Patent ID: 8269096

Claim:
A method of producing a foil assembly for a thermoelectric generator, comprising the steps of: providing substrate material having front and back substrate surfaces; depositing an array of n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs onto at least one of the front and back substrate surfaces; depositing metal bridges on at least one of the front and back substrate surfaces to interconnect the n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs; cutting the substrate material having the n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs and metal bridges deposited thereon in such a manner to form a plurality of foil segments; providing at least one connector; aligning a pair of the foil segments in series for joining in end-to-end contact with one another to form a foil joint; mechanically interconnecting the foil segments in end-to-end contact in the same plane with one another to form a single, elongate foil assembly by bonding the connector across the foil joint on at least one of the front and back substrate surfaces of the end-to-end foil segments with electrically non-conductive and thermally low conductive assembly adhesive; and electrically interconnecting the foil segments on at least one of the front and back substrate surfaces in an electrically redundant manner using electrically conductive adhesive to electrically connect an endmost pair of the n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs of one of the foil segments to an endmost pair of the n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs of an adjacent one of the foil segments along at least one of the top and bottom edges of the foil segments; and spirally winding the foil assembly into a generally round shape.