Abstract:
Provided is a thermoelectric generating system which may be easily installed in a heat source of a vehicle and which is easy to assemble and disassemble overall by eliminating the necessity to be assembled with a cooling module. The thermoelectric generating system includes a first substrate, a second substrate configured to be slidably engageable in contiguity with a heat source of a vehicle, and a thermoelectric module disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0140597, filed on Oct. 6, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a thermoelectric generating system, and more particularly, to a thermoelectric generating system which may be easily detachably attached and has increased durability. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    As known, a thermoelectric generating system is configured to generate electricity by a thermoelectric module, and here, the thermoelectric module may generate electricity using a Seebeck effect that thermoelectromotive force is generated due to a temperature difference between both surfaces thereof. 
         [0004]    In a case in which such a thermoelectric generating system is applied to a vehicle, one surface of a thermoelectric module may be installed in a heat source such as an exhaust system or an engine to form a hot side on the one surface of the thermoelectric module and a cooling module may be installed on the other surface of the thermoelectric module to form a cold side thereon. Thus, the hot side and the cold side may be formed to face each other on both surfaces of the thermoelectric module, and electricity may be generated due to a temperature difference between the hot side and the cold side. 
         [0005]    However, in the related art thermoelectric generating system, since the thermoelectric module, the heat source, the cooling module are assembled through a fastener (a bolt or a nut), the fastener may be loosened due to vibrations of a vehicle, impeding smooth thermoelectric generation. 
         [0006]    In addition, when an N-type semiconductor device and a P-type semiconductor device forming the thermoelectric module are to be replaced, the thermoelectric generating system is required to be disassembled overall, causing the replacement operation to be cumbersome and to take a long time. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    The present disclosure has been made to address the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art while advantages achieved by the prior art are maintained intact. 
         [0008]    An aspect of the present disclosure provides a thermoelectric generating system which may be easily installed in a heat source of a vehicle and which is easy to assemble and disassemble overall by eliminating the necessity to be assembled with a cooling module. 
         [0009]    According to an exemplary form of the present disclosure, a thermoelectric generating system includes: a first substrate; a second substrate configured to be slidably engageable in contiguity with a heat source of a vehicle; and a thermoelectric module disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. 
         [0010]    A heat transmission block may be installed in the heat source of the vehicle, and the second substrate may have a coupler slidably engaged with the heat transmission block. 
         [0011]    One or more rails and one or more flanges may be provided to correspond to each other in a portion in which the coupler and the heat transmission block are coupled to each other. 
         [0012]    A cooling module may be integrally provided in the first substrate. 
         [0013]    The cooling module may include a cooling flow channel provided within the first substrate. 
         [0014]    The cooling module may have a connector communicating with the cooling flow channel, and the connector may protrude outwardly from the cooling module. 
         [0015]    A coupler having one or more rails may be provided in the first substrate. 
         [0016]    The thermoelectric module may include a plurality of semiconductor devices and an electrode having a plurality of upper electrodes connected to upper surfaces of the plurality of semiconductor devices and a plurality of lower electrodes connected to lower surfaces of the plurality of semiconductor devices. 
         [0017]    A pair of power terminals may be connected to the electrode of the thermoelectric module. 
         [0018]    The power terminal may be configured as an electrical connector in the form of a plug. 
         [0019]    According to another exemplary form of the present disclosure, a thermoelectric generating system includes: a thermoelectric module; a first substrate attached to one side of the thermoelectric module and having a cooling flow channel integrally formed therein; a second substrate attached to the other side of the thermoelectric module and detachably installed in a heat source of a vehicle; and a pair of power terminals integrally connected to the thermoelectric module, wherein the second substrate has a coupler slidably engaged with the heat source of the vehicle. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a thermoelectric generating system according to various exemplary forms of the present disclosure. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the thermoelectric generating system of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a thermoelectric generating system according to another exemplary form of the present disclosure. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a front view of a thermoelectric generating system according to another exemplary form of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    Hereinafter, exemplary forms of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, dimensions of elements or thicknesses of lines illustrated in the drawings referred to describe the present disclosure may be exaggerated for the convenience of understanding. Also, the terms used henceforth have been defined in consideration of the functions of the present disclosure, and may be altered according to the intent of a user or operator, or conventional practice. Therefore, the terms should be defined on the basis of the entire content of this specification. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a thermoelectric generating system in various exemplary forms of the present disclosure may include a first substrate  11 , a second substrate  12  adjacent to a heat source of a vehicle and slidably engaged therewith, and a thermoelectric module  20  disposed between the first substrate  11  and the second substrate  12 . 
         [0027]    The first substrate  11  may be formed of a flat plate and disposed on one side of the thermoelectric module  20 . 
         [0028]    A cooling module may be integrally formed within the first substrate  11 , and due to the cooling module, the first substrate  11  and one side of the thermoelectric module  20  adjacent thereto may form a cold side. 
         [0029]    The cooling module may include a cooling flow channel integrally formed within the first substrate  11 . As a coolant passes through the cooling flow channel  13 , the first substrate  11  and one side of the thermoelectric module  20  adjacent thereto may effectively form the cold side. 
         [0030]    The cooling flow channel  13  may have various structures such as a uni-directional channel in which a coolant flows only in one direction, a bi-directional channel in which a coolant flows in mutually facing directions, and other multi-channels. 
         [0031]    The second substrate  12  is installed on a heat source  40  of the vehicle such as a heat protector or an exhaust pipe, and thus, the second substrate  12  and the other side of the thermoelectric module  20  adjacent thereto may form a hot side. 
         [0032]    In various exemplary forms, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a heat transmission block  41  is installed to be adjacent to the heat source  40  of a vehicle and receiving heat therefrom. The heat transmission block  41  may be formed of a thermally conductive material and integrally formed with the heat source  40  or may be coupled thereto through welding, or the like. 
         [0033]    The second substrate  12  may have a coupler  14  slidably engageable to the heat transmission block  41 . 
         [0034]    The coupler  14  and the heat transmission block  41  may have one or more rails and one or more flanges at portions thereof which are mutually coupled to each other. The one or more rails and the one or more flanges may correspond to each other. 
         [0035]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the coupler  14  may have one or more rails  14   a , and the heat transmission block  41  may have one or more flanges  41   a . Thus, as the rail  14   a  of the coupler  14  is slidably engaged with the flange  41   a  of the heat transmission block  41 , the second substrate  12  may be firmly and simply assembled to the heat source of the vehicle and may also be easily disassembled therefrom. 
         [0036]    The thermoelectric module  20  may be disposed between the first substrate  11  and the second substrate  12 , and thus, the thermoelectric module  20  may effectively perform thermoelectric generation due to a temperature difference between the second substrate  12  as the hot side and the first substrate  11  as the cold side. 
         [0037]    The thermoelectric module  20  may have a plurality of semiconductor devices  21 , a plurality of upper electrodes  22  connected to upper surfaces of the semiconductor devices  21 , and a plurality of lower electrodes  23  connected to lower surfaces of the semiconductor devices  21 . 
         [0038]    The plurality of semiconductor devices  21  may include a plurality of N-type semiconductor devices and a plurality of P-type semiconductor devices. 
         [0039]    The first substrate  11  may be attached to the plurality of upper electrodes  22 , and the second substrate  12  may be attached to the plurality of lower electrodes  23 . 
         [0040]    Power terminals  25   a  and  25   b  may be connected to at least one of the upper electrode  22  and the lower electrode  23  through welding, or the like. 
         [0041]    According to various exemplary forms, the power terminals  25   a  and  25   b  may be formed of an electrical connector such as a Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector, a SubMiniature version A (SMA) connector, a plug, or a socket, and thus, an external power line may be simply connected thereto. 
         [0042]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a thermoelectric generating system according to another exemplary form of the present disclosure, in which a plurality of thermoelectric modules  20  are connected in series or parallel. 
         [0043]    In order to effectively implement the structure in which the plurality of thermoelectric modules  20  are connected, a plurality of first substrates  11  may be configured such that cooling flow channels  13  thereof communicate with each other. 
         [0044]    To this end, a connector  15  communicating with the cooling flow channels  13  may be formed in the first substrates  11  such that they protrude outwardly. The connector  15  may be smaller than the cooling flow channel  13 . As the connector  15  of the first substrate  11  at one side is inserted into the cooling flow channel  13  of the first substrate  11  at the other side, the cooling flow channels  13  may communicate with each other through the connector  15  air-tightly, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0045]    As the heat transmission block  41  extends in a length direction, the rails  14   a  of the couplers  14  of the plurality of second substrates  12  may be continuously slidably engaged with the flange  41   a  side of the heat transmission block  41 . 
         [0046]    That is, in another exemplary form of the present disclosure, in a case in which a plurality of thermoelectric modules  20  are intended to be connected to each other, the cooling flow channels  13  of the first substrates  11  may communicate with each other through the connector  15  air-tightly and the couplers  14  of the second substrate  12  may be continuously slidably engaged with the heat transmission block  41 , whereby the plurality of thermoelectric modules  20  may be effectively connected, and accordingly, thermoelectric generation efficiency may be considerably improved. 
         [0047]      FIG. 4  is a front view of a thermoelectric generating system according to another exemplary form of the present disclosure, in which couplers  14  are formed on each of the first substrate  11  and the second substrate  12 , having a vertically symmetrical structure. 
         [0048]    Thus, since the second substrate  12  is slidably engageable with the heat transmission block  41  and the first substrate  11  is slidably engageable with another component, assembling characteristics of the thermoelectric generating system according to forms of the present disclosure may be significantly enhanced. 
         [0049]    As described above, according to some forms of the present disclosure, the thermoelectric generating system may be easily installed in a heat source of a vehicle and it is not required to be fastened to a cooling module, facilitating overall assembling and disassembling. 
         [0050]    Hereinabove, although the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, but may be variously modified and altered by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure claimed in the following claims.