Patent ID: 9660167
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. A thermoelectric system comprising: a plurality of thermocouples each formed of two thermocouple limbs that include different thermoelectrically active materials and that are connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel, the thermoelectrically active materials being disposed on a flexible and electrically insulating layer so as to form a matrix of a plurality of parallel rows of the thermocouple limbs shaped in columns having a same width; wherein contact regions of adjacent thermocouple limbs are each disposed on a straight fold line above one another in a column direction, and wherein the matrix is wound parallel to the rows on top of one another to form a flat strip in which a region of the flexible and electrically insulating layer that has no thermoelectrically active materials disposed on either a front side or a back side thereof is folded over onto a first row of the thermocouple limbs so as to electrically insulate the first row of thermocouple limbs from a second row of thermocouple limbs, and wherein the flat strip is folded along the fold lines in the manner of a concertina with elevations and depressions equidistant to one another.