CN110784097A

CN110784097A - Driver of power module, intelligent power module and air conditioner

Info

Publication number: CN110784097A
Application number: CN201911221560.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张宏强; 敖利波; 史波; 曹俊
Original assignee: Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai; Zhuhai Zero Boundary Integrated Circuit Co Ltd
Current assignee: Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai; Zhuhai Zero Boundary Integrated Circuit Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-03
Filing date: 2019-12-03
Publication date: 2020-02-11

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a driver and an intelligent power module, including an output end for outputting a driving signal for driving the power module; the first end of the adjustable resistor is connected with the output end, the second end of the adjustable resistor is connected with the control end of the power module, the third end of the adjustable resistor receives an adjusting signal input from the outside, and the adjustable resistor changes the resistance value according to the adjusting signal so as to adjust the resistance value of the control end of the power module. The parameter matching between the driver and the power module is greatly increased by the structure, the switching rate of the intelligent power module can be controlled, and the problems of EMC (electro magnetic compatibility), switching loss, module heating and the like of an application end are solved.

Description

Driver of power module, intelligent power module and air conditioner

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of power integrated circuits, and in particular, to a driver of a power module, an intelligent power module, and an air conditioner.

Background

An Intelligent Power Module (IPM) is a Power switch device widely used in the field of Power electronics, and has logic, control, detection and protection circuits integrated therein, and has the characteristics of modularization, compounding, Power integrated circuit and the like. The smart power module is generally a modular semiconductor product in which a plurality of drivers (HVICs), insulated gate bipolar transistor chips (IGBTs), and freewheeling diode chips (FRDs) are bridge-packaged by a specific circuit. The integrated high-power high-reliability bus has the advantages of compact structure, high reliability, convenience in installation and the like, and is favorable for realizing high-reliability integrated layout in high-power application.

Because the IPM module integrates the IGBT chip, the FRD chip and the HVIC chip in one package, the whole machine product has higher reliability, and the volume of the equipment is greatly reduced. However, in addition to the difficulty of chip design, there is also the problem of matching electrical parameters between chips in the module development process, especially the matching parameters between the HVIC and the IGBT, because the parasitic parameters of the IGBT make the matching of the parameters between the HVIC and the IGBT very difficult, especially the output capability of the HVIC determines the switching efficiency and performance of the whole module.

As shown in fig. 1, it is common practice to integrate a resistor R with a fixed resistance value at the output terminal of the HVIC or the gate of the IGBT, which restricts the applicable range of the HVIC and the IGBT, and in practical applications, if the resistor is adjusted, it becomes very troublesome, and it is necessary to redesign and manufacture the HVIC and the IGBT, and reassemble the package module, which brings great inconvenience to the application terminal and the design terminal.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, the present disclosure provides a driver of a power module, an intelligent power module and an air conditioner to solve a parameter matching problem between the driver and the power module.

To achieve the above object, in a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a driver of a power module, including:

an output terminal for outputting a driving signal for driving the power module;

the first end of the adjustable resistor is connected with the output end, and the second end of the adjustable resistor is connected with the control end of the power module; the third end receives an externally input adjusting signal; and the adjustable resistor changes the resistance value thereof according to the adjusting signal so as to adjust the resistance value of the control end of the power module.

Optionally, the output end includes a first output end and a second output end, the adjustable resistor includes a first adjustable resistor and a second adjustable resistor, and the power module includes a first sub-power module and a second sub-power module; the first ends of the first adjustable resistor and the second adjustable resistor are respectively connected with the first output end and the second output end, the second ends of the first adjustable resistor and the second adjustable resistor are respectively connected with the control ends of the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module, and the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module are connected in series.

Optionally, the adjustable resistor is integrated inside the driver.

Optionally, the adjustable resistor is an adjustable potentiometer or a MOS resistor.

In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a smart power module comprising:

the driver is used for outputting a driving signal and comprises an output end and an adjustable resistor connected to the output end; the adjustable resistor receives an adjusting signal input from the outside;

the control end of the power module is connected with the adjustable resistor to receive the driving signal; the adjustable resistor changes the resistance value of the adjustable resistor according to the adjusting signal so as to adjust the resistance value of the control end.

Optionally, the number of the drivers is the same as that of the power modules, each driver includes a first output end and a second output end, and each power module includes a first sub power module and a second sub power module; the first output end is used for driving the first sub-power module, and the second output end is used for driving the second sub-power module; each of the first output end and the second output end is connected with an adjustable resistor; the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module which are connected with the same driver are sequentially connected in series, and the first sub-power modules which are connected with different drivers are connected in parallel.

Optionally, the number of the drivers and the number of the power modules are three, and the three power modules are connected to form a three-bridge-arm inverter bridge; the sub-power module includes an IGBT.

Optionally, the method further includes:

the current limiting device comprises a freewheeling diode and a current limiting resistor, wherein one end of the current limiting resistor is connected with a VCC power supply end of the driver, the other end of the current limiting resistor is connected with the anode of the freewheeling diode, and the cathode of the freewheeling diode is connected with a VB power supply end of the driver.

Optionally, the adjustable resistor is integrated inside the driver.

In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides an air conditioner comprising the smart power module of any one of the above.

The driver disclosed by the invention has the advantages that the adjustable resistor is added at the output end of the driver, and the resistance value of the adjustable resistor is changed through the control of an external adjusting signal, so that the purpose of adapting to various power modules is realized. The intelligent power module greatly enhances the matching between the module internal driver and the power module, and can control the resistance value of the internal adjustable resistor of the driver only through an external simple control circuit, thereby changing the size of the grid resistor of the power module and adjusting the performance of the module.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive efforts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art smart power module;

FIG. 2(a) is a block diagram of a first actuator according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2(b) is a block diagram of a second actuator according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2(c) is a block diagram of a third actuator according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an intelligent power module according to a second embodiment of the disclosure;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of another intelligent power module in the second embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. The components of embodiments of the present invention generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Example one

The driver is an interface between a main circuit and a control circuit in the IPM, and affects the operation efficiency, reliability and safety of the IPM. Common power module drivers are M57962/M57959, 2BB4035T, 2SD315A, 2BB0108T, STDRIVE601, etc. The gate resistance has an important significance for the power module. The gate emitter (or gate source) electrode of the IGBT (MOSFET) is a capacitive structure, the parasitic inductance of a gate loop is inevitable, and the existence of the gate resistance can accelerate the attenuation of strong oscillation generated under the excitation of a drive pulse of a driver. And the capacitance and the inductance are all reactive elements, the grid resistance can share the drive power which is originally consumed on an output tube in the driver mostly, and the temperature of the driver is prevented from being greatly increased. However, the selection of the gate resistance size has certain difficulties and complexities. Under the normal condition, the grid resistance is small, the on-off of a switch device is fast, and the switching loss is small; the grid resistance is large, the on-off of a switch device is slow, and the switching loss is large. However, the excessively fast driving speed increases the rate of change of the voltage and current of the switching device, and causes large interference, which affects the operation of the whole device. In summary, the proper gate resistance is selected by considering the parameters of the device and the driver, i.e. the driver and the power device need to be matched.

The present embodiment takes a High Voltage Integrated Circuit (HVIC) as an example, and provides a driver of a power module to solve the problem of parameter matching between the driver and the power module.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2(a), 2(b), and 2(c), the HVIC 100 includes an output terminal 101 and an output terminal 102, which respectively output driving signals for driving the sub power module 131 and the sub power module 132 of the power module 130, one end of the adjustable resistor 121 and one end of the adjustable resistor 122 are respectively connected to the output terminal 101 and the output terminal 102, and the other end of the adjustable resistor is respectively connected to the control terminals of the sub power module 131 and the sub power module 132. The adjustable resistor can be a commonly used adjustable potentiometer, and can also be a power electronic device, such as a MOS resistor and the like. The sub-power module may include one power electronic device, and may also include a circuit composed of a plurality of power electronic devices. When the power electronic device is an IGBT or MOS tube, the control end is a grid.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 2(a), the

adjustable resistors

121 and 122 are integrated inside the HVIC 100, on one hand, it is very convenient in the design stage, the resistors do not need to be replaced each time, and the routing of the HVIC 100 and the power module 130 is shorter, thereby greatly reducing the influence caused by parasitic capacitance; on the other hand, the HVIC 100 can be matched with power modules with more specifications, such as an IGBT module, an MOS module and the like, and the resistance value of the adjustable resistor is adjusted only according to different parameters of the IGBT and the MOS, so that the application field of the HVIC is widened, and the HVIC can be applied to an air conditioner, an induction cooker, an electric vehicle and the like.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2(b), the

adjustable resistors

121 and 122 may be separated into a single module, independent of the HVIC 100 and the power module 130. In other embodiments, as shown in fig. 2(c), the

adjustable resistors

121 and 122 may be integrated or connected to the gates of the

sub-power modules

131 and 132, in such a manner that when there are multiple sub-power modules, each sub-power module needs to be configured with an adjustable resistor.

In addition, a regulating circuit connected to the adjustable resistor 121 and the adjustable resistor 122 may be provided for outputting a voltage or current signal to regulate the resistance of the adjustable resistor. The resistance value of the adjustable resistor changes with the magnitude of the adjusting signal. When the

adjustable resistors

121 and 122 are adjustable potentiometers or integrated MOS resistors, an appropriate adjusting circuit needs to be selected to output an appropriate adjusting signal. In some embodiments, adjustable resistor 121 and adjustable resistor 122 may be connected to the same adjustment circuit to receive the same electrical signal. In other embodiments, the gates of the sub-power module 131 and the sub-power module 132 need to match different resistance values, and the adjusting circuit may be configured to output different adjusting signals, or a plurality of adjusting circuits may be provided, that is, the adjustable resistor 121 and the adjustable resistor 122 may be connected to the same adjusting circuit to receive different adjusting signals, or may be connected to different adjusting circuits.

Example two

The present embodiment provides an intelligent power module, as shown in fig. 3, the intelligent power module 10 includes a driver 100 and a power module 130, where the driver 100 includes an output terminal 101, an output terminal 102, an adjustable resistor 121, and an adjustable resistor 122. The driver 100 may be a commonly used power module driver, in this embodiment a high voltage gate driver HVIC. The adjustable resistor can be a commonly used adjustable potentiometer, and can also be a power electronic device, such as a MOS resistor and the like. The power module 130 is composed of power electronic devices, in this embodiment, IGBTs, or MOS transistors, etc., according to different practical applications.

Referring to the first embodiment, the adjustable resistor 121 and the adjustable resistor 122 are preferably integrated inside the driver 100. The adjustable resistor 121 receives an external voltage signal Vin1 through a pin 111 of the driver 100, the adjustable resistor 122 receives an external voltage signal Vin2 through a pin 112 of the driver 100, and the voltage signals Vin1 and Vin2 are respectively used for changing the resistance values of the adjustable resistor 121 and the adjustable resistor 122. The voltage signal may also be replaced by a current signal. The gate of the IGBT131 is connected to the adjustable resistor 121 for receiving the driving signal output by the driver 100, and the size of the gate resistor of the IGBT131 can be adjusted by changing the resistance of the adjustable resistor 121. The gate of the IGBT132 is connected to the adjustable resistor 122 for receiving the driving signal output by the driver 100, and the size of the gate resistor of the IGBT132 can be adjusted by changing the resistance of the adjustable resistor 122. Both the output terminal 101 and the output terminal 102 of the driver 100 may output a high level or a low level as the driving signal.

And determining the number of required drivers according to the number of the power modules or the number of the sub power modules contained in the power modules. The sub-power module may include one power electronic device, and may also include a circuit composed of a plurality of power electronic devices. Inverters are commonly used power modules, thereby resulting in another intelligent power module as shown in fig. 4. The driver 100, the driver 200 and the driver 300 are included, and the structure of each driver is the same as that of the previous driver, which is not described herein again. The power module 130 includes 6 IGBT devices to form a three-leg inverter bridge structure. The driver 100 is used for driving the

IGBTs

131 and 132 on the same bridge arm, the driver 200 is used for driving the

IGBTs

133 and 134 on the same bridge arm, and the driver 300 is used for driving the IGBTs 135 and 136 on the same bridge arm. It is also understood that the power module 130 includes three power modules corresponding to the

drivers

100, 200, and 300, respectively. Each of the power modules comprises two sub-power modules, each of which comprises a power electronic device, which is an IGBT.

External adjusting signals Vin1 to Vin6 are respectively connected to the adjustable resistor 121, the adjustable resistor 122, the adjustable resistor 221, the adjustable resistor 222, the adjustable resistor 321, and the adjustable resistor 322, and are used for changing the resistance values thereof to adjust the gate resistances of the IGBTs 1 to 6. The IGBTs 1 to 6 also have their own gate resistances. The adjustment signals Vin1-Vin6 may be at the same or different high and low levels, and may be current or voltage signals.

Furthermore, an FRD circuit may be connected between the VCC power supply terminals and the VB power supply terminals of the drivers 100-300. The circuit may consist of a current limiting resistor and a freewheeling diode. Taking the driver 100 as an example, one end of the current limiting resistor 151 is connected to a VCC power supply terminal, the other end is connected to the anode of the freewheeling diode 161, and the cathode of the freewheeling diode 161 is connected to a VB power supply terminal. The FRD circuits of the

drivers

200 and 300 are also connected in the same manner.

During design and manufacture, the adjustable resistor is integrated into an HVIC chip; welding chips such as HVIC wafers, IGBT wafers, FRD wafers, bootstrap diode wafers and the like with the lead frame to realize mechanical and electrical connection; connecting the HVIC chip, the IGBT chip, the FRD chip and the bootstrap diode chip through leads by using gold wire or aluminum wire welding; extruding the melted epoxy resin into a preset mold through an injection molding machine so as to protect the chip and the support frame; and finally, cutting ribs and forming.

The intelligent power module of this embodiment can adjust grid resistance through the resistance that external control signal changes adjustable resistance, thereby obtains the switching rate of optimum power module, reduces the switching loss, reduces the interference that EMC brought, balances the generating heat between each module, can be applied to multiple occasion.

EXAMPLE III

The embodiment provides an implementation method for applying the intelligent power module to an air conditioner. As shown in fig. 4, an inverter bridge composed of IGBTs 1 to 6 is used to output a voltage signal for controlling the operation of the motor, VCC and VB pins of the drivers 100 to 300 are connected to a control power supply, HIN and LIN pins are connected to control signals, FO pin is used to output an error signal, OCP pin is used to output an overcurrent protection signal, and COM pin is grounded. vin1-vin6 are input to the control terminal of the adjustable resistor to change the size of the adjustable resistor.

During testing, after the input/output signals of the pins are connected, the sizes of vin1-vin6 are adjusted, the switching rates of the IGBTs 1-6, the current/voltage change rates, the heating of the driver and the like are monitored in real time, and the resistance value of the adjustable resistor is continuously changed under the requirement of outputting the voltage suitable for the operation of the driving motor, so that the gate resistor size capable of realizing proper switching rate, EMC (electro magnetic compatibility), switching loss and heating balance is obtained. The intelligent power module obtained in the mode is applied to the air conditioner, so that the performance of the air conditioner can be improved, and the service life of the air conditioner is prolonged.

In summary, the present disclosure provides a driver of a power module and an intelligent power module, by connecting an adjustable resistor at an output end of the driver and changing a resistance value of the adjustable resistor by using an external adjusting signal, thereby adjusting a gate resistance of the power module, the parameter matching between the driver and the power module is greatly increased, the switching rate of the power module is controlled, and the problems of EMC, switching loss, module heating at an application end and the like are solved. In addition, the present disclosure also provides an air conditioner applying the above intelligent power module.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Although the embodiments disclosed in the present application are described above, the above descriptions are only for the convenience of understanding the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A driver for a power module, comprising:

2. The driver of the power module of claim 1, wherein the output terminal comprises a first output terminal and a second output terminal, the adjustable resistance comprises a first adjustable resistance and a second adjustable resistance, and the power module comprises a first sub-power module and a second sub-power module; the first ends of the first adjustable resistor and the second adjustable resistor are respectively connected with the first output end and the second output end, the second ends of the first adjustable resistor and the second adjustable resistor are respectively connected with the control ends of the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module, and the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module are connected in series.

3. Driver for a power module according to claim 2, characterized in that the adjustable resistance is integrated inside the driver.

4. A driver for a power module according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that the adjustable resistance is an adjustable potentiometer or a MOS resistor.

5. A smart power module, comprising:

6. The smart power module of claim 5 wherein the number of drivers and power modules is the same, each driver includes a first output and a second output, each power module includes a first sub-power module and a second sub-power module; the first output end is used for driving the first sub-power module, and the second output end is used for driving the second sub-power module; each of the first output end and the second output end is connected with an adjustable resistor; the first sub-power module and the second sub-power module which are connected with the same driver are sequentially connected in series, and the first sub-power modules which are connected with different drivers are connected in parallel.

7. The intelligent power module as claimed in claim 6, wherein the number of the drivers and the power modules is three, and the three power modules are connected to form a three-arm inverter bridge; the sub-power module includes an IGBT.

8. The smart power module of claim 7, further comprising:

9. The smart power module of any of claims 5-8 wherein the adjustable resistance is integrated within the driver.

10. An air conditioner comprising the smart power module of any one of claims 5-9.