 is the thermoelectric conversion of this example. It is a top view at the time of seeing the thermal radiation side insulating substrate 30 of an apparatus from the other surface 30b. The thermoelectric conversion device 200 of this example includes a heat absorption side metal plate 41 disposed on the other surface 20 b of the heat absorption side insulating substrate 20 and a heat radiation side metal plate 51 disposed on the other surface 30 b of the heat radiation side insulating substrate 30. The arrangement pattern was formed by a total of 25 metal plates of 5 rows × 5 columns. Moreover, each metal plate was made into the same shape (substantially square). Since other configurations are the same as those of the thermoelectric conversion device 100 described in the first embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

上記試験結果より、金属板のパターンが５行×５列のものであれば、断続通電試験で不合格になったものが無く、信頼性が十分向上していることがわかる。したがって、一つの金属板の面積が、全ての金属板の面積の２５分の１以下となるように金属板を分割すれば、十分信頼性の高い熱電変換装置を提供することができる。 In order to demonstrate the reliability of the thermoelectric conversion device 200 shown in this example, a reliability evaluation test similar to that described in Example 1 was performed. For comparison, the metal plate pattern has 4 rows × 4 columns (see FIG. 9), 3 rows × 3 columns (see FIG. 10), and 2 rows × 2 columns (see FIG. 11). The same reliability evaluation test was performed on the non-divided (1 row × 1 column) (see FIG. 12). The test results are shown in Table 1.

From the above test results, it can be seen that if the pattern of the metal plate is 5 rows × 5 columns, there is no failure in the intermittent energization test, and the reliability is sufficiently improved. Therefore, if the metal plate is divided so that the area of one metal plate is 1/25 or less of the area of all the metal plates, a sufficiently reliable thermoelectric conversion device can be provided.

It is a front view of the thermoelectric conversion apparatus in Example 1 of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the heat absorption side insulation board | substrate in Example 1 of this invention from the one surface side. It is the top view which looked at the heat-radiation side insulating substrate in Example 1 of this invention from the one surface side. It is the top view which looked at the heat absorption side insulation board | substrate in Example 1 of this invention from the other surface side. It is the top view which looked at the thermal radiation side insulating substrate in Example 1 of this invention from the other surface side. It is a front view of the thermoelectric conversion apparatus in Example 2 of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the heat absorption side insulation board | substrate in Example 2 of this invention from the other surface side. It is the top view which looked at the heat-radiation side insulating board in Example 2 of this invention from the other surface side. It is a top view of what arrange | positioned the metal plate of 4 rows x 4 columns on the insulated substrate. It is a top view of what arrange | positioned the metal plate of 3 rows x 3 columns on the insulated substrate. It is a top view of what arrange | positioned the metal plate of 2 rows x 2 columns on the insulated substrate. It is a top view of what arrange | positioned the metal plate which is not divided | segmented into the insulated substrate (1 row x 2 columns). It is a top view of the metal plate which is a cooling target object.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Thermoelectric conversion means 11, 11a, 11b: N type thermoelectric element 12, 12a: Heat absorption side electrode 13, 13a: P type thermoelectric element 14, 14a: Heat radiation side electrode 20: Heat absorption side insulating substrate, 20a: One side, 20b : Other side 30: heat dissipation side insulating substrate, 30a: one side, 30b: other side 41: heat absorption side metal plate 51: heat dissipation side insulating plate

Claims (3)

A plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements made of an N-type semiconductor material; a plurality of P-type thermoelectric elements made of a P-type semiconductor material; and a plurality of heat radiation side electrodes and heat absorption side electrodes made of a metal material, Thermoelectric conversion means in which the element, the heat absorption side electrode, the P-type thermoelectric element, and the heat radiation side electrode are electrically connected in this order;
A heat-absorbing-side insulating substrate having the plurality of heat-absorbing-side electrodes disposed on one surface;
In the thermoelectric conversion device having a heat radiation side insulating substrate on which one of the plurality of heat radiation side electrodes is disposed,
A thermoelectric conversion device, wherein a plurality of metal plates are disposed separately from each other on the other surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat radiation side insulating substrate. In claim 1,
The arrangement pattern of the heat absorption side electrode arranged on one surface of the heat absorption side insulating substrate is the same as the arrangement pattern of the metal plate arranged on the other surface of the heat radiation side insulating substrate,
The disposition pattern of the heat dissipating side electrode disposed on one surface of the heat dissipating side insulating substrate is the same as the disposition pattern of the metal plate disposed on the other surface of the heat absorbing side insulating substrate. A thermoelectric conversion device. In claim 1,
The area of the surface of each metal plate facing the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat dissipation side insulating substrate is the area of the surface of all metal surfaces facing the heat absorption side insulating substrate and / or the heat dissipation side insulating substrate. The thermoelectric conversion device is characterized by being less than or equal to 1/25 of the sum of the above.

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