Did You Know...
...that the Slinky toy was the result of a failed attempt by engineer Richard James to produce an antivibration device for ship instruments? His goal was to develop a spring that would instantaneously counterbalance the wave motion that rocks a ship at sea. Instead, he developed the Slinky.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7875791 | Method for manufacturing a thermopile on a membrane and a membrane-less thermopile, the thermopile thus obtained and a thermoelectric generator comprising such thermopiles A method for manufacturing thermopile carrier chips comprises forming first type thermocouple legs and second type thermocouple legs on a first surface of a substrate and afterwards removing part of the substrate form a second surface opposite to the first surface, ... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7777126 | Thermoelectric device with thin film elements, apparatus and stacks having the same A thermoelectric device at least includes a ring-shaped insulated substrate and plural sets of thermoelectric thin film material pair (TEP) disposed thereon. The ring-shaped insulated substrate has an inner rim, an outer rim and a first surface. The sets of TEP elec... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7347312 | Distribution system and method of operating the same An improved distribution system and method of operating the same are provided. In one embodiment, the distribution system includes a plate for loading a plurality of substrates thereon, a first transfer assembly for transferring the substrates from the plate to a co... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7330491 | Fault tolerant laser diode package A laser diode package (10) according to the present invention is tolerant of short-circuit and open-circuit failures. The laser diode package (10) includes a laser diode bar (12), a forward-biased diode (14), a heat sink (18), and ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7317159 | Thermoelectric conversion element and method of manufacturing the same, and thermoelectric conversion device using the element The present invention provides a thermoelectric conversion element that has high efficiency even at reduced thickness. In this thermoelectric conversion element, striped p-type thermoelectric conversion parts are arranged on one surface of an insulating layer, and s... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7305839 | Thermal transfer device and system and method incorporating same A thermal transfer device having a first substrate layer, a second substrate layer and first and second electrodes disposed between the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer. The thermal transfer device also includes a release layer disposed between t... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7279732 | Enhanced atomic layer deposition A method of enhanced atomic layer deposition is described. In an embodiment, the enhancement is the use of plasma. Plasma begins prior to flowing a second precursor into the chamber. The second precursor reacts with a prior precursor to deposit a layer on the substr... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7273981 | Thermoelectric power generation systems Representative configurations for improved thermoelectric power generation systems to improve and increase thermal efficiency are disclosed. ... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7260939 | Thermal transfer device and system and method incorporating same A method of manufacturing a thermal transfer device including providing first and second thermally conductive substrates that are substantially atomically flat, providing a patterned electrical barrier having a plurality of closed shapes on the first thermally condu... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7242580 | Disk array apparatus An efficient exhausting and cooling structure in a disk array apparatus is provided. A HDD module mounted in a HDD box of the disk array apparatus includes, around a HDD, a thermoelectric device which converts heat of HDD into electric power by using temperature dif... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7235735 | Thermoelectric devices utilizing double-sided Peltier junctions and methods of making the devices A thermoelectric device and method of manufacturing the device, where thermoelectric elements of opposite conductivity type are located on respective opposing sides of a heat source member. Heat sinks are disposed on opposite sides of the thermoelectric elements. Pe... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7222489 | Integrated thermoelectric module An integrated thermoelectric module is formed of a set of thermoelectric elements, consisting of N type and P type conductor and/or semiconductor elements electrically connected in series and thermally connected in parallel, the thermoelectric elements being electri... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7208804 | Crystalline or amorphous medium-K gate oxides, Y0and Gd0 A gate oxide and method of fabricating a gate oxide that produces a more reliable and thinner equivalent oxide thickness than conventional SiO2 gate oxides are provided. Also shown is a gate oxide with a conduction band offset of 2 eV or greater. Gate oxi... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7205620 | Highly reliable amorphous high-k gate dielectric ZrON A gate dielectric and method of fabricating a gate dielectric that produces a more reliable and thinner equivalent oxide thickness than conventional SiO2 gate oxides are provided. Gate dielectrics formed from metals such as zirconium are thermodynamically... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7193893 | Write once read only memory employing floating gates Structures and methods for write once read only memory employing floating gates are provided. The write once read only memory cell includes a floating gate transistor formed in a modified dynamic random access memory (DRAM) fabrication process. The floating gate tra... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7183127 | Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device A semiconductor device array comprising highly densely arranged nano-size semiconductor devices is prepared by a simple method. The array comprises a porous body having cylinder-shaped pores formed by removing cylinder-shaped regions from a structure that includes a... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7178332 | Exhaust heat recovery system In an exhaust heat recovery system, electric power generation efficiency of a thermoelectric conversion element can be improved, and warming-up of a catalyst can be completed early, without using a complicated device. The exhaust heat recovery system according to th... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7160577 | Methods for atomic-layer deposition of aluminum oxides in integrated circuits The present inventors devised unique atomic-layer deposition systems, methods, and apparatus suitable for aluminum-oxide deposition. One exemplary method entails providing an outer chamber enclosing a substrate, forming an inner chamber within the outer chamber, and... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7109408 | Solid state energy converter A solid-state energy converter with a semiconductor or semiconductor-metal implementation is provided for conversion of thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration. In n-type heat-to-electricity embodiments, a highly doped n* emitter regio... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7100369 | Thermoelectric generating device A thermoelectric generating device has a thermoelectric element which utilizes an exhaust gas from an engine as a high temperature heat source and an engine coolant as a low temperature heat source in order to generate electricity. An introducing passage introduces ... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7098393 | Thermoelectric device with multiple, nanometer scale, elements A thermoelectric device formed of nanowires on the nm scale. The nanowires are preferably of a size that causes quantum confinement effects within the wires. The wires are connected together into a bundle to increase the power density. ... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7051522 | Thermoelectric catalytic converter temperature control A method for controlling temperature of a catalytic converter in an automobile exhaust system is disclosed. The method includes establishing a reference temperature for the catalytic converter, distributing a stream of exhaust gases through the catalytic converter, ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7015051 | Method for inspecting semiconductor device A wafer is irradiated with laser light having a wavelength which is transmitted through an inside of a crystal of the wafer and does not generate an electromotive force due to photo-excitation while the laser light is scanned. When a temperature of the wafer is incr... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6970370 | Ferroelectric write once read only memory for archival storage Structures and methods for ferroelectric write once read only memory adapted to be programmed for long retention archival storage are provided. The write once read only memory cell includes a charge amplifier transistor. The transistor includes a source region, a dr... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6969679 | Fabrication of nanoscale thermoelectric devices In a method for fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device, a first electrode pattern is formed on a substrate, wherein the first electrode pattern includes bottom electrodes and a first set of connections which connects the bottom electrodes to form first and sec... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6967154 | Enhanced atomic layer deposition A method of enhanced atomic layer deposition is described. In an embodiment, the enhancement is the use of plasma. Plasma begins prior to flowing a second precursor into the chamber. The second precursor reacts with a prior precursor to deposit a layer on the substr... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6958443 | Low power thermoelectric generator Disclosed is a foil segment for a thermoelectric generator comprising a top plate disposed in spaced relation above a bottom plate. An array of the foil segments is perpendicularly disposed in side-by-side arrangement between and in thermal contact with the bottom a... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6953730 | Low-temperature grown high quality ultra-thin CoTiO3 gate dielectrics A gate oxide and method of fabricating a gate oxide that produces a more reliable and thinner equivalent oxide thickness than conventional SiO2 gate oxides are provided. Gate oxides formed from alloys such as cobalt-titanium are thermodynamically stable s... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6952362 | Ferroelectric write once read only memory for archival storage Structures and methods for ferroelectric write once read only memory adapted to be programmed for long retention archival storage are provided. The write once read only memory cell includes a charge amplifier transistor. The transistor includes a source region, a dr... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6951456 | Microcombustor and combustion-based thermoelectric microgenerator A generally toroidal counterflow heat exchanger is the main element of a combustor that operates at a micro scale. The combustor includes a central combustion region with openings to a reactant gas channel and an exhaust gas channel. The reactant channel and exhaust... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6930346 | Evaporation of Y-Si-O films for medium-K dielectrics A gate oxide and method of fabricating a gate oxide that produces a more reliable and thinner equivalent oxide thickness than conventional SiO2 gate oxides are provided. Gate oxides formed from yttrium, silicon, and oxygen are thermodynamically stable suc... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6911893 | Ceramic electronic component A ceramic electronic component includes a component body having semiconductive ceramic layers and internal electrodes. The semiconductive ceramic layers and the internal electrodes are alternately laminated. The semiconductive ceramic layers have a relative density ... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6906449 | Hybrid thermionic energy converter and method The present invention embodies a solid state thermionic energy converter and is directed to a method and apparatus for conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy, and electrical energy to refrigeration. The present invention maintains a thermal separation bet... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6894215 | Thermoelectric module A thermoelectric module with a simple structure with less breakage by thermal stress is provided. For this purpose, the thermoelectric module includes p-type and n-type thermoelectric elements (13, 14) which are alternately placed, and outer electrodes (15... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6855880 | Modular thermoelectric couple and stack A thermoelectric semiconductor module (10) includes a plurality of semiconductor pellets (14, 18) having Peltier characteristics are mechanically interconnected and arranged in an electrical series circuit with heat transferring means (12, 16, 20 | 02/15/2005 |
| 6759586 | Thermoelectric module and heat exchanger Disclosed is a thermoelectric module, comprising a plurality of p-type thermoelectric elements each comprising a p-type semiconductor having a skutterdite crystal structure, a plurality of n-type thermoelectric elements each comprising a n-type semiconductor having ... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6700052 | Flexible thermoelectric circuit A flexible thermoelectric circuit is disclosed. Thermoelectric circuits have traditionally been of the rigid or substantially rigid form. Several different embodiments of thermoelectric circuits are disclosed which permit flexion in one or more directions... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6625990 | Thermoelectric power generation systems An improved thermoelectric power generation system utilizes rotary thermoelectric configurations to improve and increase thermal power throughput. These systems are further enhanced by the use of hetrostructure thermoelectric materials, very thin plated m... | 09/30/2003 |
| 6613972 | Microcombustor and combustion-based thermoelectric microgenerator A generally toroidal counterflow heat exchanger is the main element of a combustor that operates at a micro scale. The combustor includes a central combustion region with openings to a reactant gas channel and an exhaust gas channel. The reactant channel ... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6548750 | Solid state thermoelectric device The solid state thermoelectric device includes at least an array of metallic conductor and/or N-type and P-type semiconductor thermoelectric elements assembled on a printed circuit and forming thermoelectric couples electrically connected in series. The s... | 04/15/2003 |
