JP2006245421A - Cooling cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling cabinet that makes it possible to prevent a broken side wall or lid from being brought into contact with an electronic component to cause short-circuiting when the cooling cabinet is broken. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic components in the cooling cabinet are housed in an insulating case 8 formed of an electrically insulating and soft elastic film. A gap is provided between the insulating case 8 and the side wall 4 and between the case 8 and the lid 2. Thus, even when large external force is applied to the cooling cabinet and the side wall 4 is broken, the side face 8b or the upper face 8c of the insulating case 8 is easily deformed and the insulating case 8 is not broken. As a result, the broken side wall 4 or the top cover 2 is prevented from being brought into contact with the electronic components 5a to 5e to cause short-circuiting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling housing that houses an inverter circuit or the like mounted on an electric vehicle or the like.

  In an electric vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, an inverter circuit for driving a prime mover is mounted. Usually, the inverter circuit is housed in a casing having an electromagnetic wave shielding function and a heat radiation function (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the case described in Patent Document 1, the bottom surface of the case where the inverter circuit is disposed is formed by the cooling surface of the cooler, and a side wall surrounding the inverter circuit and a metal lid covering the upper side of the side wall are provided. The side wall is made of a metal or a resin member into which a metal is inserted, and the metal portion of the side wall is brought into contact with the cooling surface (metal surface) to maintain the shielding function and improve the cooling performance.

JP 2004-363450 A

  However, if the housing is damaged due to a vehicle collision or the like, the metal part of the damaged housing may come into contact with the inverter circuit and short-circuit, or foreign matter may enter from the damaged portion and the inverter circuit may be short-circuited by the foreign material. was there. In addition, there is a method of increasing the strength by thickening the wall portion of the housing in order to prevent the housing from being damaged, but there is a disadvantage that the weight increases and the cost increases.

  The present invention is applied to a cooling housing in which at least a part of a wall portion of a housing is cooled and an electronic component is accommodated, and is formed of an insulating elastic film that is easily deformed by an external force. The bag is provided in the housing.

  According to the present invention, the insulating elastic film interposed between the wall portion of the housing and the electronic component is not easily deformed and damaged even if the wall portion is damaged in the direction of the insulating elastic film. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the damaged wall portion from coming into contact with the electronic component and causing a short circuit.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a cooling housing according to the present invention, and a part thereof is a broken surface. The cooling housing includes a cooler 6, a side wall 4, an upper lid 2, a sealing material 3, and an insulating container 8. A flow path through which the cooling liquid flows is formed inside the cooler 6, and the cooling liquid flows into the cooler 6 from the flow path inlet 6a and is discharged from the flow path outlet 6b. As the cooling liquid, water, an ethylene glycol aqueous solution, or the like is used. The cooler 6 may be another cooling method, for example, a boiling cooling device.

  The side wall 4 is provided so as to stand on the cooling surface (upper surface) of the cooler 6, and may be formed integrally with the cooler 6, or may be formed as a separate member by fastening means such as a bolt. It may be used for fixing on the cooler 6. The side wall 4 is formed with a plurality of outlets 4b through which the high-power lines 7 from the inverter circuit housed in the inverter container are taken out. In addition, the clearance gap between the taking-out port 4b and the high electric power line 7 is sealed with the sealing member.

  In the present embodiment, the cooler 6 and the side wall 4 are made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy that is excellent in thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity and is lightweight. Instead of forming the side wall 4 with metal, it may be formed with a resin member with a metal plate inserted. In that case, in order to ensure the electromagnetic shielding function and the heat radiation function when the side wall 4 is fixed on the cooler 6, the metal plate inserted in the side wall 4 is brought into contact with the cooler 6.

  A flange portion 4a for fixing the metallic upper lid 2 is formed at the upper end of the side wall 4. The upper lid 2 is attached so as to sandwich the sealing material 3 between the flange portion 4a. Reference numeral 1 denotes a bolt for fixing the upper lid 2 to the flange portion 4a. An in-housing space formed by the cooler 6, the side wall 4, and the upper lid 2 is provided with an insulating container 8 formed of an electrically insulating soft elastic film such as NRB (acrylonitrile butadiene rubber).

  2 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling housing shown in FIG. The insulating container 8 is a bag-like container including a bottom surface portion 8 a that contacts the cooler 6, a side surface portion 8 b provided so as to face the side wall 4, and an upper surface portion 8 c. The bottom surface portion 8a is fixed by the cooler 6 by adhesion or the like, and improves adhesion so that heat transfer between the electronic components 5a to 5e and the cooler 6 is not hindered. In the insulating container 8, electronic components 5a to 5e constituting the inverter circuit are accommodated. For example, the electronic components 5a and 5b are directly fixed on the bottom surface portion 8a, and the electronic components 5c to 5e are fixed to the bottom surface portion 8a via a post or the like (not shown). An opening 81 is formed in the side surface portion 8 b, and the high voltage line 7 is drawn through the opening 81. In addition, maintenance property can be improved by making the upper surface portion 8c openable and closable with respect to the side surface portion 8b.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, a gap is provided between the side surface portion 8 b and the side wall 4 and between the upper surface portion 8 c and the upper lid 2, but the gap is not necessarily provided and may be in close contact. However, there is an advantage that the side surface portion 8b and the upper surface portion 8c are easily deformed when the gap is formed, which is effective for preventing a short circuit to be described later. In the case of an inverter circuit, heat generated from the power module is large, and the cooling housing is often disposed in a high temperature environment such as an engine room. Therefore, the cooling housing radiates heat from the electronic components 5a to 5e and also serves to prevent heat from entering from the outside. Furthermore, it plays the role of an electromagnetic shield for the electronic components 5a to 5e.

  FIG. 3 shows a case where the side wall 4 is damaged so as to be deformed inward by applying a large force from the side to the cooling housing. 3A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a damaged portion. Even when the side wall 4 is deformed inward as shown in FIG. 3, since the insulating container 8 is formed of an elastic film that is easily deformed like NRB, the side surface portion 8b and the upper surface portion 8c are easily deformed and insulated. The container 8 is not damaged. Therefore, the damaged metal wall 4 does not directly contact the electronic components 5a to 5e of the inverter circuit, and a conventional short circuit can be prevented.

  It is also possible to fix the elastic film to the inside of the side wall 4 so as to be integrated, but in this case, the elastic film deforms following the deformation of the side wall 4, so that when the side wall 4 is damaged, the elastic film There is a risk of damage due to excessive force applied, and short-circuiting due to side wall contact cannot be prevented. On the other hand, since the insulating container 8 described above is separate from the side wall 4, the insulating container 8 can be prevented from being damaged by being deformed so as to escape from the side wall 4 even when the side wall is broken.

  Moreover, even if a foreign substance enters the housing from the damaged portion of the side wall 4, it is difficult to enter the insulating container 8 in which the electronic components 5a to 5e are stored, and a short circuit due to the foreign substance can be prevented. In addition, when a large amount of liquid foreign matter enters from the damaged portion, there is a possibility that liquid foreign matter may enter the insulating container 8 from the opening 81 for drawing out the strong electric line 7. By sealing the gap with a sealing material such as silicon rubber, it is possible to prevent such liquid foreign matter from entering.

  As described above, conventionally, the side walls and the like constituting the cooling casing are thickened to increase the strength and make it difficult to break, but there is a drawback in that the weight is increased and the cost is increased. Further, instead of increasing the thickness of the side wall or the like, it may be possible to detect the impact G at the time of the vehicle collision to shut off the high-power line 7 and perform the discharge process. In this case, a detection device or the like is required. Therefore, the cost is significantly increased. On the other hand, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to add the insulating container 8 formed of a soft elastic film, so that an increase in weight and an increase in cost can be suppressed as compared with the above method. In addition, although the case where the side wall 4 was damaged was demonstrated to the example in the description mentioned above, the same effect can be show | played also when the metal lid | cover 2 is damaged. The same applies to modified examples 1 to 5 described later.

[Modification 1]
4 and 5 are diagrams showing a first modification of the above-described embodiment. 4 is a perspective view of the cooling housing, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling housing. In the insulating container 8 of the above-described embodiment, the electronic components 5 a to 5 e are not in contact with the cooler 6, and are placed on the cooler 6 through an elastic film that constitutes the insulating container 8. Therefore, the cooling performance for the electronic components 5a to 5e is slightly reduced.

  Therefore, in the insulating container 18 of the first modified example, the bottom surface portion is deleted, and the side surface portion 18b and the top surface portion 18c are configured. About another structure, it is the same as that of embodiment mentioned above. Since the electronic components 5a to 5e are in contact with the cooler 6, it is possible to prevent the cooling performance of the electronic components 5a to 5e from being lowered. Moreover, since the cooling surface of the cooler 6 is exposed to the internal space of the insulating container 18, that is, the housing space for the electronic components 5a to 5e, the ambient temperature of the inverter circuit can be lowered. In this case, since the electronic components 5 a to 5 e are mounted on the cooler 6, it is not always necessary to fix the insulating container 18 by fixing the lower end portion of the side surface portion 18 b on the cooler 6. Alternatively, the insulating container 18 may be simply placed.

[Modification 2]
6 and 7 are views showing a second modification, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cooling housing, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view. The insulating container 28 in the second modification includes a side surface portion 28b, an upper surface portion 28c, and a seal portion 28d. The side surface portion 28b and the upper surface portion 28c have the same structure as the side surface portion 18b and the upper surface portion 18c provided in the insulating container 18 of the first modification. And the sealing part 28d provided in the circumference | surroundings of the upper surface part 28c is pinched | interposed between the upper cover 2 and the side wall 4 instead of the sealing material 3 of the modification 1, and functions as a sealing seal of a cooling housing | casing. Therefore, the sealing material 3 can be omitted, and the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts.

[Modification 3]
FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing a third modification, in which FIG. 8A shows a normal state before the side wall 4 is damaged, and FIG. 8B shows a case where the side wall 4 is damaged. In the insulating container 38 in the third modified example, the cross-sectional shape of the side surface portion 38b has a corrugated shape. Therefore, even if the side wall 4 is damaged and the cooling housing is crushed downward as shown in FIG. It is possible to prevent the insulating container 38 from being damaged. Further, even when the lower end portion of the side surface portion 38b is fixed to the cooler 6 in order to prevent the intrusion of the liquid foreign matter, the side surface portion 38b can be deformed with a margin when the side wall is broken. In the case of the insulating container 38, the seal portion 38 d is provided in the same manner as in the second modification.

[Modification 4]
9 and 10 are views showing a fourth modified example, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cooling housing, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view. In FIG. 10, (a) shows a normal state before the side wall 4 is broken, and (b) shows a case where the side wall 4 is broken. The modified example of the fourth modified example is the same as that of the modified example 3 in the insulating container 38, but is different from the modified example 3 in that a rib 41 is provided between the side wall 4 and the cooler 6. . By providing the reinforcing rib 41 at the lower part of the side wall 4, the lower part of the side wall 4 is less likely to be damaged by the external force than the upper part.

  In the case of the insulating container 38, since there is no bottom surface portion, when the lower portion of the side wall 4 is damaged, the damaged side wall 4 enters the insulating container 38 from the lower end of the side surface portion 38 b and is on the cooling surface of the cooler 6. There is a high possibility that the electronic component 5a or the like that is mounted will be short-circuited. Therefore, by providing the rib 41 to increase the strength of the lower portion of the side wall, the lower portion of the side wall 4 is hardly damaged, and the side wall 4 and the inverter circuit are prevented from being short-circuited. Moreover, since the upper part of the side wall 4 is damaged, it becomes difficult for a liquid foreign material to enter.

[Modification 5]
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fifth modification, in which (a) shows a normal state before the side wall 4 is damaged, and (b) shows a case where the side wall 4 is damaged. In the fourth modification, the lower strength of the side wall 4 is improved by providing the rib 41 so that the upper part of the side wall 4 is damaged at the time of breakage. However, in the fifth modification, the lateral groove 42 is formed in the upper part of the side wall 4. Therefore, the upper part is easier to break than the lower part. That is, when an external force is applied to the flange portion 4a projecting to the left and right of the side wall 4, the lateral groove 42 is damaged to absorb the load and prevent the lower portion of the side wall 4 from being damaged. As a result, it is possible to prevent the damaged side wall 4 from entering the insulating container 38. Moreover, since the upper part of the side wall 4 is damaged, it becomes difficult for a liquid foreign material to enter. The lateral groove 42 is formed over the circumference of the side wall 4.

  In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the insulating container 8 constitutes a bag, the cooler 6 constitutes a cooling bottom surface portion, and the lateral groove 42 constitutes a load absorbing structure portion. The above description is merely an example, and when interpreting the invention, there is no limitation or restriction on the correspondence between the items described in the above embodiment and the items described in the claims.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the cooling housing | casing by this invention. It is sectional drawing of the cooling housing | casing shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the cooling housing | casing when the side wall 4 is damaged, (a) is sectional drawing, (b) is an enlarged view of a damaged part. It is a perspective view which shows the 1st modification of a cooling housing | casing. It is sectional drawing of the cooling housing | casing shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the 2nd modification of a cooling housing | casing. It is sectional drawing of the cooling housing | casing shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the 3rd modification of a cooling housing | casing, (a) shows before damage, (b) shows after damage. It is a perspective view which shows the 4th modification of a cooling housing | casing. It is a figure which shows the cross section of the cooling housing | casing shown in FIG. 9, (a) shows before damage, (b) shows after damage. It is a perspective view which shows the 5th modification of a cooling housing | casing.

Explanation of symbols

2 Upper lid 3 Sealing material 4 Side wall 5a to 5e Electronic component 6 Cooler 7 High-power line 8, 18, 28, 38 Insulating container 8a Bottom surface portion 8b, 18b, 28b, 38b Side surface portion 8c, 18c, 28c Upper surface portion 28b Seal portion 41 Rib 42 Horizontal groove

Claims (6)

In the cooling housing in which at least a part of the wall portion of the housing is cooled and the electronic components are stored,
A cooling case, wherein a bag formed of an insulating elastic film that is easily deformed by an external force and containing the electronic component is provided in the case. A cooling bottom surface portion on which an electronic component to be cooled is mounted, a side wall that stands on the cooling bottom surface portion and surrounds the periphery of the electronic component, and an upper portion of a region that houses the electronic component surrounded by the side wall. In a cooling housing comprising a covering lid,
A cooling housing, wherein an insulating elastic film is interposed between the side wall and the lid and the electronic component so as to be easily deformed by an external force. The cooling housing according to claim 2,
The insulating elastic film includes a seal portion that is sandwiched between the side wall and the lid and seals between the side wall and the lid. In the cooling housing according to claim 2 or 3,
The insulating elastic film provided between the side wall and the electronic component has a corrugated cross-sectional shape along the standing direction of the side wall. In the cooling housing according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The cooling housing characterized in that the strength of the portion of the side wall close to the cooling bottom surface portion is made stronger than the strength of the portion of the side wall close to the lid. In the cooling housing according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
A load absorbing structure portion that absorbs an external load and prevents breakage of a portion near the cooling bottom surface portion of the side wall is provided in a region closer to the lid than the cooling bottom surface portion of the side wall. Cooling enclosure.

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