Heat Sink Void Layout for Uniform Thermoelectric Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermoelectric devices used in laboratory settings face challenges in maintaining uniform temperature across sample blocks due to heat losses at the edges and corners, leading to temperature inconsistencies during processes like PCR and nucleic acid sequencing.
Innovation Solution
A temperature control assembly featuring a heat sink with specially placed voids under the thermoelectric devices, particularly at the edges and corners, to reduce heat loss and ensure uniform heating by limiting cooling at these regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a thermoelectric device contacts the sample block directly, then heating efficiency is improved, but heat loss at edges and corners increases causing temperature non-uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
The heat sink is designed with non-uniform thickness, featuring a first thickness in the central region and a second thickness (greater than the first) at the edges and corners. This local variation in geometric parameters allows the heat sink to provide enhanced thermal mass and heat conduction precisely where edge losses occur, maintaining temperature uniformity across the sample block while preserving overall heating efficiency.
2Temperature
If heat sink material is increased to reduce heat loss, then temperature uniformity improves, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention modifies the geometric parameters of the heat sink by varying its thickness across different regions. This parameter change creates a functionally optimized structure that addresses edge heat loss without requiring additional components or complex assemblies, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving improved temperature uniformity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces heat losses at the edges and corners, maintaining a uniform temperature across the sample block, thereby enhancing the precision and efficiency of temperature-controlled processes.
Implementation Method 1
a thermoelectric device or array of such devices contacting the underside of the sample block, and a heat sink associated with the thermoelectric device, all with appropriate thermal interfaces to achieve maximal heat conduction
Implementation Method 2
The heat sink in Atwood et al. includes a 'generally planar base 34' that contacts the thermoelectric devices directly and a series of fins 37 extending downward from the base
Implementation Method 3
a series of fins 37 extending downward from the base
Implementation Method 4
The slab contains a higher concentration of voids, i.e., a greater void volume per unit area, in regions of the slab that surround a central region of the slab
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly that includes one or more thermoelectric devices and a heat sink and that corrects the problem of an uneven heating effect across the area occupied by the devices due to a lateral heat loss at the edges of the devices or other anomalies among the devices is constructed with a heat sink that contains voids in the slab or flat surface that is in thermal contact with the thermoelectric devices. The voids are located at or within the periphery of the area that is directly aligned with the thermoelectric devices and are concentrated in regions relatively close to the periphery, leaving an area in the center of the slab that is either void-free or of a relatively low void density.