JP4970025B2 - Power converter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power conversion device, and more particularly to a cooling mounting structure thereof.

  In recent years, power converters have been miniaturized simultaneously with an increase in capacity, and as a result, an increase in heat generation loss and an improved mounting density have been adopted, and thus a water cooling method may be employed as a cooling method (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  Products that require cooling include semiconductor switching elements, capacitors that smooth the current converted by the semiconductor switching elements, resistors that balance the capacitor voltage, capacitors that suppress the surge voltage of the semiconductor switching elements, There is resistance. These products are distributed and arranged in the apparatus, and have a structure in which the products are connected by piping in order to carry the cooling water to the product.

   The piping mounting configuration is as shown in FIG. A plurality of units 1 including semiconductor switching elements, capacitors, resistors, reactors, fuses, substrates, and the like are arranged. After cooling the semiconductor switching element among these supplies, the main pipe 2 on the water supply side for supplying cooling water from the outside, the branch pipe 3 on the water supply side for distributing to individual units, and the supplies for the unit 1 There are a branch pipe 4 on the drain side draining from each unit, and a main pipe 5 on the drain side that collects these pipes, and the drain pipe is drained to the outside.

  In the figure, the main pipe 2 on the water supply side is provided on the left side, and the main pipe 5 on the drain side is provided on the right side. Moreover, a semiconductor switching element, a capacitor, a resistor, a reactor, etc. may be individually mounted without being unitized.

  The semiconductor switching element described above can be cooled with water, but the capacitor, the fuse, the substrate for controlling the semiconductor switching element, etc. are generally not water-cooled and are naturally ventilated or forcedly cooled by a fan. In that case, depending on the arrangement and structure of the product in the unit, heat may be accumulated inside the device, which may cause a thermal problem, and measures such as reducing the device capacity due to the limitation of the product life are taken.

  In addition, when mounting the product, there are high-temperature and low-temperature products, but in the high-temperature product, the air heated to the top by convection rises, so if you place the low-temperature product on the top of the high-temperature product, It gets hot. In order to avoid this, measures such as arranging them separately are taken.

On the mounting surface, the main pipe 2 on the water supply side and the main pipe 5 on the drain side are cylindrical as shown in FIG. 7, so that the width direction of the unit 1 to be put in and out is restricted, and larger units can be accommodated. Can not. In addition, since the branch pipes 3 and 4 need to divide the cooling water evenly, there is a restriction that the branch pipes 3 and 4 have the same length and cannot be freely arranged. Thus, since there are various restrictions on the arrangement of the pipes, there is a problem in improving the product mounting density.
JP 2006-32515 A

  As described above, in the conventional power converter, since the main pipe 2 on the water supply side and the main pipe 5 on the drain side are cylindrical, there are restrictions on the width direction of the unit housed in the apparatus, and the thermal power of the apparatus Due to the limitations, it has been a problem in improving the product packaging density.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a power conversion device that can avoid the thermal restriction of the device and improve the mounting density by changing the shape of the pipe and the mounting method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention cools a product supplied from a cooler in a power conversion device in which at least one product of a semiconductor element, a capacitor, a resistor, a reactor, and a substrate is arranged inside the housing. A water supply side pipe for flowing cooling water is provided on one side in the housing, a drain side pipe for cooling water after cooling the product to the cooler is provided on the other side in the housing, and a water supply side pipe and The drain side piping is composed of a water supply side cooling plate and a drain side cooling plate made of a plate-like body provided with a space for circulating cooling water therein, and the water supply side cooling plate and the drain side cooling. The surface of the cooling plate of at least one of the plates facing the product is formed in a fin shape .

  According to the present invention, the water supply side pipe and the drain side pipe are constituted by a water supply side cooling plate and a drain side cooling plate made of a plate-like body provided with a space for circulating cooling water therein. It is possible to expand the space for arranging the internal supplies, and it is possible to avoid the thermal restriction of the apparatus and improve the mounting density.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the same symbols indicate the same or corresponding parts.

(First embodiment)
The structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the main pipe on the water supply side through which the cooling water flows is a plate-like product 6. Similarly, the main pipe on the drain side is a plate-like product 7. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, these main pipes are composed of a plate-like body provided with a space for circulating cooling water therein. The main pipe on the water supply side constituted by such a plate-like body is hereinafter referred to as a water supply side cooling plate 6. In addition, the drain side main pipe configured with such a plate-like body is hereinafter referred to as a drain side cooling plate 7. The material of these cooling plates 6 and 7 is, for example, stainless steel (SUS), aluminum, or copper.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side is arranged vertically close to the inner wall on the left side of the apparatus, and although not shown, piping for water supply from the cooler is at an arbitrary position (for example, below) Connected). Moreover, the cooling plate 7 on the drain side is arranged vertically close to the inner wall on the right side of the apparatus, and although not shown, a pipe for draining the cooler is connected at an arbitrary position (for example, a lower position). .

  Instead of disposing the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side close to the side walls, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side itself are respectively connected to the left side wall of the housing and It is good also as a right side wall.

  The cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and each unit 1 made up of a semiconductor switching element, a capacitor, a resistor, a reactor, a fuse, a substrate and the like are connected by a branch pipe on the water supply side, and a cooling plate 7 on the drain side Each unit 1 is connected by a branch pipe on the drain side. In addition, these branch piping may be comprised, for example with a flexible pipe | tube, and it may connect so that each unit 1 or a cooling plate can be attached or detached.

  In this way, when the water supply side pipe and the drain side pipe are respectively constituted by a water supply side cooling plate and a drain side cooling plate made of a plate-like body provided with a space through which cooling water is circulated, Since the wall is the same as the cooling water piping, it is possible to expand the space for arranging the supplies inside.

(Second Embodiment)
The structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the surfaces of the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side in the first embodiment described above are formed into fin shapes as shown in the figure.

  Thus, when the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drainage side are constituted by the cooling plate 8 having a fin shape on the surface, the temperature of the entire wall surface is lowered, so that the air inside the apparatus is cooled from the wall surface. . As a result, the ambient temperature of the product can be kept low.

  Furthermore, in order to prevent the internal air from being warmed, it is possible to place a temperature-strict product on the upper side of the high-temperature product (for example, a substrate on the upper side and a reactor on the lower side can be arranged). , Increase the degree of freedom of equipment placement.

  In addition, as mentioned above, instead of configuring both the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side with the cooling plate 8 having a fin-shaped surface, only one cooling plate has a fin-shaped surface. The cooling plate 8 can also be used.

(Third embodiment)
The structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, an article 9 that generates heat such as a condenser, a resistor, a reactor, and a substrate common to the apparatus is provided on one or both of the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side in the first embodiment described above. Install directly. When the product 9 is attached to one of the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drain side, it may be attached to either the cooling plate 6 or the cooling plate 7, but the one attached to the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side More effective. In addition, in FIG. 4, the case where the goods 9 are attached to the cooling plate 6 by the side of water supply is shown.

  If it does in this way, since the heat | fever which the goods 9 generate | occur | produced can be directly cooled with a cooling plate, piping which carries a cooling water can be reduced and an article mounting space can be increased. Further, exhaust heat into the apparatus can be suppressed. As a result, the internal temperature can be kept low.

  In addition, by attaching a product that has been placed in the space inside the device to the cooling plate in the past, heat is directly taken from the product to the cooling plate, so that an increase in temperature inside the device can be suppressed.

(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the power conversion device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  In this embodiment, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side in the above-described first embodiment is disposed between a portion having a high temperature and a portion having a low temperature inside the apparatus. If it does in this way, the heat transfer from a high temperature article to the low temperature article can be intercepted.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side is horizontally arranged at the center in the vertical direction in the apparatus. In addition, the cooling plate 7 on the drain side is disposed horizontally close to the inner wall of the ceiling of the apparatus.

  Since the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side is arranged in the central portion in this way, even if a high temperature product is arranged below the cooling plate 6 and a low temperature product is arranged on the upper side, it is covered by the lower exhaust heat. The upper product does not need to be hot. In FIG. 4, a reactor, which is a high-temperature product, is disposed on the lower side, a cooling plate 6 on the water supply side is disposed on the reactor, and a unit 4 is disposed on the upper side. In this configuration, the reactor is discharged from the reactor. Since the heat can be blocked by the cooling plate 6, the unit can be prevented from being warmed.

  Note that the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side may be arranged vertically in the central portion in the width direction in the water supply device instead of being horizontally disposed in the central portion in the vertical direction in the device. When the water supply side cooling plate 6 is arranged in this way, the drainage side cooling plate 7 is arranged vertically close to the left inner wall of the apparatus. And the reactor which is a high-temperature article should just be arrange | positioned in the space of the right side of the cooling plate 6 by the side of water supply, and a unit should just be arrange | positioned in the space of the left side of the cooling plate 6.

(Fifth embodiment)
The configuration of the power conversion device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows a unit 1 that constitutes a power conversion device mounted in a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages. The unit 1 is configured in parallel or in series in order to expand the capacity, or a unit (for example, a unit corresponding to various main circuits (for example, The mounting structure when configured in one phase unit) is shown.

  That is, in this embodiment, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and the cooling plate 7 on the drainage side, which are configured by a plate-like body provided with a space for circulating cooling water therein as in the first embodiment, are parallel. Pair them side by side. And the pair of the water cooling plates 6 and 7 is arranged between the rows of the units 1, and the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side supplied with water from the cooling device (not shown) is close to the unit 1. The drain side cooling plate 7 is disposed on the far side.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the drain side cooling plate 7 is arranged vertically close to the left inner wall of the apparatus, and the water supply side cooling plate 6 is arranged vertically on the right side thereof. And the row | line | column of the unit 1 is arrange | positioned on the right side (namely, right side of the cooling plate 6 by the side of water supply) of this pair of water cooling plates 6 and 7. FIG. The drain side cooling plate 7 is vertically arranged on the right side of the row of units 1 with a predetermined interval, and the water supply side cooling plate 6 is vertically arranged on the right side thereof. And the row | line | column of the unit 1 is arrange | positioned on the right side (namely, right side of the cooling plate 6 by the side of water supply) of this pair of water cooling plates 6 and 7. FIG.

  Further, the internal product arrangement of the unit 1 is such that a product such as a substrate 11 and a fuse 12 that are self-cooled products that cannot be cooled with water are arranged close to the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side, that is, the left side of the unit 1. Yes.

  The cooling method of this embodiment arranged in this way will be described below.

  Heat generated from the substrate 11 and the fuse 12 in the unit 1 is transmitted to the adjacent cooling plate 6 on the water supply side and radiated to the cooling water. The cooling water flows to the water cooling fins 13 that cool the semiconductor switching elements, which are water cooling products, and the heat is transferred to the cooling water to flow to the drain side cooling plate 7 disposed adjacent to the water supply side cooling plate 6 for cooling. Instead of a device (not shown), heat is exchanged and water is circulated into the unit 1 again.

  Note that the amount of heat generated from the substrate 11 and the fuse 12 is about several tenths of that of the semiconductor switch element, and there is no influence that greatly increases the water temperature.

  By adopting such a configuration, the heat generated by the electrical appliances other than the semiconductor switching elements in the unit 1 can be dissipated to the cooling water, so that heat accumulation in the unit 1 and the power device can be eliminated, and further Heat dissipation to the can also be suppressed.

(Sixth embodiment)
Next, a power converter according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side or the cooling plate 7 on the drain side is used as a structural member for mounting the unit 1 in each of the above-described embodiments.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a fixing plate 14 having an L-shaped cross section is attached to the cooling plate 6 on the water supply side, and the unit 1 is mounted and fixed by the fixing plate 14. Although FIG. 6 shows fixation from the lower part, it is also possible to fix the unit 1, the cooling plate 6 or the cooling plate 7 to the side surface via a plate. For example, after attaching a plate having a slightly larger vertical direction than the left side surface to the left side surface of the unit 1, the upper and lower portions of the plate can be fixed to the cooling plate 6 with screws or the like.

  As described above, the configuration of the cooling plates 6 and 7 serving both as a cooling pipe and a structural member makes it possible to minimize the mounting space between the units 1.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the principal part in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the structure of the power converter device which concerns on the 5th and 6th embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional power converter device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Unit 2 ... Water supply side main piping 3 ... Water supply side branch piping 4 ... Drainage side branch piping 5 ... Drainage side main piping 6 ... Water supply side cooling plate 7 ... Drain side cooling plate 8 ... Fins surface Shaped cooling plate 9 ... article 10 ... reactor 11 ... substrate 12 ... fuse 13 ... cooling fin 14 ... fixing plate

Claims (2)

In a power conversion device in which at least one of a semiconductor element, a capacitor, a resistor, a reactor, and a substrate is arranged inside a housing , a water supply side pipe for supplying cooling water supplied from a cooler and cooling the product is provided. Provided on one side surface in the housing, and provided on the other side surface in the housing a drain side pipe for flowing cooling water after cooling the article to the cooler , the water supply side pipe and the drain side pipe , respectively, together constitute a cooling plate of the cooling plate and the drainage side of the water supply side of a plate-shaped body having a space for circulating the cooling water inside, out of the cooling plate and the drainage side of the cooling plate of the water supply side A power conversion device , wherein the surface of at least one of the cooling plates facing the product is fin-shaped . 2. The power conversion device according to claim 1, wherein among the products, a low-temperature product is arranged on the upper side inside the casing, and a high-temperature product is arranged on the lower side inside the casing. Power conversion device.

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