Did You Know...
...that it was melting ice cream that inspired the invention of the outboard motor? It was a lovely August day and Ole Evinrude was rowing his boat to his favorite island picnic spot. As he rowed, he watched his ice cream melt and wished he had a faster way to get to the island. At that moment the idea for the outboard motor was born!
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6346668 | Miniature, thin-film, solid state cryogenic cooler The invention provides a solid-state cooler that provides counter-current electricity flow through a device that includes Peltier junctions interconnecting the opposing flow of current through the device. The combination of counter-current flow with the T... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6313391 | Solar power system using thermal storage and cascaded thermal electric converters A solar powered electricity generating system comprised of a concentrator assembly that concentrates solar flux into a thermal storage unit. The thermal storage unit converts solar energy into heat energy which is then provided to three cascaded converter... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6232546 | Microcavity apparatus and systems for maintaining a microcavity over a macroscale area A microcavity apparatus and systems for maintaining microcavity spacing over a macroscopic area. An application of this invention is a microscale generator. This microscale generator includes a first element for receiving energy; a second element, opposit... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6103968 | Thermal generator and method of producing same A method of producing a thermal generator has the steps of forming two working branches including a negative branch and a positive branch, so that at least one of the branches is composed of a non-porous semiconductor material, subdividing the one branch ... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6084172 | Thermoelectric conversion component A π-type thermoelectric conversion component detects and controls temperature and at the same time exhibits a cooling performance inherently possessed by the thermoelectric conversion component without the need for mounting a discrete temperature detecti... | 07/04/2000 |
| 6072165 | Thin film metal/metal oxide thermocouple A thin film thermocouple having junctions (2, 7) of metal and semiconducting metal oxides such as tin oxide/silver, and used as surface temperature sensors in conjunction with thin film heating elements (1) to control temperature.... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6025554 | Thermoelectric device and method of manufacture A thermoelectric device comprising at least two dissimilar thermoelements directly bonded to cavities within a heat absorbing interconnection member yielding a strong device.... | 02/15/2000 |
| 6020671 | In-line thermoelectric module A thermoelectric module with a plurality of electricity generating units each having a first end and a second end, the units being arranged first end to second end along an in-line axis. Each unit includes first and second elements each made of a thermoel... | 02/01/2000 |
| 6005182 | Thermoelectric conversion module and method of manufacturing the same A thermoelectric conversion module including a honeycomb structural body 3 made of an electrically insulating material, N type and P type semiconductor elements 1 and 2 inserted into through holes formed in the honeycomb structural body 3, electrically in... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5956569 | Integrated thermoelectric cooler formed on the backside of a substrate The present invention provides a structure and a method of fabricating a thermoelectric Cooler directly on the backside of a semiconductor substrate. The thermoelectric (TE) cooler (thermoelectric cooler) disperses heat from an integrated circuit (IC) tha... | 09/21/1999 |
| 5824947 | Thermoelectric device A thermoelectric device fabricated of at least two dissimilar thermoelements and at least one of the thermoelements has a conductor in parallel therewith increasing the Figure of Merit. The thermoelements are also surrounded by a conductor along the leg l... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5808233 | Amorphous-crystalline thermocouple and methods of its manufacture A thermocouple formed of a length of a single composition having first solid phase section adjoining a second solid phase section, and a transition therebetween. One method of making such thermocouples is to raise the temperature of the first solid phase ... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5747418 | Superconducting thermoelectric generator An apparatus and method for producing electricity from heat. The present invention is a thermoelectric generator that uses materials with substantially no electrical resistance, often called superconductors, to efficiently convert heat into electrical ene... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5608181 | Electric power generating element In an electric power generating element, either positive or negative electrode includes a composition containing an organic compound as a main agent and the positive electrode has an electrically conductive substance so that relatively low-temperature the... | 03/04/1997 |
| 5563368 | Thermoelectric power generating device A thermoelectric conversion member formed by a thermoelectric conversion element has a split ring shaped transverse cross section. Electrodes are disposed on ring ends of the thermoelectric conversion member facing each other. A magnetic field generating ... | 10/08/1996 |
| 5525162 | Thermal conductivity enhancement technique A technique for forming from staring precursors at the molecular level, a sultant thermoelectric material with a reduced thermal conductivity. All staring precursors are dissolved in solution, reduced to remove oxygen, and then combined into a single solu... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5492570 | Hybrid thermal electric generator The apparatus is a combined Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Converter (AMTEC) and a thermionic energy converter which are mated by the use of a common heat transfer device which can be a heat pipe, pumped fluid or a simple heat conduction path. By adjust... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5487790 | Electric power generating element In an electric power generating element, either positive or negative electrode includes a composition containing an organic compound as a main agent and the positive electrode has an electrically conductive substance so that relatively low-temperature the... | 01/30/1996 |
| 5439528 | Laminated thermo element A thermoelement (leg) of a thermocouple for use in peltier heating or generation of power by the Seebeck effect including a plurality of interleaved films wherein compositions of neighboring films are selected to create Kapitza boundaries between the film... | 08/08/1995 |
| 5428560 | Simulator, in particular of thermal batteries A simulator, in particular for simulating thermal batteries, the simulator delivering an output voltage Ubat across output terminals thereof, said output voltage being a function of a current Iout delivered, into a load connected to ... | 06/27/1995 |
| 5393351 | Multilayer film multijunction thermal converters Multijunction thermal converters are formed in an integral multifilm membrane form over a through opening in a nonmagnetic, dielectric substrate. Through the use of conventional photolithographic and etching techniques, very compact, rugged and precise in... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5356484 | Reversible thermoelectric converter A reversible thermoelectric converter includes first and second quantum well diodes and an electrical connection between the first and second quantum well diodes without a thermal barrier between them. Each quantum well diode includes first and second ele... | 10/18/1994 |
| 5288336 | Thermoelectric energy conversion A thermopile 30 comprises a stacked assembly of bimetallic layers in which there is full conductor interface contact over the distance separating hot and cold surfaces 31, 32. The assembly may include dielectric layers forming a capacitor stack. A.C. curr... | 02/22/1994 |
| 5215597 | Method for bonding thin film thermocouples to ceramics A method is provided for adhering a thin film metal thermocouple to a ceramic substrate used in an environment up to 700 degrees Centigrade, such as at a cylinder of an internal combustion engine. The method includes the steps of: depositing a thin layer ... | 06/01/1993 |
| 5180440 | Printed circuit thermocouple arrangements for personnel training and equipment evaluation purposes A thermocouple arrangement for developing, evaluating, monitoring and adjusting any process performed on or otherwise so as to thermally affect a printed circuit board assembly or other electronic assembly (including bare circuit board or boards in the ma... | 01/19/1993 |
| 5089054 | Flat plate alkali metal thermoelectric converter module A flat plate alkali metal thermoelectric converter module having a plurality of generally flat plate cells grouped in stacks that are electrically connected in series within the stack, the cells being disposed to minimize the heat energy radiated to a con... | 02/18/1992 |
| 5069726 | Ceramic coated wires and thermocouples An insulated ceramic coated wire with a relatively thin ceramic coating allowing flexibility. The insulation is non porous and is particularly useful for thermocouples. The application all describes thermocouple made with such wires.... | 12/03/1991 |
| 5064476 | Thermoelectric cooler and fabrication method An improved thermoelectric device and fabrication process wherein in a first embodiment strips of conductive material are attached to corresponding strips of adhesive material and first and second patterned arrays of tabs are struck from the strips onto t... | 11/12/1991 |
| 5048973 | Plug-type heat flux gauge A plug-type heat flux gauge formed in a material specimen and having a thermoplug integrally formed in the material specimen, and a method for making the same. The thermoplug is surrounded by a concentric annulus, through which thermocouple wires are rout... | 09/17/1991 |
| 5039351 | High performance thin film alkali metal thermoelectric device An alkali metal thermoelectric conversion device formed from a porous tube or plate coated with a thin film of beta-alumina, the porous tube or plate is sintered metal or metal alloy having a coefficient of thermal expansion which approaches that of the b... | 08/13/1991 |
| 4907060 | Encapsulated thermoelectric heat pump and method of manufacture An encapsulated thermoelectric heat pump, apparatus and method for manufacturing the encapsulated thermoelectric heat pump is disclosed. The encapsulated thermoelectric heat pump includes a plurality of spaced n-type and p-type thermoelectric elements arr... | 03/06/1990 |
| 4902648 | Process for producing a thermoelectric module A thermoelectric module comprises a first electrode array having a plurality of electrode pieces and a second electrode array having a plurality of electrode pieces. The first and second electrode arrays are confronted with each other. The electrode piece... | 02/20/1990 |
| 4676996 | Method of producing a foamed multiple thermocouple A method of producing a multiple thermocouple having a conductive open-cellular foam matrix, a portion of which forms a first pole with a plurality of discrete conductors of a different material from the foam matrix embedded in the foam having a portion o... | 06/30/1987 |
| 4004210 | Reversible thermoelectric converter with power conversion of energy fluctuations A thermal converter for transmitting electric energy fluctuations of small circuits at a higher temperature across a thermal barrier to small circuits at a lower temperature for high efficiency conversion of the electric energy fluctuations to electric po... | 01/18/1977 |
