Thermopile sensor for radiation thermometer or motion detector
AssigneeBraun GmbH
InventorsFrank Beerwerth, Bernhard Kraus
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Abstract
The invention is directed to a thermopile sensor and in particular to a radiation thermometer or a motion detector with a thermopile sensor. The thermopile sensor includes a thermopile supported in a housing. The thermal capacity of the cold and hot junctions of the thermopile including its supporting structure and the thermal conductivity of the supporting structure are mutually coordinated such that a change in the housing's temperature produces a change of equal magnitude in the cold and hot junctions' temperature, that is, no temperature gradients occur within the thermopile.
Claims17
A thermopile sensor with a housing, the thermopile sensor having at least two cold junctions and at least two hot junctions, and with a supporting structure for the cold and hot junctions, characterized in that the thermopile and its supporting structure satisfy the relationship CK/CW≈λK/λW,
- where CK is the thermal capacity of the cold junctions (11) and their supporting structure;
- CW is the thermal capacity of the hot junctions (12) and their supporting structure;
- λK is the thermal conductivity in the region of the cold junctions (11);
- and
- λW is the thermal conductivity in the region of the hot junctions (12).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.