Thermal management system for electronic components with thermoelectric element
AssigneeBaidu USA LLC
InventorsHuawei YANG, Tianyi GAO, Shuai SHAO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cooling and heating system for an electronic component comprises a thermoelectric element disposed near the electronic component and an electrical circuit for a bidirectional current, where the thermoelectric element is connected to the electrical circuit for the bidirectional current. The cooling and heating system further comprises a controller configured to control a current flow direction of the bidirectional current in the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the electronic component, where whether the electronic component is to be cooled or heated is based on the current flow direction of the bidirectional current in the thermoelectric element.
Claims20
A cooling and heating system, comprising:
- a thermoelectric element disposed near an electronic component, the thermoelectric element capable of operating in a cooling mode or a heating mode dependent upon a current flow direction of an electric current flowing therethrough;
- a polarity change circuit coupled to the thermoelectric element to switch the current flow direction of the electric current received from a power source, the polarity change circuit including a plurality of switches;
- and
- a controller coupled to the switches of the polarity change circuit to control the switches to switch to control the current flow direction of the electric current flowing in the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the electronic component, wherein the controller is configured to measure a temperature of a first side of the thermoelectric element and a temperature of a second side of the thermoelectric element, and to determine the current flow direction of the electric current in the thermoelectric element based on the temperature of the first side of the thermoelectric element and the temperature of the second side of the thermoelectric element.
A cooling and heating system, comprising:
- a thermoelectric element disposed near an electronic component, the thermoelectric element capable of operating in a cooling mode or a heating mode dependent upon a current flow direction of an electric current flowing therethrough;
- a polarity change circuit coupled to the thermoelectric element to switch the current flow direction of the electric current received from a power source, the polarity change circuit including a plurality of switches;
- a buck-boost converter coupled to the power source, wherein the polarity change circuit is to switch the current flow direction of the electric current received from an output of the buck-boost converter;
- and
- a controller coupled to the switches of the polarity change circuit to control the switches to switch to control the current flow direction of the electric current flowing in the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the electronic component.
(canceled)
A method for cooling and heating an electronic component comprising:
- activating a thermoelectric element disposed near an electronic component, wherein the thermoelectric element is connected to an electrical circuit for a bidirectional current;
- measuring a temperature of a first side of the thermoelectric element and a temperature of a second side of the thermoelectric element;
- determining a current flow direction of the bidirectional current in the thermoelectric element based on the temperature of the first side of the thermoelectric element and the temperature of the second side of the thermoelectric element;
- and
- controlling the current flow direction of the bidirectional current in the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the electronic component, wherein whether the electronic component is to be cooled or heated is based on the current flow direction of the bidirectional current in the thermoelectric element.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.