FIELD OF INVENTION
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This invention relates to thermoelectric :element to boost current using surface
junctions. The element can be ~tilized in various appliances such as A/C,
Cooler, Refrigerator.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTiON
Different technologies are available for cooling /heating the environmental
ambient. These. include evaporative cooling, hot water I oil circulation in closed
system, involving radiating surfaces and boilers, suitable gas compression
followed by jet valve cooling on expansion, banks of solar cell base;d devices etc.
Heating and cooling of large volumes of enClosures involves high cost,
infrastructure and maintenance costs besiqes contributing to .ol1tside
environmental degradation. It is an ugly site to see the large scale use of
compression/ expansion based air conditioning systems. On the· other hand, in
motorised vehicles e.g. scooter, car, ships etc, heat developed in the engine gets
wasted to the environment and even requires radiator· cooling, adding to the
cost.
Thermoelectric element is available in the present state of the art, which is
employed in electronic circuit of power devices to cool down local area of the
circuit. So that its functionality is not affected owing to high temperature of
neighbouring area.
Sixteen metals including elements and alloys are generally utilized, out of
which two metals are selected to· form thermoelectric element constituting bi~
metallic configuration. Said sixteen m~tals are namely, Antimony, Nichrome,
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Iron, zmc, Cooper, Gold, Silver, Lead, Aluminium, Mercury, Platinum, Nickel,
'Constantin, Bismuth, Rodium and Paladium (Pd), in which constantin and
Nichrome are alloy.
Currently, the technique of point contacts IS followed, which can also be in
series for high current capacity.
However there is no disclosure of any doc:ument embodying technical teaching
regarding surface junction of bimetals for thermoelectric element to boost the ·
current capacity, which constitutes concept of the invention. So that it can be
applicable to various appliance~ such as A/C, Heater requiring ·less electric
power for operation thereof rendering it compact at the same time.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The. principal object of the present invention IS to provide thermoelectric
element to boost current using surface junctions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide thermoelectric element to
boost current using surface junctions which leads to efficient and cost effective
appliance with the provision to vary operational temperature ·range.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to this· invention, there is provided thermoelectric element to boost
current using surface junction compnsmg surface/volumetric· junction
between .bi-metals by means of thermocoupling, wherein the metals constitute
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·thermoelectric metals.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention makes a disclosure regarding thermoelectric element lo
boost current using surface junctions. The thermoelectric element comprises of
· surface/volume junction between bi-metals by thermocoupling. The current
intensity depends upon the surface area of two metals in contact or the volume
involved in a resulting junction between bimetals i.e. current (l) is directly
proportional to surface/volume of two metals in contact with each other.
The current ·gets boosted by augmenting area/volume of contact between two
metals. Area of contact refers to surface junction and volume of contact
involves volumetric junction between bimetals by embedding one metal into the
other.
Surface· bqnding is improved by means of sand blasting procedure in case it
can be achieved to a micro level, instead of mere macro-lev~l or normal visible
level.
lnview of the above, the metallic surface{s) of sheets q.nd blocks ui1dergoes the.
process of sand blasting to smoothen the surface so as to increase the surface
contact thereby boosting the thermoelectric currents. Another alternate to
supplement the thermo-electric current boosting lies in embedding one metal
inside the other i.e·. volumetric junction between ·bimetals as already discussed.
Achieving cooling is intrinsic in the thermo-electric effect itself as one ·c:nd of it
. gets heated, the other gets cooled intrinsically. In order that cooled surface is
distanced away from the hot/heated side of the bi-metal surface junction, heat
isolation may be used while maintaining electrical contact. This is achieved by
embedding one surface block into the other block containing the second metal.
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~ The ·sand blasting is carried out by means of an air gun with desired size
particulates that help roughen the surfaces involved with the required
particulate size and air blast speed. The objective is to achieve largest possible
micro-roughness on the two ~urfaces involved to . facilitate good surface
adhesion when brought into contact by thermocoupling. The two sheet surfaces
are brought into physical contact to achieve the surface joint needed for
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maximizing thermo-electric current boost.
The metals are selected from the following list of elements and alloys ..
Antimony, Nichrome, Iron, zinc, Cooper, Gold, Silver, Lead, Aluminium,
Mercury, Platinum, Nickel, Constantin, Bismuth, ~odium and Paladium (Pd).
The bimetallic configuration of thermoelectric element has inbuilt Seeback
effect which depends upon the properties of metals used. Seeback effect is
known to provide low level cooli~g in electronic . circuits· where power. devices
are used in proximity to other electronic components. The basic idea involves
the use of suitable bi-metallic contact device that generates electromotive force
(emf) when one side of the contact remains at a hotter environment relative to
the other side.
The electromotive force is boosted by selecting more distanced metals from the
sequ~nce of thermoelectric metals as discussed hereinabove. The thermo emf
developed lies in the range of millivolts for temperature differential of about
hundred degree centigrade. In case of Seeback effect, the temperature range is ·
limited.
In or.der to control temperature range. within a desired range of temperatures,
Peltier effect can be utilized alongwith the Seeback effect. This requires an
external source of DC power:
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Peltier effect is known to provide low level cooling of power devices used in
various electronic circuits. The basic idea lies in the use of suitable bi-metallic
:; contact. As one open side gets hot, the other open side automatically becomes
cool. The e.m.f. developed depends on the nature of the metals used. Though
the emf developed is unique to the two metals so chosen, the current capacity
depends on the effective area/volume of the junction itself. High current
requirements often requires boosting using a bank of su.ch junctions.
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The thermoelectric power is product of voltage and current i.e. P = VI, wherein
voltage refers to electromotive forces. "Therefore, more is the electromotive
forces and current by the provision of more distanced metals and increasing
surface/volume contact between two metals respectively, more will be the
thermoelectric power, which is required by the invention.
Therefore,. the present invention has been devised accordingly to accomplish
the same. The combination of two metals such as (Iron, Copper) and
(Aluminium, Iron) can be utilized out of a large number of bi-metals ·
combinations without restricting scope of the invention to the same. Thus
other bi-metallic combinations readily apparent to a person skilled in the art
are understood to be within purview of the invention .
. The thermoelectric element poss~sses a property, by which one side. remains
hot and other side remains cold and vice versa. Therefore, the element can be
implemented in the appliances such as Cooler, AC for cooling effect and in the
heater for heating the environment therearound. While employing the element
for example in cooler, the heated side is exposed to outside and cooler side is
directed towards users, which is required to be confined to serve the purpose
effectively.
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In .case of heater, the confined heated side faces users for necessary effect.
Thus the present invention can be utilized in any appliances for heating or
cooling the ambience for users.
Further, the thermoelectric element of ins~ant invention offers cost advantage
over the known alternatives involving solar cells, compressor based air
conditioning and evaporation systems.
It is to be noted that the present invention is susceptible to modifications,
adaptations and changes by those skilled in the art. Such variant embodiments
employing the concepts and features of this invention are intended to be within
the scope of the present invention, which is further set forlh under the
following claims:-

We Claim:
1. Thermoelectric element to boost current usmg surface junction
comprising surface/volumetric junction between bi-metals by means of
thermocoupling, wherein the metals constitute thermoelectric metals.
2. Thermoelectric element to boost. current usmg sufface junction as
claimed in. claim 1 wherein the surface junction comprises . physical
contact between two metallic sheets.
3. Thermoelectric element to· boost current usmg .surface junction as
claimed in claim 1 wherein the volumetric junction involves embedment
of one metallic block in to another metallic block.
4. Thermoelectric element to boost current u~mg surface junction as
claimed in any of the preceding claims· wherein the metallic surfaces of
the sheet/block undergoes sand blasting with the required particulate
size and a1r blast speed to obtain optimum micro-roughness of said
surfaces for sufficient adhesion· between the sheets/blocks during
thermocoupling to boost thermoelectric currents.
5. Thermoelectric element to boost current using surface junction as
claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the combination of bimetals
is selected from Antimony, Nichrome, Iron, zinc, Cooper, Gold,
Silver, Lead, Aluminium, Mercury, Platinum, Nickel, Constantin,
Bismuth, Radium and Paladium (Pd) ..
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6. Thermoelectric element to boost current usmg surface junction as
claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the electromotive force is
boosted by providing more distanced metals from the sequence of metals.
7. Thermoelectric element to boost current usmg surface junction as
claimed in any of the preceding claims which is associated with seeback
effect.
8. Thermoelectric element to boost current usmg surface junction as
· claimed in claim 7 is connected to an external source of DC power to
control temperature range within a desired range of temperatures by
involving peltier effect with seeback effect.
9. Thermoelectric element to boost current usmg surface junction as
claimed in any of the preceding claims which can be employed in series
to meet high current requirements .
10. Thermoelectric element to boost current using surface jur1ction· as
claimed in any of the preceding claims which can be implemented in the
appliances such as AC, Cooler, heater etc for heating/ cooling effect.