Thermoelectric heat pump

Claim 1

A heat pump comprising a set of thermoelements that are substantially of the same thickness and at least two flat radiant elements to provide diffusion or absorption of heat, the said pump being made in sandwich form comprising, in addition to the said radiant elements, two electrically insulating supports that are good heat conductors, said supports being disposed on either side of the thermoelements and providing both the electrical coupling of the thermoelements to one another and the thermal coupling of the radiant elements to the thermoelements, while producing a mechanical coupling of the arrangement of all the elements, each of said supports having a first face contacting with its entire surface one of the radiant elements and a second face covered by a layer of discontinuous electrically conducting elements separated by gaps, such elements being disposed on the two supports in such a manner that, the thermoelements being located between them in contact thereof, the said conductor elements produce the serial coupling of the thermoelements, the coupling points of a first thermoelectric kind being all situated on one of the layers and the coupling points of the other thermoelectric kind being all situated on the other of said layers and the two end conductor elements of one of the layers being provided with means for coupling to the opposite poles of a source of continuous electric current, and a plurality of locking members passing through the said sandwich in the said gaps, said locking members exerting a substantially uniform pressure at the level of the contacts between the thermoelements and the said discontinuous conductor elements and at least one thin sheet of good thermal conductor elastic material disposed between one of the radiant elements and the face of the support which faces the radiant elements.