CN215528883U

CN215528883U - Heat sink, power module package, and inverter

Info

Publication number: CN215528883U
Application number: CN202120069093.9U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柳伟
Original assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Current assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Priority date: 2020-01-13
Filing date: 2021-01-12
Publication date: 2022-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2031-01-12
Also published as: DE102020200306A1; JP2021121165A; CN113114051A

Abstract

Disclosed are a heat sink, a power module package and an inverter. The heat sink comprises three cooling plates with parallel longitudinal directions, a joint extending in the longitudinal direction, wherein one side of each cooling plate is coupled to the joint in the longitudinal direction, at least one first cooling channel is arranged inside the at least one cooling plate and extends in the longitudinal direction of the cooling plate, and/or a second cooling channel is arranged inside the joint and extends in the longitudinal direction of the cooling plate.

Description

Heat sink, power module package, and inverter

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a heat sink, a power module package, and an inverter having a compact structure.

Background

As shown in fig. 1, an inverter with parallel power devices is disclosed. The inverter includes a cooling system 100 having a plate shape, and power devices 200 (such as SiC devices) are fixed in parallel on a surface of the cooling system 100 by clips. A PCB having a capacitor 300 is disposed above the power device. In fig. 1, a three-phase application is shown, and 401, 402, 403 denote a U-phase, a V-phase, and a W-phase, respectively. The coolant flows into the cooling system through an inlet 1 and flows out of the cooling system through an outlet 2. Such a conventional inverter requires more installation space due to its planar heat sink. In addition, some power devices are not sufficiently cooled because such inverters typically use serpentine cooling channels and create a temperature imbalance of the coolant.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to improve the temperature balance, a heat sink is disclosed, which comprises three cooling plates with parallel longitudinal directions, a joint extending along the longitudinal direction, wherein one side of each cooling plate is coupled to the joint along the longitudinal direction, at least one first cooling channel is arranged inside the at least one cooling plate and extends along the longitudinal direction of the cooling plate, and/or a second cooling channel is arranged inside the joint and extends along the longitudinal direction of the cooling plate.

According to another aspect of the utility model, a power module package comprising the heat sink is also disclosed. The power module package further includes three groups of power devices respectively corresponding to the three cooling plates, the power devices of each group constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit, the upper arm circuit and the lower arm circuit of each group being respectively arranged on two opposite surfaces of the corresponding cooling plate.

According to another aspect of the utility model, an inverter is also disclosed. The inverter includes the above power module package, further includes at least one capacitor and a PCB module electrically coupled to the capacitor.

Other aspects and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the described embodiments.

Drawings

The described embodiments and their advantages are best understood by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the described embodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the described embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional inverter.

Fig. 2 illustrates a first perspective view of an inverter according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates a second perspective view of an inverter according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a heat sink according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the angle defined by any two adjacent cooling plates is an obtuse angle.

Fig. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a heat sink according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein any angle defined by two adjacent cooling plates is an acute angle.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective cross-sectional view of a first cooling channel according to the embodiment of FIG. 2.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring first to fig. 2 and 3, the heat sink includes three

cooling plates

11, 12, and 13 whose longitudinal directions (longitudinal directions are denoted by L) are parallel. In this embodiment, the three

cooling plates

11, 12 and 13 form a T-shaped structure, i.e. the cooling plate 13 is perpendicular to the other two

cooling plates

11, 12. The heat sink further comprises a joint 10 extending along the longitudinal direction L, and one side of each cooling plate is coupled to the joint 10 along the longitudinal direction. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the joint 10 is integrated to the cooling plate 11. It should be understood that instead of using the member integrated to the cooling plate shown in fig. 2 and 3, a separate member may be used as the joint portion.

In one embodiment (e.g. with low cooling requirements), the first cooling channel 21 is arranged inside the cooling plate 13 and extends in the longitudinal direction L of the cooling plate. The coolant enters the first cooling channel 21 through an inlet on one end of the cooling plate 13 and exits the first cooling channel 21 via an outlet on the other end of the cooling plate 13. In this case, one first cooling passage is sufficient because the cooling requirement is low (for example, the amount of heat generation of the semiconductor device to be cooled is small). In another embodiment, both

cooling plates

12, 13 are provided with a first cooling channel, respectively. Referring to fig. 6, two comb-shaped first cooling channels 21 are provided inside the

cooling plates

12, 13, respectively. With this design, the cooling plate is sufficiently cooled in both the longitudinal direction L and the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction L with the flow of the coolant. In this case, the first cooling passages 21 provided in the

different cooling plates

12, 13 communicate with each other, and therefore all the first cooling passages can share one inlet. As shown in fig. 6, each of the first cooling passages 21 includes comb branches, and the first cooling passages 21 in the

different cooling plates

12, 13 communicate with each other through the comb branches. It will be appreciated that comb-shaped or cross-sectional first cooling channels, such as straight channels or channels having a serpentine shape, other than that shown in fig. 6, may also be used.

Returning to fig. 2 and 3, each

cooling plate

11, 12, or 13 has two opposite surfaces for mounting a power device 3 (such as a SiC device). Three sets of power devices 3 are mounted on the heat sink to form a power module package for a three-phase system. The power devices of each group constitute an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit. The upper arm circuits of one group are disposed on one surface of the cooling plate, and the lower arm circuits of the same group are disposed on the opposite surface of the same cooling plate. As the coolant flows, the heat generated by the power device 3 during switching will be quickly dissipated.

The inverter is formed by coupling the above power module package with the capacitor 4 and the PCB module electrically coupled to the capacitor 4. The capacitor 4 is disposed below the

cooling plates

12, 13. In this embodiment, the PCB module includes three PCBs 5 corresponding to the three cooling plates.

Referring now to fig. 4, a heat sink having another shape is disclosed. In this embodiment, the three angles defined by any two adjacent cooling plates are obtuse angles (e.g., 120 °). With this design, between two adjacent cooling plates, there is more space for arranging power devices and capacitors. Further, instead of providing the first cooling passage on the cooling plate, the second cooling passage 22 is provided inside the joint portion of this radiator. The second cooling channel 22 extends in the longitudinal direction L of the cooling plate.

Referring now to fig. 5, a heat sink having another design is shown. In this embodiment, all angles defined by two adjacent cooling plates are acute angles. The power module package is formed by disposing the power device on the opposite surface of the cooling plate. For the inverter including this power module package, the capacitor 4 having a shape complementary to the heat sink is provided under the heat sink, which makes the inverter more compact, and therefore requires less installation space when the inverter is applied to an EV.

Many alternative structural elements and processing steps have been proposed for the preferred embodiments. Thus, while the utility model has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the utility model and is not to be construed as limiting the utility model. Various modifications and applications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the utility model as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heat sink, comprising:

three cooling plates with parallel longitudinal directions,

a joint portion extending in the longitudinal direction,

wherein one side of each cooling plate is coupled to the joint portion in the longitudinal direction.

2. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein at least one first cooling channel is disposed inside at least one cooling plate and extends in a longitudinal direction of the cooling plate.

3. The heat sink according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a second cooling passage is provided inside the joint portion and extends in a longitudinal direction of the cooling plate.

4. The heat sink of claim 3, wherein the first cooling channel has a serpentine shape or a comb shape.

5. The heat sink according to claim 4, wherein the first cooling passages provided in different cooling plates communicate with each other.

6. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein at least one angle defined by two adjacent cold plates is an acute angle.

7. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the angle defined by any two adjacent cooling plates is an obtuse angle.

8. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein one cooling plate is perpendicular to the other two cooling plates.

9. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the joint is integrated into at least one of the cooling plates.

10. A power module package comprising the heat sink according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the power module package further comprises three groups of power devices respectively corresponding to three cooling plates, the power devices of each group constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit, the upper arm circuit and the lower arm circuit of each group being respectively arranged on two opposite surfaces of the corresponding cooling plate.

11. An inverter comprising the power module package of claim 10, the inverter further comprising at least one capacitor and a PCB module electrically coupled to the capacitor.

12. The inverter of claim 11, wherein the capacitor is disposed between two adjacent cold plates.

13. The inverter of claim 11, wherein the PCB module includes three PCBs corresponding to the three cooling plates, respectively.