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Radial thermoelectric device assembly

Radial thermoelectric device assembly description/claims

This application claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/951,431, filed Jul. 23, 2007, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to temperature control devices, and more particularly, to thermoelectric heat exchangers useful for producing a heated and/or cooled fluid.

2. Description of the Related Art

U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,021 describes a temperature control system that comprises a thermoelectric unit and a blower, which can be used to provide heated and/or cooled air to a surface of an automobile seat. Such a system can also be used to provide heated and/or cooled air to an enclosed space, bed, chair, other seating assembly and/or directly to a user.

With respect to automobile seats, in such arrangements, the heated and/or cooled air can be distributed to the occupant by passing the air through one or more air ducts formed into the seat and then through the seat surface to the occupant. The amount of space available within, below, and around the seat for such temperature control systems is often severely limited. For example, in some cars, to save weight or increase passenger room, the seats are a few inches thick and abut the adjacent structure of the car, such as the floorboard or the back of the car. Furthermore, automobile manufacturers are increasingly mounting various devices, such as electronic components or variable lumbar supports, within, below, and around the seat. Additionally, the size of the seat, particularly the seat back, is often designed to be as small as possible to reduce the amount of cabin space consumed by the seat, thereby increasing passenger space and/or decreasing weight.

Present temperature control systems can be too large to be mounted within, below or around vehicle seats. Conventional systems can have a blower five or six inches in diameter generating an air flow that passes through a duct to reach a heat exchanger that selectively adjusts the temperature of the air. The heat exchanger can be several inches wide and long, and can be an inch or so thick. From the heat exchanger the air is transported through ducts to the bottom of the seat cushion and/or to the back of the seat cushion. Such systems are often bulky and difficult to fit underneath or inside car seats.

The ducting used with these systems can also be bulky and difficult to use if the duct must go from a seat bottom to a seat back that is allowed to pivot or rotate. These ducts not only use additional space within the seat, but also resist air flow and thus require a larger fan to provide the air flow. The larger fan can require additional space, may need to be operated at greater speeds and/or may generate more noise. Noise is undesirable inside motor vehicles. Further, the ducting affects the temperature of the passing air and either heats cool air, or cools heated air, with the result of often requiring larger fans or heat exchangers. In light of these drawbacks, there is a need for a more compact and energy efficient heating and cooling system for automobile seats, and preferably a quieter system. In addition, a more compact and energy-efficient heating and cooling system also has uses in other localized conditioned air settings.

According to some embodiments, a heat exchange device includes a housing, having at least one inlet, at least one first outlet and at least one second outlet. The device further includes an impeller positioned within the housing and configured to receive fluid from the at least one inlet and transfer it to at least one of the first outlet and the second outlet. In addition, the device comprises one or more heat exchange modules configured to receive a volume of fluid and selectively thermally condition it before said fluid exits through the first outlet or the second outlet. In one embodiment, the heat exchange module is partially or completely positioned within the housing.

In some embodiments, the heat exchange module comprises a thermoelectric device. In other arrangements, the thermoelectric device comprises a Peltier circuit. In another embodiment, the heat exchange module further comprises heat exchangers that are in thermal communication with the thermoelectric device, such that at least a portion of the volume of fluid is directed through or near such heat exchangers. In one arrangement, the heat exchangers are in thermal communication with a substrate that includes a thermally conductive and electrically non-conductive material.

In other arrangements, the heat exchange module is positioned along an outer perimeter portion of the interior of the housing. In another embodiment, the heat exchange module extends along substantially the entire perimeter portion of the housing. In still another arrangement, the device comprises at least two separate heat exchange modules. In one embodiment, the heat exchange modules are substantially equally spaced apart within the interior of the housing. In other embodiments, the heat exchange modules are electrically connected to each other. In one embodiment, the heat exchange modules are electrically connected to each other using end couplings, said end coupling comprising extensions of a substrate of a thermoelectric device.

According to some arrangements, the heat exchange module comprises a set of upper heat exchangers in fluid communication with an upper side of the thermoelectric device and a set of lower heat exchangers in fluid communication with a lower side of the thermoelectric device. In one arrangement, the at least one first outlet is in fluid communication with the set of upper heat exchangers and the at least one second outlet is in fluid communication with the set of lower heat exchangers. In another arrangement, the at least first outlet is located along a sidewall portion of the housing and wherein the at least second outlet is located along a bottom portion of the housing.

In some embodiments, the impeller is configured to substantially deliver an equal volume of fluid to the at least first outlet and the at least second outlet. In other arrangements, the heat exchangers are oriented along a direction that generally coincides with a fluid flow direction approaching said heat exchangers. In yet another embodiment, the device is configured to supply thermally conditioned fluid to a seat assembly, such as, for example, a vehicle seat, a bed, a sofa, a chair, a wheelchair, a stadium seat and/or the like. According to some embodiments, the heat exchange module is configured to accommodate thermal stresses when in use. In one embodiment, a substrate of the heat exchange module comprises at least one expansion joint.

According to other arrangements, a climate controlled seat assembly comprises a seat bottom portion, a seat back portion and a heat exchange device. The heat exchange device includes a housing, having at least one inlet, at least one first outlet and at least one second outlet, an impeller positioned within the housing, the impeller configured to receive fluid from the at least one inlet and transfer it to at least one of the first outlet and the second outlet and at least one heat exchange module configured to receive a volume of fluid and selectively thermally condition said fluid before said fluid exits through the first outlet or the second outlet. In some arrangements the heat exchange module is positioned within the housing. In other embodiments, thermally conditioned fluid exiting the first outlet or the second outlet of the heat exchange device is configured to be delivered within an opening of at least of the seat bottom portion and the seat back portion. Further, in some embodiments, thermally conditioned fluid is configured to be transferred toward a occupant of the seat assembly. In some arrangements, the heat exchange device is mounted to a surface of the seat back portion or the seat bottom portion. In another embodiment, at least one of the first outlet and the second outlet is configured to generally align with and be in fluid communication with the opening of the seat bottom portion or the seat back portion.

According to other embodiments, a method of thermally conditioning a fluid includes positioning at least one heat exchange module within a housing of a blower. The at least one heat exchange module is configured to receive a volume of fluid and selectively thermally condition said fluid before said fluid exits through an outlet of the housing. The method further comprises selectively heating or cooling said fluid by electrically energizing said heat exchange module and activating an impeller of the blower. In some arrangements, the heat exchange module comprises a thermoelectric device.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,866 discloses various configurations of a thermoelectric device (TED) with a radial heat exchanger and thermoelectric unit that are configured to address many of the shortcomings discussed above. While representing an improvement over the art, several aspects of the '866 design have limited its commercial application. For example, the radial thermoelectric modules disclosed in the '866 module can be difficult to manufacture and may result in fatigue damage caused by thermal expansion forces. In addition, the air flow through the radial heat exchangers may not be optimized for commercial applications.

Some embodiments provide an annular heat exchanger system comprising a heat exchanger module system. The heat exchanger module system comprising: an inner perimeter defining an opening in the heat exchanger module system; a thermoelectric device comprising: a first substrate comprising a plurality of sectors defining at least a portion of an outer perimeter of the thermoelectric device; a second substrate; and a plurality of thermoelectric pellets disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

Some embodiments provide a heat exchanger module system comprising: a plurality of heat exchanger modules defining at least a portion of an outer perimeter and an opening. Each heat exchanger module comprises: a thermoelectric device comprising a first substrate, a second substrate, and a plurality to thermoelectric pellets disposed therebetween; a first heat exchanger thermally coupled to the first substrate; and a second heat exchanger thermally coupled to the second substrate.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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