Patent ID: 8378205

Claim:
A thermoelectric effects materials based energy transduction device for selectively providing conversions between electrical and thermal energies, the device comprising: a first plurality of n-type layers each formed of n-type electrical conductivity material and each having thermoelectric effects properties; a first plurality of p-type layers each formed of p-type electrical conductivity material and each having thermoelectric effects properties, the first plurality of p-type layers being interleaved in spatial positions with the first plurality of n-type layers along a spatial curve to form a first spatial position sequence of these layers; and a first plurality of passageway structures each being formed of thermally conductive separators which are adjacent to passageways through the passageway structures, the passageways extending between two sides of the passageway structures, and with a corresponding passageway structure from this first plurality of passageway structures having a separator in that passageway structure extending across the passageway structure so that the separator is positioned between, and in thermal contact with, facing sides of both members of each overlapped pair of succeeding layers in the first spatial position sequence of layers to be in a continuous conductive thermal connection between these succeeding layers and to provide the corresponding passageway structure with passageways extending between the two sides of that structure; the corresponding passageway structure adapted to confine a single flow of fluid through the passageway structure; and a first plurality of electrical conductors with a corresponding electrical conductor from this first plurality of electrical conductors in direct electrical and physical contact with the facing sides of both members of each overlapped pair of succeeding layers in the first spatial position sequence of layers, the sides of both members facing directly across the passageway structure from each other; the first plurality of electrical conductors are the first plurality of passageway structures or a plurality of electrical conductors separate from the first plurality of passageway structures.