Thermoelectric generator for motor vehicle

Claim 1

A thermoelectric generator for producing electric power for an engine driven motor vehicle from heat contained in the exhaust gasses from the engine of said motor vehicle comprising: A) a heat transfer support structure, defining an inside surface and an outside surface, comprising: 1) an inlet and an outlet and a passageway in between said inlet and outlet for passage of said exhaust gasses produced by said engine, 2) a plurality of fin means located on said inside surface for improving the transfer of heat out of said exhaust gasses, 3) a plurality of thermoelectric module seat means on said outside surface for easy seating of thermoelectric module on said outside surface, B) an exhaust flow distributor means positioned inside said passageway for distributing exhaust gas flow within said passageway, C) a plurality of thermoelectric modules defining electrical outputs seated on said thermoelectric module seat means, D) at least one good contact cylinder means surrounding at least a portion of said heat transfer support structure for providing a framework from which spring forces can be applied to hold said modules in good contact with the outside surface of said heat transfer support structure, E) a plurality of module spring means for providing a spring force between said plurality of thermoelectric modules and said at least one good contact cylinder means, F) a heat sink means for cooling one side of said plurality of thermoelectric modules, and G) an electric circuit means for connecting the electrical outputs of said plurality of thermoelectric modules in order to provide electric power to said motor vehicle.