JP2013021748A - Intelligent module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intelligent module that makes it possible to reduce costs by separating a common part comprised of basic components and a customized part according to customer specifications, and thereby enhancing versatility and mass productivity.SOLUTION: An intelligent module includes at least: a switching element module, a driving circuit for driving a switching element, a control operation circuit, a communication circuit, and a power supply circuit for the base. The intelligent module also comprises: a common part 100A in which print boards 120 and 130, on which circuit parts 121 and 131 are mounted including the driving circuit, the control operation circuit, and the communication circuit, and the switching element module 110 are formed in an integrated fashion; and a customized part 200 which is separated from the common part 100A, and in which a circuit part 211 including the power supply circuit for the board according to customer specifications is mounted on the print board 210.

Description

  The present invention integrates, for example, a power conversion circuit including a semiconductor switching element that controls a motor for driving a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, a driving circuit that drives the switching element, and a control arithmetic circuit that controls the driving circuit. It relates to intelligent modules.

Conventionally, as this type of intelligent module (also known as intelligent power module: IPM), for example, those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.
That is, Patent Document 1 describes a motor drive inverter IPM in which an IGBT that constitutes a three-phase inverter and a drive circuit, a shunt resistor, a protection circuit, a connector, and the like are integrally incorporated on a printed circuit board. .
Patent Document 2 discloses a heat sink on which a power conversion circuit is mounted, and a drive circuit, a power supply circuit for circuit board (control power supply circuit), a communication circuit, a temperature detection circuit, a current A power module is described in which a voltage detection circuit, an I / O (input / output) circuit, an electric circuit board on which a connector and the like are mounted are integrally stored in an outer case.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, a first substrate on which a power semiconductor element for an inverter is mounted, a microcomputer, a power supply circuit for a board, a communication circuit, a temperature detector, a current / voltage detector, and the like are mounted. A power module is configured with the second substrate, and an I / O block unit including a signal connection terminal and an input / output interface unit is configured separately from the power module, and the communication circuit and the I / O block unit are configured. An inverter control device is described in which various commands and detection values are serially communicated with each other.

JP 2003-9509 A (paragraphs [0003], [0004], FIG. 7, etc.) JP 2009-219274 A (paragraphs [0037] to [0041], FIGS. 8 to 10 etc.) Japanese Patent No. 3332810 (Claims 1, 3, 4, paragraphs [0012] to [0018], [0051] to [0058], FIGS. 1 to 4, etc.)

As apparent from Patent Documents 1 to 3, in the conventional intelligent module, a power conversion circuit, a drive circuit, a power supply circuit for a board, a control arithmetic circuit, a protection circuit, a communication circuit, a temperature detection circuit, an I / O circuit, a connector Etc. are generally mounted on a single or a plurality of printed circuit boards and integrated as a whole.
However, depending on the customer, when the power supply circuit for the board is mounted on a different board from the module, the cooling method of the power supply circuit for the board is different, or this power supply circuit is shared as a power supply for other power conversion circuits In addition, since the types and number of I / O circuits connected to intelligent modules are not uniform, it is difficult to standardly install board power supply circuits, I / O circuits, connectors, etc. It is.
Therefore, the configuration of the intelligent module has to be different according to the required specifications for each customer. As a result, there is a problem that the intelligent module is not mass-produced and the cost is high.

  According to the prior art according to Patent Document 3, it is possible to configure a power module that can handle a plurality of types of I / O block units, and serial communication between the power module and the I / O block unit. There are advantages such as simplification of wiring. However, in this conventional technology, since the power supply circuit for the board, the connector, etc. are mounted on the power module, the configuration of the power module will be different if these specifications differ from customer to customer, and the problems of mass productivity and cost are It remains unresolved.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that the intelligent module is divided into a common part consisting of basic components common to many customers and a customized part according to customer specifications, so that versatility, mass production It is to improve the cost and to reduce the cost.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an invention according to claim 1 is directed to a switching element module including a semiconductor switching element constituting a power conversion circuit, a drive circuit for driving the switching element, and a control for the drive circuit. In an intelligent module having at least a control arithmetic circuit, a communication circuit, and a power supply circuit for a board,
A common part integrally formed with a single or a plurality of printed circuit boards on which circuit components including the drive circuit, the control arithmetic circuit and the communication circuit are mounted; and the switching element module;
And a customizing unit that is separated from the common unit and on which a circuit component including the base power supply circuit is mounted on a printed circuit board according to customer specifications.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the intelligent module according to the first aspect, the common part is integrally molded with an insulating resin.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the intelligent module according to the first or second aspect, transmission / reception of signals between the common unit and the customization unit is performed by serial communication.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the intelligent module according to claim 3, wherein the customization unit includes an input / output circuit including a plurality of input / output terminals, the CPU included in the common unit, and the customization Signals are exchanged with a plurality of input / output terminals provided in the unit by serial communication between the CPU and the input / output circuit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a printed circuit board on which circuit components including a drive circuit, a control arithmetic circuit, and a communication circuit that can be commonly used by many customers are mounted, and a switching element module as a power conversion circuit, By separating circuit parts including a power supply circuit for a base that may be different in circuit configuration and arrangement according to customer specifications, as a customizing part, Costs can be reduced by mass production of common parts.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the switching element module and the printed circuit board having a large potential difference between them can be arranged close to each other, and the common portion can be reduced in size and thickness.
According to the invention according to claim 3 or claim 4, since the number of input / output pin terminals of the CPU and the like constituting the control arithmetic circuit in the common unit can be reduced, inexpensive and small circuit components are used. Can do.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the connection state of the common part and customization part in each embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an intelligent module according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the intelligent module according to the present embodiment includes a common unit 100A, a customization unit 200, and a base power supply line 301 and a signal line 302 that connect both of them.

The common unit 100A includes a switching element module 110 made of a semiconductor switching element such as an IGBT that constitutes a power conversion circuit such as an inverter, a first printed circuit board 120 on which circuit parts 121, 121,. , And the switching element module 110, the first printed circuit board 120 and the circuit component 121, and the second printed circuit board 130 and the circuit component 131. Are integrally molded with an insulating resin (not shown).
The switching element module 110 may be provided with a fluid pipe for water-cooling or air-cooling the switching element.

  The circuit component 121 mounted on the first printed circuit board 120 is, for example, a drive circuit (gate drive unit) for turning on and off the switching elements in the switching element module 110, and for protecting the switching elements from overheating, overcurrent and overvoltage. The protection circuit, the temperature / current / voltage detection circuit (various sensors), the interface circuit thereof, and the like. The circuit component 131 mounted on the second printed circuit board 130 includes, for example, a control arithmetic circuit such as a CPU that executes a control operation for the drive circuit and the protection circuit, a communication circuit described later, and various controls between the outside and the outside. It is a component that constitutes a communication circuit and its interface circuit for transmitting and receiving detected values such as commands, temperature, current, and voltage.

  On the other hand, the customization unit 200 includes a printed circuit board 210 on which circuit components 211, 211,. Here, the circuit component 211 includes a base power circuit (control power circuit) for supplying control power to each part of the intelligent module, and various input / output devices (loads (motors) driven by the power conversion circuit). These components constitute an I / O (input / output) circuit, an interface circuit, a load, and a connector for connecting input / output devices.

The base power supply circuit provided in the customization unit 200 is a circuit that generates a control power supply voltage of a predetermined magnitude from a direct current power supply such as a battery supplied on the customer side. The circuit components 211 such as I / O circuit, interface circuit, and connector, as well as the power supply circuit for the board, can be designed arbitrarily according to customer specifications in terms of type, number, rating, circuit configuration, and arrangement. It has become.
In addition, a main power source supplied to the switching element module 110 (power conversion circuit), a main circuit capacitor (smoothing capacitor) of the power conversion circuit, a switch such as a relay, and a load are also connected on the customer side. ing.
Further, in FIG. 1, illustration of wirings, support members, and the like between the switching element module 110, the first printed circuit board 120, and the second printed circuit board 130 is omitted.

Next, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first printed circuit board 120 and the second printed circuit board 130 in the first embodiment are combined into one printed circuit board. In this example, circuit parts corresponding to the circuit parts 121 and 131 are mounted on the printed circuit board 140, and the common part 100B is configured in combination with the switching element module 110. The configuration of the customization unit 200 is the same as that in the first embodiment.
Also here, wiring and support members between the switching element module 110 and the printed board 140 are not shown, and the switching element module 110, the printed board 140, and the circuit component 141 are made of insulating resin (not shown). Are integrally molded.
According to this embodiment, the printed circuit board 140 and thus the common area of the common part 100B may be larger than that of the first embodiment. However, since the number of printed circuit boards is small, the common part 100B can be thinned. .

Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a connection state between the common unit and the customization unit in each embodiment.
For example, for a customer who uses a large number of input / output devices, it is necessary to mount an I / O circuit having a large number of input / output pin terminals in the customization unit. In this case, if a component having the number of input / output pin terminals corresponding to the number of pin terminals of the I / O circuit is used as a control arithmetic circuit such as a CPU mounted on the common part, the control arithmetic circuit and thus the common part is large. There is a risk of increasing costs and costs.

Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the circuit component 131 (141) mounted on the printed circuit board 130 (140) in the common unit 100A (100B) is a CPU or the like constituting the control arithmetic circuit, and is customized. When the circuit component 211 mounted on the printed circuit board 210 of the unit 200 is an IC for an I / O circuit or the like, the two components are connected by a pair of signal lines 302 to exchange signals with each other by serial communication. I did it. In FIG. 3, the power supply line 301 for the base in FIGS. 1 and 2 is not shown.
In this way, a component having a small number of pin terminals can be used as the circuit component 131 (141) made of a CPU or the like, and the common unit 100A (100B) can be reduced in size and cost.

  Further, as described above, in each embodiment, the common portions 100A and 100B are integrally molded with an insulating resin. In this type of intelligent module, a potential difference of several hundreds [V] may exist between the switching element module 110 and the printed circuit boards 120, 130, and 140. 6 [m] must be secured. On the other hand, the common parts 100A and 100B are integrally molded with an insulating resin, and the insulation between the switching element module 110 and the printed circuit boards 120, 130, and 140 is resin-sealed, thereby reducing the insulation distance. The members can be arranged close to each other, and the common portions 100A and 100B and thus the entire intelligent module can be reduced in size and thickness.

100A, 100B: Common part 110: Switching element module 120, 130, 140, 210: Printed circuit board 121, 131, 141, 211: Circuit component 200: Customized part 301: Power supply line for substrate 302: Signal line

Claims (4)

A switching element module comprising a semiconductor switching element constituting a power conversion circuit, a drive circuit for driving the switching element, a control arithmetic circuit for controlling the drive circuit, a communication circuit, and a power supply circuit for a base In an intelligent module having at least
A common part integrally formed with a single or a plurality of printed circuit boards on which circuit components including the drive circuit, the control arithmetic circuit and the communication circuit are mounted; and the switching element module;
A customized part separated from the common part and mounted on a printed circuit board with circuit components including the base power supply circuit according to customer specifications;
An intelligent module characterized by comprising The intelligent module according to claim 1,
An intelligent module, wherein the common part is integrally molded with an insulating resin. In the intelligent module according to claim 1 or 2,
An intelligent module, wherein signals are exchanged between the common unit and the customization unit by serial communication. The intelligent module according to claim 3,
The customization unit includes an input / output circuit including a plurality of input / output terminals,
Signal transmission / reception between the CPU provided in the common unit and a plurality of input / output terminals provided in the customization unit is performed by serial communication between the CPU and the input / output circuit. An intelligent module.

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