MAGNETO-CALORIC ELEMENT AND THERMOMAGNETIC CYCLE DEVICE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magneto-caloric element and a thermomagnetic cycle device which are robust against a thermal variation, .SOLUTION: A magneto-caloric effect type heat pump device has a magneto-caloric element 5. The magneto-caloric element 5 comprises a plurality of element blocks 61 to 66 which are aligned in series between a low-temperature end 11 and a high-temperature end 12. Magneto-caloric effects ΔS2 which are exerted by element blocks 61, 66 located at a low-temperature end 11 and a high-temperature end 12 are higher than magneto-caloric effects ΔS1 which are exerted by other element blocks 62 to 65. This characteristic is brought about by a difference of magnetic forces of magnetic force sources 70, a difference of thermomagnetic gaps, a difference of capacities resulting from materials of the element blocks, and/or a difference of volumes of the element blocks. There are provided the magneto-caloric element and a thermomagnetic cycle device which are high in robustness against a thermal variation from the outside, and can maintain required performance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9