EP4736588A1

EP4736588A1 - Power module, power supply system and vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4736588A1
Application number: EP24734890.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gongyuan Qu; Ronghui Li; Yuncong ZHU
Original assignee: Valeo eAutomotive Germany GmbH
Current assignee: Valeo eAutomotive Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2023-06-27
Filing date: 2024-06-19
Publication date: 2026-05-06
Also published as: CN119212287A; WO2025002937A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a power module and a power supply system. The power module comprises: a housing comprising a plurality of mounting posts extending from a bottom thereof; a first circuit board configured to be connected to the housing via the plurality of mounting posts; a shielding plate configured to be disposed between the bottom of the housing and the first circuit board, the shielding plate comprising a main body and a plurality of mounting arms, and the plurality of mounting arms extending away from the main body toward the first circuit board, wherein the plurality of mounting arms are configured to correspond to the plurality of mounting posts, and the shielding plate is connected to the housing via the cooperation between the mounting arms and the mounting posts.

Description

POWER MODULE, POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM AND VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a power module and a power supply system including such a power module.

BACKGROUND

An electric or hybrid vehicle has an electric drive assembly system, which needs to be powered by a power module, such as an on-board power module. With the popularity of more and more compact products on vehicles, a requirement for integrated and compact design of power modules has also emerged.

According to the requirement for integrated and compact design, one or more circuit boards in the power module, such as a main circuit board and/or a filter circuit board, need to be stacked vertically in the housing of the power module. In addition, considering electromagnetic compatibility, the circuit board needs to be provided with a shielding plate for electromagnetic shielding. However, the mounting space for mounting the circuit board and the shielding plate on the housing is limited.

Therefore, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of circuit boards and shielding plates in a limited housing space to meet the requirement for integrated and compact design of the vehicles.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In view of the problem and requirement mentioned above, the present disclosure proposes a new type of power module and a power supply system comprising such a power module, which solve the above problem and bring about other technical effects by adopting the following technical features.

On the one hand, the present disclosure provides a power module, comprising: a housing comprising a plurality of mounting posts extending from a bottom thereof; a first circuit board configured to be connected to the housing via a first i number of mounting posts among the plurality of mounting posts; and a shielding plate configured to be disposed between the bottom of the housing and the first circuit board, the shielding plate comprising a main body and a plurality of mounting arms, and the plurality of mounting arms extending away from the main body toward the first circuit board; wherein the plurality of mounting arms are configured to correspond to the first number of mounting posts, and the shielding plate is connected to the housing via the cooperation between the mounting arms and the mounting posts.

According to the above features, the present disclosure provides a solution for vertically stacking the circuit board and the shielding plate, making full use of the mounting posts of the housing, so that the first circuit board and the shielding plate share the same mounting post and the same fastener, without the need for additional mounting structures, effectively utilizing the compact internal space of the housing, and realizing the integrated and compact design of the power module.

In some examples, the power module further comprises a second circuit board configured to be connected to the housing via a second number of mounting posts among the plurality of mounting posts, wherein the shielding plate divides the housing into a first housing portion and a second housing portion along a mounting direction, the first housing portion being used to accommodate the first circuit board, the second housing portion being used to accommodate the second circuit board, wherein one of the first circuit board and the second circuit board is a filter circuit board.

According to the above features, due to the high space utilization, the power module proposed in the present disclosure can accommodate a plurality of circuit boards, and the circuit boards are separated by the shielding plate to meet the requirement of electromagnetic compatibility. In the description of the present disclosure, the mounting direction refers to an assembly direction in which the circuit board and the shielding plate are mounted in the housing. For example, in a vertically stacked power module, the mounting direction is a vertical direction from top to bottom. In other embodiments not shown, the mounting direction may also be a horizontal direction or other linear direction or a curved direction. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) refers to the ability of a device or system to work normally in its electromagnetic environment and not to cause electromagnetic disturbance to anything in the environment. According to the definition of EMC, electronic equipment need to meet an EMC design indicator. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the electronic equipment has a certain degree of immunity to the electromagnetic interference in an environment in which it is located. On the other hand, it is required that the electromagnetic interference generated by the electronic equipment to the environment in the process of operation does not exceed a specified limit.

When designing an EMC solution, the general design idea is to add a filter device such as a magnetic ring or a magnetic buckle at a DC end and/or an AC end, and to set a filter circuit board assembly on a transmission path, comprising a filter circuit board and an element such as a filter capacitor or a resistor arranged on the filter circuit board. Generally speaking, the volume and size of the filter circuit board are larger, so it needs to occupy a large space in the housing. In a vertically stacked power module, a suitable arrangement position for the filter circuit board can be selected according to the design needs of the power module. For example, in some embodiments, the second circuit board is a filter circuit board, and correspondingly, the second housing portion provides a larger accommodating space. In contrast, in some embodiments, the first circuit board is a filter circuit board, and correspondingly, the first housing portion provides a larger accommodating space.

Exemplarily, the other of the first circuit board and the second circuit board may be a main circuit board. The main circuit board is configured to drive a power device module and/or control the elements in the power module. Exemplarily, the main circuit board may be integrated with a control unit and a drive unit, the control unit may comprise a main control MCU and phase current sampling circuit, a resolver sampling circuit and other circuits, and the drive unit may comprise an IGBT drive chip and high-voltage sampling circuit, an active discharge circuit, a passive discharge circuit and other circuits. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, and for the control unit and the drive unit, corresponding circuits may also be increased or reduced according to actual needs, as long as the drive and control functions can be realized. The main circuit board may also comprise a connector integrated on the circuit board, and an external signal of the power module may be transmitted through the connector.

In some examples, the first number of mounting posts have mounting surfaces disposed at ends portions thereof, and the shielding plate and the first circuit board are pressed against and mounted to the mounting surfaces by means of a first fastener.

According to the above features, the shielding plate and the first circuit board are pressed against and mounted to the mounting surface by a first fastener. The mounting surface may be provided with a matching feature, such as a threaded hole, and the first fastener may be, for example, a screw. Correspondingly, the shielding plate and the first circuit board may be provided with through holes at positions corresponding to the mounting surfaces, so that the screw passes through the through holes of the shielding plate and the first circuit board and is mounted on the mounting post through mating of screw-threads. Other mounting methods are also feasible, such as mounting by snap-fit, welding connection or other common mounting and fastening methods in the art.

In some examples, each of the plurality of mounting arms has a mounting tab disposed at a free end portion thereof, and the mounting tab is connected to the main body by a flexible pivoting portion.

The flexible pivoting portion is advantageous for handling manufacturing tolerances and assembly tolerances. The flexible pivoting portion can pivot relative to the mounting arms. In other words, the flexible pivoting portion can pivot relative to the shielding plate, so that the mounting tab and the mounting arms can adapt to mounting surfaces of different heights to prevent over-positioning.

In some examples, before mounting, a first height from the mounting tab to the main body is equal to or less than a second height from the corresponding mounting surface to the main body, so that there is no gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface.

According to the above features, when the first height is equal to or less than the second height, there is no gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface. Then, when mounted in place, the flexible pivoting portion will pivot relative to the shielding plate in a direction away from the main body of the shielding plate.

In some examples, before mounting, the first height from the mounting tab to the main body is greater than the second height from the corresponding mounting surface to the main body, so that there is a gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface.

According to the above features, when the first height is greater than the second height, there is a gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface. Then, when mounted in place, the flexible pivoting portion will pivot relative to the shielding plate along a direction close to the main body of the shielding plate.

In some examples, the second circuit board is mounted to the housing by a second fastener, and the shielding plate further comprises a protrusion provided on the main body and protruding towards the first circuit board, the protrusion being used to accommodate at least a portion of the second fastener.

Since the second circuit board needs to be mounted to the housing by, for example, the second fastener, the second fastener will inevitably protrude a certain height relative to the second circuit board. The shielding plate is provided with a protrusion, which can stagger the height of the protrusion of the second fastener, so that the shielding plate is closer to the second circuit board, the shielding effect is better, and the size in the vertical direction is more compact.

In some examples, a periphery of the housing has a supporting edge, and the main body abuts against the supporting edge along the mounting direction.

In some examples, a compressible conductive material is provided between the housing and the shielding plate, and the compressible conductive material is arranged corresponding to the supporting edge.

In some examples, the compressible conductive material comprises an elastomeric material, such as foam material, foamed cotton, rubber, etc.

According to the above features, a compressible conductive material is provided at a position corresponding to the supporting edge of the periphery of the housing, so that the housing and the shielding plate are in conductive contact, thereby improving the shielding capability. In addition, the compressible conductive material may also adapt to manufacturing and assembly tolerances, providing mounting margin.

In some examples, the mounting arms are formed by stamping and bending the main body.

According to the above features, the mounting arms may be formed integrally from the main body of the shielding plate by a stamping process. Alternatively, the mounting arms may also be formed as a separate part and fixed to the main body by a fastener.

On the other hand, the present disclosure also proposes a power supply system comprising the power module as described above. Since all the technical features of the power module as described previously are comprised, the power supply system also has corresponding technical effects and advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to give a clearer explanation of the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described below, wherein it is evident that the drawings in the following description only relate to some embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than limiting the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a partial view of a power module according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a housing according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a power module according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein a first circuit board is omitted;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a power module according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein a first circuit board and a shielding plate are omitted;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a filter circuit board according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a top schematic diagram of a shielding plate according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a bottom schematic diagram of a shielding plate according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a power module according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 shows a height schematic diagram of a mounting protrusion according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to make clearer the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure, technical solutions provided by embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings of specific embodiments of the present disclosure. In the drawings, identical reference numerals denote identical parts. It should be noted that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present application. Any embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art on the basis of the described embodiments of the present disclosure without making inventive efforts fall under the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used herein shall have the common meanings as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. The terms "first", "second" and the like used in the description of the patent application and the claims of the present disclosure do not denote any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Likewise, words such as "a" or "one" do not necessarily represent a quantity limit. "Comprise" or "include" or similar words mean that the element or object appearing before the word encompasses the elements or objects and their equivalents listed after the word, without excluding other elements or objects. Words such as "connected" or "linked" are not restricted to a physical or mechanical connection, and may include an electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate the relative positional relationship, and when the absolute position of a described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

As is known to all, an electric or hybrid vehicle has an electric drive assembly system, which includes an electric motor and other electrical equipment, such as a power converter. They need to be powered by a power module. The power module usually includes a housing and a main circuit board.

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) refers to the ability of a device or system to work normally in its electromagnetic environment and not to cause electromagnetic disturbance to anything in the environment. According to the definition of EMC, electronic equipment need to meet an EMC design indicator. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the electronic equipment has a certain degree of immunity to the electromagnetic interference in an environment in which it is located. On the other hand, it is required that the electromagnetic interference generated by the electronic equipment to the environment in the process of operation does not exceed a specified limit.

When designing an EMC solution, a filter circuit board assembly is usually set on a transmission path, including an element such as a filter capacitor or a resistor. The volume and size of the filter circuit board assembly are larger, which is challenging for the application of compact design space.

With the popularity of more and more compact products on vehicles, a plurality of circuit boards usually need to be stacked vertically in the housing. In order to meet the requirement of electromagnetic compatibility, it is also necessary to shield them through a metal shielding plate and a metal housing which are made of metal.

However, the mounting space for mounting the circuit board and the shielding plate on the housing is limited. For example, the circuit board and the shielding plate usually need to be fixed to the housing by fasteners such as screws, and the housing needs to be correspondingly provided with mounting bosses or mounting posts, thereby occupying more space. Therefore, the space of the circuit board is sharply squeezed, which may cause many problems, and in some cases, even make the circuit board design impossible.

Therefore, in order to arrange a plurality of circuit boards and shielding plates in a limited housing space and meet the requirement for integrated and compact design of vehicles, the power module and the power supply system including such a power module of the present disclosure are proposed.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, it should be noted that in the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to components having substantially the same or similar structures and functions, and repeated descriptions about them will be omitted.

Compared with the embodiments shown in the drawings, a feasible embodiment within the scope of protection of the present disclosure may have fewer components, another component not shown in any of the drawings, a different component, a component arranged differently, or a component connected differently, etc. For example, only one circuit board may be included. Further, without departing from the concepts disclosed in the present disclosure, two or more components in a drawing may be implemented in a single component, or a single component shown in a drawing may be implemented as a plurality of separate components.

For the purpose of concise description, the present disclosure will be described in detail with respect to the main relevant structures and components of the power module, and the description of other common structures of the power module, such as a housing cover, an electrical interface, a sealing strip, circuit elements on the first circuit board and the second circuit board, etc., will be simplified or omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a power module 100 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a housing 1, a first circuit board 2, a shielding plate 3, a second circuit board 4 and a housing cover 5. The first circuit board 2, the shielding plate 3 and the second circuit board 4 are compactly arranged and mounted in the housing 1 in sequence along a mounting direction A from top to bottom shown in FIG. 1, and are sealed by the housing cover 5. In this embodiment, the first circuit board 2 is a main circuit board, and the second circuit board 4 is a filter circuit board.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the housing 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 1 includes an internal accommodating space and a plurality of mounting posts 11 extending from the bottom of the accommodating space inside the housing 1. Among them, a part of the mounting posts 11 are used to fix the first circuit board 2 and the shielding plate 3, hereinafter referred to as first mounting posts 13 below. Another part of the mounting posts 11 is used to fix the second circuit board 4, hereinafter referred to as second mounting posts 14. Mounting surfaces 131 of the first mounting posts 13 are substantially on the same horizontal plane, and mounting surfaces 141 of the second mounting posts 14 are substantially on another horizontal plane and lower than the plane where the mounting surfaces 131 of the first mounting posts 13 are located.

The shielding plate 3 is disposed between the bottom of the housing 1 and the first circuit board 2, and is made of metal material. In this embodiment, the shielding plate 3 is disposed between the first circuit board 2 and the second circuit board 4.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, the shielding plate 3 includes a main body 30, a plurality of mounting arms 31 and a protrusion 33. The plurality of mounting arms 31 extend away from the main body 30 toward the first circuit board 2, for example, along a direction opposite to the mounting direction A. The plurality of mounting arms 31 are connected to the main body 30 at one end, and the other end thereof is a free end portion. The mounting arms 31 are formed by stamping and bending the main body 30.

Each of the plurality of mounting arms 31 has a mounting tab 32 disposed at its free end portion, and the mounting tab 32 is connected to the main body 30 by a flexible pivoting portion 34.

The protrusion 33 is disposed on the main body 30 and protrudes toward the first circuit board 2, and the protrusion 33 is used to accommodate at least a portion of the screw for fixing the second circuit board 4. io With regard to the arrangement and connection of the first circuit board 2, the shielding plate 3 and the second circuit board 4 in the housing 1 , please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 for details. The shielding plate 3 divides the housing 1 into a first housing portion 15 and a second housing portion 16 along the mounting direction A. The first housing portion 15 is used to accommodate the first circuit board 2, and the second housing portion 16 is used to accommodate the second circuit board 2. Since the second circuit board 2 is a filter circuit board, and its size and volume are large, the volume of the second housing portion 16 is larger than that of the first housing portion 15.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the second circuit board 4. The second circuit board 4 is mounted to the mounting surface 141 of the second mounting post 14 of the housing 1 by a fastener, such as a screw. The second circuit board 4 includes a PCB board and a filter element (a capacitor, a resistor and/or an inductor, etc.) mounted on the PCB board.

FIG. 8 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the power module of this embodiment, specifically showing this specific mounting arrangement. By means of screws, the shielding plate 3 and the first circuit board 2 are pressed against and mounted to the mounting surface 131, such as screw holes, of the first mounting post 13. By means of screws, the second circuit board 4 is pressed against and mounted to the mounting surface 141, such as screw holes, of the second mounting post 14.

FIG. 9 shows a height schematic diagram of the mounting protrusion 32 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the distance from the mounting protrusion 32 to the main body 30 before mounting is defined as a first height hl, which may be specifically the distance from the mounting protrusion 32 to the main body 30, and a second height h2 from the mounting surface 131 to the main body 30 is defined. In this embodiment, hl is greater than h2. Therefore, there is a gap between the mounting tab 32 and the mounting surface 131 before mounting. After being tightened by the screws, the mounting tab 32 is pressed against and mounted to the mounting surface 131, and it is easily conceivable that the flexible pivoting portion 34 pivots along the clockwise direction in the figure. n In an alternative embodiment not shown, hl may also be equal to or less than h2. In this alternative embodiment, there is no gap between the mounting tab 32 and the mounting surface 131 before mounting, but after the screws are tightened, the flexible pivoting portion 34 will also pivot accordingly, for example, along the counter-clockwise direction or along a direction away from the main body 30.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the bottom of the shielding plate 3. The main body 30 of the shielding plate 3 may abut against the supporting edge of the periphery of the housing 1 along the mounting direction, and a compressible conductive material may be disposed between the housing 1 and the shielding plate 3. The compressible conductive material is arranged corresponding to the supporting edge. The compressible conductive material has both conductive and compressible physical properties. For example, it can include an elastomeric material, such as foam material, foamed cotton, rubber, etc. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, and other common compressible conductive materials in the art are also feasible.

On the other hand, the present disclosure also proposes a power supply system, including the power module as described above. The power supply system is used, for example, to supply power to electric or hybrid vehicles.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is proposed, the vehicle including the power supply as described previously and having the functions as described previously. The vehicle may be an electrified vehicle, such as a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a range extended EV and a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The vehicle may also be a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

Exemplary implementations of the power module and the power supply system proposed in the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the above specific embodiments without departing from the concept of the present disclosure. In addition, various technical features and structures proposed in various aspects of the present disclosure may be combined in various manners without exceeding the scope of protection of the present disclosure, which is defined by the attached claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A power module, comprising: a housing comprising a plurality of mounting posts extending from a bottom thereof; a first circuit board configured to be connected to the housing via a first number of mounting posts among the plurality of mounting posts; and a shielding plate configured to be disposed between the bottom of the housing and the first circuit board, the shielding plate comprising a main body and a plurality of mounting arms, and the plurality of mounting arms extending away from the main body toward the first circuit board; wherein the plurality of mounting arms are configured to correspond to the first number of mounting posts, and the shielding plate is connected to the housing via the cooperation between the mounting arms and the mounting posts.

2. The power module according to claim 1, further comprising: a second circuit board configured to be connected to the housing via a second number of mounting posts among the plurality of mounting posts, wherein the shielding plate divides the housing into a first housing portion and a second housing portion along a mounting direction, the first housing portion being used to accommodate the first circuit board, the second housing portion being used to accommodate the second circuit board, wherein one of the first circuit board and the second circuit board is a filter circuit board.

3. The power module according to claim 1, wherein the first number of mounting posts have mounting surfaces disposed at ends portions thereof, and the shielding plate and the first circuit board are pressed against and mounted to the mounting surfaces by means of a first fastener.

4. The power module according to claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of mounting arms has a mounting tab disposed at a free end portion thereof, and the mounting tab is connected to the main body by a flexible pivoting portion.

5. The power module according to claim 4, wherein before mounting, a first height from the mounting tab to the main body is equal to or less than a second height from the corresponding mounting surface to the main body, so that there is no gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface.

6. The power module according to claim 4, wherein before mounting, a first height from the mounting tab to the main body is greater than a second height from the corresponding mounting surface to the main body, so that there is a gap between the mounting tab and the mounting surface.

7. The power module according to claim 2, wherein the second circuit board is mounted to the housing by means of a second fastener, and the shielding plate further comprises a protrusion disposed on the main body protruding towards the first circuit board, the protrusion being used to accommodate at least a portion of the second fastener.

8. The power module according to claim 1, wherein a periphery of the housing has a supporting edge, and the main body abuts against the supporting edge along the mounting direction.

9. The power module according to claim 8, wherein a compressible conductive material is provided between the housing and the shielding plate, and the compressible conductive material is arranged corresponding to the supporting edge.

10. The power module according to claim 9, wherein the compressible conductive material comprises an elastomeric material.

11. The power module according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the mounting arms are formed by stamping and bending the main body.

12. A power supply system, comprising the power module according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A vehicle, comprising the power supply system according to claim 12.