Patent ID: 8378206

Claim:
A thermoelectric element comprising: a continuous flat carrier of porous electrically and thermally insulating material, which has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the continuous flat carrier has a disordered geometry of pores, some of the pores being continuous with respect to the first and second surfaces of the continuous flat carrier and others being non-continuous with respect to the first and second surfaces of the continuous flat carrier; a first thermocouple, formed by at least one first electrical conductor, running through the pores of the continuous flat carrier from the first to the second surface and including a first thermoelectric material, and at least one second electrical conductor, running through the pores of the continuous flat carrier from the first to the second surface and including a second thermoelectric material, wherein the at least one first and second electrical conductors including the first and second thermoelectric materials run through the continuous flat carrier in a manner electrically insulated from one another and are connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner on the first surface or the second surface of the continuous flat carrier; a second thermocouple, formed by at least one third electrical conductor, running through the pores of the continuous flat carrier from the first to the second surface and including a third thermoelectric material, and at least one fourth electrical conductor, running through the pores of the continuous flat carrier from the first to the second surface and including a fourth thermoelectric material, wherein the at least one third and fourth electrical conductors including the third and fourth thermoelectric materials run through the continuous flat carrier in a manner electrically insulated from one another, and are connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner on a surface of the continuous flat carrier on which the first and second thermoelectric materials forming the first thermocouple are connected to one another in electrically conductive manner, wherein the first thermocouple and the second thermocouple are formed by identical or different electrical conductors, and the first, second, third, and fourth thermoelectric materials include p-type and n-type semiconductor materials; an electrically conductive connection of ends of the first and second thermocouples are in a parallel or series circuit; and a plurality of leads that feed or draw electrical energy, said plurality of leads being electrically connected to the first and second thermocouples.