JP7490375B2 - Reactor - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a reactor.

Reactors are used in a variety of applications, including drive systems for hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. A reactor has a reactor body that has a core and a coil attached around the core. The core is insulated from the coil by a resin member. The reactor body is housed in a case made of a metal such as aluminum, and a filler is injected and solidified between the reactor body and the case.

The coil is made by winding a conductor. The beginning and end of the coil form a pair of lead-out ends for connecting to external equipment. The lead-out ends of the coil are connected to one end of a conductive bus bar. The other end of the bus bar is extended to the outside of the case and fixed to a terminal block as a connection terminal for connecting to external equipment.

JP 2019-121665 A

The terminal blocks are often placed together in a specific location on the case to accommodate the installation position of the reactor and the installation position of the external equipment connected to it. This can result in a long distance from the coil's lead-out end to the terminal block. In such cases, it is necessary to lengthen the busbar. Also, the busbar needs to be spaced apart from the reactor body to ensure insulation from the reactor body. However, if the busbar is routed around the edge of the case, avoiding the reactor body, the busbar becomes very long.

When the busbar becomes long like this, it becomes more susceptible to vibration, and the busbar may vibrate due to vibrations of the reactor body and external vibrations, which may even cause resonance. If the vibration of the busbar continues like this, it can cause poor connection between the lead-out end of the coil and the end of the busbar. In particular, when resonance occurs, a force several times greater than that caused by vibrations of the reactor body and external vibrations is applied, so measures to prevent this are necessary. Furthermore, when the busbar is long, the position of the end of the busbar is easily unstable. This makes it difficult to position the end of the busbar when connecting it to the lead-out end of the coil.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a reactor in which the busbar position is stable and less prone to vibration.

The reactor of the present invention includes a reactor body having a core and a coil attached to the core, a case that houses the reactor body inside, a terminal block formed of a resin material and provided on the outside of the case, supporting a connection terminal for electrical connection to the outside, a bus bar that is a conductive member having one end electrically connected to the drawn-out end of the coil, extends in a direction intersecting the winding axis direction of the coil so as to straddle the reactor body in the case without contact, and has the other end supported by the terminal block as the connection terminal, and a fixed portion formed of a resin material in which a portion of the bus bar is embedded and fixed to the case.

According to the present invention, by shortening the busbar so that it straddles the reactor body and fixing it to the case with a fixing part, it is possible to provide a reactor in which the position of the busbar is stable and which is less prone to vibration.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reactor according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a reactor body. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a case and a resin member. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a bus bar and a terminal block.

The reactor according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the reactor 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the reactor body 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the case 3 and the filled molding portion R, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the bus bar 4 and the terminal block 5.

[overview]
The reactor 100 is an electromagnetic component that converts electric energy into magnetic energy and stores and releases it, and is used for stepping up and down voltages, etc. In this embodiment, the reactor 100 is a large-capacity reactor used in the drive systems of hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, for example. The reactor 100 is a main component of a step-up circuit mounted in these vehicles.

The reactor 100 has a reactor body 1, a case 3, a bus bar 4, a terminal block 5, and a fixed portion 6. The reactor body 1 includes a core 10 (see FIG. 2) and a coil 20 attached to the core 10. In this embodiment, the coil 20 includes two coils 21 and 22 arranged side by side with their winding axes parallel to each other. When the coils 21 and 22 are not distinguished from each other, they will be described as the coil 20. The case 3 houses the reactor body 1 inside. The terminal block 5 is made of a resin material and is provided along the outer surface of the case 3 to support a connection terminal for electrical connection to the outside.

The busbar 4 is a conductive member whose one end is electrically connected to the drawn-out ends of the coils 21 and 22, and whose other end is a connection terminal supported by the terminal block 5. The crossing direction is a direction that is not parallel, and in this embodiment, is a direction that is perpendicular. Here, crossing the reactor body 1 means that it is arranged so as to overlap the reactor body 1 in a plan view. However, it is not necessary for it to extend over the entire length of the external dimensions such as the width and depth of the reactor body 1, and it is sufficient that it overlaps a part of the reactor body 1. The busbar 4 in this embodiment includes three busbars 41, 42, and 43. When the busbars 41, 42, and 43 are not distinguished, they will be described as busbars 4. The fixing portion 6 is formed of a resin material in which a part of the busbar 4 is embedded, and is fixed to the case 3. In this embodiment, the fixed portion 6 includes a fixed portion 61 in which a portion of the busbars 41 and 42 is embedded, and a fixed portion 62 in which a portion of the busbar 43 is embedded. When there is no need to distinguish between the fixed portions 61 and 62, they will be described as the fixed portion 6.

In this specification, the direction parallel to the winding axis of the coil 20 is defined as the depth direction. The direction perpendicular to the depth direction and parallel to the side-by-side arrangement of the two coils 21, 22 is defined as the width direction. The direction perpendicular to the depth and width directions is defined as the height direction. In FIG. 1, the depth direction is indicated by the x-axis, the width direction by the y-axis, and the height direction by the z-axis. The direction indicated by the height arrow is defined as up, and the opposite direction is defined as down. Down is also referred to as the bottom. These directions are used to indicate the positional relationship of the components of the reactor 100, and do not limit the positional relationship and direction when the reactor 100 is installed on an installation target.

[Reactor body]
As shown in FIG. 2, the core 10 constituting the reactor body 1 is a magnetic material such as a powder magnetic core, a ferrite magnetic core, or a laminated steel plate. The core 10 forms a magnetic circuit by serving as a passage for the magnetic flux generated by the coil 20. The core 10 is formed by combining partial cores of a rectangular parallelepiped shape into a rectangular ring shape and bonding them with an adhesive. The partial core has a pair of linear parts around which the coils 21 and 22 are wound, which are exposed from the legs and the coils 21 and 22, and the pair of linear parts connecting the legs become yoke parts. The core 10 is covered with an insulating resin member 11 such as PPS. The resin member 11 has a plurality of mounting holes 11a formed therein.

The coils 21 and 22 are wound around a pair of legs of the core 10 via the resin member 11, so that the winding axes are parallel to each other. The coils 21 and 22 are edgewise coils made of rectangular wire with an insulating coating. However, the wire material and winding method of the coils 21 and 22 are not limited to this and may be other forms.

The ends extending linearly from the winding portion of the coil 21 and the ends extending linearly from the winding portion of the coil 22 are drawn outward from the reactor body 1 as drawn-out ends 21a, 21b, 22a, and 22b. The drawn-out ends 21a and 21b extend in opposite directions along the winding axis. The drawn-out ends 22a and 22b extend in opposite directions along the winding axis. The pair of drawn-out ends 21a and 22a are disposed in positions facing each other, and the pair of drawn-out ends 21b and 22b are disposed in positions facing each other. The wide planes of the drawn-out ends 21a, 21b, 22a, and 22b are vertical, that is, in the up-down direction, and the narrow side faces the reactor body 1. The wound portions of the coils 21 and 22 are the portions where the wire is wound to function as the coils 21 and 22, and are cylindrical in this embodiment.

The reactor body 1 is assembled by inserting the legs covered with the resin member 11 into the pre-wound coils 21 and 22, and then combining the yoke portion covered with the resin member 11.

[Case]
As shown in Fig. 3, the case 3 is a rectangular box-shaped member having a support 31 and a wall portion 32. The case 3 is preferably formed from a material that has high thermal conductivity and provides a magnetic shielding effect. The support 31 forms the bottom of the case 3, and its outer surface becomes the outer bottom surface that is supported on the installation surface. The surface of the support 31 that houses the reactor body 1 becomes the inner bottom surface. The inner bottom surface has projections and recesses formed to follow the shape of the reactor body 1. However, the reactor body 1 is housed so that a gap is provided between the reactor body 1 and the inner bottom surface of the support 31.

The wall portion 32 is erected on the support body 31 so as to cover the periphery of the reactor body 1, and constitutes the peripheral surface of the case 3. The wall portion 32 includes a pair of side walls 321, 322 in the winding axis direction of the reactor body 1, and a pair of side walls 323, 324 in the width direction. The inner surface of the wall portion 32 and the inner facing surface of the support body 31 form a storage space for the reactor body 1.

The case 3 has an opening 33. The opening 33 is an open portion formed on the edge of the wall portion 32 opposite the support body 31. In this embodiment, the opening 33 opens the upper part of the case 3, and a part of the reactor body 1 protrudes from the case 3 (see FIG. 1). In other words, when the reactor body 1 is housed in the case 3, the upper parts of the coils 21 and 22 protrude from the opening 33.

Mounting holes 32a are formed in the wall 32 at positions corresponding to the mounting holes 11a in the resin member 11. The reactor body 1 is fixed to the case 3 by aligning each mounting hole 11a in the resin member 11 with each mounting hole 32a in the wall 32 and inserting and screwing a bolt B. As described above, a gap is formed between the reactor body 1 and the support 31 of the case 3. The coils 21, 22 of the reactor body 1 housed in the case 3 have their winding axis direction parallel to the side walls 321, 322.

The case 3 also has a number of mounting holes 32b for mounting the terminal block 5. The mounting holes 32b are provided in the outwardly protruding portion of one of the pair of side walls 321, 322 in the depth direction. The case 3 also has a number of mounting holes 32c for fixing the fixing portion 6. The mounting holes 32c are provided in the center of the width direction of each of the pair of side walls 323, 324. The mounting holes 32b, 32c are threaded.

The space in the case 3 housing the reactor body 1 is filled with a filler material, forming a solidified filled molded portion R. A relatively soft, highly thermally conductive resin is suitable as the filler material to ensure the heat dissipation performance of the reactor body 1 and to reduce the transmission of vibration from the reactor body 1 to the case 3.

[Busbar]
4, the bus bar 4 is interposed between the coil 21 and an external device (not shown), such as an external power supply, to electrically connect the two. The bus bar 4 is a belt-shaped flat plate member, and is made of, for example, copper or aluminum.

In this embodiment, three bus bars 41, 42, and 43 are used. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, one end of the bus bar 41 is a fixed terminal 411 that is connected to one drawn end 21a of the coil 21 by welding or the like. The other end of the bus bar 41 extends to the terminal block 5 and is a connection terminal 412 for connection to an external device. A terminal hole 412a is formed in the connection terminal 412. The elongated portion between the fixed terminal 411 and the connection terminal 412 of the bus bar 41 is called the body portion 413.

One end of the busbar 42 is a fixed terminal 421 that is connected to one drawn-out end 22a of the coil 22 by welding or the like. The other end of the busbar 42 extends to the terminal block 5 and is a connection terminal 422 for connection to an external device. A terminal hole 422a is formed in the connection terminal 422. The elongated portion between the fixed terminal 421 and the connection terminal 422 of the busbar 42 is called the body portion 423.

One end of the busbar 43 is a fixed terminal 431 that is connected to the other drawn-out end 21b of the coil 21 by welding or the like. The other end of the busbar 43 extends to the terminal block 5 and is a connection terminal 432 for connection to an external device. A terminal hole 432a is formed in the connection terminal 432. A part of the busbar 43 branches, and its end is a fixed terminal 433 that is connected to the other drawn-out end 22b of the coil 22. The connection terminal 432 constitutes a common input terminal for the coils 21 and 22. The elongated portion between the fixed terminal 431 and the connection terminal 432 of the busbar 43 is called the body portion 434.

The fixed terminals 411, 421, 431, 433, like the lead-out ends 21a, 21b, 22a, 22b, have their wide flat surfaces oriented vertically and their narrow side surfaces facing the reactor body 1. The flat surfaces of the connection terminals 412, 422, 432 are parallel to the support 31. In the busbars 41, 42, 43, the portions of the trunks 413, 423, 434 that straddle the reactor body 1 are bent flatwise to be positioned along the reactor body 1 without contact, and the flat surfaces face the reactor body 1 so as to be approximately parallel to it. This prevents the expansion of space in the height direction from increasing, compared to when the flat surfaces are oriented vertically.

[Terminal block]
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the terminal block 5 is attached to the outside of one of the side walls 322 of the pair of side walls 321 and 322 of the case 3. The terminal block 5 of this embodiment is provided along the outer surface of the case 3, that is, the outer surface of the side wall 322. However, the position of the terminal block 5 is not limited to the case where it is provided along the outer surface of the case 3. For example, it may be provided at a position protruding out from the side surface of the case 3, or provided on the opening 33 side of the side surface of the case 3, as long as it is outside the case 3. The terminal block 5 is a block-shaped member formed of an insulating resin material. For example, PPS (polyphenylene sulfide), unsaturated polyester resin, urethane resin, epoxy resin, BMC (bulk molding compound), PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), etc. can be used as the resin material.

The terminal block 5 has a portion of the bus bars 41, 42, and 43 embedded therein, but the connection terminals 412, 422, and 432 are exposed. The terminal block 5 has a base 51 parallel to the plane of the support 31, and the connection terminals 412, 422, and 432 are supported on this surface. The base 51 has fixing holes 52 corresponding to the terminal holes 412a, 422a, and 432a of the connection terminals 412, 422, and 432. Although not shown, nuts are embedded in the lower part of the fixing holes 52. The terminal block 5 also has mounting holes 53 at positions corresponding to the multiple mounting holes 32b of the case 3.

[Fixed part]
The fixing portion 6 is a member in which a part of the busbar 4 is embedded and which extends in the width direction so as to straddle the reactor body 1 in the case 3 without contacting it. The fixing portion 6 is formed integrally with the terminal block 5 from the same resin material as the terminal block 5. Forming the fixing portion 6 integrally includes a case in which the two are formed separately and then combined, and a case in which they are formed continuously without seams.

In this embodiment, two fixing parts 61 and 62 are provided. The busbars 41 and 42 have a part of the body 413 and 423 embedded in the fixing part 61 and the terminal block 5, and the fixed terminal 421 and the connection terminal 422 are exposed. The busbar 43 has a part of the body 434 embedded in the fixing part 62 and the terminal block 5, and the fixed terminal 431, the connection terminal 432, and the fixed terminal 433 are exposed. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the busbars 41 and 42 of this embodiment have a relatively long part embedded in the fixing parts 61 and 62 until they reach the terminal block 5, so that the stability is improved. However, it is sufficient that only the part of the busbars 41 and 42 necessary for fixing is embedded in the fixing part 6. For example, only the part of the busbars 41 and 42 corresponding to the extension parts 611 and 621 described later is embedded in the fixing parts 61 and 62, and the part between the embedded part and the terminal block 5 may be exposed. This can save the amount of resin used.

The fixed portion 61 has an extension portion 611. The extension portion 611 extends from the fixed portion 61 to the mounting hole 32c in the side wall 323 of the case 3. An attachment hole 611a corresponding to the mounting hole 32c is formed at the end of the extension portion 611. The fixed portion 62 has an extension portion 621. The extension portion 621 extends from the fixed portion 62 to the mounting hole 32c in the side wall 324 of the case 3. An attachment hole 621a corresponding to the mounting hole 32c is formed at the end of the extension portion 621.

The extension portion 611 is provided between the draw-out ends 21a and 22a of the pair of coils 21 and 22. The extension portion 621 is provided between the draw-out ends 21b and 22b of the pair of coils 21 and 22. Therefore, the fixing points of the fixing portions 61 and 62 to the case 3 are between the connection points of the pair of draw-out ends 21a and 22a and the fixed terminals 411 and 421, and between the connection points of the pair of draw-out ends 21b and 22b and the fixed terminals 431 and 433.

The terminal block 5 and fixed part 6 as described above are attached to the case 3 so that the mounting holes 53, 611a, 621a align with the mounting holes 32b, 32c. Then, the terminal block 5 and fixed part 6 are fixed to the case 3 by inserting and screwing the bolt B into the mounting holes 53, 611a, 621a. Furthermore, the drawn-out ends 21a, 22a and the fixed terminals 411, 421 are connected by welding, and the drawn-out ends 21b, 22b and the fixed terminals 431, 433 are connected by welding.

As a result, the busbars 41, 42, 43 are arranged to extend to the terminal block 5 in a direction intersecting the winding axis direction of the coils 21, 22 so as to straddle the reactor body 1 in the case 3 without contact. The fixed parts 61, 62 in which parts of the busbars 41, 42, 43 are embedded are also arranged to straddle the reactor body 1 in the case 3 without contact. The parts where the trunk parts 413, 423, 434 of the busbars 41, 42, 43 straddle the reactor body 1 without contact have a flat surface facing the reactor body 1, so that the reactor body 1 is more likely to vibrate due to vibration than when the flat surface is vertical and the side surface faces the reactor body 1. However, these parts are embedded in the fixed parts 61, 62 and are fixed to the case 3 by the extension parts 611, 621, so vibration can be suppressed.

[Action and Effect]
(1) The reactor 100 of this embodiment includes a reactor body 1 having a core 10 and a coil 20 attached to the core 10, a case 3 that houses the reactor body 1 therein, a terminal block 5 that is formed of a resin material and provided on the outside of the case 3, and that supports a connection terminal for electrical connection to the outside, a bus bar 4 that is a conductive member having one end electrically connected to the lead-out end of the coil 20, that extends in a direction intersecting the winding axis direction of the coil 20 so as to straddle the reactor body 1 inside the case 3 without contacting it, and the other end that is a connection terminal supported by the terminal block 5, and a fixed portion 6 that is formed of a resin material in which a portion of the bus bar 4 is embedded and that is fixed to the case 3.

In this way, the busbar 4 is arranged to straddle the reactor body 1 from the drawn-out end of the coil 20 to the terminal block 5, so that the busbar 4 can be made shorter than when it is routed around the edge of the case 3, making it less likely for vibration to occur. In addition, since the busbar 4 does not contact the reactor body 1, vibrations of the reactor body 1 are less likely to be transmitted. This makes it possible to prevent poor connection between the fixed terminal of the busbar 4 and the drawn-out end of the coil 20 due to resonance. In addition, because the busbar 4 straddles the reactor body 1, it is possible to suppress the expansion of the required space outward on the side of the case 3.

In addition, the fixed portion 6 in which part of the busbar 4 is embedded is fixed to the case 3, which further suppresses vibration. Because the core 10 vibrates, a greater vibration suppression effect can be expected by fixing it to the case 3 rather than fixing it to the resin member 11. Furthermore, because the position of the fixed terminal of the busbar 4 is stable, it is easy to position it when connecting it to the lead-out end of the coil 21.

In this embodiment, the fixing points are provided on the edges of the opening 33 of the case 3, so the fixing portion 6 can be made shorter, and vibration can be suppressed. Also, in this embodiment, the two bus bars 41, 42 are embedded in the fixing portion 61, so they are prevented from vibrating separately compared to when the two are independent, and the vibration suppression effect can be improved.

(2) The fixing point of the fixed part 6 to the case 3 is between the connection points between the pair of pull-out ends of the coil 20 and the fixed end of the busbar 4. Therefore, even if a large number of fixing points are not provided, none of the connection points between the pair of pull-out ends and the fixed end are far from the fixed point, so vibration at the connection points is prevented. In addition, there are three fixing points: two connection points between the pair of pull-out ends and the fixed end, and a fixing point of the fixed part 6 to the case 3, so the position is stable and the vibration suppression effect is enhanced. In addition, there is little misalignment between the pair of pull-out ends and the fixed end when the fixed part 6 is fixed to the case 3, making the connection work easy.

(3) The terminal block 5 and the fixed portion 6 are integrally constructed. As a result, the connection terminal supported by the terminal block 5 and the fixed terminal supported by the fixed portion 6 are both positioned stably and are resistant to vibration. In addition, the terminal block 5, the fixed portion 6, and the bus bar 4 can be easily attached to the case 3.

(4) A pair of pull-out ends of the coil 20 extend along the winding axis direction of the coil 20 and are positioned opposite each other, and the terminal block 5 is provided on one side of the case 3, the side in the direction along the winding axis of the coil 20. As a result, one of the pull-out ends is farther from the terminal block 5 than the other pull-out end, resulting in a portion of the busbar 4 being longer, but it is stably supported by the fixed portion 6.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but also includes other embodiments described below. The present invention also includes a combination of all or any of the above-described embodiment and the other embodiments described below. Furthermore, these embodiments can be omitted, replaced, or modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention, and such modifications are also included in the present invention.

For example, the shape, number, etc. of the core 10 and coils 20 of the reactor body 1 are not limited to the above-mentioned aspects. For example, the number of coils 20 may be one, or three or more. A pair of pull-out ends may be pull-out ends of a common coil 20, or pull-out ends of different coils 20. In addition, the terminal block 5 and the fixing portion 6 may be separate bodies. A portion of the busbar 4 does not have to be embedded in the terminal block 5.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Reactor body 3 Case 4 Bus bar 5 Terminal block 6 Fixed portion 10 Core 11 Resin member 11a Mounting hole 20, 21, 22 Coil 21a, 21b, 22a, 22b Pull-out end 30 Coil 31 Support body 32 Wall portion 32a, 32b, 32c Mounting hole 33 Opening 41, 42, 43 Bus bar 51 Base 52 Fixing hole 53 Mounting hole 6, 61, 62 Fixed portion 100 Reactor 321, 322, 323, 324 Side wall 411, 421, 431, 433 Fixed terminal 412, 422, 432 Connection terminal 412a, 422a, 432a Terminal hole 413, 423, 434 Body portion 611, 621 Extension portion 611a, 621a Mounting hole B Bolt R Filling molding portion

Claims (3)

A reactor body including a core and a coil attached to the core;
a case that houses the reactor body therein;
a terminal block made of a resin material and provided on the outside of the case, the terminal block supporting a connection terminal for electrical connection to an external device;
a bus bar, which is a conductive member having one end electrically connected to a lead-out end of the coil, extending in a direction intersecting a winding axis direction of the coil so as to straddle the reactor body in the case without contacting it, and having the other end serving as the connection terminal supported by the terminal block;
a fixing portion formed of a resin material in which a portion of the bus bar is embedded and fixed to the case;
having
a portion of the bus bar that straddles the reactor body in a non-contact manner is a trunk portion between the one end and the other end of the bus bar,
the trunk portion is a part of the busbar that is embedded in the resin material that forms the fixing portion,
A fixing point of the fixing portion to the case is between a pair of lead-out ends of the coil and a connection point between the pair of lead-out ends and the bus bar .
A reactor characterized by: The reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal block and the fixed portion are integrally formed. a pair of pull-out ends of the coil extend along a winding axis direction of the coil and are disposed at positions facing each other,
3. The reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal block is provided on one side surface of the case, the side surface being in a winding axis direction of the coil.

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