JP2017112190A - Cooler and power converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooler capable of cooling the electrical hating elements, such as power conversion elements, in a power converter efficiently.SOLUTION: A cooler includes a rectangular flat heat receiving body for receiving the heat emitted from electrical heating elements and having one side as an electrical hating elements mounting surface, multiple radiation fins projecting on the other side of this heat receiving body in parallel with one side thereof, an air duct having openings facing the opposite ends of these multiple radiation fins, and provided to cover the radiation fins and to form a flow path of the air flowing from the opening, and an exhaust port located substantially in the center of flow path of the air, and opening to the air duct thus exhausting the air flowing through the flow path.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention is constructed by housing a cooling device capable of efficiently cooling a heating element such as a semiconductor switching element in a power converter with a small air volume, and a plurality of cooling devices equipped with the power converter in a housing. The present invention relates to a power converter.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a conventional general power conversion device 3 configured by housing a plurality of power converters 1 in a box-shaped housing 2, and FIG. 3 shows a configuration when the internal structure 3 is viewed from the front side, and FIG. 4B shows a configuration when the internal structure of the power converter 3 is viewed from the side. In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes an intake fan that is provided at the top of the casing 2 and discharges the air inside the casing 2 that has been warmed with the operation of the power converter 1 to the outside. About the power converter device 3 comprised in this way, it is as having disclosed in patent document 1 etc. in detail, for example.

  Here, the power converter 1 normally includes a heating element including a semiconductor switching element or the like as a power conversion element, and is integrally provided with a cooling device 5 for cooling the heating element. The cooling device 5 includes, for example, a heat receiving body 7 in which one surface is a mounting surface of the heating element and a plurality of radiating fins 6 project in parallel on the other surface, as schematically shown in FIG. And a wind tunnel body 8 provided so as to cover the radiation fins 6.

  This wind tunnel body 8 is provided with openings on the end faces facing the both end portions of the heat radiating fin 6, and an air flow path is formed between these openings. That is, the wind tunnel body 8 forms an air flow path that guides air introduced from one opening along the heat radiating fins 6 to the other opening. The heat receiving body 7 and the heat radiating fins 6 serve to cool the heating element by transferring heat generated from the heating element and exchanging heat with the air flowing through the passage. In the figure, reference numeral 9 denotes an auxiliary wind tunnel body connected to the other opening of the wind tunnel body 8.

  Incidentally, the heat radiating fin 6 is generally connected to the power converter from the front side of the casing 2 where one end of the power converter 1 faces in a state where the power converter 1 is housed in the casing 2. 1 is provided so as to extend toward the back side of the casing 2 facing the other end. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the cooling device 5 moves from one end (front side) of the cooling device 5 to the other end (back side) along the radiation fin 6. An air flow is formed to cool the heating element of the power converter 1. 6A shows the air flow when the cooling device 5 is viewed from the lower surface side, and FIG. 6B shows the air flow when the cooling device 5 is viewed from the side surface side. Show.

  Therefore, in the power conversion device 3 in which a plurality of power converters 1 each having the cooling device 5 having the above-described configuration are stacked in the vertical direction and housed in the housing 2, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The air introduced into the casing 2 from the front side of the casing 2 flows along the radiation fins 6 in the wind tunnel body 8 from the front side to the rear side of each cooling device 5. . And the air exhausted from the back side of the cooling device 5 by absorbing the heat from the heating element of the power converter 1 is sent by the intake fan 4 via the space 2a at the back side of the housing 2. It is sucked and discharged to the outside of the housing 2.

JP 2012-186352 A

  By the way, the radiating fins 6 of the cooling device 5 provided integrally with the power converter 1 and housed in the casing 2 are fin surfaces in the front-rear direction of the casing 2 as shown in FIGS. Is provided to extend. The wind tunnel body 8 provided so as to cover the heat radiating fins 6 is provided so that air flows in one direction over the entire length of the heat radiating fins 6. For this reason, the air flow path formed by the wind tunnel body 8 becomes long, and it cannot be denied that the pressure loss in the flow path increases. In addition, due to this pressure loss, the amount of air flowing through the wind tunnel body 8 decreases, and the air flow that rises in temperature due to heat exchange with the radiating fins 6 is caused by the leeward side and leeward side of the passage. A large temperature difference occurs between the two sides.

  In order to eliminate such a problem, for example, it is necessary to use a large-sized suction fan 4 having a large suction capability, or to devise the shape of the radiating fin 6 so as to reduce the pressure loss. However, when the suction capacity of the intake fan 4 is increased, its operating sound (feathering sound) increases and causes an increase in cost. Further, when the pressure loss in the heat radiating fin 6 is reduced, there arises a problem that the heat radiating performance of the heat radiating fin 6 is deteriorated.

  Further, in order to prevent a local temperature rise of the radiating fin 6, for example, the air volume of the intake fan 4 is increased to increase the absolute amount of air flowing through the passage, or the radiating fin 6 is increased in size. It is necessary to improve the heat dissipation performance. However, when such measures are taken, there arises a problem that not only the cooling device 5 but also the power conversion device 3 is enlarged and its manufacturing cost (component cost) increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to efficiently cool the heating element by increasing the heat radiation performance of the heat radiation fin without incurring an increase in manufacturing cost (component cost). It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling device that can handle the above.

  Further, the present invention is a case where a plurality of cooling devices having the above-described configurations each mounted with a plurality of power converters are stacked in the vertical direction and housed in a box-shaped housing to constitute a power conversion device. It aims at providing the power converter which can cool a plurality of power converters efficiently.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the cooling device according to the present invention includes:

A rectangular plate-shaped heat receiving body made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, for example, which receives heat generated by the heat generating body as a mounting surface of the heating element;
A plurality of radiating fins protruding in parallel with one side of the heat receiving body on the other surface of the heat receiving body opposite to the mounting surface;
The plurality of radiating fins have openings opposed to both ends, respectively, and the plurality of radiating fins are collectively covered to provide a flow path for air flowing from the openings between the radiating fins. The formed wind tunnel body,
A discharge port that is located at substantially the center of the air flow path and is open to the wind tunnel body and discharges the air flowing through the flow path toward the side opposite to the heat receiving body. It is a feature.

  The cooling device further includes an auxiliary wind tunnel body that is provided in communication with the discharge port and that guides the air discharged from the discharge port by displacing the air in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the radiating fins. It is characterized by being.

  Preferably, the heat radiating fin includes, for example, a plate fin formed integrally with the heat receiving body. Moreover, the said discharge port is preferably provided in the site | part facing the other surface of the said heat receiving body in the said wind tunnel body over the width | variety of the arrangement direction of these radiation fins. In addition, the said heat generating body consists of a power conversion element in a power converter, for example, specifically a semiconductor switching element. Further, the air flowing through the flow path formed by the wind tunnel body is forcibly sucked by, for example, an intake fan to form an air flow for removing heat from the radiating fins.

Further, the power conversion device according to the present invention is configured by stacking a plurality of cooling devices having the above-described configurations each mounted with a power converter in a vertical direction and storing them in a box-shaped housing,
The housing has a structure in which the plurality of cooling devices are respectively stored by facing the openings of the wind tunnel body on both side surfaces in the width direction of the housing,
A first air passage formed between an air inlet provided in the front surface of the housing and the opening of each cooling device; an air outlet provided in an upper portion of the housing; A second air flow path formed between each discharge port of the cooling device is provided.

  Preferably, the second air flow path is formed in a back side deep part of the casing located on the rear side of the plurality of cooling devices stacked and accommodated in the casing. The exhaust port is preferably provided with an intake fan for discharging the air in the housing to the outside, for example.

  According to the cooling device having the above configuration, the air flow path formed by the plurality of radiating fins extending in one direction and projecting in parallel with the heat receiving body and the wind tunnel body is substantially at the center of the wind tunnel body. It is divided into two regions across the discharge port opened in the part. The air flowing into the wind tunnel through the openings provided opposite to both ends of the heat radiating fins flows along the heat radiating fins and is discharged to the outside through the discharge port. Therefore, the length of the air flow path formed by the plurality of radiating fins and the wind tunnel body can be made approximately half of the length of the radiating fins. In other words, the length of the air flow path from the opening to the discharge port can be shortened to about half that in the case of forming the air flow path over the entire length of the radiating fin.

  As a result, the pressure loss of the air flowing through the flow path can be suppressed without changing the cross-sectional area of the flow path formed by the radiating fin and the wind tunnel body. Therefore, since the flow rate of the air flowing through the flow path can be increased by the amount of pressure loss in the flow path, the heat removal efficiency for the radiating fin can be increased.

  In the power conversion device having the above configuration, the openings of the wind tunnel body in the plurality of cooling devices stacked in the vertical direction and housed in the box-shaped housing are opposed to both side surfaces in the width direction of the housing. Provide. And while forming the 1st air passage between the inlet provided in the front part of the case, and the opening of each cooling device, the exhaust provided in the upper part of the case, A structure is provided in which a second air passage is formed between the plurality of cooling devices and the respective discharge ports.

  According to the power conversion device configured as described above, air introduced into the housing from the air inlet provided in the front portion of the housing is guided into the wind tunnel body of each cooling device along both side surfaces of the housing. It is burned. And the air discharged | emitted from each wind tunnel body is guide | induced to the upper part in the said housing | casing in which the said intake fan was provided through the back side back part of the said housing located in the back side of these cooling devices. Therefore, according to the power conversion device, inside the housing, through the both sides of the housing from the front side of the housing and further through the back of the back so as to surround a plurality of cooling devices stacked in the vertical direction. An air flow path leading to the upper portion can be formed.

  As a result, the air necessary for cooling each of the plurality of cooling devices is supplied by effectively utilizing the internal space formed by the housing, and the air discharged from each cooling device is efficiently discharged to the outside. Can be exhausted. Therefore, it becomes possible to efficiently cool the heating elements of the power converter on which the plurality of cooling devices are respectively mounted. Furthermore, since the cooling efficiency for the plurality of cooling devices can be increased, the suction performance required for the intake fan can be kept low, and the operation noise of the intake fan, that is, the so-called feathering noise can be reduced. A great effect is produced.

The figure which shows typically schematic structure of the power converter comprised integrally including the cooling device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and this cooling device. The figure which shows the flow of the air in the cooling device shown in FIG. The figure which shows schematic structure of the power converter device which concerns on this invention, and the flow of the air in this power converter device. The figure which shows the example of schematic structure of the conventional power converter device, and the flow of the air in this power converter device. The figure which shows typically the example of a schematic structure of the conventional cooling device. The figure which shows the flow of the air in the cooling device shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings, and a plurality of power converters configured integrally with the cooling device are stacked in the vertical direction and housed in a box-shaped housing. The power converter to be performed will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a schematic configuration of a cooling device 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a power converter 10 configured integrally with the cooling device 11. The cooling device 11 plays a role of cooling a heating element (not shown) in the power converter 10, and includes a rectangular plate-shaped heat receiving body 12 having one surface as a mounting surface of the heating element. The heat receiving body 12 is made of a material having high heat conductivity such as aluminum (Al), and receives heat generated by the heat generating body. On the other surface of the heat receiving body 12 opposite to the mounting surface of the heat generating body, a plurality of radiating fins 13 having a predetermined height parallel to one side of the heat receiving body 12 project integrally with the heat receiving body 12. It is installed. These heat radiation fins 13 are plate fins arranged in parallel over the entire area of the other surface of the heat receiving body 12 at a predetermined arrangement pitch.

  Further, the heat receiving body 12 is provided with a wind tunnel body 14 covering the plurality of radiating fins 13. The wind tunnel body 14 has openings 14a facing the end portions of the heat radiating fins 13 at both ends in the direction in which the heat radiating fins 13 extend. An air flow path is formed. Of course, the box-shaped housing of the power converter 10 including the power converter 10 mounted on the heat receiving body 12 and covering the radiation fins 13 can be regarded as the wind tunnel body 14. In this case, the opening 14a is provided on both sides of the casing.

  Further, the wind tunnel body 14 is provided with a discharge port 14b that is positioned substantially at the center of the air flow path and discharges air flowing through the flow path. In this embodiment, an auxiliary wind tunnel body 15 is further provided in communication with the discharge port 14b of the wind tunnel body 14. The auxiliary wind tunnel body 15 is provided with an exhaust port on one surface on the back side in FIG. 1. The auxiliary wind tunnel body 15 flows through the wind tunnel body 14 and discharges air discharged from the exhaust port 14 b to the back surface of the power converter 10. Take the role of guiding to the side.

  Incidentally, a plurality of the power converters 10 including the cooling device 11 configured as described above are stacked in the vertical direction as shown in FIGS. The power conversion device 20 is configured by being housed. In particular, the plurality of power converters 10 are arranged so that the direction in which the radiating fins 13 extend in each cooling device 11 is the width direction of the casing 21, in other words, on both sides of the wind tunnel body 14. The provided opening 14a is housed in the housing 21 so as to face the side wall surface of the housing 21 with a predetermined gap therebetween.

  The casing 21 reaches the opening 14a provided at both ends of the cooling device 11 from an inlet (not shown) provided on the front side of the casing 21 toward both sides thereof. 1 air passage is formed.

  An air intake fan 22 that sucks air inside the housing 21 and exhausts it outside the housing 21 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 21. In addition, a second air passage that connects the back surfaces of the plurality of cooling devices 11 and the intake fans 22 is formed in the back side of the housing 21. The intake fan 22 is connected to the casing 21 via a space (second air passage) 21a formed in the back side of the casing 21 in which the plurality of power converters 10 are housed. The air inside is forcibly exhausted to the outside.

  FIG. 3A schematically shows the configuration of the power conversion device 20 as viewed from the front side, and the air flow in the power conversion device 20 schematically. FIG. 3B schematically shows a schematic configuration when the power conversion device 20 is viewed from the side, and the air flow in the power conversion device 20.

  According to the power conversion device 20 configured as described above, due to the suction action of the air in the housing 21 by the intake fan 22, as shown in FIGS. Outside air (air) is introduced into the housing 21 from the front side. The air introduced into the housing 21 is guided to the cooling device 11 through the first air flow path, and the back side rear portion of the housing 21 is passed through the cooling device 11. Led to. Specifically, the air guided to the cooling device 11 flows along the heat radiating fins 13 in the wind tunnel body 14, and then passes through the auxiliary wind tunnel body 15 to the back side of the casing 21. Discharged. Thereafter, the air guided to the back side of the casing 21 is sucked by the intake fan 22 and discharged to the outside.

  In particular, in the cooling device 11, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), air flowing into the wind tunnel body 14 from the openings 14 a at both ends of the wind tunnel body 14 travels along the plurality of radiating fins 13. Then, the air flows toward the center of the wind tunnel body 14. Then, the air flowing through the wind tunnel body 14 is discharged from the discharge port 14b provided at a substantially central portion on the lower surface side of the cooling device 11, and then the air of the power converter 10 is passed through the auxiliary wind tunnel body 15. Guided to the back side. 2A schematically shows the air flow when the cooling device 11 is viewed from the front side, and FIG. 2B is the view when the cooling device 11 is viewed from the side surface. The flow of air is shown typically.

  Therefore, according to the cooling device 11 configured as described above, the flow path length of the air flowing along the radiating fins 13 is approximately half of the extending length of the radiating fins 13. Therefore, the air flow reduces the air resistance in the air flow path formed by the radiating fins 13, and the pressure loss in the flow path can be suppressed. As a result, the airflow flowing along the radiating fin 13 can be passed without reducing the air volume, and the cooling efficiency of the radiating fin 13 can be maintained.

  Therefore, according to the cooling device 11 having the above configuration, it is not necessary to increase the suction capacity by increasing the size of the intake fan 22 or to increase the air volume of the intake fan 22. Also, measures such as reducing the air resistance by devising the shape of the heat dissipating fins 13 or increasing the heat dissipating area by increasing the size become unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to ensure the necessary cooling capacity for the power converter 10 without causing an increase in the size of the cooling device 11.

  In particular, when the power converters 1 and 10 have a rectangular parallelepiped shape and the radiating fins 6 and 13 in the cooling devices 5 and 11 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the power converters 1 and 10, the conventional power In the conversion device 3, the power converter 1 is provided in such a direction that the direction in which the radiating fins 6 extend is the front-rear direction of the housing 2. In this respect, in this embodiment, even if the length of the radiating fin 13 is the same as that of the radiating fin 6 in the power converter 1, the direction in which the radiating fin 13 extends is the width direction of the casing 21. The power converter 10 is provided in such a direction.

  Therefore, the flow path length of the air flowing along the heat radiating fins 13 can be substantially half the flow path length of the air flowing along the heat radiating fins 6 in the conventional cooling device 5. As a result, according to the present invention, the air friction loss depending on the flow path length of the flow path formed along the heat radiating fins 13 can be reduced, and the heat radiating performance of the heat radiating fins 13 can be sufficiently extracted. A great effect can be achieved in practical use.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the size of the heat receiving body 12 formed of a rectangular flat plate is a shape and size suitable for the size of the power converter 10, specifically, the planar size of the power converter 10. It is enough. The heat dissipating fins 13 may be provided over the entire surface of the heat receiving body 12, and the height of the heat dissipating fins 13 may be determined according to the amount of heat generated from the power converter 10. Furthermore, in the embodiment, the example in which the cooling device 11 is integrally provided on the lower surface side of the power converter 10 has been described. However, it is of course possible to provide the cooling device 11 on the upper surface side of the power converter 10.

  Further, the position of the discharge port 14b provided in the wind tunnel body 14 may be set in consideration of the temperature distribution of the heat receiving body 12 which varies depending on the layout position of the heating element in the power converter 10, for example. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Power converter 11 Cooling device 12 Heat receiving body 13 Radiation fin 14 Wind tunnel body 14a Opening part 14b Outlet 15 Auxiliary wind tunnel body 20 Power converter 21 Case 22 Intake fan

Claims (8)

A rectangular plate-shaped heat receiving body that receives heat generated by the heating element with one surface as a mounting surface of the heating element;
A plurality of radiating fins projecting on the other surface of the heat receiving body in parallel with one side of the heat receiving body;
A wind tunnel body having openings facing the both ends of the plurality of radiating fins, and covering the radiating fins to form a flow path for air flowing in from the openings;
A cooling apparatus, comprising: a discharge port that is positioned substantially in the center of the air flow path and is open to the wind tunnel body and discharges air that flows through the flow path. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein
The cooling device further includes an auxiliary wind tunnel body that is provided in communication with the discharge port and that guides the air discharged from the discharge port by displacing the air in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the radiation fins.   The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the radiating fin is a plate fin formed integrally with the heat receiving body.   The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the discharge port is provided at a portion facing the other surface of the heat receiving body over a width in a direction in which the plurality of radiation fins are arranged. The heating element is a power conversion element in a power converter,
The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air flowing through the flow path formed by the wind tunnel body is forcibly sucked by an intake fan. A plurality of the cooling devices according to any one of claims 1 to 4 equipped with a power converter, wherein the power converter is configured by stacking vertically and storing in a box-shaped housing,
The housing has a structure in which the plurality of cooling devices are respectively stored by facing the openings of the wind tunnel body on both side surfaces in the width direction of the housing,
A first air passage formed between an air inlet provided in the front surface of the housing and the opening of each cooling device;
A power conversion device comprising: a second air passage formed between an exhaust port provided in an upper portion of the housing and the respective discharge ports of the plurality of cooling devices.   The said 2nd air flow path is formed in the back side back part of the said housing located in the back side of the said several cooling device stacked and accommodated in the said housing | casing. The power converter described.   The power converter according to claim 6, wherein the exhaust port is provided with an intake fan that exhausts the air in the housing to the outside.

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