JP7110602B2 - Electrical component module - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electrical component module attached to a machine room behind a service panel in front of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner.

A typical air conditioner, as shown in FIG. 12, includes an outdoor unit 10 installed outdoors and an indoor unit 20 installed indoors. The outdoor unit 10 and the indoor unit 20 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 30 to form a vapor compression refrigeration cycle.

The outdoor unit 10 includes an outdoor heat exchanger 11 that exchanges heat between the outdoor air and the refrigerant, a blower fan 11F, a compressor 12 that compresses the refrigerant, and lubricant discharged from the compressor 12 and a mixed fluid of the refrigerant. An oil separator 13 for separation, an expansion valve 14 for expanding the inflowing refrigerant and decompressing it to a predetermined pressure, an accumulator 15 for gas-liquid separation of the inflowing refrigerant, a four-way valve 16 for switching between heating operation and cooling operation, etc. are provided. there is Further, the indoor unit 20 is provided with an indoor heat exchanger 21 that exchanges heat between indoor air and a refrigerant, a blower fan 21F, and the like. Refrigerant piping 30 connects these outdoor heat exchanger 11 , compressor 12 , oil separator 13 , expansion valve 14 , accumulator 15 , four-way valve 16 and indoor heat exchanger 21 . The refrigerant pipe 30 includes a liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L and a gas-side refrigerant pipe 30G.

As shown in FIG. 13, the interior of the housing 17 of the outdoor unit 10 is partitioned into a heat exchanger chamber 10A and a mechanical chamber 10B in the left-right direction by a partition plate 171. Exchanger 11 and blower fan 11F are arranged. The machine room 10B accommodates the compressor 12, the oil separator 13, the expansion valve 14, the accumulator 15, the four-way valve 16, and the like. By removing the , it is visible from the outside.

In the machine room 10B, an electrical component module 40 is further arranged at a substantially intermediate position in the vertical direction. The electrical component module 40 includes a control circuit for controlling the overall operation of the air conditioner, a setting circuit for performing various settings of the air conditioner, a display circuit for displaying the state of the air conditioner, and an externally supplied alternating current. It is a module equipped with a converter circuit that converts electric power into DC power and outputs it, an inverter circuit that converts the DC power output from the converter circuit into AC power and outputs it, and other circuits. Multiple electronic components are mounted to realize the circuit. The printed circuit board 41 is configured by one sheet so as to secure a piping space on the inner side of the machine room 10B.

FIG. 14 shows the front of the electrical component module 40 . The printed circuit board 41 is installed in the machine room 10B in an upright posture. The printed circuit board 41 is vertically divided into a weak current region 41A and a strong current region 41B.

In the weak current area 41A, there are electronic parts such as a microcomputer that constitutes a part of the control circuit, electronic parts for operation such as a switch 41A1 that constitutes a setting circuit, a low power connector 41A2 for plugging/unplugging, and a display circuit. light-current electronic components such as the LED 41A3 constituting the are mounted. In addition, in the high-voltage area 41B, a plurality of high-voltage electronic components for performing power conversion constituting the rest of the control circuit described above, for example, a power device 41B1 forming a part of an IC of a converter circuit or an IC of an inverter circuit. , a smoothing large-capacity electrolytic capacitor 41B2, a high-power connector 41B3, a switching power supply circuit (not shown), and the like are mounted.

A cooler 50 for cooling the heat generated by the power device 41B1 is further arranged in the high-voltage region 41B. This cooler 50 has a heat sink (not shown) shaped to be attached to the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L of the refrigerant pipe 30 . The heat sink is arranged facing the service panel (not shown) on the front side of the printed circuit board 41 that is thermally coupled to conduct the heat generated by the power device 41B1. Refrigerant condensed by the outdoor heat exchanger 11 flows through the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L during cooling operation, and refrigerant condensed by the indoor heat exchanger 21 and depressurized by the expansion valve 14 flows through the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L during heating operation. The heat sink of cooler 50 is cooled, and the temperature of power device 41B1 is kept below a predetermined value. The air conditioner described above is described in Patent Document 1.

Japanese Patent No. 5472364

However, in the outdoor unit 10 described above, the weak-current electronic components are arranged in the weak-current area 41A1 and the strong-current electronic components are arranged in the strong-current area 41A2. Therefore, there is a problem that the size of the printed circuit board 41 in the vertical direction becomes large, and the printed circuit board 41 cannot be applied to the outdoor unit 10 having a small vertical space in the machine room 10B. Further, since the power device 41B1 is arranged on the front side of the electrical component module 40, the cooler 50 for cooling it and the liquid side refrigerant pipe 30L are also arranged on the front side of the electrical component module 40. A special device is required to attach and detach the electrical component module 40 . Furthermore, since the printed circuit board 41 is mounted with noise sources such as the above-described converter circuit including the power device 41B1, an inverter circuit, and a switching power supply circuit (not shown), noise on the printed circuit board 41 may have an effect. In order to protect sensitive electronic components, special noise countermeasures are required. Furthermore, special noise countermeasures are required to prevent malfunction due to noise entering the port of a control IC such as a microcomputer.

The object of the present invention is to be able to be effectively applied to an outdoor unit having a housing with little room in the vertical space, to be easily attached to and detached from a machine room, and to eliminate the need for special noise countermeasures. It is to provide an electrical component module.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 provides an electrical component module installed in a machine room behind a service panel in front of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having refrigerant pipes. A main board on which electronic parts constituting a part of the control circuit that performs control is mounted on the front, and electronic parts that become noise sources, including power devices that constitute the rest of the control circuit, are mounted on the front. a power board; and a fixing plate on which the main board and the power board are mounted so that the back surface of the main board faces the front surface and the back surface of the power board faces the back surface, and the main board is mounted in the machine room. In the electrical component module, the fixing plate is attached so that the front surface of the substrate faces the service panel, and the outdoor unit is attached to a part of the refrigerant pipe so that the outdoor unit faces the service panel. A cooler is provided, and the power device is pressed against and thermally coupled to the cooler, and includes an elongated upper frame that attaches the upper part of the fixing plate to the machine room, and a lower part of the fixing plate. An elongated lower frame attached to the machine room is provided, and the cooler is attached so as to straddle the upper frame and the lower frame .
The invention according to claim 2 is the electrical component module according to claim 1 , wherein one end of the upper frame is attached to a partition plate forming a wall surface of the machine room, and the other end is attached to the cooler. One end of the lower frame is attached to the partition plate of the machine room and the other end is attached to the cooler.
The invention according to claim 3 is the electrical component module according to claim 2 , wherein the power device is positioned between the other end of the upper frame and the other end of the lower frame.
The invention according to claim 4 is the electrical component module according to claim 1, 2 or 3 , wherein the cooler comprises: a heat sink thermally coupled to the power device; and a cover for coupling to an electrical component module.

According to the present invention, the main board is mounted on the front side of the fixing plate, and the power board is mounted on the back side of the fixing plate. , and can be effectively applied to an outdoor unit having a casing with little margin in the vertical space of the machine room. Also, the power device mounted on the power board on the back side of the fixing plate is thermally coupled to the cooler, so that it is effectively cooled. Furthermore, since the cooler faces the direction of the service panel, the cooler does not interfere when the electrical component module is attached or detached from the front of the machine room. Furthermore, electronic components that generate noise are mounted on the power board. The power board is surrounded by the fixing plate, the housing of the outdoor unit, the partition plate, etc., and the fixing plate, the housing of the outdoor unit, the partition plate, etc. exert a shielding effect, so it is a large-scale noise countermeasure for the main board. becomes unnecessary.

1 is a perspective view of an outdoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a perspective view of the same outdoor unit which removed the service panel. It is a perspective view of the same outdoor unit in the state which removed the electrical component module from the machine room. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical component module and a cooler; FIG. 4 is an explanatory drawing for attaching the upper frame and the lower frame to the partition plate; It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an electrical component module. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 6; It is the top view which removed the top panel of the outdoor unit. It is the right side view which removed the right side panel of the outdoor unit. It is a front view of a main board. It is a front view of a power board. 1 is a circuit diagram of a refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner; FIG. It is the front view which removed the service panel of the conventional outdoor unit. FIG. 10 is a front view of a conventional electrical component module;

1 to 3, 8 and 9 show an outdoor unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The housing 110 of the outdoor unit 100 includes a front panel 111, a service panel 112 on the right side of the front panel 111, a right side panel 113, a left side panel 114, a top panel 115, a rear panel 116, and a bottom panel 117. A stand 118 is attached to the bottom panel 117 . The housing 110 is partitioned in the left-right direction by a partition plate 119 such that the back side of the front panel 111 is a heat exchanger chamber 110A and the back side of the service panel 112 is a machine chamber 110B. The partition plate 119 forms part of the wall surface of the machine room 110B. The outdoor heat exchanger 11 and the blower fan 11F are arranged in the heat exchanger chamber 110A. The machine room 110B houses the refrigerant pipe 30, the compressor 12, the expansion valve 14, the accumulator 15, the sub-accumulator 15A, the four-way valve 16, and the like. The machine room 110B can be visually recognized from the front side of the outdoor unit 100 by removing the service panel 112 .

Reference numeral 200 denotes an electrical component module which, as shown in FIGS. A long-shaped upper frame 220, a long-shaped lower frame 230 to which the lower part of the fixing plate 210 is attached, a mounting bracket 240 for mounting the upper frame 220 to the partition plate 119, and a mounting bracket for mounting the lower frame 230 to the partition plate 119. 250, a main board 260 on which electronic components and other electronic components that make up a part of the control circuit are mounted, electronic components and other electronic components that make up the rest of the control circuit, and a power device 274, which will be described later. It has a power board 270 to be mounted.

In this way, the printed board of the electrical component module 200 is divided into the main board 260 and the power board 270. The main board 260 is attached to the fixing plate 210 so that the back surface 260b, which will be described later, faces the front surface 211a, which will be described later. , and the power board 270 is mounted on the fixing plate 210 so that the rear surface 270b described later faces the rear surface 211b of the fixing plate 210 described later.

A cooler 300 is attached to the upper frame 220 and the lower frame 230 so as to straddle the upper frame 220 and the lower frame 230 in a state where the U-shaped bent portion 31 of the refrigerant pipe 30L is attached as described later. .

The fixed plate 210 includes a main body portion 211 having a main substrate 260 mounted on a front surface 211a and a power substrate 270 mounted on a rear surface 211b, and a reinforcing member bent at 90 degrees from the upper end of the main body portion 211 toward the rear surface 211b. It has an upper horizontal piece 212 and an upper vertical piece 213 for attachment bent upward at 90 degrees from the rear end of the bent piece 212 . A lower horizontal piece 214 for reinforcement bent from the lower end of the main body 211 toward the front surface 211a at 90 degrees, and a lower vertical piece 215 bent downward at 90 degrees from the front end of the lower horizontal piece 214 are provided. Prepare. Both ends of the lower vertical piece 215 are provided with mounting portions 215a protruding downward.

The upper frame 220 includes a vertical piece 221 screwed to the upper vertical piece 213 of the fixing plate 210, an upper horizontal piece 222 for reinforcement bent backward at 90 degrees from the upper end of the vertical piece 221, and the vertical piece 211. and a mounting piece 223 that is bent forward at 45 degrees from the left end thereof. 224 is the end to which the cooler 300 is attached.

The lower frame 230 consists of a lower vertical piece 231 screwed to the lower vertical piece 215 of the fixing plate 210 , an upper horizontal piece 232 bent backward at 90 degrees from the upper end of the lower vertical piece 231 , and an upper horizontal piece 232 . It has a reinforcing upper vertical piece 233 bent upward from the inner end at 90 degrees, and a mounting piece 234 bent forward from the left end of the lower vertical piece 231 at 45 degrees. A terminal plate 400 is attached to the front side of the lower vertical piece 231 . 235 is the end to which the cooler 300 is attached.

The cooler 300 includes an aluminum heat sink 310 thermally coupled to a power device 274 (to be described later) mounted on the front surface 270a of the power board 270, and two heat sinks having a semicircular cross section formed on the heat sink 310. It is composed of a U-shaped bent portion 31 of the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L fitted in the groove 311 and a sheet metal cover 320 for fixing the U-shaped bent portion 31 to the heat sink 310 . In addition to the groove 311 , the heat sink 310 has a thick plate portion 312 against which the power device 274 is pressed and thermally coupled, and cover mounting portions 313 and 314 formed on both sides of the thick plate portion 312 . The cover 320 includes a central pressing portion 321 that presses the U-shaped bent portion 31 of the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L, a hook portion 322 bent from one end of the pressing portion 321, and a hook portion extending from the other end of the pressing portion 321. 322 and a mounting portion 323 that is bent to face.

On the front surface 260a of the main board 260, electronic parts constituting part of the control circuit and other electronic parts are mounted as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, an LED lamp 261a as an indicator, a display setting circuit 261 including DIP switches 261b and button switches 261c as operation units, and a control IC 262 such as a microcomputer forming part of the control circuit. , a plurality of connectors 263 arranged in the periphery, an EMC (ElectroMagnetic Compatibility) filter circuit 264 for countermeasures against external noise and spontaneous noise including a capacitor 264a and a common mode choke coil 264b, and drive the expansion valve 14 and the four-way valve 16. An actuator drive circuit 265 and a temperature detection circuit 266 connected to a thermistor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the pipe 30 are mounted. 260b is the back side. 260c is the upper end, 260d is the lower end, 260e is the left end, and 260f is the right end. The main substrate 260 is mounted on the front surface 211a of the main body portion 211 of the fixing plate 210 so that the back surface 260b faces the front surface 211a.

On the front surface 270a of the power board 270 are mounted electronic components including a power device 274, which will be described later, and which constitutes the rest of the control circuit as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, a diode bridge 271a for rectification, an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) element 271b in which a MOS transistor is incorporated in the gate portion of a bipolar transistor to reduce operating resistance, and an FRD (Fast Recovery Diode) for high-speed operation. ) element 271c, a PFC (Power Factor Correction) coil 271d for improving the power factor, and an electrolytic capacitor 271e for smoothing large power. These diode bridge 271a, IGBT element 271b, FRD element 271c, PFC coil 271d, electrolytic capacitor 271e, etc. constitute a converter circuit 271 that converts AC power supplied from the outside into DC power and outputs the DC power. Further, an IPM (Intelligent Power Module) element 272 is mounted, which constitutes an inverter circuit that incorporates a drive circuit and a self-protection function and converts DC power supplied from the converter circuit 271 into AC power for output. Furthermore, elements such as a switching transformer 273a and a switching IC 273b that constitute a switching power supply circuit 273 are also mounted. 270b is the back side. 270c is the upper end, 270d is the lower end, 270e is the left end, and 270f is the right end. A diode bridge 271a, an IGBT element 271b, an FRD element 271c, an IPM element 272, and the like are power devices 274 that generate a large amount of heat, and are mounted in tandem near the left end 270e. The power board 270 is mounted on the back surface 211b of the main body 211 of the fixing plate 210 so that the back surface 270b faces the back surface 211b. Cooler 300 is abutted against a portion of power device 274 . In addition to noise sources (not shown) other than the power device 274 and switching power supply circuit 273, which are sources of noise, electronic circuits that are not sources of noise are also mounted on the power board 270, if necessary. The IGBT element 271b may be replaced with a MOSFET.

The electronic components mounted on the main substrate 260 and the power substrate 270 described above are merely examples, and can be changed within the scope of the present invention. The electronic components mounted on the main substrate 260 are low-voltage electronic components that operate at low voltages, and the electronic components mounted on the power substrate 270 are high-voltage electronic components that operate at high voltages. Strong current electronic components generate more heat and generate more noise than weak current electronic components.

To dispose the electrical component module 200 in the machine room 110B of the outdoor unit 100, first, the mounting bracket 240 having the slope 241 and the mounting bracket 250 having the slope 251 are attached to the partition plate 119 in advance. 5, the mounting piece 223 of the upper frame 220 is screwed to the slope 241 of the mounting bracket 240, and the mounting piece 234 of the lower frame 230 is screwed to the slope 251 of the mounting bracket 250. As shown in FIG. As a result, the upper frame 220 and the lower frame 230 are attached to the partition plate 119 in a horizontal posture in a cantilevered manner.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the heat sink 310 of the cooler 300 is attached to the screw B1 so as to straddle between the end 224 of the vertical piece 221 of the upper frame 220 and the end 235 of the upper vertical piece 233 of the lower frame 230 . , B2. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, after the U-shaped bent portion 31 of the refrigerant pipe 30L is pressed against the groove 311 of the heat sink 310, the hook portion 322 of the cover 320 is engaged with one of the cover mounting portions 313 of the heat sink 310. Then, the pressing portion 323 is pressed against the other cover mounting portion 314 of the heat sink 310, and the pressing portion 323 is fixed to the cover mounting portion 314 with screws B3 and B4. This work is performed with the rear panel 116 of the outdoor unit 100 removed. As described above, the cooler 300 is attached so as to straddle between the end portion 224 of the upper frame 220 and the end portion 235 of the lower frame 230 and so that the thick plate portion 312 of the heat sink 310 faces the service panel 112. .

Also, the main board 260 is mounted on the front surface 211a of the body portion 211 of the fixing plate 210, and the power board 260 is mounted on the rear surface 211b. Then, the fixed plate 210 on which the main substrate 260 and the power substrate 270 are mounted is fitted with its upper vertical piece 213 to the vertical piece 221 of the upper frame 220 and its lower vertical piece 215 to the lower vertical piece 231 of the lower frame 230. Install with screws B5 and B6 as shown. At this time, the mounting piece 223 of the upper frame 220 and the mounting piece 234 of the lower frame 230 are mounted to the partition plate 119 by the mounting bracket 240 and the mounting bracket 250, respectively, and the other end 224 of the upper frame 220 and the lower frame 230 Since the other end 235 is fixed to the U-shaped bent portion 31 of the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 30L by the cooler 300, the fixing plate 210 is firmly fixed. Also, the power devices 274 of the power board 270 are pressed face-to-face against the thick plate portion 312 of the heat sink 310 of the cooler 300 where they are thermally coupled. Therefore, when the air conditioner starts operating, the heat generated by power device 274 is cooled by cooler 300 . By applying heat-dissipating grease with high thermal conductivity to the thick plate portion 312 of the heat sink 310, thermal coupling is improved. After the electrical component module 200 is attached to the machine room 110B as described above, the connector 263 of the main substrate 260 of the electrical component module 200 is connected to a plug to which the required wiring is connected, and the terminal board 400 is connected to the required wiring. another wiring is connected.

As described above, in this embodiment, the main substrate 260 and the power substrate 270 are mounted on the fixing plate 210 with the fixing plate 210 attached to the machine room 110B interposed therebetween. The vertical size of the main board 260 and the power board 270 can be significantly reduced compared to the vertical size of the printed circuit board when the main board 260 and the power board 270 are vertically arranged as one board, and the upper and lower spaces have little margin. It can be effectively applied to an outdoor unit having

Further, the lower vertical piece 231 of the lower frame 230 protrudes forward from the fixing plate 210 by means of the upper horizontal piece 232, and the terminal plate 400 is attached to the front surface 231a of the lower vertical piece 231, so that the terminal plate 400 protrudes forward. In addition, since a wide space SP is formed in the back surface 231b of the lower vertical piece 231, the lower frame 230 does not interfere with the piping or the like arranged in the space SP.

Also, the power device 274 mounted on the power board 270 is thermally coupled to the cooler 300 on the back surface 211b side of the fixing plate 210, but is only pressed against the cooler 300, so that the screws If B5 and B6 are loosened, the fixed plate 210, the main board 260, and the power board 270 can be removed from the front of the machine room 110B as a unit without being obstructed by the cooler 300, and the main board 260 and Maintenance of the power board 270 becomes easy.

The main board 260 has a display setting circuit 261 including an LED lamp 261a, a DIP switch 261b, a button switch 261c, and a plurality of connectors 263 on its front surface 260a. By simply removing the connector 263, you can check the contents of the operation of the air conditioner by the display contents of the LED lamp 261a, change the setting contents by operating the DIP switch 261b or the button switch 261c, or connect the plug to the connector 263. It becomes easy to switch the circuit connection by plugging and unplugging.

In addition, the converter circuit 271, the inverter circuit 272, the switching power supply circuit 273, and other noise sources that generate noise are collectively mounted on the power board 270. FIG. The power board 270 is entirely covered with the fixing plate 210, the partition plate 119, the right side panel 113 forming the housing 110, the top panel 115, the rear panel 116, the bottom panel 117, and the like. Therefore, the noise generated at the noise source of the power board 270 is effectively shielded, and the noise can be prevented from affecting the electronic components mounted on the main board 260 side. becomes unnecessary.

30L: liquid side refrigerant pipe, 31: U-shaped bent portion 100: outdoor unit, 110: housing, 110A: heat exchanger room, 110B: machine room, 111: front panel, 112: service panel, 113: right side Panel 114: Left side panel 115: Top panel 116: Rear panel 117: Bottom panel 118: Stand 119: Partition plate 200: Electrical component module 210: Fixing plate 211: Main body 211a: Front , 211b: back surface, 212: upper horizontal piece, 213: upper vertical piece, 214: lower horizontal piece, 215: lower vertical piece, 220: upper frame, 221: vertical piece, 222: horizontal piece, 223: mounting piece, 224: End 230: Lower frame 231: Lower vertical piece 232: Upper horizontal piece 233: Upper vertical piece 234: Mounting piece 235: End 240: Mounting bracket 241: Slope 250: Mounting bracket 251: Slope 260: Main Board 260a: Front 260b: Back 270: Power Board 270a: Front 270b: Back 274: Power Device 300: Cooler 310: Heat Sink 320: Cover 400: Terminal Board

Claims (4)

In an electrical component module installed in a machine room behind a service panel in front of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having refrigerant pipes,
A main board on which electronic parts constituting part of the control circuit for controlling the air conditioner are mounted on the front, and electronic parts that become noise sources including power devices constituting the remaining part of the control circuit. a power board mounted on the front; and a fixing plate on which the main board and the power board are mounted so that the back of the main board faces the front and the back of the power board faces the back. An electrical component module in which the fixing plate is mounted in the chamber so that the front surface of the main board faces the service panel,
The outdoor unit includes a cooler attached to a portion of the refrigerant pipe so as to face the service panel, and the power device is pressed against and thermally coupled to the cooler ,
An elongated upper frame for attaching the upper part of the fixed plate to the machine room and an elongated lower frame for attaching the lower part of the fixed plate to the machine room, wherein the cooler comprises the upper frame and the lower frame. An electrical component module, characterized in that it is attached so as to straddle the . In the electrical component module according to claim 1 ,
One end of the upper frame is attached to a partition plate forming a wall surface of the machine room and the other end is attached to the cooler. One end of the lower frame is attached to the partition plate of the machine room and the other end is An electrical component module attached to the cooler. In the electrical component module according to claim 2 ,
The electrical component module, wherein the power device is positioned between the other end of the upper frame and the other end of the lower frame. In the electrical component module according to claim 1, 2 or 3 ,
The electrical component module, wherein the cooler has a heat sink thermally coupled to the power device, and a cover for thermally coupling the heat sink and the coolant pipe.

Images