Background
The IGBT module is a modular semiconductor device formed by bridging and packaging an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) and an FWD (free wheeling diode) through a specific circuit, mainly plays roles of rectification, inversion, frequency conversion and the like, and is widely applied to the fields of rail transit, household appliance energy conservation, wind power generation, solar photovoltaic, new energy vehicles (such as electric vehicles and the like) and the like.
Typically, in the field of electric vehicles, an IGBT module is generally provided in a motor controller to convert Direct Current (DC) of a battery into Alternating Current (AC) for driving a motor. An existing motor controller generally includes a case, and an IGBT module, an IGBT driving circuit board, an IGBT control circuit board, and a thin film capacitor disposed in the case. The arrangement of the components in the box body is roughly as follows: the IGBT module is fixed on the bottom plate of the box body, the IGBT driving circuit board and the IGBT control circuit board are sequentially arranged above the IGBT module and connected to the IGBT module, the film capacitor is located on one side of the IGBT module and is also fixed on the box body, a DC terminal used for electrically connecting a storage battery and an AC terminal used for electrically connecting a motor are arranged on the side wall of the box body, the film capacitor and the IGBT module are electrically connected between the positive pole and the negative pole of the DC terminal in parallel, and the IGBT module is further connected to the AC terminal to output alternating current to the motor. In addition, a fluid channel for cooling liquid to flow through is arranged in the bottom plate of the box body so as to help the IGBT module dissipate heat.
However, such a motor controller is often limited to the above-mentioned arrangement, and since only one surface of the IGBT module contacts the bottom plate of the box body, the heat dissipation effect of the IGBT module is not ideal. When the power of the motor is high, under the condition of long-time work, the IGBT module generates a large amount of heat, the temperature of the IGBT module rises sharply, and at the moment, the temperature rising speed of the IGBT module cannot be slowed down only by heat exchange between one surface and cooling liquid in a bottom plate of the box body.
In addition, when a product is designed, after an IGBT module of a certain model is selected, parts such as a thin film capacitor, an IGBT driver circuit board, and a heat sink that match with the IGBT module need to be additionally designed, so research and development work usually involves professional knowledge in a plurality of fields such as electronic circuit design, structural design, and heat dissipation system design, and has very high requirements on technical faces and experiences of designers, and the workload is very large. In addition, when the same research and development personnel design products with different powers, the types of the used IGBT modules are different, and at the moment, the whole product needs to be designed, sampled, tested and authenticated from the beginning, so that the labor and the time are very wasted, the structure is not compact, and the occupied space is large. In addition, when products with different powers are produced, the production flow and the production process are different, the types of stock raw materials are various, different supply resources need to be found, and the cost is greatly increased.
Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure without limiting the disclosure. In the drawings:
fig. 1 is a perspective view of a smart power module provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein a fixing plate is not shown;
fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the smart power module shown in fig. 1, wherein a fixing plate is not shown;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view from above of a motor controller provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the housing and the fixed plate are not shown for ease of illustration of the components therein;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view from below of a motor controller provided in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the housing and fixed plate are not shown for ease of illustration of the components therein;
fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a smart power module according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein a fixing plate is shown;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view from above of a motor controller provided in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the housing is not shown, but the stationary plate is shown, for ease of illustration of the components therein;
fig. 7 is a perspective view from below of a motor controller provided in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the case is not shown but the fixing plate is shown for the convenience of illustrating components therein.
Description of the reference numerals
10 a smart power module; 11 power electronics;
11a direct current connection end; 11b three-phase alternating current connection end;
12a first heat sink; 12b a second heat sink;
13 a drive plate; 14a capacitor;
14a positive electrode connection port; 14b a negative electrode connecting port;
141 cushion blocks; 142 connecting holes;
143 fixing feet;
15a an input tube; 15b an output pipe;
16a direct current lead; 16b three-phase alternating current wires;
17 fixing the plate; 18 secure the pull tab.
Detailed Description
The following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present disclosure is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present disclosure, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.
In the present disclosure, the terms of orientation such as "above, below" used in the present disclosure refer to "above, below" of the corresponding component in fig. 1 (or fig. 2, 5), and on the basis of this, the term "side surface" or "side surface" used in the present disclosure refers to a side surface or a side surface of the corresponding component in fig. 1; the terms "longitudinal direction" and "height direction" used herein are defined with reference to the left-right direction and the up-down direction in fig. 1 (or fig. 2 and 5), respectively, and are used only for explaining the present disclosure and are not limited thereto.
According to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an intelligent power module, referring to fig. 1, 2 and 5, the intelligent power module 10 includes a power electronic device 11, a heat sink for the power electronic device 11, a driving board 13 for driving the power electronic device 11, and a capacitor 14 connected to the power electronic device 11, wherein the heat sink includes a first heat sink 12a and a second heat sink 12b, the power electronic device 11 is sandwiched between the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b, and the power electronic device 11, the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b are fixed together to the capacitor 14.
Therefore, according to the technical scheme, the first radiator 12a and the second radiator 12b are correspondingly arranged on the two sides of the power electronic device 11 of the intelligent power module, so that the power electronic device 11 can radiate heat on two sides, and the radiating efficiency is improved. In addition, since the power electronic device 11, the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b are fixed together on the capacitor 14, the four are formed as a single body with a fixed power. In practical applications, the intelligent power module 10 provided by the present disclosure having a certain power value can be selected according to the required power, and the power value inherent to the intelligent power module 10 can be divided by the required power value, in this case, only a few intelligent power modules 10 are needed to determine to obtain the required power, which embodies the advantages of standardization and easy expansion of the intelligent power module 10 provided by the present disclosure, and greatly shortens the design development period, the manufacturing man-hour and the cost.
In the embodiment provided by the present disclosure, the capacitor 14 may be disposed at a side of the first heat sink 12a (as in the embodiment shown in fig. 1) or at a side of the second heat sink 12b (as in the embodiment shown in fig. 5), and the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b are fixedly connected to the capacitor 14 together with the power electronic device 11 by the fixing plate 17 detachably connected to the capacitor 14, so that the power electronic device 11, the first heat sink 12a, the second heat sink 12b, and the capacitor 14 are formed as a whole.
In the specific embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example, the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b may be the same or different depending on the specific structure of the power electronic device 11, as long as they can abut against two opposite side surfaces of the power electronic device 11 to be able to clamp the power electronic device 11. It should be noted that "abutting" here means that one side surface (which may be defined as an inner surface, corresponding to the above "outer side") of each of the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b is attached to the corresponding side surface of the power electronic device 11, and preferably, the side surfaces of the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b can at least completely cover the corresponding side surface of the power electronic device 11, so that the power electronic device 11 and the heat sinks are sufficiently thermally exchanged.
Alternatively, it is also preferable that the first heat sink 12a, the second heat sink 12b, and the power electronic device 11 are arranged parallel to each other, that is, the length direction, the height direction, and the thickness direction of all the three are parallel to each other. In this case, the side surface of the first heat sink 12a or the second heat sink 12b is one surface extending in both the length direction and the width direction of the first heat sink 12a or the second heat sink 12b, and it is defined that one of the side surfaces facing the power electronic device 11 is the above-mentioned inner surface, and the other side surface is an outer surface facing the capacitor 14 (if any). In this case, while satisfying the heat exchange of the power electronics 11, the thicknesses of the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b can be reduced as much as possible, thereby contributing to a reduction in the volume of the smart power module 10.
Further, in order to facilitate heat exchange between the power electronic device 11 and the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b, the inner surfaces of the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b are coated with a thermally conductive material, for example, thermally conductive silicone grease, respectively, to enhance heat exchange with the power electronic device 11.
In the specific embodiments provided by the present disclosure, the power electronics 11 may have any suitable shape. Alternatively, it is also preferred, in particular with reference to fig. 2, that the power electronic device 11 has two opposite flat side surfaces, that the first radiator 12a and the second radiator 12b are each flat tubes, that the heat dissipation device further comprises an inlet tube 15a and an outlet tube 15b for the flow of a cooling medium (for example air, water or oil), and that the first radiator 12a and the second radiator 12b are fluidically connected in parallel between the inlet tube 15a and the outlet tube 15 b. In this case, the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b share one input duct and one output duct, which can reduce the number of ducts, contributing to the reduction in volume of the entire smart power module 10.
In this case, two fixing plates 17 may be provided, which are respectively located at the outer sides of the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b, mounting holes may be respectively provided on the upper and lower edges of the fixing plates 17, and correspondingly, connection pieces provided with corresponding connection holes 142 may be provided on the side surfaces of the capacitor 14, and when mounted, the two fixing plates 17 sandwich the first and second heat sinks 12a and 12b and the power electronic device 11, and then the fixing plates 17 are fixed to the capacitor 14 by means of bolt assemblies passing through the mounting holes and the connection holes 142 on the fixing plates 17.
In the above embodiments, the inlet pipe 15a and the outlet pipe 15b may be provided in any suitable form. Alternatively, it is also preferable that the input pipe 15a and the output pipe 15b are parallel to each other and located at both ends of the flat pipe, respectively, the input pipe 15a and the output pipe 15b extend toward the same side (e.g., toward the side where the first radiator 12a is located or toward the side where the second radiator 12b is located), and is arranged such that the cooling medium therein flows in a direction substantially perpendicular to the side surfaces of the flat tubes, wherein the term "substantially perpendicular to the side surfaces of the flat tubes" is used herein to constrain the arrangement of the inlet and outlet tubes 15a and 15b, in order to constrain the direction of extension of the inlet and outlet tubes 15a and 15b to be substantially perpendicular to the lateral surfaces of the flat tubes, so as to later constrain the power electronics 11, the first radiator 12a, the second radiator 12b, the capacitor 14, the fixing plate 17, and the like between the input pipe 15a and the output pipe 15b, thereby making the structure of the smart power module more compact (to be described in detail later). The advantages of this arrangement are: for the motor controller to be described later, when a plurality of smart power modules 10 need to be provided to meet the actual power demand, the plurality of smart power modules 10 may share the same coolant input pipe 15a and coolant output pipe 15b, and the power electronics 11, the capacitor 14 to be described later, and the first and second radiators 12a and 12b can be confined between the coolant input pipe 15a and the coolant output pipe 15b, so that not only can the space be saved, the structure of the smart power module be made more compact, but also the number of coolant pipes can be reduced, thereby reducing the weight of the motor controller accordingly.
In addition, in the specific embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the capacitor 14 may have any desired shape, and preferably, the capacitor 14 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in fig. 1 to 7, and the length direction and the height direction thereof are parallel to the length direction and the height direction of the power electronic device 11, respectively. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the capacitor 14 may have other shapes, for example, a cylindrical shape, the axial direction of the cylindrical capacitor 14 may be parallel to the length direction of the power electronic device, and the outer surfaces of the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b may be shaped into a curved shape that fits the outer surface of the cylindrical capacitor 14 so as to be in contact with the outer surface of the capacitor 14 as much as possible and tightly.
Furthermore, in the specific embodiment provided by the present disclosure, the driving board 13 may be covered on the power electronic device 11 and the capacitor 14, on one hand, to facilitate the electrical connection with the power electronic device 11, and on the other hand, to further facilitate the reduction of the overall volume of the smart power module 10. It is to be explained here that in the embodiment shown in fig. 1 to 7, the drive board 13 is located above the power electronics 11 and the capacitor 14, but in other embodiments (not shown), for example when the power electronics 11 are located above the capacitor 14, the drive board 13 is located on one side of the capacitor 14 so as to be able to cover both the power electronics 11 and the capacitor 14. Therefore, "the driving board 13 may be overlaid on the power electronics 11 and the capacitor 14" and is not to be understood only as "the driving board 13 is located above the power electronics 11 and the capacitor 14".
Furthermore, the capacitor 14 may be arranged between the coolant inlet pipe 15a and the coolant outlet pipe 15b, as shown in fig. 1 and 5, which arrangement has the advantage that: in the vehicle controller to be described later, when a plurality of smart power modules 10 need to be provided to meet the actual power demand, referring to fig. 3, 4, 6, and 7, in two adjacent smart power modules 10, the capacitor 14 of one of them can be abutted on the outer surface of the second radiator 12b of the other (when the components in the smart power modules 10 are arranged in the sequential order as in fig. 2) or the first radiator 12a (when the components in the smart power modules 10 are arranged in the sequential order as in fig. 5). Thereby enabling both sides of the capacitor 14 to be heat-exchanged and improving heat dissipation efficiency. In addition, the outer surface of the first heat sink 12a and the outer surface of the second heat sink 12b may be coated with a thermally conductive material, for example, thermally conductive silicone grease, respectively, to enhance heat exchange with the capacitor 14.
Furthermore, in the specific embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the capacitor 14 may be any suitable type of capacitor, and preferably, the capacitor 14 is a film capacitor.
Furthermore, in the specific embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the power electronic device 11 may be any suitable power electronic device 11, and preferably, the power electronic device 11 is an IGBT module. In practical applications, the number of the IGBT modules may be selected according to the required power, and therefore, in the specific embodiment provided by the present disclosure, one IGBT module may be used, or a plurality of IGBT modules may be used in parallel. For example, in the embodiments shown in fig. 1, 2 and 5, there are three IGBT modules in parallel. Each IGBT module includes a dc connection terminal 11a and a three-phase ac connection terminal 11b (not shown in fig. 5), and the dc connection terminal 11a of each IGBT module is connected in parallel to dc connection ports (i.e., a positive connection port 14a and a negative connection port 14b) of the capacitor 14 by a fastener to connect a dc power source, such as a secondary battery. The three-phase ac connection terminal 11b of each IGBT module is used to output ac power after dc power is converted into ac power by the IGBT module. Further, in order to facilitate the connection between the dc connection terminal 11a of the IGBT module and the dc connection port of the capacitor 14 and fix the IGBT module with respect to the capacitor 14 by means of the connection, a spacer 141 may be provided between the dc connection terminal 11a of the IGBT module and the capacitor 14, so that the dc connection terminal 11a of the IGBT module and the dc connection port of the capacitor 14 can be connected by a fastening member (e.g., a bolt or a screw) passing through the spacer 141.
On the basis of the above technical solution, the present disclosure further provides a motor controller, which includes a box, wherein the motor controller further includes the intelligent power module 10 provided by the present disclosure disposed in the box and a control board (not shown) for controlling the power electronic device 11, the control board is electrically connected to the driving board 13, the capacitor 14 is fixed to the box, for example, referring to fig. 5, the capacitor 14 may be fixed to the box of the motor controller by a fixing pin 143, and the first heat sink 12a and the second heat sink 12b may be fixed to the box of the motor controller by fixing pull tabs.
Preferably, the intelligent power module 10 can be provided in a plurality according to the rated power of the motor controller required actually, and a plurality of the intelligent power modules 10 are connected in parallel, and the combination after the parallel connection can enable the motor controller to have the required rated power. Thus, the advantages of standardization and easy expansion of the smart power module 10 provided according to the present disclosure can be embodied. In this case, it is possible to shorten the development period to a great extent, reduce the production cost, and liberate labor and productivity.
Also, in the embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the smart power module 10 is preferably provided with a cooling liquid input pipe 15a and a cooling liquid output pipe 15b, a plurality of the smart power modules 10 are arranged side by side, for example, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, three smart power modules 10 are provided in the motor controller shown in the figure, and are sequentially arranged between the cooling liquid input pipe 15a and the cooling liquid output pipe 15b along the extending direction of the cooling liquid input pipe 15a and the cooling liquid output pipe 15b, and the cooling liquid input pipe 15a and the cooling liquid output pipe 15b are shared for saving the occupied space.
In addition, when the power electronic device 11 is an IGBT module, a dc terminal and an ac terminal are provided on the case, the capacitor and the IGBT module in the smart power module are connected in parallel between a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the dc terminal through a dc wire 16a, and a three-phase ac connection terminal 11b of the IGBT module in each smart power module is connected to the ac terminal through a three-phase ac wire 16b, as shown in fig. 3, 4, 6, and 7.
In the above embodiment, the dc conductor 16a and the three-phase ac conductor 16b are both copper bars, so that not only the electrical connection function but also a certain fixing function can be achieved.
On the basis of the technical scheme, the present disclosure further provides a vehicle, which is provided with a storage battery and a motor, wherein the vehicle is provided with the motor controller provided by the present disclosure, and the motor controller is electrically connected between the storage battery and the motor.
The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications may be made to the technical solution of the present disclosure within the technical idea of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.
It should be noted that the various features described in the above embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner without departing from the scope of the invention. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, various possible combinations will not be separately described in this disclosure.
In addition, any combination of various embodiments of the present disclosure may be made, and the same should be considered as the disclosure of the present disclosure, as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present disclosure.