Patent ID: 8227928

Claim:
A thermo-electro-acoustic refrigerator, comprising: a generally hollow body having first and second open ends, said body containing a working gas; a regenerator disposed within said body; a first heat exchanger disposed within said body and proximate said regenerator at a first longitudinal end thereof; a second heat exchanger disposed within said body and proximate said regenerator at a second longitudinal end thereof; an acoustic source coupled to said first end of said body such that acoustic energy from said acoustic source is directed into said body; a driver communicatively connected to said acoustic source for providing a first driving signal to said acoustic source; an acoustic energy converter coupled to said second end of said body opposite said first end relative to said regenerator such that at least a portion of the acoustic energy within said body is converted by said converter into electrical energy; said converter electrically coupled to said acoustic source such that at least a portion of electrical energy produced by said converter is provided to and drives said acoustic source as a second driving signal; impedance matching circuitry disposed between and in electrical communication with said converter and said acoustic source such that electrical energy provided by said converter is coupled to said acoustic source; and a phase delay device disposed between and in electrical communication with either said converter and said impedance matching circuitry or said impedance matching circuitry and said acoustic source such that the phase of the electrical energy can be controlled to provide a controlled phase relationship between the first and second driving signals; whereby said acoustic energy operates on the gas in the region of the regenerator to produce a thermal gradient which adds heat to said first heat exchanger and extracts heat from said second heat exchanger.