JP2018152195A - Electric heater device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric heater device which allows size reduction while being capable of cooling an electronic component.SOLUTION: An electric heater device 10 comprises a heat exchanging part 20, a heating element 30, a case 40, and a pressing member 50. The heat exchanging part 20 has such a structure that a plurality of pipes 21, inside of which water is flowing, are laminated with a predetermined gap formed therebetween. The heating element 30 is arranged between the plurality of pipes 21. The case 40 is provided with a contact part 44 which comes into contact with one edge face of the heat exchanging part 20 in a lamination direction of the plurality of pipes 21. The pressing member 50 presses the heat exchanging part 20 against the contact part 44. The contact part 44 is provided with a switching element 81 and temperature sensors 82 and 83.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present disclosure relates to an electric heater device.

  Conventionally, there is a power conversion device described in Patent Document 1. The power conversion device described in Patent Literature 1 includes a semiconductor stacked unit and a pressure member. The semiconductor lamination unit is configured by alternately laminating semiconductor modules and cooling pipes for cooling the semiconductor modules. The pressurizing member pressurizes the semiconductor stacked unit in the stacking direction.

JP 2007-166819 A

  The structure of the power conversion device described in Patent Document 1 can be applied to an electric heater device that heats water using a heating element. Specifically, if a heating element is used instead of the semiconductor module in the power conversion device described in Patent Document 1, an electric heater device that heats the water flowing inside the cooling pipe can be realized.

  By the way, such an electric heater device requires an electronic component such as a drive circuit for driving the heating element. In addition, when the electronic component generates heat, a cooling structure is also required. As such a cooling structure, for example, it is conceivable to employ a structure in which electronic components are arranged between the added cooling pipes after adding cooling pipes that are stacked and arranged with a predetermined gap. However, when such a cooling structure is adopted, the number of cooling pipes increases, and thus the size of the electric heater device cannot be avoided.

  The present disclosure has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electric heater device that can cool an electronic component and can be downsized.

  An electric heater device (10) that solves the above problems includes a heat exchanging portion (20), a heating element (30), a case (40), a pressing member (50), and an electronic component (81, 82, 83). And comprising. The heat exchange part has a structure in which a plurality of pipes (21) through which water flows are stacked with a predetermined gap. A heat generating element is arrange | positioned between several piping, and it heat | fever-generates based on supply of electric power. The case is formed with a contact portion (44) that accommodates the heat exchange portion and the heat generating element therein and contacts one end surface of the heat exchange portion in the stacking direction of the plurality of pipes. The pressing member presses the heat exchange part against the contact part. The electronic component is provided at the contact portion.

  According to this configuration, heat generated from the electronic component is transmitted to the contact portion. Since the heat exchange part is in contact with the contact part, the heat of the contact part is absorbed by the water flowing through the piping of the heat exchange part. As a result, the heat generated from the electronic component is absorbed by the water flowing through the pipe, so that the electronic component can be cooled. Further, as compared with the case of adopting a structure in which electronic components are cooled by providing electronic components between stacked pipes, a separate pipe 21 arranged in a stacked manner for cooling the electronic components is unnecessary. Therefore, the electric heater device can be reduced in size.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the parenthesis as described in the said means and a claim is an example which shows a corresponding relationship with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

  According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an electric heater device that can cool an electronic component and can be downsized.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a planar structure of the electric heater device of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a planar structure of the electric heater device of the first embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a partial cross-sectional structure taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing executed by the control device of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a planar structure of an electric heater device according to a modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a planar structure of the electric heater device of the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a planar structure of an electric heater device according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an electric heater device will be described with reference to the drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same constituent elements in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.
<First Embodiment>
The electric heater device 10 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is used as a device for raising the temperature of the heater core by electrically heating the circulating water circulating through the heater core in a vehicle air conditioner, for example. By raising the temperature of the heater core, the temperature of the air blown into the passenger compartment can be increased, so that the passenger compartment can be heated. As shown in FIG. 1, the electric heater device 10 includes a heat exchanging unit 20, a plurality of heating elements 30, a case 40, and a pressing member 50.

The heat exchanging unit 20 has a structure in which a plurality of flat pipes 21 through which water flows are stacked with a predetermined gap in the Y direction. Hereinafter, the Y direction is also referred to as a “pipe lamination direction”.
Cylindrical connecting portions 22a and 22b are formed on both side surfaces in the pipe stacking direction Y at one end in the longitudinal direction of each pipe 21, respectively. By connecting the connecting portions 22a and 22b of the adjacent pipes 21 and 21 to each other, one end portion of each pipe 21 is communicated. In addition, cylindrical connecting portions 23 a and 23 b are formed on both side surfaces in the pipe stacking direction Y at the other end in the longitudinal direction of each pipe 21. By connecting the connecting portions 23a and 23b of the adjacent pipes 21 and 21, the other ends of the pipes 21 are communicated with each other.

  An inflow pipe 70 is connected to the pipe 21a arranged at one end in the pipe stacking direction Y, instead of the connection part 22a, and a discharge pipe 71 is connected instead of the connection part 23a. In addition, the connecting portions 22b and 23b are not formed in the pipe 21b arranged at the other end portion in the pipe stacking direction Y, and the corresponding portions are closed.

  In the heat exchange unit 20, the water flowing into the inflow pipe 70 is distributed to the inside of each pipe 21 through the connection parts 22 a and 22 b of each pipe 21. Therefore, in the heat exchange unit 20, water flows in the direction indicated by the arrow W in the drawing. The water flowing through each pipe 21 is collected at the connecting portions 23a and 23b of each pipe and then discharged from the discharge pipe 71.

The heating element 30 is disposed between the plurality of pipes 21 and 21. The heating element 30 generates heat based on power supply. By performing heat exchange between the heat generating element 30 and the heat exchange unit 20, water flowing inside the heat exchange unit 20 is heated.
The case 40 is formed in a square box shape, and the heat exchange unit 20 and the heating element 30 are accommodated therein. The case 40 is formed of a metal material having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum. A through hole 42 into which the inflow pipe 70 is inserted and a through hole 43 into which the discharge pipe 71 is inserted are formed in the side wall 41 of the case 40. The inflow pipe 70 and the discharge pipe 71 extend from the inside of the case 40 to the outside through the through holes 42 and 43.

  The case 40 is formed with a contact portion 44 that contacts the pipe 21 a of the heat exchanging portion 20. That is, the contact portion 44 is in contact with one end surface of the heat exchange portion 20 in the pipe stacking direction Y. The contact portion 44 is a thick portion formed so as to protrude from the portion corresponding to the side wall 41 of the case 40 between the through hole 42 and the through hole 43 toward the inside of the case 40. The contact portion 44 is integrally formed with the case 40 by die casting or the like. The heat exchange unit 20 is pressed against the contact portion 44 by the pressing member 50.

  Specifically, the pressing member 50 includes a spring member 51 and a plate member 52. The plate member 52 is in surface contact with the pipe 21 b of the heat exchange unit 20. The spring member 51 is made of a leaf spring having a shape curved in an arc shape. The central portion of the spring member 51 is in contact with the plate member 52. Both ends of the spring member 51 are supported by columnar fixing pins 45 a and 45 b formed integrally with the case 40. The spring member 51 is inserted in a compressed state between the fixing pins 45 a and 45 b and the plate member 52. Therefore, the heat exchange unit 20 is pressed against the contact portion 44 by the elastic force applied from the spring member 51 via the plate member 52. Thereby, since the adhesiveness of the piping 21 and the heat generating element 30 is improved, the thermal conductivity between them can be improved.

  In addition, in FIG. 1, the site | part which the most upstream part of the flow direction W of the water in the heat exchange part 20 contacts among the parts which the heat exchange part 20 contacts in the contact part 44 is the 1st contact part P1, or A portion where the most downstream portion in the water flow direction W in the heat exchanging portion 20 contacts is shown as a second contact portion P2.

At the four corners of the case 40, female screw portions 46 having female screw holes are formed. Bolts for assembling an upper cover (not shown) to the case 40 are screwed into the female screw portion 46. By attaching the upper lid to the case 40, the opening of the case 40 is closed.
In addition, a plurality of cylindrical female screw portions 47 in which female screw holes are formed are formed inside the case 40. Bolts 48 for assembling the substrate 80 shown in FIG. 2 to the case 40 are screwed into the female screw portion 47. Thereby, the board | substrate 80 is arrange | positioned so that the whole heat exchange part 20 and a part of contact part 44 may be opposed.

  The heating element 30 is mounted on the substrate 80. The substrate 80 is mounted with electronic components such as a drive circuit for driving the heating element 30, a sensor element for detecting various state quantities of the electric heater device 10, and a control device for controlling the heating element 30. ing. In FIG. 2, among these electronic components, a switching element 81, temperature sensors 82 and 83, and a control device 84 that constitute a drive circuit are illustrated. The switching element 81 is made of an IGBT, a MOSFET, or the like. In the drive circuit, the supply and stop of power to the heating element 30 can be switched by switching the switching element 81 on and off.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the switching element 81 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83 are thermally joined to the contact portion 44 via the heat conductive member 90. The heat conductive member 90 is made of, for example, a heat conductive sheet. As shown in FIG. 1, the first temperature sensor 82 is provided in a portion of the contact portion 44 close to the first contact site P1. Further, the second temperature sensor 83 is provided in a portion of the contact portion 44 that is close to the second contact site P2. With such a structure, the switching element 81 can be cooled, and the temperature of the water flowing through the heat exchange unit 20 can be detected by the temperature sensors 82 and 83.

  Specifically, heat generated from the switching element 81 is transmitted to the contact portion 44 through the heat conductive member 90. Since the pipe 21a of the heat exchange unit 20 is in contact with the contact part 44, the heat of the contact part 44 is absorbed by the water flowing through the pipe 21a of the heat exchange part 20. As a result, the heat generated from the switching element 81 is absorbed by the water flowing through the pipe 21a, so that the switching element 81 can be cooled.

  On the other hand, since the 1st temperature sensor 82 is provided in the part close | similar to the 1st contact site | part P1 in the contact part 44, it can detect the temperature of the 1st contact site | part P1, or a temperature substantially equivalent to it. The first contact site P <b> 1 is a site where the most upstream portion of the heat exchange unit 20 in the water flow direction W is in contact with the heat exchange unit 20 in the contact unit 44. Therefore, the first temperature sensor 82 can detect the inflow water temperature T1, which is the temperature of the water flowing into the heat exchange unit 20.

  Moreover, since the 2nd temperature sensor 83 is provided in the part close | similar to the 2nd contact site | part P2 in the contact part 44, it can detect the temperature of the 2nd contact site | part P2, or a temperature substantially equivalent to it. The second contact site P <b> 2 is a site where the most downstream portion of the heat exchange unit 20 in the water flow direction W is in contact with the heat exchange unit 20 in the contact unit 44. Therefore, the second temperature sensor 83 can detect the outflow water temperature T2, which is the temperature of the water flowing out from the heat exchange unit 20.

Next, an operation example of the electric heater device 10 will be described.
The control device 84 repeatedly executes the process shown in FIG. 4 at a predetermined cycle. As shown in FIG. 4, first, the control device 84 acquires information on the target water temperature T * transmitted from the host ECU as the process of step S10, and the process of the temperature sensors 82 and 83 as the process of step S11. Information on the inflow water temperature T1 and the outflow water temperature T2 is acquired based on the output signal. And the control apparatus 84 judges whether the inflow water temperature T1 is less than the protection water temperature Tth as a process of step S12 following the process of step S11. The protection water temperature Tth is determined in advance by experiments or the like so that it can be determined whether or not there is a possibility that water will boil, and is stored in the storage device of the control device 84.

If the determination in step S12 is negative, that is, if the inflow water temperature T1 is equal to or higher than the protection water temperature Tth, the control device 84 performs a protection process for avoiding boiling of water as the process in step S15. To do. As the protection process, for example, the process of stopping the heating element 30 by turning off the switching element 81 and cutting off the supply of power to the heating element 30 is performed. When the control device 84 makes a positive determination in the process of step S12 That is, when the inflow water temperature T1 is lower than the protection water temperature Tth, it is determined in step S13 whether the outflow water temperature T2 is lower than the target water temperature T *. If the determination in step S13 is affirmative, that is, if the outflow water temperature T2 is lower than the target water temperature T *, the control device 84 drives the heating element 30 as the process in step S14. Specifically, the control device 84 calculates the duty ratio based on the deviation between the target water temperature T * and the effluent water temperature T2, and controls on / off of the switching element 81 based on the calculated duty ratio. Then, the heating element 30 is driven.

The control device 84 once ends the series of processes after executing the process of step S14. Further, even when the control device 84 makes a negative determination in the process of step S13, that is, when the outflow water temperature T2 is equal to or higher than the target water temperature T *, the series of processes is temporarily ended.
According to the electric heater device 10 of this embodiment described above, the operations and effects shown in the following (1) to (3) can be obtained.

  (1) In the electric heater device 10, the switching element 81 is provided in the contact portion 44. Thereby, since the heat emitted from the switching element 81 is absorbed by the water in the pipe 21a through the contact portion 44, the switching element 81 can be cooled. Further, as compared with a case where a structure in which the switching element 81 is cooled by providing the switching element 81 between the stacked pipes 21 is provided, a separate pipe 21 that is stacked and arranged for cooling the switching element 81. Therefore, the electric heater device 10 can be downsized.

  (2) In the electric heater device 10, temperature sensors 82 and 83 are provided in the contact portion 44. Specifically, the first temperature sensor 82 is provided in a portion of the contact portion 44 close to the first contact site P1. Further, the second temperature sensor 83 is provided in a portion of the contact portion 44 that is close to the second contact site P2. Thereby, the temperature of the water flowing into the heat exchanging unit 20 can be detected by the first temperature sensor 82, and the temperature of the water flowing out of the heat exchanging unit 20 can be detected by the second temperature sensor 83.

  (3) The contact part 44 has the heat conductive member 90 in the part in which the switching element 81 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83 are provided. Thereby, since the thermal conductivity between the contact part 44 and the switching element 81 and the thermal conductivity between the contact part 44 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83 can be increased, the switching element 81 can be easily cooled. In addition, the temperature detection accuracy by the temperature sensors 82 and 83 can be increased.

(Modification)
Next, a modification of the electric heater device 10 of the first embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the contact portion 44 has a heat conductive member 91 at a portion in contact with the pipe 21 a of the heat exchange portion 20. The heat conductive member 91 is made of, for example, a heat conductive sheet. According to such a configuration, since the thermal conductivity between the pipe 21a and the contact portion 44 of the heat exchanging unit 20 can be increased, the switching element 81 can be further easily cooled and the temperature sensors 82 and 83 are used. The temperature detection accuracy can be further increased.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the electric heater device 10 will be described. Hereinafter, it demonstrates centering around difference with the electric heater apparatus 10 of 1st Embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 6, the contact portion 44 of this embodiment has a slit 100 formed between a portion where the switching element 81 is provided and a portion where the first temperature sensor 82 is provided. In the contact portion 44, a slit 101 is formed between a portion where the switching element 81 is provided and a portion where the second temperature sensor 83 is provided. The slits 100 and 101 are concave grooves.

According to the electric heater device 10 of the present embodiment described above, the operation and effect shown in the following (4) can be further obtained.
(4) The slit 100 thermally separates the portion where the switching element 81 is provided from the portion where the first temperature sensor 82 is provided, so that the temperature detection accuracy by the first temperature sensor 82 is improved. Can be improved. Similarly, because the slit 101 thermally separates the portion where the switching element 81 is provided from the portion where the second temperature sensor 83 is provided, the temperature detection accuracy by the second temperature sensor 83 is improved. Can be improved.

<Other embodiments>
In addition, each embodiment can also be implemented with the following forms.
The heat conductive member 90 may be eliminated by bringing the switching element 81 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83 into contact with the contact portion 44.

  The contact portion 44 may be provided with only one of the switching element 81 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83. For example, when only the temperature sensors 82 and 83 are provided in the contact portion 44, as shown in FIG. 7, the contact portion 44 has a slit between the first temperature sensor 82 and the second temperature sensor 83. 102 may be formed. Thereby, the effect | action and effect similar to the electric heater apparatus 10 of 2nd Embodiment can be acquired.

The contact portion 44 may be provided with electronic components other than the switching element 81 and the temperature sensors 82 and 83.
The means and / or the function provided by the control device 84 can be provided by software stored in a substantial storage device and a computer that executes the software, software only, hardware only, or a combination thereof. For example, if the controller 84 is provided by an electronic circuit that is hardware, it can be provided by a digital circuit including multiple logic circuits, or an analog circuit.

  -This indication is not limited to said specific example. Any of the above specific examples that are appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the features of the present disclosure. Each element included in each of the specific examples described above, and the arrangement, conditions, shape, and the like thereof are not limited to those illustrated, and can be appropriately changed. Each element included in each of the specific examples described above can be appropriately combined as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

P1: first contact part P2: second contact part 10: electric heater device 20: heat exchange part 21: piping 30: heating element 40: case 44: contact part 50: pressing member 81: switching element (electronic component)
82: First temperature sensor (electronic component)
83: Second temperature sensor (electronic component)
90, 91: Thermally conductive member 100, 101, 102: Slit

Claims (7)

A heat exchange section (20) having a structure in which a plurality of pipes (21) through which water flows are laminated with a predetermined gap;
A heating element (30) disposed between the plurality of pipes and generating heat based on power supply;
A case (40) in which the heat exchanging part and the heating element are housed inside, and a contact part (44) is formed in contact with one end surface of the heat exchanging part in the stacking direction of the plurality of pipes;
A pressing member (50) for pressing the heat exchanging portion against the contact portion;
Electronic components (81, 82, 83) provided in the contact portion;
An electric heater device comprising: The electronic component is
A plurality of the contact portions are provided,
In the contact portion,
The electric heater device according to claim 1, wherein slits (100, 101, 102) are formed between portions where each of the plurality of electronic components is provided. The electronic component includes
The electric heater device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a switching element (81) that constitutes a drive circuit of the heat generating element. The electronic component includes
The electric heater device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a temperature sensor (82, 83). Of the parts of the contact part that are in contact with the heat exchange part, the part of the heat exchange part that is in contact with the most upstream part of the water flow direction is defined as a first contact part (P1). When the part where the most downstream part of the flow direction of the contact is the second contact part (P2),
The temperature sensor is
A first temperature sensor (82) provided in a portion of the contact portion adjacent to the first contact portion;
The electric heater device according to claim 4, comprising a second temperature sensor (83) provided at a portion of the contact portion adjacent to the second contact portion. The contact portion is
The electric heater apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which has a heat conductive member (90) in the part which contacts the said heat exchange part. The contact portion is
The electric heater apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-6 which has a heat conductive member (91) in the part in which the said electronic component is provided.

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