Apparatus comprising a functional component likely to be thermally overloaded during the operation thereof and a system for cooling the component

A device comprising a functional component, liable to be thermally overloaded during the operation thereof, and a system for cooling the component, the cooling system comprising:

• a thermoelectric module, comprising two main faces, one called the cold face, and the other called the hot face, the cold face being thermally coupled to the component;
• a first heat sink, thermally coupled to the hot face of the thermoelectric module, the heat sink comprising an exchange surface with the surrounding environment and furthermore at least one cell containing a phase-change material (PCM), the PCM material contained in the cell(s) being adapted so as to melt when the heat released from the cold face of the thermoelectric module is that of the component under thermal overload, the exchange surface being adapted so as to return the PCM material from the molten phase thereof to the solid phase thereof when the heat released from the cold face of the thermoelectric module is that of the component in operation which is not under thermal overload.