KR20190096612A - Cooling structure of power converting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooling passage through which a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the power module of the inverter flows therein; And a cooling plate on which one side is in contact with the cooling flow path for heat exchange, and the other side is in contact with the capacitor for heat exchange, and a cooling fin is formed at the capacitor side.

Description

Cooling structure of power converter {COOLING STRUCTURE OF POWER CONVERTING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a cooling structure of a power converter, and more particularly to a cooling structure including a cooling fin for cooling the inside of a capacitor of the power converter.

An eco-friendly vehicle represented by an electric vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, or a hybrid vehicle using these and engines at the same time drives the vehicle using a driving motor driven by electric energy.

These require a power converter including a power module and a capacitor therein, which uses a battery stored in electrical energy and converts the DC power of the battery into AC power to regulate the output of the driving motor.

The power module is a core component that receives the DC power from the battery and converts it into AC power and controls the output and frequency of the driving motor. The capacitor is a component for temporarily storing the power supplied from the battery to maintain a constant amount of power supplied to the power module. In particular, since the capacitor occupies the largest volume in the power converter, reducing the volume of the capacitor enables the reduction of the overall size of the high voltage power conversion component (HPCU), concomitant volume, weight and cost reduction, and furthermore, eco-friendliness. The commercialization and competitiveness of automobiles can be improved.

Conventionally, the capacitor and the power module were cooled by using a cooling structure that additionally cools the cross section of the capacitor by contacting the capacitor with a cooling channel for cooling the power module of the power converter.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a power converter according to the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 1, the power converter includes an inverter at the top and a converter (LDC) at the bottom, and includes other control boards and a cooling structure.

The power module 10 of the inverter is a component having a large amount of heat generated, and is directly cooled by the cooling flow path 20, but the capacitor 30 of the inverter is cooled only by the cooling plate 40 in cross section. Therefore, a temperature deviation occurs depending on the position between the internal elements 31 of the capacitor 30 to form a hot spot, which is a region exposed to a relatively high temperature, thereby shortening the service life of the capacitor 30. There was.

In addition, the capacitor 30 occupies a large volume and weight among sub-components of the power converter, and is disposed between the housing (not shown) of the capacitor 30 and the cooling plate 40 for stable mounting and fixing of the capacitor 30. There was a need for a mounting boss 50 for fastening. Therefore, the mounting boss 50 occupies a separate space, thereby limiting the size reduction of the power converter.

The matters described as the background art are only for the purpose of improving the understanding of the background of the present invention, and should not be taken as acknowledging that they correspond to the related art already known to those skilled in the art.

KR 10-1000594 B KR 10-1294077 B

The present invention has been proposed to solve such a problem, and is to provide a cooling structure of a power converter that reduces a temperature variation according to a position inside a capacitor and reduces a space occupied by the capacitor.

Cooling structure of the power conversion apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a cooling passage in which a refrigerant to heat exchange with the power module of the inverter flows therein; And a cooling plate on which one side contacts and exchanges heat with the cooling flow passage, and the other side contacts and exchanges heat with the capacitor, and a cooling plate on which a cooling fin protrudes toward the capacitor side.

The internal element of the capacitor may be arranged in a shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fins.

The cooling fin may be formed in a cylindrical shape having a circular cross section, and the internal element may have a cylindrical shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fin.

The cooling fins may be formed in a polygonal pillar shape having a polygonal cross section, and the internal element may have the same polygonal pillar shape as the cooling fins surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fins.

The cooling fin may further include a fixing part penetrating the internal element from the lower portion of the internal element and coupling the end of the cooling fin to the upper housing of the capacitor.

A plurality of cooling fins may be formed in spaced positions, and internal elements of the capacitor may be positioned in spaced spaces between the cooling fins.

The internal elements of the cooling fin or the capacitor may have a shape extending side by side in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cooling fins are spaced apart.

The cooling fins may further include a fixing part extending higher than an internal element and coupling an end portion of the cooling fins to an upper housing of the capacitor.

An inlet groove is formed in the lower housing of the capacitor, and the cooling fin may be inserted into the inlet groove.

It may further include a fixing portion for coupling the lower housing of the capacitor and the upper housing of the capacitor to the end of the cooling fin.

According to the cooling structure of the power converter of the present invention, the internal elements of the capacitor can be cooled uniformly, thereby minimizing the temperature deviation according to the position of the internal elements.

In addition, by fixing the internal elements of the capacitor by the configuration of the fixing bolt, it is possible to delete the mounting boss protruding out of the capacitor, thereby reducing the volume occupied by the capacitor and the volume of the overall power converter can be reduced. .

As a result, the capacity of the capacitor itself is reduced, and the volume of the entire power converter is reduced by eliminating the mounting boss, which ultimately has the effect of reducing the weight and cost of the power converter.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a power converter according to the prior art.
2 is a cross-sectional view of a power conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a power conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 illustrates a cooling fin and a capacitor according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Specific structural to functional descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the specification or the application are only illustrated for the purpose of describing the embodiments according to the present invention, and the embodiments according to the present invention may be embodied in various forms. It should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described in this specification or the application.

Since the embodiments according to the present invention can be variously modified and have various forms, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the present specification or application. However, this is not intended to limit the embodiments in accordance with the concept of the present invention to a particular disclosed form, it should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first and / or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another, for example, without departing from the scope of rights in accordance with the inventive concept, and the first component may be called a second component and similarly The second component may also be referred to as the first component.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between. Other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "immediately between," or "neighboring to," and "directly neighboring to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof that is described, and that one or more other features or numbers are present. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude, in advance, the possibility or possibility of the presence of a step, an operation, a component, a part, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art, and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal sense unless clearly defined herein. .

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

The power converter may be included in a hybrid power control unit (HPCU) mounted on a vehicle driven by a driving motor. The power converter according to an embodiment may include components such as a control board, a gate board, a converter LDC, an inverter (a power module, a capacitor, etc.), a housing, a cooling module, and the like. In particular, the power devices may be arranged around the cooling module, and components to which cooling is applied may be a power module of the inverter, a capacitor, and a converter (LDC) of the inverter.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a power converter according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the power converter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 3, the cooling structure of the power converter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cooling passage 20 through which a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the power module 10 of the inverter flows therein; And a cooling plate 40 in which one side is in contact with the cooling passage 20 to exchange heat, and the other side is in contact with the capacitor 30 for heat exchange, and a cooling fin 41 protruding toward the capacitor 30 is formed.

In the power conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, an upper portion of the cooling passage 20 may be configured as an inverter and a lower portion thereof as a converter (LDC). Since the power module 10 of the inverter generates a lot of heat, cooling is a particularly important component, and the cooling module 20 can be directly contacted to maximize the cooling effect. To this end, the power module 10 may be configured to be in contact with the cooling passage 20 on both sides to exchange heat. The converter LDC may also be cooled by contacting one side of the cooling passage 20. For reference, the term “contact” herein includes not only a direct contact but also an indirect contact by placing a separate plate therebetween.

The capacitor 30 has an internal space formed by the housing, and the internal element 31 may be located inside the housing. The internal device 31 may be formed by winding a cell device. The housing of the capacitor 30 may include an upper housing 32 and a lower housing 33, and the lower housing 33 means a housing of the cooling flow path 20, and is constrained in the upper or lower direction. It is not.

As the refrigerant of the cooling channel 20, various refrigerants may be used as necessary, such as water cooling using cooling water or air cooling using air.

The cooling plate 40 may be a metal plate covering the outside of the cooling passage 20. One side of the cooling plate 40 may be in contact with the cooling passage 20 to exchange heat with the refrigerant in the cooling passage 20, and the other side of the cooling plate 40 may be in contact with the capacitor 30 to connect the capacitor 30. Can be cooled.

The cooling plate 40 may have a cooling fin 41 protruding toward the capacitor 30. The cooling fins 41 may be separately manufactured and fixedly coupled to the cooling plate 40, or may be integrally formed with the cooling fins 41. The cooling fins 41 may be formed in a shape having various cross sections, as will be described later.

The internal fins 31 of the capacitor 30 may be heat-exchanged as a whole by the cooling fins 41, and thus the cooling variation according to the position of the internal elements 31 may be reduced. In addition to the cooling variation in the vertical direction (up and down direction), the cooling variation in the horizontal direction can also be reduced.

Therefore, as the cooling of the capacitor 30 is sufficiently performed, the operating efficiency of the capacitor 30 is improved, and accordingly, the capacity of the capacitor 30 can be reduced in comparison with the existing one. That is, the volume and weight of the entire capacitor 30 can be reduced.

The cooling fins 41 are inserted into the capacitor 30 and are disposed at the minimum intervals to ensure insulation while maximizing the cooling effect between the internal elements 31 included in the capacitor 30. Heat exchange between the 31 and the cooling fins 41 can be maximized.

The cooling fin 41 may have a structure inserted into the capacitor 30 through the lower housing 33, but the inflow groove 33 recessed into the capacitor 30 is provided in the lower housing 3 of the capacitor 30. ') May be formed, and the cooling fin 41 may have a structure inserted into the inlet groove 33'.

4 illustrates a cooling fin 41 and a capacitor 30 according to various embodiments of the present invention. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the inside of the capacitor 30 by removing the upper housing 32.

Referring to FIG. 4, the internal element 31 of the capacitor 30 may be disposed in a shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fin 41. In particular, the cooling fins 41 may be formed in a protruding shape, and the internal element 31 of the capacitor 30 may be formed by winding a cell element around the cooling fins 41. Therefore, the internal element 31 may have a shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fin 41.

In particular, as shown in Figure 4 (a), the cooling fin 41 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a circular cross section, the internal element 31 is formed in a cylindrical shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fin 41 Can be.

Alternatively, the cooling fins 41 may be formed in a polygonal pillar shape having a polygonal cross section, and the internal element 31 may have the same polygonal pillar shape as the cooling fins 41 surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fins 41. In particular, as shown in Figure 4 (b), the cooling fins 41 may be formed in a rectangular pillar shape having a rectangular cross section, and thus the internal element 31 wraps around the cooling fins 41 of the rectangular pillars. It may be formed in a shape.

The cooling fin 41 penetrates the internal element 31 and is exposed to the outside of the internal element 31, and a fixing part 60 coupling the end of the cooling fin 41 to the upper housing 32 of the capacitor 30. It may further include; The fixing part 60 may be inserted into and fixed to the cooling fin 41 outside the upper housing 32 of the capacitor 30. In particular, the fixing part 60 may be formed of a bolt, and may be fixed by being screwed to a threaded cooling plate. The fixing part 60 may be formed in plural and may be formed in the same number as the cooling fins 41.

When the inlet groove 33 'is formed in the lower housing 33 of the capacitor 30 is formed in the capacitor 30, the cooling fin 41 is inserted into the inlet groove 33', the fixing portion 60 may couple the lower housing 33 of the capacitor 30 and the upper housing 32 of the capacitor 30 to the end of the cooling fin 41. That is, the fixing part 60 may pass through the lower housing 33 and the upper housing 32 of the capacitor 30 to be coupled to the end of the cooling fin 41, thereby cooling the capacitor 30 to the cooling fin ( 41).

According to the configuration of the fixing part 60, the capacitor 30 may be fixed to the cooling plate 40. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the mounting boss 50, which is a component for fixing the capacitor 30 to the power converter, may be deleted. Therefore, it may have an advantageous effect to secure the space inside the power converter.

In addition, as described above, the capacity of the capacitor 30 can be reduced. Therefore, the volume occupied by the capacitor 30 is reduced in that the mounting boss 50 and the partial space X of the capacitor 30 shown in FIG. 2 can be reduced, and thus, the volume of the power converter itself is also reduced. Has an effect that can be reduced.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4C, a plurality of cooling fins 41 are formed at spaced positions, and the internal elements of the capacitor 30 are spaced apart from each other between the cooling fins 41. 31) can be located. The plurality of cooling fins 41 may be spaced apart in a predetermined direction.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the cooling fins 41 may be spaced apart in a predetermined direction, and the cooling fins 41 may have a shape extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which they are spaced apart.

That is, the internal elements 31 of the capacitor 30 may be located in spaced spaces between the cooling fins 41, respectively, and the cooling fins 41 have a cylindrical shape having a circular cross section as shown in FIG. It may be formed, as shown in Figure 4 (d) may be an elliptic cylinder shape of the elliptical cross-section extending in the longitudinal direction in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cooling fins 41 are arranged.

According to this configuration, the cooling fins 41 may be in contact with the capacitor 30 in the widest possible area, thereby improving the cooling efficiency and minimizing the cooling variation.

In addition, although not shown, the cooling fins 41 may be formed in a rectangular columnar shape having a rectangular cross section extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cooling fins 41 are disposed. Alternatively, all other polygonal columnar shapes are possible.

The cooling fin 41 may extend higher than the internal element 31 to be exposed to the upper portion of the internal element 31. Fixing part 60 may be further included to couple the upper end of the cooling fin 41 exposed to the housing of the capacitor 30.

In another embodiment, although not shown, the fixing part 60 protrudes laterally from the end of the cooling fin 41 to cover a part of the upper portion of the internal element 31, so that even without the housing of the capacitor 30 The internal element 31 of the capacitor 30 may be fixed.

While shown and described in connection with specific embodiments of the present invention, it is within the skill of the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention provided by the following claims. It will be self-evident for those of ordinary knowledge.

10: inverter power module 20: cooling flow path
30 capacitor 40 cooling plate
50: mounting boss 60: fixed part

Claims (10)

A cooling passage through which a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the power module of the inverter flows therein; And
One side is in contact with the cooling flow path to heat exchange, the other side is in contact with the capacitor heat exchange, the cooling plate protruding toward the capacitor side; cooling structure of a power converter. The method according to claim 1,
The internal structure of the capacitor is a cooling structure of the power converter, characterized in that arranged in a shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fins. The method according to claim 2,
The cooling fin is formed in a cylindrical shape having a circular cross section, and the internal element is a cooling structure of the power converter, characterized in that the cylindrical shape surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fin. The method according to claim 2,
The cooling fins are formed in a polygonal columnar shape having a polygonal cross section, and the internal element has the same polygonal pillar shape as the cooling fins surrounding the outer surface of the cooling fins. The method according to claim 2,
Cooling fins penetrate the inner element from the bottom of the inner element,
Cooling structure of the power converter further comprises a; fixing portion for coupling the end of the cooling fin and the upper housing of the capacitor. The method according to claim 1,
Cooling fins are formed in a plurality of spaced apart position, the cooling structure of the power converter characterized in that the internal elements of the capacitor is located in the spaced space between the cooling fins. The method according to claim 6,
Cooling fins or internal elements of the capacitor is a cooling structure of the power converter, characterized in that extending in parallel to the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cooling fins are spaced apart. The method according to claim 6,
Cooling fins extend higher than internal components
Cooling structure of the power converter further comprises a; fixing portion for coupling the end of the cooling fin and the upper housing of the capacitor. The method according to claim 1,
An inlet groove is formed in the lower housing of the capacitor is formed in the capacitor, the cooling fin is a cooling structure of the power converter, characterized in that inserted into the inlet groove. The method according to claim 9,
Cooling structure of the power converter further comprises a; fixing portion for coupling the lower housing of the capacitor and the upper housing of the capacitor to the end of the cooling fin.

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