阅读说明：本技术 热电转换装置及通信终端 (Thermoelectric conversion device and communication terminal ) 是由 沈烈康 于 2019-09-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开涉及热电转换技术领域,具体涉及一种热电转换装置,以及一种通信终端。所述热电转换装置包括：热电转换元件；第一导热元件,设置于所述热电转换元件的第一侧面与主板热源之间,并与所述热电转换元件的第一端热连接；第一散热元件,设置于所述热电转换元件的第二侧面,并与所述热电转换元件的第二端热连接；储能元件,与所述热电转换元件电连接。本公开提供的装置能够利用热电转换元件对热量进行转换,实现对主板热量的有效转化。并通过将第一导热元件和第二散热元件分别置于热电转换元件的第一侧面和第二侧面,能够实现对热量的高效转化,并节省终端设备的内部空间。(The present disclosure relates to the field of thermoelectric conversion technologies, and in particular, to a thermoelectric conversion device and a communication terminal. The thermoelectric conversion device includes: a thermoelectric conversion element; the first heat conducting element is arranged between the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and the mainboard heat source and is in thermal connection with the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element; a first heat dissipation element disposed on a second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and thermally connected to a second end of the thermoelectric conversion element; an energy storage element electrically connected to the thermoelectric conversion element. The device that this disclosure provided can utilize thermoelectric conversion element to convert the heat, realizes the effective conversion to the mainboard heat. And the first heat conducting element and the second heat radiating element are respectively arranged on the first side surface and the second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element, so that the high-efficiency conversion of heat can be realized, and the internal space of the terminal equipment is saved.)

1. A thermoelectric conversion device, comprising:

a thermoelectric conversion element;

the first heat conducting element is arranged between the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and the mainboard heat source and is in thermal connection with the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element;

a first heat dissipation element disposed on a second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and thermally connected to a second end of the thermoelectric conversion element;

an energy storage element electrically connected to the thermoelectric conversion element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

the second heat conducting element is arranged between the second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and the screen heat source and is in thermal connection with the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element;

and a second heat dissipation element disposed on the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and thermally connected to the second end of the thermoelectric conversion element.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second heat dissipating element is smaller in size than the thermoelectric conversion element, the second heat dissipating element being juxtaposed with the first heat conducting element at the first side of the thermoelectric conversion element.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first heat dissipation element size is smaller than the thermoelectric conversion element size, the first heat dissipation element being juxtaposed with the second heat conducting element on a second side of the thermoelectric conversion element.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein an isolation assembly is disposed between the second heat dissipating element and the first heat conducting element;

an isolation assembly is disposed between the first heat dissipation element and the second heat conduction element.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the main board is disposed on a center frame, and the center frame has a through hole for receiving the first heat-conducting element.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the middle frame is provided with a stepped structure for fixing the thermoelectric conversion element.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

and the standby energy storage assembly is electrically connected with the thermoelectric conversion element.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first heat dissipation element has the same shape as a screen of the terminal device.

10. A communication terminal characterized by comprising the thermoelectric conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of thermoelectric conversion technologies, and in particular, to a thermoelectric conversion device and a communication terminal.

Background

As the functions of the intelligent terminal device become more abundant, the device performance, such as screen size, number of processor cores, processing performance, etc., becomes higher. People use various terminal devices for a longer time, and the amount of memory consumed or data generated by part of application programs during running is also larger. Therefore, the temperature of the core devices such as the processor is rapidly increased in the using process, and the processing performance of the terminal equipment is influenced.

It is to be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a thermoelectric conversion device and a communication terminal, which can effectively convert heat generated by a terminal device during operation, and reduce the influence of the heat on the operation performance of the terminal device, thereby overcoming the limitations and drawbacks of the related art to some extent.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, or in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a thermoelectric conversion device including:

a thermoelectric conversion element;

the first heat conducting element is arranged between the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and the mainboard heat source and is in thermal connection with the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element;

a first heat dissipation element disposed on a second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element and thermally connected to a second end of the thermoelectric conversion element;

an energy storage element electrically connected to the thermoelectric conversion element.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication terminal comprising: the thermoelectric conversion device in the above embodiment.

In the thermoelectric conversion device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, by providing the first heat conducting element, heat of a main board on the terminal device can be effectively absorbed and transferred to the thermoelectric conversion element, the thermoelectric conversion element is utilized to convert the heat, electric energy is obtained and stored in the energy storage element, and effective conversion of the heat of the main board is realized. Further, by arranging the first heat conducting element and the second heat radiating element on the first side surface and the second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element, respectively, efficient conversion of heat can be achieved, and the internal space of the terminal device is saved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is to be understood that the drawings in the following description are merely exemplary of the disclosure, and that other drawings may be derived from those drawings by one of ordinary skill in the art without the exercise of inventive faculty.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a structure of a thermoelectric conversion device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 schematically shows a structural view of a terminal device including the thermoelectric conversion device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 schematically illustrates a partially enlarged schematic view of a thermoelectric conversion device in the terminal apparatus illustrated in fig. 2 in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 schematically illustrates an exploded view of the thermoelectric conversion device shown in fig. 3 in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 schematically shows a structural view of another terminal device including the thermoelectric conversion device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 schematically illustrates a partially enlarged schematic view of a thermoelectric conversion device in the terminal apparatus illustrated in fig. 5 in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 schematically illustrates an exploded view of the thermoelectric conversion device shown in fig. 6 in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 schematically illustrates an exploded view of a thermoelectric conversion element and heat conducting and dissipating element structure in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 schematically shows an operation principle diagram of a thermoelectric conversion element in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Wherein, include: the heat radiating device comprises a rear cover plate 1, a main plate 21, a battery pack 22, a heat source chip 23, a middle frame 3, a fixing step 31, a first heat conducting element 4, a heat conducting gel 41, a thermoelectric conversion element 5, a fixing piece 51, a first heat radiating element 6, a screen 7, a screen heat source 71, a second heat conducting element 8 and a second heat radiating element 9.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the subject matter of the present disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, devices, steps, and the like. In other instances, well-known technical solutions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present disclosure.

The present exemplary embodiment provides a thermoelectric conversion device, which can effectively absorb and convert heat generated by a terminal device in time, and store the converted electric energy. The method can be applied to intelligent terminal equipment such as mobile phones, tablet computers or computers. Referring to fig. 1, the thermoelectric conversion device described above may include: a thermoelectric conversion element 5; a first heat conduction element 4 provided between the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element 5 and the main board heat source chip 23, and thermally connected to the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element 5; a first heat dissipation element 6 provided on a second side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element 5 and thermally connected to a second end of the thermoelectric conversion element 5; and an energy storage element electrically connected to the thermoelectric conversion element 5.

Next, the thermoelectric conversion device in the present exemplary embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings and examples.

In the embodiment of the present example, referring to fig. 3 and 4, the terminal device shown in fig. 2 may include a middle frame 3, and the main board may be provided with a plurality of limiting components, so as to fix the main board 21 and the battery pack 22 on the middle frame 3. A through hole may be further formed in the middle frame 3, and the first heat conducting element 4 is placed in the through hole such that one side of the first heat conducting element is in close contact with the heat source chip 23 on the main board 21 and the other side is thermally connected to the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element 5, so that the heat source chip 23 serves as a high temperature end (i.e., a hot end). As shown in fig. 1, the gaps between the first heat conducting element 4 and the heat source chip 23 and the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may be filled with the heat conducting gel 41, and in addition, the introduction speed may be effectively increased by filling the heat conducting gel 41, and the gaps between the first heat conducting element 4 and the heat source chip 23 and the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may be more stable. Furthermore, a fixing member 51 for fixing the first heat conducting element 6 is provided on the first side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5.

Between the other side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5 and the screen 7, a first heat dissipation element 6 may be further provided, and the first heat dissipation element 6 is thermally connected to the second end of the thermoelectric conversion element 5, so that the first heat dissipation element 6 serves as a low temperature end (i.e., a cold end), thereby establishing a temperature gradient field between the hot end and the cold end of the thermoelectric conversion element.

Referring to fig. 4, the first heat dissipation member 6 may be provided to have the same outer shape structure as the screen 7, and the first heat dissipation member 6 may also be provided to have the same size as the screen or slightly smaller than the screen. So that the thickness of the first heat dissipation member 6 can be reduced and heat dissipation efficiency can be secured.

In the present exemplary embodiment, referring to the terminal device shown in fig. 5, a fingerprint recognition component, a pressure sensor, and other control chips are further provided below the screen 7, and these chips are provided below the screen 7 in an independent form, or provided below the screen 7 in an integrated form, as a heat source on the screen 7. Referring to fig. 6 and 7, a second heat conductive member 8 for transferring heat to the screen heat source 71 may be further disposed between the screen heat source 71 and the second side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5, and the second heat conductive member 8 is thermally connected to the first end of the thermoelectric conversion element such that the screen heat source 71 serves as the other high temperature end (i.e., hot end). Meanwhile, a second heat dissipation element 9 is provided on the first side surface of the thermoelectric conversion element as another low temperature end (i.e., cold end), and another temperature gradient field is established between the hot end and the cold end of the thermoelectric conversion element.

As shown with reference to fig. 7, the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may be provided to have the same outer shape and size as the screen 7; alternatively, the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may be provided to have a size slightly smaller than the screen. Further, a fixing step 31 may be formed in the center frame 3, and the thermoelectric conversion element may be mounted on the fixing step 31.

At the first side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5, the second heat dissipation element 9 can be adjusted to have a relatively small size so that the first heat conduction element 4 and the second heat dissipation element 9 can be fitted side by side on the first side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5.

Meanwhile, the first heat dissipation element 6 may also be configured to be smaller in size than the thermoelectric conversion element 5. So that the first heat dissipation element 6 and the second heat conduction element 8 can be fitted side by side on the second side of the thermoelectric conversion element.

In the embodiment of the present example, the thermoelectric conversion element 5 can perform thermoelectric conversion based on the Seebeck (Seebeck) effect. Specifically, two different thermoelectric materials (P-type and N-type) can be connected at one end through a good conductor Cu, and the other end is connected with the Cu conductor to form a PN junction, so as to obtain a simple thermoelectric conversion assembly, also called a PN thermoelectric unit. A load resistor is connected to the open end of the thermoelectric unit, and at the moment, if heat flow (QH) flows into one end of the thermoelectric unit, a high-temperature end (namely a hot end) is formed, the heat flow is dissipated from the other end (QC), a low-temperature end (namely a cold end) is formed, and then a temperature gradient field is established between the hot end and the cold end of the thermoelectric unit. Holes and electrons in the thermoelectric unit at a high temperature end begin to diffuse to a low temperature end under the drive of a temperature field, so that a potential difference is formed at two ends of the PN couple arm, and current is generated in a circuit.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the thermoelectric conversion element 5. A thermoelectric conversion element 5 is provided between the main board 21 and the screen 7, and a first portion 901 of the thermoelectric conversion element 5 can be used to convert heat generated by the main board heat source chip 23; meanwhile, the second portion 902 of the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may be used to convert heat generated by the screen heat source 71. After the thermoelectric conversion element 5 converts the thermal energy into electric energy, the electric energy can be adjusted by the main control circuit 903, for example, filtering, amplifying and regulating voltage, and limiting current. The corresponding main control circuit 903 may include a filter circuit, an amplifier circuit, a voltage regulator circuit, a current limiter circuit, and the like. The specific circuit configuration and each specific circuit can be realized by adopting conventional means, and the details are not repeated in the present disclosure.

The energy storage element can be a battery of the terminal device, and can also be a stand-by battery configured separately. For example, after the converted electric energy is adjusted by the main control circuit 903, the power management module 904 of the motherboard can be used to control the adjusted electric energy to be output to the battery 905 of the terminal device itself. Or may store electrical energy into a pre-assembled battery backup 906 when battery 905 is saturated. Alternatively, the power management module 904 may also use the converted power directly for the operation of the terminal device by using the output circuit 907.

In other example embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown with reference to fig. 8, the thermoelectric conversion element 5 may also be provided as a first portion 501 and a second portion 502 that are juxtaposed. Correspondingly, the first heat dissipation element 6 and the second heat dissipation element 9 are adjusted in size, so that the first side surface of the first portion 501 is in close contact with the first heat conduction element 4 to conduct heat of the motherboard heat source chip 23, and the first heat dissipation element 6 is in close contact with the second side surface of the first portion 501 to form a first temperature gradient field. At the same time, the second heat conducting element 8 is brought into close contact with the second side of the second portion 502, conducting the heat of the screen heat source 71; the second heat dissipating element 9 is brought into close contact with the first side of the second portion 502 to form a second temperature gradient field. The first portion 501 and the second portion 502 may be made to convert the heat of the main board heat source chip 23 and the screen heat source 71, respectively.

Furthermore, an insulation assembly is arranged between the second heat dissipating element 9 and the first heat conducting element 4 on the first side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5. Likewise, an insulation assembly is provided between the first heat dissipating element 6 and the second heat conducting element 8 on the second side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5. The space of the heat conducting element and the space of the heat radiating element which are at the same side of the thermoelectric conversion element are filled by utilizing the isolation assembly, so that the heat conducting element and the heat radiating element which are at the same side of the thermoelectric conversion element are isolated, the heat conducting element is prevented from directly transferring heat to the heat radiating element at the same side, and further mutual influence between two temperature gradient fields can be avoided.

For example, the isolation component may be a poor conductor of heat such as plastic. Furthermore, the first heat conducting element 4 and the second heat conducting element 8 may be heat conducting elements made of copper. The first heat dissipating element 6 and the second heat dissipating element 9 may employ a thermal film. Furthermore, for the second heat-conducting element 8, in order to avoid space occupation, a heat-conducting gel may also be used as the second heat-conducting element 8. Alternatively, the screen heat source 71 may be directly brought into contact with the second side of the thermoelectric conversion element 5.

The thermoelectric conversion device provided by the disclosure can simultaneously convert heat generated by a main board heat source and a screen heat source into electric energy by respectively arranging the heat conducting element and the heat radiating element on two sides of the thermoelectric conversion element, and can store the electric energy in a battery or a standby battery of a terminal device. The heat is effectively converted and reused.

Further, there is also provided in the present exemplary embodiment a communication terminal including the thermoelectric conversion device described above.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the communication terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, or other terminal devices.

Although relative terms, such as "upper" and "lower," may be used in this specification to describe one element of an icon relative to another, these terms are used in this specification for convenience only, e.g., in accordance with the orientation of the examples described in the figures. It will be appreciated that if the device of the icon were turned upside down, the element described as "upper" would become the element "lower". When a structure is "on" another structure, it may mean that the structure is integrally formed with the other structure, or that the structure is "directly" disposed on the other structure, or that the structure is "indirectly" disposed on the other structure via another structure.

The terms "a," "an," "the," and "said" are used to indicate the presence of one or more elements/components/etc.; the terms "comprising" and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements/components/etc. other than the listed elements/components/etc.; the terms "first" and "second", etc. are used merely as labels, and are not limiting on the number of their objects.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.