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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8129610 | Thermoelectric transducer A thermoelectric transducer is provided, where a decrease in conversion efficiency due to uneven characteristics of semiconductors is resolved and a decrease in adhesion strength between each element unit and an electrode due to a heat expansion coefficient between ... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8035026 | Thermoelectric material, thermoelectric element, thermoelectric module and methods for manufacturing the same T provide an N type thermoelectric material having figure of the merit improved to be comparable to or higher than that of P type thermoelectric material, the N type thermoelectric material of the present invention contains at least one kind of Bi and Sb and at leas... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7952015 | Pb-Te-compounds doped with tin-antimony-tellurides for thermoelectric generators or peltier arrangements The invention relates to a thermoelectrically active p- or n-conductive semiconductor material constituted by a compound of the general formula (I) (PbTe)1−x(Sn2±ySb2±zTe5)x (I) with... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7858872 | Back contact for thin film solar cells The present invention discloses thin film photovoltaic devices comprising Group II-VI semiconductor layers with a substrate configuration having an interface layer between the back electrode and the absorber layer capable of creating an ohmic contact in the device. | 12/28/2010 |
| 7763793 | Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element using the same, and electronic device and cooling device including the thermoelectric conversion element A thermoelectric conversion material is provided that has not only a higher thermoelectric performance as compared to conventional ones but also semiconducting temperature dependence, i.e. properties that the electrical resistivity decreases with an increase in temp... | 07/27/2010 |
| 7435896 | Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element using the material, cooling device and electric apparatus using the element, and electric power generation method and cooling method using the element With conventional thermoelectric conversion materials, their thermoelectric conversion performance has been insufficient, and a problem has been to achieve stable performance in an oxidizing atmosphere and an air atmosphere. In view of this, according to the present... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7417186 | Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element using the same, and electronic apparatus and cooling device comprising the element To provide a thermoelectric conversion material having semiconductor-like temperature dependence, that is, the property that electric resistivity decreases with increasing temperature, and having high thermoelectric performance. The present invention is a thermoelec... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7365265 | Thermoelectric materials comprising nanoscale inclusions to enhance seebeck coefficient A thermoelectric material having enhanced Seebeck coefficient is characterized by a microstructure comprising nanoscale Pb inclusions dispersed in matrix substantially composed of PbTe. The excess Pb is obtained either by adding Pb in an amount greater than the stoi... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7326851 | Pb-Ge-Te-compounds for thermoelectric generators or Peltier arrangements A thermoelectrically active p- or n-conductive semiconductor material is constituted by a ternary compound of the general formula (I) (Pb1-xGex)Te (I) with x value from 0.16 to 0.5, wherein 0 to 10% by weight ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7312392 | Thermoelectric conversion device, and cooling method and power generating method using the device The present invention provides a thermoelectric conversion device having high thermoelectric conversion performance. In this device, electrodes are arranged so that electric current flows in an interlayer direction of a layered substance, unlike the arrangements der... | 12/25/2007 |
| RE39640 | Conductive isostructural compounds A family of isostructural compounds have been prepared having the general formula AnPbmBinO2n+m. These compounds possess a NaCl lattice type structure as well as low thermal conductivity and controlled electrical conductiv... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7196929 | Method for operating a memory device having an amorphous silicon carbide gate insulator A floating gate transistor has a reduced barrier energy at an interface with an adjacent amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) gate insulator, allowing faster charge transfer across the gate insulator at lower voltages. Data is stored as charge on the floating gate. The... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7186391 | Sintered compact of lanthanum sulfide or cerium sulfide and method for preparing the same The present invention provides a lanthanum sulfide or cerium sulfide sintered compact usable as a thermoelectric conversion material having a high Seebeck coefficient. The sintered compact has a chemical composition of La2S3 or Ce2S | 03/06/2007 |
| 7179986 | Self-assembled quantum dot superlattice thermoelectric materials and devices A thermoelectric (TE) device includes a first leg of TE material (a pseudobinary or pseudoternary alloy) and a second leg comprising a metal wire. The second leg is in thermal and electrical communication with the first leg. The TE device has a ZT value of approxima... | 02/20/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7067733 | Thermoelectric material having crystal grains well oriented in certain direction and process for producing the same Thermoelectric material is produced through a process sequence including a liquid quenching, a primary solidification such as a hot pressing or extrusion and an upset forging; although the C-planes of the crystal grains are directed in parallel to the direction in w... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7038234 | Thermoelectric module with Si/SiGe and B4C/B9C super-lattice legs A super-lattice thermoelectric device. The device includes p-legs and n-legs, each leg having a large number of alternating layers of two materials with differing electron band gaps. The n-legs in the device are comprised of alternating layers of silicon and silicon... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7002071 | Thermoelectric conversion material and method of producing the same A thermoelectric conversion material is formed of a polycrystal structure of crystal grains composed of a silicon-rich phase, and an added element-rich phase in which at least one type of added element is deposited at the grain boundary thereof, the result of which ... | 02/21/2006 |
| 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 |
| 6950338 | Method for operating a memory device having an amorphous silicon carbide gate insulator A floating gate transistor has a reduced barrier energy at an interface with an adjacent amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) gate insulator, allowing faster charge transfer across the gate insulator at lower voltages. Data is stored as charge on the floating gate. The... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6946596 | Tunneling-effect energy converters Tunneling-effect converters of thermal energy to electricity with an emitter and a collector separated from each other by a distance that is comparable to atomic dimensions and where tunneling effect plays an important role in the charge movement from the emitter to... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6756536 | Thermoelectric microactuator A thermoelectric microactuator on a substrate includes a first temperature control element having a first surface bonded to the substrate and having a second surface. A first electrically nonconductive layer has a first surface bonded to the second surface of the fi... | 06/29/2004 |
| 6743973 | Thermoelectric material improved in figure of merit, process for producing thereof and peltier module using the same Thermoelectric material of (Bi, Sb)(Te, Se) system is produced through a liquid quenching method and an extrusion from a die unit having an inlet portion and an outlet portion crossing each other at 30-150 degrees so that the crystal grains have an average grain siz... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6696635 | Thermoelectrically cooling electronic devices A thermoelectric cooler utilizing superlattice and quantum-well materials may be deposited directly onto a die using thin-film deposition techniques. The materials may have a figure-of-merit of greater than one.... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6677515 | High performance thermoelectric material and method of fabrication A thermoelectric material is disclosed that is manufactured from a method including the steps of: providing a Group IV element boride, and doping the Group IV element boride with a doping element chosen from one of the column III, IV, V elements, wherein ... | 01/13/2004 |
| 6653548 | Thermoelectric conversion material, method for manufacturing same, and thermoelectric conversion element A cuboid p-type and an n-type thermoelectric conversion material having a composite of an alloy powder for a rare earth magnet and a bismuth-based thermoelectric conversion material that has been rendered a p-type semiconductor or an n-type semiconductor ... | 11/25/2003 |
| 6620994 | Thermoelectric generators A thermoelectric module including a couple formed between two bismuth telluride thermoelectrodes. The first thermoelectrode is doped with palladium, selenium, or a combination of the two. The second thermoelectrode is doped with antimony, gold, or a combi... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6596226 | Process for producing thermoelectric material and thermoelectric material thereof A process for producing a thermoelectric material based on two or more elements selected in the group constituted by Bi, Sb, Te and Se, which process comprises: i. an alloying step wherein determined amounts of the elements Bi, Sb, Te or Se are mixed unti... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6563039 | Thermoelectric unicouple used for power generation A high-efficiency thermoelectric unicouple is used for power generation. The unicouple is formed with a plurality of legs, each leg formed of a plurality of segments. The legs are formed in a way that equalized certain aspects of the different segments. D... | 05/13/2003 |
| 6552255 | Thermoelectric composition The thermoelectric properties (resistivity, thermopower and thermal conductivity) of single crystals of the low-dimensional pentatelluride materials are disclosed. The pentatellurides are well suited for use in thermoelectric devices. In general, the pent... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6444896 | Quantum dot thermoelectric materials and devices Quantum-dot superlattice (QLSL) structures having improved thermoelectric properties are described. In one embodiment, PbSex Te1-x /PbTe QDSLs are provided having enhanced values of Seebeck coefficient and thermoelectric figure of me... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6403875 | Process for producing thermoelectric material A process for producing a thermoelectric material comprising mixing at least two of bismuth, tellurium, selenium, and antimony and, if desired, a dopant, melting the mixture, grinding the resulting alloy ingot, forming the powder, and sintering the green ... | 06/11/2002 |
| 6399871 | Thermoelectric materials: ternary penta telluride and selenide compounds Ternary tellurium compounds and ternary selenium compounds may be used in fabricating thermoelectric devices with a thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of 1.5 or greater. Examples of such compounds include Tl2 SnTe5, Tl2 G... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6384312 | Thermoelectric coolers with enhanced structured interfaces A thermoelectric device with enhanced structured interfaces for improved cooling efficiency is provided. In one embodiment, the thermoelectric device includes a first thermoelement comprising a supetlattice of p-type thermoelectric material and a second t... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6342668 | Thermoelectric materials with filled skutterudite structure for thermoelectric devices A class of thermoelectric compounds based on the skutterudite structure with heavy filling atoms in the empty octants and substituting transition metals and main-group atoms. High Seebeck coefficients and low thermal conductivities are achieved in combina... | 01/29/2002 |
| 6340787 | Power converter for supplying electricity from a difference in temperature An energy converting circuit, boosting the voltage supplied by a low direct voltage source, comprising a self-oscillating circuit, operating at very low voltage, using a voltage boosting transformer generating control signals of two chopper-boosters opera... | 01/22/2002 |
| 6312617 | Conductive isostructural compounds A family of isostructural compounds have been prepared having the general formula An Pbm Bin Q2n+m. These compounds possess a NaCl lattice type structure as well as low thermal conductivity and controlled electr... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6307143 | Thermoelectric materials and thermoelectric conversion element Thermoelectric materials having a high performance index and thermoelectric elements are provided. The present thermoelectric materials are constituted by at least one element selected from the group consisting of Bi and Sb, at least one element selected ... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6288321 | Electronic device featuring thermoelectric power generation A device for generating power to run an electronic component. The device includes a heat-conducting substrate (composed, e.g., of diamond or another high thermal conductivity material) disposed in thermal contact with a high temperature region. During ope... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6274802 | Thermoelectric semiconductor material, manufacture process therefor, and method of hot forging thermoelectric module using the same A thermoelectric semiconductor material having sufficient strength and performance and high production yield. The thermoelectric semiconductor material is characterized in that a sintered powder material of a thermoelectric semiconductor having a rhombohe... | 08/14/2001 |
