JP6428313B2 - Power converter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power conversion device having a semiconductor module and a reactor.

  For example, a power conversion device that generates driving power for a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or the like includes a reactor that forms a booster circuit that boosts a power supply voltage. As the current supplied to the power converter increases, not only the semiconductor module but also the reactor heat tends to increase. Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes a power conversion device that includes a semiconductor module and a cooler that cools the reactor.

  In the power converter described in Patent Literature 1, a plurality of cooling pipes are stacked together with a semiconductor module and a reactor to form a stacked body. And this laminated body is pressurized from the both sides of the lamination direction, raises the adhesiveness of a semiconductor module, a reactor, and a cooling pipe, and aims at the improvement of cooling performance.

JP 2014-138812 A

  However, in the power conversion device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the reactor is incorporated in the laminate, the laminate is likely to vibrate greatly due to vibrations transmitted from the vehicle body or the like. That is, when a reactor having a large weight is incorporated in a laminated body, the laminated body easily vibrates with respect to the case in a direction orthogonal to the lamination direction. Therefore, the power conversion device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement from the viewpoint of vibration resistance.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a power conversion device capable of improving vibration resistance.

One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor module including a semiconductor element;
A reactor including a coil made of a conductor and a core made of a magnetic material;
A cooler for cooling the semiconductor module and the reactor;
A housing for housing the semiconductor module, the reactor, and the cooler;
The cooler includes a plurality of cooling tubes stacked together with the semiconductor module and the reactor,
The semiconductor module and the reactor are sandwiched by the cooling pipes from both sides in the stacking direction,
The laminate composed of the semiconductor module, the reactor, and the cooling pipe is pressurized in the stacking direction,
The reactor is incorporated in the laminated body in a state in which the axial direction of the coil is orthogonal to the laminating direction, and is fixed in the axial direction with respect to the case by a fixing member. To power converter.

  The said power converter device fixes the reactor integrated in the said laminated body to an axial direction with respect to a case with a fixing member. Therefore, it can suppress that a laminated body vibrates with respect to a case. That is, the vibration of the whole laminated body can be effectively suppressed by fixing the reactor, which is generally heavy in comparison with the semiconductor module, to the case in the axial direction orthogonal to the laminating direction. As a result, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance of the power converter.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a power conversion device capable of improving vibration resistance.

The top view of the power converter device in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. The partial expansion perspective view of the power converter device in Embodiment 1. FIG. The top view of the power converter device which remove | eliminated one side of the division | segmentation core body in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a reactor in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a developed perspective view of the reactor in the first embodiment. The top view of the power converter device in Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7. The top view of the power converter device which removed one side of the division | segmentation core body in Embodiment 2. FIG. The top view of the power converter device in Embodiment 3. FIG. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG. 10. The top view of the power converter device which removed one side of the division | segmentation core body in Embodiment 3. FIG.

(Embodiment 1)
An embodiment of a power conversion device will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the power conversion device 1 includes a semiconductor module 2 including a semiconductor element, a reactor 3 including a coil 31 made of a conductor and a core 32 made of a magnetic material, and a semiconductor module 2. And a cooler 4 that cools the reactor 3, and a semiconductor module 2, the reactor 3, and a case 5 that houses the cooler 4.

  The cooler 4 includes a plurality of cooling pipes 41 stacked together with the semiconductor module 2 and the reactor 3. The semiconductor module 2 and the reactor 3 are sandwiched by cooling pipes 41 from both sides in the stacking direction X, respectively. The stacked body 11 including the semiconductor module 2, the reactor 3, and the cooling pipe 41 is pressurized in the stacking direction X. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reactor 3 is incorporated in the laminate 11 with the axial direction Z of the coil 31 orthogonal to the lamination direction X, and is fixed to the case 5 by the fixing member 6. It is fixed in the axial direction Z. In the present embodiment, the fixing member 6 is disposed so as to penetrate the inside of the coil 31 in the reactor 3 in the axial direction Z.

  In the present specification, simply the stacking direction X and the axial direction Z mean the stacking direction of the stacked body 11 and the axial direction of the coil 31, respectively, and simply the width direction Y means the stacking direction X and the axial direction. It means the direction orthogonal to both Z.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laminate 11 is accommodated in the case 5. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the case 5 includes a substantially rectangular bottom wall portion 51, and side walls erected from one of the four sides of the edge of the bottom wall portion 51 in the normal direction of the bottom wall portion 51. Part 52. The pair of side wall portions 52 opposes the stacking direction X, and the other pair of side wall portions 52 are formed to oppose the width direction Y.
In the following, for convenience, the side where the side wall 52 in the normal direction of the main surface of the bottom wall 51 is erected is referred to as the upper side, and the opposite side is referred to as the lower side.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the bottom wall portion 51 is formed with a substantially cylindrical boss portion 61 protruding upward. A female screw portion 610 is formed on the boss portion 61 from the upper end surface downward. Further, the core 32 of the reactor 3 has a substantially cylindrical through-hole 325 formed through in the axial direction Z on the inner peripheral side of the coil 31. The laminated body 11 is accommodated in the case 5 by inserting the boss portion 61 formed on the bottom wall portion 51 of the case 5 into the through hole 325 of the core 32 of the reactor 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a substantially cylindrical fixing pin 62 is inserted and disposed above the boss portion 61 in the through hole 325. The fixing pin 62 has a bolt insertion hole 620 that penetrates in the axial direction Z. An engaging portion 621 protruding in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction Z is formed at the upper end portion of the fixing pin 62. A recess 326 is formed around the through hole 325 in the upper end portion of the core 32, and the upper end surface of the core 32 recedes downward. The fixing pin 62 is inserted through the through hole 325 of the core 32 so that the engaging portion 621 engages with the concave portion 326 of the reactor 3.

  The bolt 63 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 620 of the fixing pin 62 and screwed into the female screw portion 610 of the boss portion 61 of the case 5. Thereby, the reactor 3 incorporated in the laminated body 11 is fixed to the case 5 in the axial direction Z. That is, the fixing member 6 is constituted by the boss portion 61 of the case 5, the fixing pin 62, and the bolt 63.

  Although not shown, a slight gap is formed between the fixing member 6 and the inner surface of the through hole 325 of the core 32 at least in the stacking direction X. For example, the through hole 325 of the core 32 may be a long hole that is long in the stacking direction X. Thereby, the reactor 3 incorporated in the laminated body 11 can be fixed to the case 5 while absorbing the dimensional tolerance of the laminated body 11 in the lamination direction X.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 to 6, the core 32 of the reactor 3 includes an outer leg 321 disposed on the outer peripheral side of the coil 31, an inner leg 322 disposed on the inner peripheral side of the coil 31, and A base portion 323 that connects the outer leg portion 321 and the inner leg portion 322 is provided. The outer leg 321 is arranged at a position in the width direction Y with respect to the coil 31.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the core 32 of the reactor 3 includes a pair of divided core bodies 320 divided in the axial direction Z. That is, the core 32 is a so-called EE core, and each divided core body 320 has a substantially E-shaped cross section perpendicular to the stacking direction X of the stacked body 11. That is, each divided core body 320 includes a substantially flat base portion 323, a pair of outer leg portions 321 protruding in the axial direction Z from both ends of the base portion 323, and an outer leg portion 321 from the center of the base portion 323. And an inner leg 322 protruding in the same direction. The pair of split core bodies 320 are combined to form the core 32 so that the protruding sides of the outer leg portion 321 and the inner leg portion 322 face each other.

  The core 32 (the divided core body 320) is formed, for example, by compacting soft magnetic powder such as iron powder. However, as long as the core 32 is made of a soft magnetic material, the material and manufacturing method are not particularly limited.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the coil 31 is formed by winding a flat conducting wire in a spiral shape with the main surface thereof facing the axial direction Z. That is, the coil 31 is wound so-called edgewise. Moreover, the flat conducting wire is formed by forming an insulating film such as enamel on the surface.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the coil 31 projects a pair of terminals 312 in the same direction of the axial direction Z. The pair of terminals 312 are drawn from the side of the coil 31 close to the semiconductor module 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the coil 31 is combined with the core 32 in a state where the inner leg 322 of the core 32 is inserted on the inner peripheral side thereof. That is, the coil 31 is arranged in a state where it is wound around the inner leg portion 322 of the core 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the coil 31 has a coil exposed surface 311 exposed from the core 32 in at least one of the stacking directions X. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, in the present embodiment, the coil 31 has coil exposed surfaces 311 on both sides in the stacking direction X. The coil exposed surface 311 is in contact with the cooling pipe 41. That is, the coil exposed surface 311 is in contact with the cooling pipe 41 without the core 32 interposed. The coil exposed surface 311 may be in direct contact with the cooling pipe 41 or may be in contact with a member having thermal conductivity. The coil 31 is formed by winding a conductor wire having an insulating coating on the surface, and the insulating coating is present on the coil exposed surface 311.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the coil 31 is formed with flat surfaces on both end surfaces in the stacking direction X, and this flat surface is a coil exposed surface 311. In addition, flat surfaces are formed on both end faces of the coil 31 in the width direction Y. In this example, the coil 31 is larger in dimension in the stacking direction X than in the width direction Y, but is not limited thereto.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the core 32 has a core end surface 324 that is flush with the coil exposed surface 311, and both the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 are in surface contact with the cooling pipe 41. doing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, an insulating member 33 is interposed between the coil 31 and the core 32 for electrical insulation between them. For example, the insulating member 33 may be formed by assembling a pre-molded resin molded body together with the coil 31 and the core 32, or after combining the coil 31 and the core 32, in the gap between the coil 31 and the core 32. Alternatively, the liquid resin may be filled and solidified. Further, the insulating member 33 may be in other forms such as insulating paper.

  The insulating member 33 is arranged in contact with the coil 31 and the core 32. At least in the stacking direction X, the coil 31 is in contact with the inner leg 322 via the insulating member 33, and the load in the stacking direction X is transmitted between the coil 31 and the inner leg 322. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cooler 4 is formed by laminating a plurality of cooling pipes 41 having the width direction Y as a longitudinal direction, and is connected to each other by connecting pipes 42 in the vicinity of both ends in the width direction Y. It becomes. Further, a refrigerant introduction pipe 431 for introducing the refrigerant into the cooler 4 and a refrigerant discharge pipe 432 for discharging the refrigerant from the cooler 4 are provided at one end in the stacking direction X. For convenience, the side of the cooler 4 (laminated body 11) where the refrigerant introduction pipe 431 and the refrigerant discharge pipe 432 are provided is referred to as the front side, and the opposite side is referred to as the rear side. The stacked body 11 is accommodated in the case 5 through the refrigerant introduction pipe 431 and the refrigerant discharge pipe 432 from the side wall portion 52 at the front end of the case 5.

  The stacked body 11 is formed by disposing the semiconductor modules 2 in a plurality of gaps provided between the plurality of cooling pipes 41 in the cooler 4. Among the gaps between the cooling pipes 41 in the cooler 4, the reactor 3 is disposed in the rearmost gap. The gap in which the reactor 3 is arranged has a larger dimension in the stacking direction X than the gap in which the semiconductor module 2 is arranged. Therefore, the connecting pipe 42 that connects the pair of cooling pipes 41 that sandwich the reactor 3 is longer than the other connecting pipes 42.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the reactor 3 is in surface contact with the pair of cooling pipes 41 on the pair of coil exposed surfaces 311 and the pair of core end surfaces 324, respectively. That is, the cooling surface of the cooling pipe 41 which is a flat surface is in surface contact with both the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 which are the same flat surface. The cooling pipe 41, the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 are in close contact with each other while being pressed in the stacking direction X.
The semiconductor module 2 and the cooling pipe 41 are also pressed and in close contact with each other in surface contact with each other.

  The stacked body 11 is pressurized in the stacking direction X. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front end surface of the laminate 11 is in contact with the side wall portion 52 disposed in front of the laminate 11, and the pressure member is disposed on the rear end side of the laminate 11. 7 is arranged. The pressing member 7 pressurizes the rear end surface 111 of the stacked body 11 in the stacking direction X toward the front. The pressure member 7 is made of, for example, a leaf spring, and is interposed between the rear end surface 111 of the multilayer body 11 and the side wall portion 52 of the case 5 facing the rear end surface 111 in a state of being compressed and elastically deformed in the stacking direction X. It is installed. However, the configuration and arrangement of the pressure member 7 are not particularly limited.

  The refrigerant introduced from the refrigerant introduction pipe 431 passes through the connection pipe 42 as appropriate, is distributed to each cooling pipe 41, and flows in the longitudinal direction (width direction Y) via the refrigerant flow path inside the cooling pipe 41. . The refrigerant exchanges heat between the semiconductor module 2 and the reactor 3 while flowing through each cooling pipe 41. The cooling medium whose temperature has been increased by heat exchange passes through the downstream connecting pipe 42 as appropriate, is led to the refrigerant discharge pipe 432, and is discharged from the cooler 4.

  Examples of the refrigerant include natural refrigerants such as water and ammonia, water mixed with ethylene glycol antifreeze, fluorocarbon refrigerants such as Fluorinert (trademark), chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants such as HCFC123 and HFC134a, methanol, alcohol, and the like. A refrigerant such as an alcohol refrigerant or a ketone refrigerant such as acetone can be used.

  The power conversion device 1 is mounted on, for example, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or the like, and is used as an inverter that converts power supply power to drive power necessary for driving a drive motor.

Next, the effect of this embodiment is demonstrated.
The power conversion device 1 is formed by fixing a reactor 3 incorporated in a laminated body 11 in an axial direction Z with respect to a case 5 by a fixing member 6. Therefore, the laminate 11 can be prevented from vibrating with respect to the case 5. That is, in general, the reactor 3, which is a heavy object compared to the semiconductor module 2, is fixed to the case 5 in the axial direction Z orthogonal to the stacking direction X, thereby effectively suppressing the vibration of the entire stacked body 11. be able to. As a result, the vibration resistance of the power conversion device 1 can be improved.

  The fixing member 6 is disposed so as to penetrate the inside of the coil 31 in the reactor 3 in the axial direction Z. Therefore, the heat inside the reactor 3 that is likely to become high temperature can be radiated to the case 5 via the fixing member 6. Thereby, the heat dissipation of the reactor 3 can be improved.

Moreover, the reactor 3 is incorporated in the laminated body 11 in a state of being sandwiched between the cooling pipes 41 from both sides in the laminating direction X. Thereby, the reactor 3 can be cooled from both sides of the stacking direction X.
The coil 31 has a coil exposed surface 311, and the coil exposed surface 311 is in contact with the cooling pipe 41. As a result, the heat of the coil 31 can be radiated directly from the coil exposed surface 311 to the cooling pipe 41. That is, since the coil 31 which is the main heat generation source in the reactor 3 can be directly cooled by the cooler 4, the cooling efficiency of the reactor 3 can be improved.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a power converter that can improve vibration resistance.

(Embodiment 2)
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the reactor 3 includes a reactor case 34 in which the coil 31 and the core 32 are accommodated. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the reactor case 34 has a substantially rectangular reactor bottom wall part 341 and a reactor side wall part 342 erected upward from the edge of the bottom wall part. As shown in FIG. 8, an opening hole 340 for inserting the boss portion 61 of the case is formed in the reactor bottom wall portion 341. The reactor case 34 is made of a metal having thermal conductivity.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 are in contact with the reactor side wall portion 342 of the reactor case 34. A surface of the reactor side wall portion 342 opposite to the surface exposed to the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 is in contact with the cooling pipe 41. Thereby, the coil exposed surface 311 and the core end surface 324 are in thermal contact with the cooling pipe 41. That is, the coil exposed surface 311 is in thermal contact with the cooling pipe 41 via the reactor case 34 having thermal conductivity without the core 32 interposed.

  Others are the same as in the first embodiment. Of the reference numerals used in the second and subsequent embodiments, the same reference numerals as those used in the above-described embodiments represent the same components as those in the above-described embodiments unless otherwise indicated.

In the present embodiment, the rigidity of the reactor 3 can be improved.
In addition, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are obtained.

(Embodiment 3)
This embodiment changes the arrangement | positioning location of the fixing member 6 with respect to Embodiment 1 as shown in FIGS. That is, the fixing members 6 are disposed at both ends of the reactor 3 in the width direction Y.

  In the present embodiment, a pair of boss portions 61 are formed on the bottom wall portion 51 of the case 5. The pair of boss portions 61 are aligned in the width direction Y.

  The core 32 is formed with a notch 327 in which both end surfaces in the width direction Y are recessed toward the inside of the core 32. The notch 327 is formed in the entire region of the core 32 in the axial direction Z. The notch 327 has a substantially semicircular shape when viewed from the axial direction Z. The reactor 3 is accommodated in the case 5 along the pair of boss portions 61 along the pair of cutout portions 327.

  And the fixing pin 62 is distribute | arranged to the upper side of a pair of boss | hub part 61, respectively. The bolt 63 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 620 of the fixing pin 62 and screwed into the female screw portion 610 of the boss portion 61, thereby forming a pair of fixing members 6.

Although not shown, a slight gap is formed at least in the stacking direction X between the pair of fixing members 6 and the inner surface of the cutout portion 327 of the core 32.
Others are the same as in the first embodiment.
This embodiment also has the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it is possible to apply to various embodiment other than the above. For example, the arrangement position of the reactor in the stacked body is not limited to the clearance at the rear end of the stacked body, but may be other arrangement positions such as the clearance at the front end.

  Further, the shape and the arrangement location of the fixing member can be applied to various embodiments other than those described above. For example, the engaging part of the fixing pin may be configured as a separate member from the fixing pin. As such a configuration, for example, an annular engaging portion may be sandwiched between a fixing pin and a bolt. Further, the engaging portion may be a plate spring that can be elastically deformed in the axial direction and may be sandwiched between the fixing pin and the bolt. Thereby, the engaging part which is a leaf | plate spring can be fixed to a case, pressing a reactor elastically to an axial direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power converter 11 Laminated body 2 Semiconductor module 3 Reactor 31 Coil 32 Core 4 Cooler 41 Cooling pipe 5 Case 6 Fixing member X Stacking direction Z-axis direction

Claims (3)

A semiconductor module (2) comprising a semiconductor element;
A reactor (3) including a coil (31) made of a conductor and a core (32) made of a magnetic material;
A cooler (4) for cooling the semiconductor module (2) and the reactor (3);
A case (5) for housing the semiconductor module (2), the reactor (3), and the cooler (4);
The cooler (4) includes a plurality of cooling pipes (41) stacked together with the semiconductor module (2) and the reactor (3),
The semiconductor module (2) and the reactor (3) are sandwiched by the cooling pipe (41) from both sides in the stacking direction (X),
The stacked body (11) including the semiconductor module (2), the reactor (3), and the cooling pipe (41) is pressurized in the stacking direction (X),
The reactor (3) is incorporated in the laminated body (11) in a state where the axial direction (Z) of the coil (31) is orthogonal to the laminating direction (X), and the fixing member (6). Thus, the power converter (1) is fixed in the axial direction (Z) with respect to the case (5).   The said conversion member (6) is arrange | positioned so that the inner side of the said coil (31) in the said reactor (3) may be penetrated to an axial direction (Z), The power conversion of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Device (1).   The coil (31) has a coil exposed surface (311) exposed in at least one of the stacking directions (X) from the core (32), and the coil exposed surface (311) is connected to the cooling pipe (41). The power converter (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the power converter (1) is in contact.

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