Patent ID: 8633371

Claim:
A device for generating electrical power, comprising: a portable heat source; a cold source; a first plurality of thermal elements arranged in a heat stack on a first side of the device, the heat stack thermally coupled to the portable heat source, the first plurality of thermal elements extending from the heat stack, parallel to and separated from one another, the heat stack being comprised of the first plurality of thermal elements being in direct contact with each other or with the first plurality of thermal elements projecting from a solid, integral form; a second plurality of thermal elements each extending parallel to one another from a cold stack positioned only on a second side of the device opposite the first side, the cold stack thermally coupled to the cold source, wherein at least one element of the heat stack is in-between two elements of the cold stack in a stacking direction, the first plurality of thermal elements and the second plurality of thermal elements separating the heat stack from the cold stack; a thermoelectric generator plate sandwiched between each one of the first plurality of thermal elements and a respective one of the second plurality of thermal elements, each thermoelectric generator plate including a hot side and a cold side, wherein the hot side and the cold side of each thermoelectric generator plate is stacked in the stacking direction, wherein each of the first plurality of thermal elements, the second plurality of thermal elements, and the thermoelectric generator plate sandwiched therebetween are positioned between the heat stack and the cold stack to provide a portable device.