JP2017158413A - Sealing container and power conversion device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing container that stores a plurality of constitutive components constituting a power conversion device main body, while thermally isolating a constitutive component, which needs to be protected from dust, from other constitutive components, which can effectively radiate heat generated from the constitutive components stored in the sealing container.SOLUTION: The sealing container comprises: an inner fan, provided inside an enclosure having a sealing space for storing a heat generator formed therein to oppose to a plate-like plane member forming part of an outer wall of the enclosure, which blows air in the sealing space toward a back side of the plane member; and an outer fan, provided at a position opposing to the inner fan across the plane member, which blows air outside the enclosure toward a front side of the plane member from the outside of the enclosure. Specifically, the plane member is formed in a corrugated plate shape in which a region where the air blown to the plane member flows along front and back sides of the plane member is formed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealed container having a heat dissipation structure suitable for use in a high-temperature environment, and a power conversion device configured to include the sealed container.

  A power converter represented by an inverter or the like is mainly composed of semiconductor switching elements such as IGBTs and MOS-FETs that perform power conversion by switching input voltage, and switching power supply control ICs that drive the semiconductor switching elements on and off. Etc., and a plurality of types of electronic circuit components. Incidentally, the semiconductor switching element generates heat with its switching operation. Therefore, in order to achieve stable operation of the power conversion device, it is necessary to efficiently cool the heat generating components (electronic circuit components) such as semiconductor switching elements.

  On the other hand, among electronic circuit components such as semiconductor switching elements and switching power supply control ICs that constitute the power converter, especially electronic circuit components mounted on the control circuit board are dustproof, waterproof or moistureproof (hereinafter simply referred to as “dustproof”). There are many things that need countermeasures. Therefore, the heat generation amount of the control circuit board on which the component parts that require dust-proofing among the plurality of electronic circuit parts (component parts) constituting the power converter main body, specifically, the switching power supply control IC and the like are mounted is large. It is performed to thermally isolate it from other components, for example, the above-described semiconductor switching element, and store it in a sealed container.

  Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the semiconductor switching element 2 that generates a large amount of heat in the power conversion device 1 is generally used by being mounted on an aluminum radiator 3 having high thermal conductivity. On the other hand, with respect to the electronic circuit components 4 such as the switching power supply control IC and the capacitor 5, etc., which generate a relatively small amount of heat, dust-proof measures are taken by storing the control circuit board 6 on which these are mounted in the sealed container 7. The Incidentally, the sealed container 7 is made of a non-insulating material, for example, a box-shaped housing made of aluminum having high thermal conductivity. The sealed container 7 is configured such that the flat base 3a of the radiator 3 is a part of a box-shaped housing, and a plurality of radiating fins 3b protruding from one surface of the base 3a are provided outside the housing. It has a housing structure that is exposed.

  In the power conversion device 1 shown in FIG. 6, since the capacitor 5 has a large cylindrical shape, the sealed container 7 is arranged so that the capacitor 5 is arranged on one side of the radiation fin 3b and has a substantially L-shaped cross section. It is configured to form a sealed space (dustproof / waterproof space). In addition, as shown in the inner part of the radiator 3 in FIG. 6, a forced air cooling fan 8 is provided outside the sealed container 7 so as to face one end of the plurality of radiating fins 3 b. This forced air cooling fan 8 forcibly allows the outside air to flow along the plurality of radiating fins 3 b, thereby forcing the heat generated from the semiconductor switching element 2 and transmitted to the radiator 3 to the outside of the sealed container 7. Play a role to release.

  However, in the sealed container 7 having the above-described structure, it is difficult to release heat generated from the control circuit board 6 and the like on which components that require dust prevention are mounted. Specifically, it is difficult to secure a ventilation air volume for preventing a temperature rise in the sealed container 7.

  In this respect, Patent Document 1 discloses that a housing for storing electronic circuit components constituting the power converter is divided into a dustproof chamber that is shielded from the outside air and a ventilation duct that is connected to the intake and exhaust ports at both ends. Disclosed. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses that a heat radiating fin equipped with a semiconductor switching element having a large calorific value is provided in a ventilation duct, while a control circuit board 6 or the like that needs to be dust-proof is provided in a dust-proof chamber. . Patent Document 1 also discloses that a fan for preventing heat accumulation in the dustproof chamber is incorporated in the sealed chamber.

  However, Patent Document 1 merely discloses that air in the dustproof chamber is circulated, and suggests that a dustproof filter for ventilating the dustproof chamber is provided. In other words, Patent Document 1 only discloses a heat countermeasure for the dustproof chamber, and no mention is made of a heat countermeasure in the sealed container 7 that is blocked from the outside air, and no description that suggests it.

JP 2012-23799 A

  Accordingly, the present inventors have provided an inner fan for forcibly circulating the air in the hermetic container 7 inside the hermetic container 7 in which the control circuit board 6 is housed, and forcing outside air outside the hermetic container 7. It was considered to cool the internal space of the hermetic container 7 through a casing member that forms the outer wall surface of the hermetic container 7 by providing an outer fan to be blown. However, if only the inner fan and the outer fan are provided, some problems remain in efficiently releasing the heat accumulated in the sealed container 7 to the outside.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a sealed container having a configuration capable of efficiently releasing the heat in the sealed container containing a heating element such as a control circuit board to the outside. Another object of the present invention is to provide a power converter with high thermal stability that is configured by housing components that require dust-proof among a plurality of components that constitute a power converter main body in the sealed container.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a sealed container according to the present invention is made of a non-insulating material having high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, and forms a sealed space in which a heating element is housed. And an inner fan that blows air in the sealed space on the back side of the surface member, and is provided between the surface member and the plate-shaped surface member that forms part of the outer wall of the housing. And an outer fan that is provided at a position facing the inner fan and blows air outside the casing from the outside of the casing to the surface side of the surface member.

  In particular, the sealed container according to the present invention is characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the surface member in a region where the air blown by the inner fan and the outer fan flows along the front and back surfaces of the surface member is corrugated.

  Incidentally, the surface member having a corrugated cross-sectional shape has a corrugated shape in which the concave and convex portions are formed in a rectangular shape in the front and back directions, or a corrugated shape in which the concave and convex portions are formed in an arc shape in the front and rear directions.

  Further, the casing is a box type forming a rectangular parallelepiped sealed space, and the surface member is a plate member forming one surface of the box type casing. Incidentally, the surface member is, for example, a plate member whose entire region is corrugated, or a fan facing region facing the inner fan and the outer fan is a flat plate region, and a region excluding the fan facing region is a corrugated plate shape. It consists of a plate member. Preferably, the corrugated plate-like portion provided in the area excluding the fan facing area is formed with a plurality of grooves extending from the fan facing area toward the outer edge of the surface member.

  Moreover, the power converter device according to the present invention is a sealed container having the above-described configuration in which the component parts that need to be protected from dust among the plurality of component parts that constitute the power converter device main body are thermally isolated from other component parts. It is characterized by comprising.

  Incidentally, the sealed container includes, for example, a radiation fin that releases heat generated by a component having a large calorific value among a plurality of components forming the power converter main body to the outside of the sealed container, and the large calorific value is provided. It is preferable that the structure component is housed in the sealed container and is thermally isolated from the component parts that need to be protected against dust. In addition, it is desirable that the heat dissipating fins be provided so as to be forcibly air-cooled outside the sealed container.

  According to the sealed container having the above configuration, one surface of a box-shaped housing that forms a rectangular parallelepiped sealed space is formed, and air is blown from the inner fan and the outer fan, so that the surface member has a corrugated plate shape. The area where the surface member comes into contact with air on the front and back surfaces is increased. As a result, the amount of heat transfer between the surface member and the air on the front and back surfaces of the surface member forming one surface of the box-shaped housing increases, so that the heat accumulated in the sealed space formed by the housing is the housing. It is efficiently released to the outside through the body. Therefore, even if the inside of the housing cannot be ventilated by outside air, it is possible to effectively release the heat generated by the heating element stored in the sealed space formed by the housing to the outside of the housing.

  In addition, a power conversion unit configured such that a dust-proof component among a plurality of components constituting the power conversion device main body is stored thermally isolated from other components in a sealed container having such a configuration. In the apparatus, it is possible to prevent unintentional overheating of components constituting the power conversion apparatus main body. Therefore, effects such as enhancing the thermal stability of the power conversion device and stabilizing the operation thereof can be achieved.

The figure which shows typically schematic structure of the airtight container which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows typically schematic structure of the airtight container which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows schematically the corrugated plate shape of the surface member in the airtight container shown in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the modification of the corrugated plate-shaped surface member which comprises a part of housing | casing in the airtight container which concerns on this invention. The top view which shows the further modification of the corrugated plate-shaped surface member which comprises a part of housing | casing in the airtight container which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows schematic structure of the power converter device of the structure which isolate | separated the component parts which need dust prevention in the some component parts which comprise a power converter device main body from the other component parts thermally, and accommodated in the airtight container.

  Hereinafter, the sealed container 7 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The airtight container 7 according to the present invention is equipped with components that require dustproof, specifically, electronic circuit components 4 and capacitors 5 among a plurality of components that constitute the power converter 1 as shown in FIG. The control circuit board 6 is suitable for storing the semiconductor switching element 2 and the like mounted on the control circuit board 6 with a large amount of heat, thermally isolated from other components. In particular, the sealed container 7 according to the present invention is incorporated in the power converter 1 used in a high temperature environment of about 70 ° C., for example, and is emitted from the control circuit board 6 and the like housed in the sealed container 7 only by natural convection by the outside air. It has a configuration suitable for use when it is difficult to release heat to the outside.

  1A and 1B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of a sealed container 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a diagram schematically showing a partial cross-sectional structure of the sealed container 7, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the planar structure of the corrugated plate member which makes a part of housing | casing.

  The sealed container 7 basically includes a housing 11 that forms a sealed space in which a heating element such as the control circuit board 6 is housed, an inner fan 12 provided in the housing 11, and a housing 11 and an outer fan 13 provided to face the inner fan 12 with the outer wall surface of the casing 11 in between. Incidentally, the housing | casing 11 consists of a non-adiabatic material with high heat conductivity, for example, an aluminum member, and has the box-shaped external appearance shape which forms a rectangular parallelepiped sealed space.

  Here, the inner fan 12 is provided inside the housing 11 so as to face a part of the outer wall of the housing 11, for example, a plate-like surface member 11 a forming an upper surface portion with a predetermined gap therebetween, It plays the role of blowing the air in the sealed space substantially at right angles to the back side (inner side surface) of the upper surface of the surface member 11a. Then, the air forcibly blown to the upper surface portion of the surface member 11a by the inner fan 12 forms a turbulent flow by collision with the rear surface of the upper surface portion of the surface member 11a. The air forming the turbulent flow flows outside the area facing the inner fan 12 through the gap between the inner fan 12 and flows along the inner surface of the housing 11. Due to the air flow, the air in the sealed container 7 circulates in the housing 11.

  The outer fan 13 is provided outside the housing 11 so as to face the surface member 11a forming the upper surface portion of the housing 11 with a predetermined gap. In particular, the outer fan 13 is provided so as to face the inner fan 12 with the surface member 11a forming the upper surface portion in between, and plays a role of blowing outside air at a substantially right angle to the surface side of the surface member 11a. Then, the outside air forcedly blown onto the surface of the upper surface portion of the surface member 11a by the outer fan 13 forms a turbulent flow by collision with the surface of the surface member 11a. The outside air that forms turbulent flow flows outside the area facing the outer fan 13 through a gap between the outer fan 13, flows along the surface of the surface member 11 a, and is guided to the outside of the housing 11. .

  That is, in the sealed container 7 having the above-described configuration, a part of the outer wall forming the casing 11 of the sealed container 7, for example, the back surface side of the plate-like surface member 11 a forming the upper surface portion of the casing 11 (the casing 11 The inside fan 12 is blown with air by the inner fan 12, and the outside fan 13 is blown by the outside fan 13 on the surface side of the surface member 11 a (outside the housing 11).

  Here, the air forcedly blown onto the back surface of the upper surface portion of the surface member 11a by the inner fan 12 is warmed by heat generated from the control circuit board 6 or the like. Then, when air containing heat generated by the control circuit board 6 and the like flows along the back surface of the surface member 11a, a heat exchange action between the air and the surface member 11a occurs. Is passed on.

  On the other hand, the outside air forcibly blown to the upper surface of the surface member 11a by the outer fan 13 is generally lower than the temperature in the sealed container 7 even though the installation environment of the power conversion device 1 is high. . And when external air flows along the surface of the surface member 11a, the heat exchange effect | action between external air and the surface member 11a arises. Then, the heat generated from the control circuit board 6 or the like and transferred to the surface member 11a through the air circulating in the housing 11 is exchanged with the outside air flowing along the surface of the surface member 11a. To the outside of the housing 11 together with the outside air. As a result, heat generated from the control circuit board 6 or the like is released to the outside air, and an excessive temperature rise in the sealed container 7 is suppressed.

  Here, the present invention is characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the plate-like surface member 11a on which air is blown onto the front and back surfaces by the inner fan 12 and the outer fan 13 is, for example, a rectangular step in the front and back direction of the surface member 11a. It is in the point comprised so that the uneven | corrugated corrugated sheet which formed may be formed. By the way, the surface member 11a is realized as a corrugated plate member in which irregularities formed by peaks and valleys are alternately formed in a rectangular shape so as to form a plurality of grooves in parallel over the entire area.

  The surface member 11a made of a corrugated plate member having such rectangular irregularities expands the surface area of the front and back surfaces compared to a flat plate, thereby expanding the contact area with the air blown to the front and back surfaces. Take on. Further, the plurality of grooves (valleys) formed on the front and back surfaces of the surface member 11a by the rectangular unevenness are outward from the areas facing the inner fan 12 and the outer fan 13 respectively. Also responsible for guiding.

  According to the sealed container 7 configured to include such a corrugated surface member 11a, the heat of the air forcedly blown to the back surface side of the surface member 11a by the inner fan 12 is generated by the surface member 11a. Since the contact area with the back surface side is wide, it is efficiently transmitted to the surface member 11a. And the outside air is forcibly blown to the surface side of the surface member 11a by the outside fan 13, and since the contact area between the outside air and the surface side of the surface member 11a is wide, the heat transmitted to the surface member 11a is efficient to the outside air. Are released. As a result, the heat accumulated in the air in the sealed container 7 is transferred to the outside air via the surface member 11a as compared with the sealed container 7 configured to have a flat surface member as in the apparatus shown in FIG. Can be efficiently released.

  Therefore, even when the power conversion device 1 configured with the sealed container 7 according to the present invention is used in a high temperature environment and the temperature of the outside air is high, the electronic circuit component 4 and the capacitor 5 are mounted on the sealed container. The heat generated from the control circuit board 6 housed in 7 can be efficiently released to the outside air. As a result, it is possible to prevent an excessive temperature rise in the hermetic container 7 and to ensure stable operation of the electronic circuit component 4 and the capacitor 5.

  Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment, a part of the outer wall of the casing 11 constituting the sealed container 7, for example, the entire region of the plate-like surface member 11 a forming the upper surface portion is formed in a corrugated plate shape. As shown in FIG. 3, it is also possible to form only a part of the plate-like surface member 11a forming the upper surface portion into a corrugated plate shape. 2 shows a planar configuration of the upper surface portion of the casing 11 in the sealed container 7, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken along the line AA in the upper surface portion of the casing 11 constituting the sealed container 7 shown in FIG. The structure is shown schematically.

  In this embodiment, a region 15 where the inner fan 12 and the outer fan 13 of the plate-like surface member 11a forming the upper surface portion of the casing 11 constituting the sealed container 7 are opposed to each other is formed into a flat plate shape. The outer region 16 is formed into a corrugated plate shape.

  According to the sealed container 7 configured with such a surface member 11a as a part of the housing 11, air that is blown onto the front and back surfaces of the surface member 11a by the inner fan 12 and the outer fan 13 to form turbulent flow ( The outside air is smoothly guided without resistance to the corrugated region 16 along the flat region 15 and then flows along the corrugated plate surface formed in the region 16. Therefore, air (outside air) can be efficiently guided over the entire corrugated region 16 having a large surface area, and heat exchange in the corrugated region 16 can be promoted.

  In other words, in the corrugated surface member 11a shown in FIG. 1, the air flow in the direction in which the surface member 11a undulates may be hindered by the corrugated shape. However, if the surface member 11 a having the shape shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is used, air (outside air) can be smoothly guided to the entire corrugated region 16 along the flat region 15. As a result, it is possible to further increase the efficiency of heat exchange with the air (outside air) on the front and back surfaces of the surface member 11a.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the surface member 11a can be formed as a corrugated plate in which irregularities having an arcuate cross section are alternately formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), it is of course possible to form a corrugated plate in which irregularities having a triangular cross section are alternately formed. Further, as a modification, for example, as shown in FIG. 4C, a shape in which a plurality of flanges 16 project in parallel on the inner surface of the surface member 11a and the outer surface of the surface member 11a is formed flat (planar). It is also possible. That is, in the heat radiation in the sealed container 7 via the surface member 11a, heat exchange between the air circulating in the sealed container 7 and the surface member 11a is dominant, and heat exchange between the surface member 11a and the outside air is performed in the sealed container 7. Only the heat transferred to the surface member 11a is targeted. Therefore, when only one surface of the surface member 11a is corrugated to increase its surface area, the heat accumulated in the sealed container 7 can be transferred to the surface member 11a more efficiently as shown in FIG. As shown, it is preferable that the back surface side (inside) of the hermetic container 7 is corrugated.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, it is also useful to devise the corrugated plate shape of the surface member 11a so that grooves are formed radially on the front and back surfaces of the surface member 11a. Moreover, the power converter device 1 mentioned above can use the semiconductor element which uses a wide gap semiconductor material. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power converter 2 Semiconductor switching element 3 Radiator 4 Electronic circuit component 5 Capacitor 6 Control circuit board (heating element)
7 Sealed container 11 Housing 11a Surface member 12 Inner fan 13 Outer fan

Claims (12)

A housing that forms a sealed space for storing a heating element therein;
An inner fan that is provided facing a plate-like surface member forming a part of the outer wall of the housing inside the housing, and blows air in the sealed space to the back surface side of the surface member;
An outer fan that is provided at a position facing the inner fan with the surface member in between, and blows air outside the housing from the outside of the housing to the surface side of the surface member;
An airtight container in which a cross-sectional shape of the surface member in a region where air blown by the inner fan and the outer fan flows along the front and back surfaces of the surface member is corrugated.   The sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the casing is made of a non-insulating material having high thermal conductivity.   The airtight container according to claim 1, wherein the surface member having a corrugated cross-sectional shape has a corrugated shape in which a rectangular shape is unevenly formed in a front and back direction.   The airtight container according to claim 1, wherein the surface member having a corrugated cross-sectional shape has a corrugated shape in which the corrugated surface is uneven in the front and back directions. The housing is of a box shape forming a rectangular parallelepiped sealed space,
The sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the surface member is a plate member that forms one surface of the box-shaped housing.   The sealed container according to claim 5, wherein the surface member forming one surface of the box-shaped housing is a plate member having a corrugated shape in the entire region.   The surface member that forms one surface of the box-shaped housing is a plate member in which a fan facing region facing the inner fan and the outer fan is a flat plate region, and a region excluding the fan facing region is a corrugated plate shape. The sealed container according to claim 5, comprising:   The hermetically sealed container according to claim 7, wherein the corrugated portion provided in a region excluding the fan facing region is formed by forming a plurality of grooves extending from the fan facing region toward an outer edge portion of the surface member. .   The airtight device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a component requiring dustproof among a plurality of components constituting the power conversion device main body is stored thermally isolated from other components. The power converter characterized by the above-mentioned. The power conversion device according to claim 9, wherein
The sealed container includes a radiation fin that releases heat generated by a component having a large calorific value among a plurality of components forming the power conversion device main body to the outside of the sealed container, and the configuration having a large calorific value A power converter having a structure in which a component is housed in the sealed container and is thermally isolated from a component requiring dust prevention.   The power conversion device according to claim 10, wherein the radiating fin is forcibly air-cooled outside the sealed container.   The power converter according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the power converter uses a semiconductor element using a wide gap semiconductor material.

Images