JP2010123663A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat exchanger capable of miniaturizing a cooling apparatus to suppress a volume, a weight and a cost of the heat exchanger. <P>SOLUTION: This heat exchanger is a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of radiating fins 3 upright-provided from the under face of an upper case 4 of a straight-ahead moving part 521 toward the inside of the straight-ahead moving part 521, the fins 3 being in a thin plate shape for partitioning the inside of the straight-ahead moving part 521 into a plurality of flows in the same direction to enlarge the contacting area with a cooling water, in which a bent part 522 comprises: a lower turn part 523 enlarging the flow path in a direction opposite to the cooling face (radiating face); and a swelling part 525 swelling so as to cross orthogonally with a flow turned by the bent part 522. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of heat exchangers used mainly for cooling inverters that perform cross-flow conversion.

Conventionally, fins are provided by projecting from the inner wall of the cooling water passage provided as a groove on the installation surface of the case body manufactured by a casting process such as aluminum die casting, and the cooling water passage is closed with a member to Cooling is performed by flowing in the cooling water passage (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-202309 A (page 2-11, all figures)

  However, in the past, in order to improve the heat dissipation performance, the water channel of the cooling water is turned a plurality of times to increase the length of the flow channel, and the R dimension of the flow channel turn portion is reduced to reduce the water flow resistance. Although it is large, when using it with high heat dissipation performance, it is necessary to set the turn part outside the power module, which inevitably increases the size of the cooling device and increases both volume and cost. there were.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger capable of reducing the size of a cooling device and suppressing the volume, weight, and cost. There is.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a heat radiating surface for contacting an object, a rectilinear portion that is disposed inside the radiating surface and linearly moves a heat exchange medium, and heat from the straight portion to the next straight portion. A heat exchange medium flow path formed along the heat radiating surface at the turn portion that changes the flow of the exchange medium, and a plurality of the linearly extending portion from the wall surface on the heat radiating surface side to the linearly moving portion. A heat exchange facilitating part that increases the contact area with the heat exchange medium so as to partition the straight part into a plurality of flows in the same direction, and the turn part expands the flow path in a direction opposite to the heat dissipation surface. And a bulging portion that bulges perpendicularly to the flow of the turn portion.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the cooling device can be reduced in size, and the volume, weight, and cost can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment for realizing a heat exchanger according to the present invention will be described based on examples corresponding to the inventions according to claims 1 to 4.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view of the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
In the first embodiment, a power module 1 that supplies power is cooled by a heat exchanger 2 in an inverter used for driving a vehicle.
The heat exchanger 2 has a heat radiating fin 3, an upper case 4, and a lower case 5 as main components, and performs cooling by flowing cooling water through a flow path 21 shown in FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the upper case provided with the heat dissipating fins of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a front view of the upper case provided with the heat dissipating fins of the first embodiment.
The heat radiating fins 3 are rectangular tongue pieces protruding downward from the lower surface of the upper case 4. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the same direction is the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of them are arranged at a predetermined interval. In Example 1, it shall be formed from the upper case 4 by the extrusion method.
In the first embodiment, the radiating fins 3 and the upper case 4 are made of aluminum. Since the radiating fins 3 are formed of aluminum integrally with the upper case 4, the radiating fins 3 have high heat conductivity, and promote heat exchange by increasing the surface area for heat exchange.

  The upper case 4 is a rectangular plate-like aluminum member, and a plurality of heat radiation fins 3 are arranged on the lower surface. And the range in which the radiation fin 3 is provided becomes the upper wall of the flow path 21 of the cooling water.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lower case of the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a front view of the lower case of the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment.
The lower case 5 has a rectangular plate-like upper surface as a base end surface 51, and a flow path portion 52 is formed so as to be recessed from the base end surface 51. The flow path part 52 includes a straight part 521 extending in the longitudinal direction and a bent part 522, and has a shape that forms a meandering flow.
Here, the radiating fins 3 according to the first embodiment are provided only in a portion accommodated in the straight portion 521 of the flow path portion 52, and a portion accommodated in the bent portion 522 is cut off.
Further, the lower case 5 is provided with communication passages 53 and 54 that communicate with the start and end portions of the internal flow passage 52 from the side surface that is the front side in FIG. .

Next, the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523 of the lower case 5 will be described in detail.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. FIG. 9 is a view showing a portion of the lower case of FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.
The bent portion 522 of the flow path portion 52 of the lower case 5 of the first embodiment includes a lower turn portion 523. As shown in FIG. 10, the lower turn portion 523 makes the depth of the bent portion 522 (dimension B in FIG. 10) deeper than the depth of the rectilinear portion 521 (dimension A in FIG. 10).

Further, the outer end in the straight direction of the cooling water is the same as the bent portion 522, and the inner end in the straight direction of the coolant is overlapped with the radiation fin 3 by several mm (dimensions C and D in FIG. 10). Further, the depth (= dimension B-dimension A) of the lower turn portion 523 is made larger than the length (dimension C). In Example 1, length: depth = 1: 3.
By providing the lower turn portion 523 as described above, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower case 5 has a shape in which a part thereof protrudes downward.

11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 11, a chamfer is provided in the direction perpendicular to the cooling water straight direction of the lower turn portion 523, that is, the lower corner portion in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 to form an inclined corner portion 524. Like that.
In the heat exchanger 2 of the first embodiment, the bottom of the straight part 521 of the flow path part 52 is changed so as to pass through a step to the deeper lower turn part 523 without going through a gentle inclination. .
Further, as shown in FIG. 11, in the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523, the radiating fins 3 are cantilevered downward from the upper wall of the flow path, that is, the upper case 4. In other words, in the rectilinear portion 521, the radiating fin 3 is positioned near the bottom surface of the rectilinear portion 521 so as to partition the flow path, but the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523 have a large distance to the bottom surface. It will be in a separated state.

Further, the bent part 522 and the lower turn part 523 of the flow path part 52 will be described.
12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.
For the sake of explanation, a part that partitions the straight part 521 adjacent to the straight part 521 of the lower case 5 is referred to as a partition part 55.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a bulging portion 525 that protrudes to the flow path of the bent portion 522 is provided at the wall surface position of the bent portion 522 in the extending direction of the partition portion 55. The width of the bulging portion 525 is substantially the same as that of the partition portion 55, and the shape thereof is a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIGS. Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the bulging portion 525 is provided in a shape protruding linearly from the upper end of the channel in the bent portion 522 to the lower end of the channel in the lower turn portion 523.

  In addition, the amount of protrusion of the bulging portion 525 is set to be an amount of protrusion that overlaps with the radiation fin 3 by several mm in the protruding direction. That is, the dimension E in FIG. 9 and FIG. 12 that is the amount of protrusion of the bulging part 525 is the dimension C that is the length of the bent part 522 and the lower turn part 523 in FIG. 10 and FIG. It is made larger than the value obtained by subtracting the dimension D, which is the amount of the radiating fin 3 advancing into the part 523 (dimension E> (dimension C−dimension D)).

  Next, a concave portion 526 that is recessed toward the inside of the flow path portion 52 is provided on the wall surface of the bent portion 522 facing the bulging portion 525 as shown in FIGS. In other words, the recessed part 526 which recessed the partition part 55 toward the inside is provided so that the flow-path cross-sectional area of the part of the bulging part 525 may be increased. As shown in FIG. 12, the concave portion 526 is provided in a shape that is linearly dented up and down from the upper end of the channel in the bent portion 522 to the lower end of the channel in the lower turn portion 523.

Next, the assembly structure of the upper case 4 and the lower case and the mounting structure of the power module will be described.
In the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the radiating fin 3 provided so as to protrude from the lower surface of the upper case 4 is accommodated in the flow path portion 52 of the lower case 5, so that the upper The lower surface of the case 4 and the base end surface 51 which is the upper surface of the lower case 5 are brought into contact with each other.

And the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are joined so that the water-tight flow path 21 may be formed by a friction stir welding method or welding.
In this way, the power module 1 is arranged so as to be placed on the upper surface of the upper case 4 of the heat exchanger 2 in which the flow path 21 including the heat radiation fins 3 is formed.
The power module 1 is structured to be fixed to the heat exchanger 2 by fastening or the like so that the bottom surface is in contact with the upper surface of the upper case 4.

The operation will be described.
[Power module cooling]
FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the flow of cooling water in the heat exchanger 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a part of the flow of the cooling water of FIG.
In the heat exchanger 2 of the first embodiment, cooling water is injected into the communication path 53 and the cooling water is drained from the communication path 54. For example, if the inverter is used for driving the vehicle, the cooling water is obtained from an air conditioning system or a separately provided cooling system, and the supplied cooling water is in an effective state for cooling. It shall be recirculated. Although the first embodiment will be described as cooling water, any refrigerant may be used.

The cooling water goes straight from the communication passage 53 through the straight portion 521 of the lower case 5 of the flow path 21. In the straight part 521, heat exchange is performed with a large surface area by the heat radiating fins 3, and heat exchange is promoted. Further, in the straight portion 521, a plurality of small flow paths are arranged in parallel by the heat radiating fins 3, so that the small flow paths do not circulate so much.
And in the part of the curved part 522 of the lower case 5 of the flow path 21, the bottom of the flow path 21 moves to a deep step of the lower turn part 523, so that a large amount of cooling water flows downward (arrow 101 in FIG. (See arrow 102). Since the lower turn portion 523 is a portion where the heat radiating fins 3 are not provided, the direction is changed by 90 degrees to the side so as to flow through the lower turn portion 523 in the direction of the next straight advance portion 521 (see FIG. 13 arrow 102, arrow 103, arrow 104).

Here, when the lower turn portion 523 flows in the direction of the next straight advance portion 521 (see the arrow 104 in FIG. 13), the cooling water naturally turns partly at the bent portion 522 at the upper portion of the flow path. The flow to make is formed.
Then, the flow rate of the cooling water increases at the upper part of the flow path of the bent portion 522 where the turning distance becomes shorter. If this is allowed too much, the next straight part 521 is in a state where a plurality of small flow paths are arranged in parallel by the radiating fins 3 as described above, so that it is closer to the straight part 521 before the turn, that is, inside the turn. Cooling water is supplied to the arranged small flow paths at a high flow rate. As a result, the portion where the cooling water flows at a higher flow rate is more cooled than the other portions.

  Then, uniform cooling by the upper surface of the upper case 4 becomes difficult. Since the power module 1 to be cooled has a circuit in which electronic components are mounted, if there is a part that is not sufficiently cooled, the circuit operation must be limited so as not to cause a malfunction. Disappear. Therefore, the heat exchanger 2 is required to be uniformly cooled.

In the first embodiment, the bulging portion 525 is provided on the outer wall surfaces of the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523. Since the bulging portion 525 is a position where the flow collides, the cooling water forms a flow that bypasses the bulging portion 525. Then, the increase in the flow rate of the cooling water is relieved in the upper part of the flow path of the bent portion 522 where the turning distance is shortened. Then, below the lower turn part 523, the flow velocity flowing in the direction of the next rectilinear portion 521 becomes faster, and the flow velocity difference from the upper part becomes smaller.
That is, when flowing through the lower turn portion 523 toward the next straight advance portion 521 (see the arrow 104 in FIG. 13), the flow rate of the cooling water is made uniform in the depth direction.

Further, the protruding portion 525 is extended to a position where it overlaps with the heat dissipating fin 3 that has advanced to the bent portion 522. First, since the radiating fin 3 has its end portion advanced to the bent portion 522, in this portion, the radiating fin 3 is divided into small flow paths by the radiating fin 3 and has the same flow path upper surface. A channel state that is largely open is formed below. Therefore, the flow turns down greatly.
Even then, the flow tends to turn at the bent portion 522 having a short turning distance, but the bulging portion 525 projects to the overlapping position so that the flow turns at the lower turn portion 523. Induce. As a result, when the lower turn portion 523 flows in the direction of the next straight advance portion 521 (see the arrow 104 in FIG. 13), the flow rate of the cooling water becomes more uniform in the depth direction.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, a recess 526 is provided at a position facing the bulging portion 525. Therefore, the entire cooling water flow rate is not slowed so that the flow passage cross-sectional area of the portion provided with the bulging portion 525 does not become a throttle that becomes smaller than other portions. Thereby, the uniformity by the bulging part 525 and the maintenance of cooling efficiency are made compatible.
In other words, the concave portion 526 has a shape and a size that are substantially uneven at a position facing the bulging portion 525, so that the flow smoothly meanders at the portion of the bulging portion 525. Therefore, while making the flow moderately change and uniform, the flow velocity is not lowered as a whole, so that the flow is made uniform and the cooling efficiency is maintained.

Then, when approaching the next straight part 521, the direction of the flow is changed by approximately 90 degrees upward (see arrows 104, 105, and 106 in FIG. 13), and the direction is changed to the next straight part 521 (see FIG. 13). 13 arrows 106 and 107).
In other words, the flow changes its direction by 180 degrees while passing through the lower flow to the lower turn portion 523. In addition, a part of the flow is changed to 180 degrees at the end of the bent portion 522 where the heat dissipating fins 3 are not provided, and then proceeds to the straight portion 521.
In addition, since the corner portion 524 having a C-chamfered shape is provided in the lower turn portion 523, the flow direction of the cooling water can be changed more smoothly (see arrows 103 and 105 in FIG. 13).

In the first embodiment, when the lower turn portion 523 flows in the direction of the next rectilinear portion 521 (see the arrow 104 in FIG. 13), the flow rate of the coolant flows upward by equalizing the flow velocity of the cooling water in the depth direction. In the horizontal direction (width direction). Thereby, in the next rectilinear portion 521, the flow is divided so that the flow in the plurality of parallel small flow paths becomes a uniform flow.
Further, in the first embodiment, since the radiating fin 3 has advanced to the bent portion 522 even at the beginning of the next rectilinear portion 521, the flow is diverted smoothly and proceeds to the next rectilinear portion 521.

In this way, the cooling water flows meandering, and cooling is efficiently performed by being in the flow path 21 while a large amount of water is flowing, and by coming into contact with a large area by the radiating fins 3.
Further, at the time of cooling, the power module 1 that is a cooling object is in contact with the upper surface of the upper case 4. Therefore, cooling of the radiation fins 3 is performed on the upper surface of the upper case 4 by heat transfer of the same member, which is very efficient.

[Miniaturization]
In the heat exchanger 2 of the first embodiment, most of the flow of the rectilinear portion 521 is changed by the lower turn portion 523, so that the bent portion 522 is short in the flow direction of the rectilinear portion 521. Therefore, it becomes possible to shorten the flow direction length of the rectilinear portion 521 of the heat exchanger 2. Further, since the flow is uniformized by the bulging portion 525 and the concave portion 526 at the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523, the length in the flow direction of the straight portion 521 of the heat exchanger 2 is not increased by this configuration. . Further, no separate member is provided.

  For example, when a three-phase motor is used as a load, the power module 1 has a configuration corresponding to the three phases, so that there are many chips and the cooling area of the power module 1 is large. In particular, in order to improve the output, for example, when the IGBT chip is used in 2 parameters (12 + FRD 12) or 3 parameters (18 + FRD 18), the area of the power module itself is increased.

  On the other hand, in the heat exchanger 2 of Example 1, since the bending part 522 becomes a short thing, the width direction of the whole magnitude | size is suppressed and it becomes what was reduced in size. From the viewpoint of mounting on a vehicle, there is a restriction in all directions, up, down, left and right, and it is a fatal problem that only one direction becomes very large. For example, when the portion where the cooling water is turned overhangs largely outside the power module 1 as in the conventional case, the mountability is substantially reduced. About this point, the heat exchanger 2 of Example 1 reduced in size as a whole becomes advantageous.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the heat exchanger of Example 1, the effects listed below can be obtained.

  (1) An upper surface of the upper case 4 that makes contact with the power module 1, an inner portion where the upper case 4 and the lower case 5 are joined, and a rectilinear portion 521 that linearly moves cooling water, and the rectilinear portion 521 to the next rectilinear portion 521. The cooling water flow path portion 52 formed along the upper surface of the upper case 4 at the bent portion 522 that changes the flow of the cooling water, and the lower surface of the upper case 4 of the rectilinear portion 521 toward the inside of the rectilinear portion 521. A plurality of radiating fins 3 that are thin and have a thin plate shape to increase the contact area with the cooling water so as to divide the inside of the rectilinear portion 521 into a plurality of flows in the same direction are provided, and the bent portion 522 has a cooling surface (heat radiating surface). ) And a bulging portion 525 bulging so as to be orthogonal to the turning flow of the bending portion 522, thereby reducing the size of the cooling device. , It is possible to suppress the volume, weight, and cost. Further, more uniform cooling can be performed while maintaining downsizing.

  (2) In the above (1), the end of the radiating fin 3 is advanced to the bent portion 522, and the bulging portion 525 is arranged to bulge in the direction opposite to the advancing direction of the end of the radiating fin 3, and the advancing direction Therefore, the flow is smoothly guided by the lower turn portion 523 and can be turned with a uniform flow.

  (3) In the above (1) or (2), the concave portion 526 is provided on the wall surface of the bent portion 522 facing the bulging portion 525, and the bent portion 522 and the lower turn portion 523 are formed by the bulging portion 525 and the concave portion 526. Since the meandering flow path is formed, the flow can be made uniform while maintaining the overall flow rate.

  (4) In the above (2) or (3), the end of the radiating fin 3 that has advanced to the bent portion 522 is cantilevered from the lower surface of the upper case 4 toward the lower turn portion 523. Since the flow path partitioned into a plurality of parts is opened, the flow in the straight part 521 can be smoothly turned to the lower turn part 523 below, and the flow can be made uniform.

As mentioned above, although the heat exchanger of this invention has been demonstrated based on Example 1, about a concrete structure, it is not restricted to these Examples, The summary of the invention which concerns on each claim of a claim As long as they do not deviate, design changes and additions are permitted.
For example, although the cooling water is used in the first embodiment, the hot water may be flown so as to warm the object to which the heat exchanger is attached.

It is a top view of the heat exchanger of Example 1. It is a front view of the heat exchanger of Example 1. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a top view of the upper case where the radiation fin of Example 1 was provided. It is a front view of the upper case provided with the radiation fin of Example 1. It is a top view of the lower case of the heat exchanger of Example 1. It is a front view of the lower case of the heat exchanger of Example 1. It is a one part enlarged view of FIG. It is a figure which shows the part of the lower case of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. It is DD sectional drawing of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the flow of the cooling water of the heat exchanger 2 of Example 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of a part of flow of the cooling water of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power module 2 Heat exchanger 3 Radiation fin 4 Upper case 5 Lower case 21 Flow path 51 Base end face 52 Flow path part 53 Communication path 54 Communication path 521 Straight advance part 522 Bending part 523 Lower turn part 524 Corner part 525 Swelling part 526 Recessed part 55 Partition

Claims (4)

A heat-dissipating surface for interviewing the object;
Heat exchange formed along the heat dissipating surface in a straight part arranged inside the heat dissipating surface and for moving the heat exchanging medium straight and a turn part for changing the flow of the heat exchanging medium from the straight part to the next straight part. A medium flow path;
Heat exchange promotion that is installed in a plurality from the wall surface on the heat radiating surface side of the rectilinear portion into the rectilinear portion to increase the contact area with the heat exchange medium by partitioning the rectilinear portion into a plurality of flows in the same direction. And
With
The turn part is
An enlarged turn part in which the flow path is enlarged in a direction opposite to the heat dissipation surface;
A bulging portion bulging so as to be orthogonal to the turning flow of the turn portion;
With
A heat exchanger characterized by that. The heat exchanger according to claim 1,
Advance the end of the heat exchange promotion part to the turn part,
The bulging portion is arranged to bulge in the direction opposite to the advance direction of the end portion of the heat exchange promoting portion, and has a shape protruding to an overlapping position in the advance direction.
A heat exchanger characterized by that. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 or 2,
Provided a concave recess in the wall surface of the turn portion facing the bulging portion, and formed a flow path meandering to the turn portion at the bulging portion and the concave portion,
A heat exchanger characterized by that. The heat exchanger according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The end portion of the heat exchange promoting portion that has advanced to the turn portion is in a cantilever state standing plurally from the wall surface on the heat radiating surface side, and opens a plurality of flow paths partitioned toward the enlarged turn portion. ,
A heat exchanger characterized by that.

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