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US 5,419,780 AGranted
Method and apparatus for recovering power from semiconductor circuit using thermoelectric device
AssigneeAST Research, Inc.
InventorEdward D. Suski
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAST Research, Inc.
InventorEdward D. Suski
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method for recovering power dissipated by a semiconductor integrated circuit includes a thermoelectric generator which converts the heat generated by the integrated circuit into electrical energy. The electrical energy is used to drive a fan or other airflow generating device to cause heated air to be moved away from the integrated circuit and cooler air to be drawn to the integrated circuit to absorb further heat from the integrated circuit. In the described embodiment, the thermoelectric generator is a Peltier cooler positioned between the integrated circuit and a heatsink. The Peltier cooler is operated in the Seebeck mode to generate power in response to the temperature differential between the integrated circuit and the heatsink. The fan is positioned proximate to the heatsink to cause air flow over the heatsink thereby reducing the temperature of the heatsink and thus reducing the temperature of the integrated circuit by causing more heat to be transferred from the integrated circuit to the heatsink.
An apparatus that removes heat from a semiconductor device, comprising:
A method for cooling a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:
A method for utilizing the heat energy generated by a semiconductor circuit in an electronic system, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.