阅读说明：本技术 用于从至少一个功率构件导出废热的冷却单元 (Cooling unit for removing waste heat from at least one power component ) 是由 O.兰格 A.莱尔希 M.普里斯 J.U.米勒 T.帕佩 E.肖霍夫 M.齐默曼 于 2020-01-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于从至少一个功率构件(2)导出废热的冷却单元(1)。在此冷却单元(1)具有带有前流部(4)和回流部(5)的基座箱(3)以及相对于基座箱(3)逐段覆盖地布置的盖体(6)。在盖体(6)中对于各功率构件(2)成形有冷却开口(7)用于将冷却剂直接输送至遮盖冷却开口(7)地布置在冷却单元(1)处的功率构件(2)。此外在基座箱(3)与盖体(6)之间布置有中间板(8)。(The invention relates to a cooling unit (1) for removing waste heat from at least one power component (2). The cooling unit (1) has a base box (3) with a forward flow section (4) and a return flow section (5) and a cover body (6) arranged in a segment-by-segment covering manner relative to the base box (3). A cooling opening (7) is formed in the cover (6) for each power component (2) for the direct supply of coolant to the power component (2) arranged on the cooling unit (1) covering the cooling opening (7). An intermediate plate (8) is also arranged between the base box (3) and the cover (6).)

1. A cooling unit (1) for dissipating waste heat from at least one power component (2), wherein the cooling unit (1) has a base box (3) with a forward flow (4) and a return flow (5) and a cover (6) arranged segment by segment in relation to the base box (3) and wherein a cooling opening (7) is formed in the cover (6) for each power component (2) for delivering coolant directly to the power component (2) arranged at the cooling unit (1) covering the cooling opening (7), characterized in that an intermediate plate (8) is arranged between base box (3) and cover (6).

2. Cooling unit (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate plate (8) is an unfolded plate and/or the plate has no rework site with surface quality to achieve sealing.

3. Cooling unit (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the intermediate plate (8) has an average roughness depth Rz up to a maximum of 10 micrometers.

4. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two overflow openings (9) are configured in the intermediate plate (8) for each cooling opening (7), wherein each at least one overflow opening (9) is fluidically connected to the forward flow section (4) and on the other hand to the return flow section (5).

5. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that connections are constructed between the base box (3) and the intermediate plate (8), the intermediate plate (8) and the cover (6) and the power component (2) respectively and at least one of said connections is a sealed material-fit connection.

6. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that connections are respectively constructed between the base box (3) and the intermediate plate (8), the intermediate plate (8) and the cover (6) and the power component (2) and at least one of the connections is a force-fitting and/or form-fitting connection.

7. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a force-and/or form-fitting connection between a power component (2) and a cover (6) is achieved by arranging the power component (2) at the cover (6) via at least one fixing element (10).

8. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a sealing element (11) is arranged for sealing the base box (3) with respect to the intermediate plate (8), sealing the intermediate plate (8) with respect to the cover (6) and/or sealing the cover (6) with respect to each power component (2).

9. The cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a circumferentially abutting sealing element (11) is arranged in each cooling opening (7) of the cover body (6) on the edge side, wherein the sealing element (11) forms a sealing surface (12) with the cover body (6) and the power component (2) on both sides of the cooling opening (7).

10. Cooling unit (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a part of all sealing elements (11) are molded in an injection mold with an injection method performed in the injection mold and/or by applying a sealing substance.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a cooling unit for removing waste heat from at least one power component. The cooling unit has a base housing (sockkasten) with a forward flow (Vorlauf) and a return flow (Ruecklauf) and a cover (deckkoper) which is arranged in a section-by-section covering manner relative to the base housing, wherein cooling openings are formed in the cover for the individual power components for the direct supply of coolant to the power components which are arranged at the cooling unit in such a way that they cover the cooling openings.

Background

It is known that power semiconductor components or modules are usually used for controlling electric drives, which, due to the power losses occurring within the power semiconductor components or modules during the supply of electric energy to the drive, require cooling in order to dissipate the heat generated in a corresponding manner as a result of the power losses.

For cooling, cooling bodies are often used which are arranged and through which an air flow is generated by means of a fan. However, this is generally only effective in the case of moderate heat generation. In the case of high or very high heat generation, liquid cooling of the power semiconductor components or modules is generally required, for example with water, a water-glycol mixture or other media as the coolant used.

In this connection, DE 102005048100 a1 describes an electronic control unit having power semiconductor components arranged in a housing of the control unit, which are fastened on the circuit board, the circuit board is in this case in indirect heat-conducting contact with the outer surface of a cooler in the form of an extruded profile (strangcompressed profile), wherein, in order to compensate for surface irregularities, heat-conducting pads (watermeleudpad) are arranged between the circuit board and the cooler or are connected to one another via a heat-conducting adhesive, the cooler furthermore has in each case an inlet opening (zuluf) and an outlet opening (Ablauf) which lead from the housing and is subdivided into a plurality of stability-improving longitudinal chambers (L aengskamer), so that the cooler has sufficient stability and can be flowed through by a coolant.

For this reason, solutions have already been proposed to reduce the thermal conduction resistance between the power semiconductor components and the coolant. Document DE 10038178 a1, which is formed in this way, discloses a cooling rail for correspondingly cooling power semiconductor components or modules. The cooling rail has a plurality of cooling chambers which are fluidically connected to one another via inlet and outlet openings and a connecting channel (Verbindungsschlite). The cooling rail here shows a two-part construction consisting of a base body and a cover plate arranged on the base body by means of a screw connection. The power semiconductor module to be cooled via the cooling track is furthermore formed by a stack of power semiconductor components which are arranged on an electrically insulating ceramic substrate, which forms a composite (verbond) with the metal base plate of the power semiconductor module. The power semiconductor modules are arranged on the cover plate of the cooling rail in such a way that their metal base plate closes the openings present in the cover plate. This achieves that the cooling liquid flowing through the cooling rail can come into direct contact with the metal base plate of the power semiconductor module, which is provided in particular with a surface-enlarging structure. In order to seal between the chambers and relative to the metal base plate, a circumferential groove in the region of the opening is introduced into the cover plate, into which groove a seal is inserted. In order to maintain the sealing function, the cover plate therefore needs to be reworked to produce the recess. Furthermore, although the document describes the use of parallel flow of power semiconductor components, it is not possible with the disclosed structure of the cooling rail.

Disclosure of Invention

Against this background, the object of the invention is to design a cooling unit of the type mentioned at the outset such that a parallel flow of the power components is achieved and the reworking of the relevant sealing surfaces is largely negligible.

This object is achieved with a cooling unit according to the features of claim 1. The dependent claims relate to particularly advantageous developments of the invention.

According to the invention, a cooling unit is provided for removing waste heat from at least one (in particular waste heat-generating, electronic) power component. The cooling unit has a base housing with a forward flow and a return flow, and a cover arranged partially covering the base housing, in particular indirectly connected to the base housing. Furthermore, a cooling opening is formed in the cover for each power component for the direct supply of coolant to the power component arranged on the cooling device covering the cooling opening. The coolant can be a coolant, for example water or a water-glycol mixture, but also other media. According to the invention, an intermediate plate (in particular for guiding the coolant) is additionally arranged between the base box and the cover.

There is therefore a separate, at least three-piece cooling unit which is advantageously suitable for removing waste heat and correspondingly for cooling the power components. Depending on the selected design, the cooling unit can be produced cost-effectively and avoids reworking, such as the production of sealing elements. Furthermore, a parallel delivery of coolant to the at least one power component is enabled. Preferably, three power components are arranged at the cooling unit.

Each power component is generally understood here to be a component which generates heat. Preferably, however, the power component is an electrical and/or electronic power component, for example a semiconductor component for power electronics, such as a bidirectional thyristor (Diac), a bipolar power transistor, a power MOSFET, a GTO thyristor, a Triac, a diode or preferably an IGBT. It is also possible for the power component to be a power module or a power semiconductor module having one or more such power components, which integrate the power components in the housing.

The base housing, in which the forward flow and the return flow are formed in particular as a bag inserted into the base housing, the intermediate plate and the cover body can be formed by casting and/or milling, also by forging and/or stamping, in an extrusion method and/or by means of a 3D printing method. Preferably, however, the base housing is present as a casting and/or milling part, the intermediate plate as a stamping and the cover as an extrusion. The cover body is to be produced here by separating the preliminary extruded profile transversely to its longitudinal direction.

Furthermore, it is intended that the forward flow and the return flow run side by side at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction of the cooling unit and thus of the base box, so that a parallel supply of coolant to the power components can be achieved.

In a particularly advantageous development of the invention, the intermediate plate is a plate which is unwound (in particular from a reel (belt) or from a coil) and/or the plate has a surface quality which enables a seal (preferably by means of a sealing element) without further processing. On the basis of this design, it is accordingly not necessary to carry out complex reworking of the intermediate plate (for example by means of a milling process with a high cycle time) in order to provide the surface quality necessary for sealing (in this case in particular in terms of average roughness depth (Rautiefe) and intermediate roughness value (midtenrouwer)). The intermediate plate designed as a plate already has the necessary surface quality, as a result of the rolling process necessary for producing the plate, and it requires only one further forming process, such as a stamping process, in order to be able to use the intermediate plate or the plate for the cooling unit.

In this case, it is also advantageous if the intermediate plate has an average roughness depth Rz of up to 10 μm, since the average roughness depth in this range has a corresponding surface quality, in order to be able to ensure the sealing function by means of the sealing element. For example, it is conceivable that the average roughness depth of the intermediate plate is in the range of 6.3 micrometers to 10 micrometers. Smaller roughness and thus an average roughness depth of less than 6.3 μm are of course likewise advantageous and possible.

The embodiment of the invention can also be regarded as being particularly advantageous if at least two overflow openings are formed in the intermediate plate for each cooling opening (and are embodied in a manner surrounded by the respective cooling opening), wherein each at least one overflow opening is connected to the forward flow section and, on the other hand, to the return flow section in a flow-through manner, and therefore at least one of each cooling opening and the power component overflow opening is associated with the forward flow section and at least one overflow opening is associated with the return flow section. This results in a structurally advantageous manner in that the coolant can be transferred from the forward flow section into the region of the coolant opening and then into the return flow section. The coolant is diverted (uebertrit) in a parallel arrangement in terms of flow technology of the overflow openings in a plurality of power components arranged at the cooling unit, so that the temperature of the coolant acting on the respective power component is the same and does not increase in the latter power component due to the influence of waste heat in the case of series connection.

The edge-side wall of the coolant opening, the intermediate plate and the base of the power component covering the coolant opening form a chamber in this case, into which the coolant flows via the overflow opening and flows out again, which ensures continuous removal of the waste heat.

In addition, the invention can be configured very effectively in that connections are formed between the base housing and the intermediate plate, between the intermediate plate and the cover and between the cover and the power component, and at least one (or all) of these connections is a sealed, in particular surface-mounted, material-to-material connection. The corresponding material-fit connection can be a welded connection, for example by means of friction stir welding (Ruehrreibschweissen), a soldered connection or an adhesive connection. It is also conceivable to cast the base box and the intermediate plate, the intermediate plate and the cover and/or the cover and the power component together.

In a further advantageous development of the invention, connections are formed between the base housing and the intermediate plate, between the intermediate plate and the cover and between the cover and the power component, wherein at least one (or all) of these connections is a force-fitting and/or form-fitting connection. In particular, in relation to a material-fit connection, a damage-free release of the respective connection can thereby be brought about, whereby simplified maintenance and/or repair of the cooling unit can be ensured. In this connection, the corresponding force-fitting and/or form-fitting connection can be embodied, for example, as a screw connection and/or rivet connection.

An effective embodiment of the cooling unit is further characterized in that the non-positive and/or positive connection between the power component and the cover is realized by arranging the power component at the cover via at least one fastening element (Feststellelement). In this case, it can be provided that each fastening element is itself fastened to the cover body by means of a force fit and/or a form fit (for example, a screw connection). It is therefore conceivable to clamp each power component to the cover via at least one, preferably two, fastening elements, wherein it can be configured as a clamping block (Klemmstein), for example, in general.

In a preferred embodiment of the cooling unit, the base housing, the intermediate plate and the cover are connected to one another by material-to-material connection, while a non-positive and/or positive connection is present between the cover and each power component. The non-positive and/or positive connection is particularly preferably achieved here by arranging each power component at the cover by means of a fastening element.

Furthermore, the development of the invention is effective if a sealing element is arranged for sealing the base housing with respect to the intermediate plate, for sealing the intermediate plate with respect to the cover and/or for sealing the cover with respect to each power component. For this purpose, a recess is provided in each case in at least one, preferably two, components which adjoin one another (thus base box and intermediate plate, intermediate plate and cover and/or cover and each power component) for receiving a sealing element. The sealing element must accordingly be arranged between the components in the region of the respective channel for the coolant in order to largely ensure its sealing function. In this way, for example, seals are arranged around the forward flow and return flow of the base box and between the cover and the intermediate plate and also between the cover and each power component on both sides of each of the cooling openings, so that no coolant penetrates into the gaps or gaps between the respective components adjoining one another.

Furthermore, it is advantageous if a circumferentially abutting sealing element is arranged in each cooling opening of the cover body on the edge side, wherein the sealing elements form sealing surfaces with the cover body and the power component on both sides of the cooling opening, so that no coolant can penetrate into the gaps between the power component and the cover body and between the cover body and the intermediate plate. The sealing element thus seals the passage region or coolant opening of the coolant between the cover and the power component and between the cover and the intermediate plate on both sides of the cooling opening. Here, the sealing element, for example an O-ring or a contour seal (profilelichting), should be subjected to a strain (Stauchung) of approximately 20% to 30% in order to ensure the sealing effect. The level of strain or pretension depends on the design criteria of the sealing element. In this case, the pressing or pretensioning of the sealing element can be effected as a result of the contact between the power component and the material-and/or force-fitting connection of the intermediate plate and the power component at the cover.

If at least a part of the entire sealing element is molded in an injection molding die (Spritzgusswerkzeug) with the injection method and/or by applying a (in particular hardened) sealing substance or also a liquid seal, this can be considered advantageous in that, on the one hand, there is thus a parallelized production method with, for example, simplified automation possibilities with respect to the use of the sealing element and, therefore, better low integration into the production line. Parallelization means that the molded sealing elements are not coated in a serial process, for example by means of a robot arm, so that significantly smaller tact times can be achieved. On the other hand, there is also the possibility of molding the sealing elements in series by applying the sealing compound or the liquid seal, which saves the investment costs for the injection mold which is necessary in injection molding, which is advantageous in particular in small-scale production. The molded sealing element should accordingly be composed of a thermoformable elastomer (e.g. rubber) or a soft (thus elastically and/or plastically deformable under small mechanical stresses) plastic.

Drawings

The invention allows a large number of embodiments. To further illustrate the basic principle, the embodiments described below are shown in the drawings. Wherein:

fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a cooling unit;

fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the cooling unit;

FIG. 3 shows a number of views of a cooling unit;

fig. 4 shows a top view of the cooling unit.

List of reference numerals:

1 Cooling Unit

2 power component

3 base box

4 front flow part

5 reflux part

6 cover body

7 cooling opening

8 middle plate

9 overflow opening

10 fixing element

11 sealing element

12 sealing surface

13 medium interface

14 medium interface

15 are welded together.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a cooling unit 1 for cooling three power components 2 arranged at the cooling unit 1. The cooling unit 1 has a base housing 3 with a forward flow 4 and a return flow 5 and a cover 6 arranged in a segment-by-segment covering manner relative to the base housing 3. The reason why the covering is performed in stages is that cooling openings 7 are formed in the cover 6 for the power members 2. The cooling openings 7 serve here for the direct supply of coolant to the power component 2 covering the respective cooling opening 7. Furthermore, an intermediate plate 8, which is configured as a plate and has two overflow openings 9 for each cooling opening 7 and thus a total of six overflow openings 9, is arranged between the base box 3 and the cover 6. Furthermore, for each cooling opening 7, an overflow opening 9 is connected to the upstream portion 4 and an overflow opening 9 is connected to the return portion 5 so as to be able to flow through, so that coolant can be transferred in parallel in terms of flow from the upstream portion 4 into the region of the coolant opening 7 and then into the return portion 5 and the waste heat of the respective power component 2 (which is in this case designed as a power module) can be dissipated. The forward flow 4 and the return flow 5 are shaped in the base box 3 as a bag, wherein the forward flow 4 and the return flow 5 run side by side at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction of the cooling unit 1 and thus of the base box 3. The clear widths of the forward flow section 4 and of the return flow section 5 vary in an opposite manner, wherein the respective clear widths are greatest in the region of the media connections 13, 14 of the forward flow section 4 and of the return flow section 5 and decrease with increasing distance from the respective media connections 13, 14. The forward flow section 4 and the return flow section 5 are thus constructed as mirror images of one another. In order to seal intermediate plate 8 with respect to cover 6 and to seal cover 6 with respect to each power component 2, a sealing element 11 is furthermore arranged in cooling unit 1. Furthermore, for the non-positive and/or positive connection of the power component 2 at the cover 6, four fixing elements 10 in the form of clamping blocks are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the cooling unit 1 on both sides of the power component 2, which are fixed in their turn at the cover 6 via screws.

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the cooling unit 1, wherein a sealed, material-tight connection is formed between the base box 3 and the intermediate plate 8 and between the intermediate plate 8 and the cover 6. Instead, a force-and/or form-fitting connection is formed between the cover 6 and the respective power component 2, wherein this is achieved by arranging the power component 2 at the cover 6 via the fastening element 10. In addition, a sealing element 11 is arranged in circumferential contact in each cooling opening 7 of the cover body 6 on the edge side, wherein the respective sealing element 11 forms a sealing surface 12 with the cover body 6 and the power component 2 on both sides of the cooling opening 7.

Fig. 3 also shows several views of a cooling unit 1, at which three power components 2 are arranged via a fastening element 10 in order to dissipate waste heat. Here, the cooling unit 1 again has a structure composed of the base case 3, the intermediate plate 8, and the lid 6.

Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the cooling unit 1, wherein three power components 2 are again arranged on the cooling unit 1. Here, however, a sealed material-fit connection in the form of a welded connection 15 is formed between the cover 6 and the power component 2.