Heat exchange device, robot heat management system and robot

Abstract

The utility model relates to a heat exchange device, a robot heat management system and a robot, the heat exchange device comprises a sealing sleeve, a piston, a driving element, a first valve, a second valve and a controller, the sealing sleeve is provided with a sealing cavity, and a power element and the piston are arranged at the two ends of the sealing cavity respectively; the piston divides the sealing cavity into a heat exchange cavity provided with the power element and a compression cavity far away from the power element. The heat exchange cavity is provided with a liquid inlet and an air outlet. When the controller controls the first valve and the second valve to be switched off and the piston moves in the direction away from the power element, the heat exchange cavity expands, and the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity can be changed into a gas state in a phase mode. When the controller controls the first valve to be switched off, the second valve to be switched on and the piston moves in the direction close to the power element and extrudes the heat exchange cavity, the refrigerant can be discharged through the air outlet. According to the heat exchange device, the robot heat management system and the robot, the problems that a heat management system is large in size and low in cooling efficiency are solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of robot heat dissipation devices, and in particular to a heat exchange device, a robot thermal management system and a robot. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of the humanoid robot industry, the actions that robots can perform are becoming more and more complex, the speed is getting faster and faster, and the load is getting heavier. In addition, the rapid increase in AI computing power has led to an increasing demand for thermal management of robot drive motors and chips.

[0003] Among the existing cooling technologies, air cooling, air cooling + liquid cooling, heat pump air conditioning cooling, liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide cooling and other cooling methods have shown a diversified development trend. These thermal management methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Air cooling can meet the needs when the heat dissipation is small. With the sharp increase in heat dissipation load, the simple air cooling method has become incapable. Air cooling + liquid cooling technology is most widely used in new energy vehicles. It is also the first thermal management method that everyone thinks of and applies to robots. Heat will eventually dissipate into the atmosphere, so the final cooling link is still air cooling, which makes the thermal management system too complicated. In addition to the water channel, a separate cooling fan and centralized heat dissipation space must be set up. If a distributed air cooling mode is adopted, more fans will be needed and more thermal management control resources will be occupied. Liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide have higher cooling capacity, and thermal management control will be relatively complicated. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of this, it is necessary to provide a heat exchange device, a robot thermal management system and a robot that are smaller in size, more compact in structure, and can more directly and quickly cool power components.

[0005] The heat exchange device provided by the present application includes a sealing sleeve, a piston, a driving element, a first valve, a second valve and a controller, wherein the controller is electrically connected to the driving element, the first valve and the second valve respectively, the sealing sleeve is provided with a sealing chamber, a refrigerant is provided in the sealing chamber, the power element is partially or completely immersed in one end of the sealing chamber, the piston is movably arranged at the other end of the sealing chamber, and the sealing chamber is divided into a heat exchange chamber provided with the power element and a compression chamber away from the power element. The heat exchange chamber has a liquid inlet and an air outlet respectively connected to itself, the first valve is arranged at the liquid inlet, and the second valve is arranged at the air outlet. The driving element can drive the piston to move in a direction close to or away from the power element, when the controller controls the first valve and the second valve to be closed, and the driving element drives the piston to move in a direction away from the power element, the heat exchange chamber can expand, so that the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber can be phase-changed into a gaseous refrigerant. When the controller controls the first valve to be closed, the second valve to be opened, and the driving element drives the piston to move in a direction close to the power element and squeeze the heat exchange chamber, the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber can be discharged through the air outlet.

[0006] In one of the embodiments, the heat exchange device also includes a partition and a third valve. The partition is arranged in the heat exchange chamber to separate the heat exchange chamber into a liquid storage chamber and a vaporization chamber. The power element is partially or completely immersed in the liquid storage chamber. The liquid inlet is arranged in the liquid storage chamber, the vaporization chamber is arranged on the side of the partition close to the piston, and the gas outlet is arranged in the vaporization chamber. The third valve is arranged on the partition and electrically connected to the controller. The controller can control the third valve to connect or isolate the liquid storage chamber and the vaporization chamber.

[0007] In one embodiment, there are multiple liquid storage chambers, and the multiple liquid storage chambers are respectively connected to the gasification chamber, and one or more power elements are independently disposed in each liquid storage chamber.

[0008] In one embodiment, the sealing sleeve is provided with an assembly opening, so that the power element can be installed in the liquid storage cavity through the assembly opening.

[0009] In one embodiment, the outer wall of the power element is seal-welded to the assembly opening, or the outer wall of the power element is seal-clamped to the assembly opening.

[0010] In one embodiment, the first valve, the second valve and the third valve are one-way valves, or the first valve, the second valve and the third valve are two-way valves.

[0011] In one embodiment, the liquid inlet is arranged on a side of the power element away from the piston, and the gas outlet is arranged on a side of the power element close to the piston.

[0012] In one embodiment, the driving element is a motor or a cylinder.

[0013] The present application also provides a robot thermal management system, which includes the heat exchange device described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0014] The present application also provides a robot, which includes the robot thermal management system described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the heat exchange device, robot thermal management system and robot provided by the present application, when the first valve and the second valve are both closed and the heat exchange cavity expands, the air pressure in the heat exchange cavity must be reduced, and the vacuum degree of the heat exchange cavity increases. At this time, the boiling point of the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity drops sharply, so that the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity is vaporized into gaseous refrigerant. In addition, since the heat exchange cavity is provided with a power element, the refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity will take away the heat generated by the power element during the phase change process.

[0016] Afterwards, the first valve is closed and the second valve is opened, and the piston quickly compresses the heat exchange cavity and discharges the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity through the gas outlet.

[0017] Afterwards, close the second valve, open the first valve, and add new refrigerant.

[0018] From the above, it can be seen that the heat exchange device provided in the present application performs heat exchange by directly sleeved on the outside of the power element through the sealing sleeve, which is not only compact in structure and easy to install, but also has extremely high heat exchange efficiency through the rapid discharge and replenishment of the refrigerant. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the conventional technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the conventional technology descriptions are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a heat exchange device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a heat exchange device according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure numerals: 100, sealing sleeve; 110, heat exchange chamber; 111, liquid storage chamber; 112, vaporization chamber; 113, liquid inlet; 114, gas outlet; 120, compression chamber; 130, assembly port; 200, piston; 300, driving element; 400, first valve; 500, second valve; 600, partition; 700, third valve; 800, power element. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] With the rapid development of the humanoid robot industry, the actions that robots can perform are becoming more and more complex, the speed is getting faster and faster, and the load is getting heavier. In addition, the rapid increase in AI computing power has led to an increasing demand for thermal management of robot drive motors and chips.

[0024] Among the existing cooling technologies, air cooling, air cooling + liquid cooling, heat pump air conditioning cooling, liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide cooling and other cooling methods have shown a diversified development trend. These thermal management methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Air cooling can meet the needs when the heat dissipation is small. With the sharp increase in heat dissipation load, the simple air cooling method has become incapable. Air cooling + liquid cooling technology is most widely used in new energy vehicles. It is also the first thermal management method that everyone thinks of and applies to robots. Heat will eventually dissipate into the atmosphere, so the final cooling link is still air cooling, which makes the thermal management system too complicated. In addition to the water channel, a separate cooling fan and centralized heat dissipation space must be set up. If a distributed air cooling mode is adopted, more fans will be needed and more thermal management control resources will be occupied. Liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide have higher cooling capacity, and thermal management control will be relatively complicated.

[0025] In view of this, it is necessary to provide a heat exchange device, a robot thermal management system and a robot that are smaller in size, more compact in structure, and can more directly and quickly cool power components.

[0026] See also Figure 1-Figure 2 The heat exchange device includes a sealing sleeve 100, a piston 200, a driving element 300, a first valve 400, a second valve 500 and a controller (not shown), and the controller is electrically connected to the driving element 300, the first valve 400 and the second valve 500, respectively, to respectively control the actions of the driving element 300, the first valve 400 and the second valve 500. Specifically, the controller can control the start and stop of the driving element 300, the opening and closing of the first valve 400 and the opening and closing of the second valve 500.

[0027] Specifically, in one embodiment, the driving element 300 is a motor, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the driving element 300 may also be a cylinder or other device.

[0028] The sealing sleeve 100 is provided with a sealed cavity in which a refrigerant is provided. The power element 800 (including but not limited to an IGBT module, a chip and a motor) is partially or completely immersed in one end of the sealed cavity. The piston 200 is movably arranged at the other end of the sealed cavity and divides the sealed cavity into a heat exchange cavity 110 in which the power element 800 is provided and a compression cavity 120 away from the power element 800.

[0029] It should be noted that the heat exchange chamber 110 and the compression chamber 120 are not connected.

[0030] It should be noted that the refrigerant is a phase change coolant.

[0031] Preferably, the phase change coolant includes water, which is environmentally friendly, pollution-free and has the advantage of low cost.

[0032] But not limited to this, in other embodiments, the phase change coolant also includes other environmentally friendly refrigerants, which are not listed here one by one.

[0033] It should be noted that there is air inside the sealing sleeve 100 and it is not in an absolute vacuum state.

[0034] The heat exchange chamber 110 has a liquid inlet 113 and an air outlet 114 which are respectively connected to the heat exchange chamber 110 . The first valve 400 is disposed at the liquid inlet 113 , and the second valve 500 is disposed at the air outlet 114 .

[0035] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the liquid inlet 113 is disposed on a side of the power element 800 away from the piston 200 , and the gas outlet 114 is disposed on a side of the power element 800 close to the piston 200 .

[0036] In this way, after the liquid refrigerant enters the heat exchange cavity 110 through the liquid inlet 113 , it can flow through the entire power element 800 , thereby improving the heat dissipation effect of the power element 800 .

[0037] But not limited thereto, in another embodiment, the liquid inlet 113 may also be disposed on a side of the power element 800 close to the piston 200 , or the liquid inlet 113 may be disposed in the middle of the heat exchange chamber 110 .

[0038] The driving element 300 can drive the piston 200 to move in a direction close to or away from the power element 800. When the controller controls the first valve 400 and the second valve 500 to be closed, and the driving element 300 drives the piston 200 to move in a direction away from the power element 800 and squeezes the compression chamber 120, the heat exchange chamber 110 can expand, so that the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 changes phase into gaseous refrigerant. In the process of gasification of the refrigerant, a large amount of heat generated by the power element 800 will be taken away.

[0039] When the controller controls the first valve 400 to close and the second valve 500 to open, and the driving element 300 drives the piston 200 to move in a direction close to the power element 800 and squeeze the heat exchange cavity 110 , the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity 110 can be discharged through the gas outlet 114 .

[0040] Compared with the prior art, the heat exchange device, robot thermal management system and robot provided by the present application, when the first valve 400 and the second valve 500 are both closed and the heat exchange chamber 110 expands, the air pressure in the heat exchange chamber 110 must be reduced, and the vacuum degree of the heat exchange chamber 110 increases. At this time, the boiling point of the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 is sharply reduced, so that the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 is vaporized into a gaseous refrigerant. In addition, since the heat exchange chamber 110 is provided with a power element 800, the refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 will take away the heat generated by the power element 800 during the phase change process.

[0041] Afterwards, the first valve 400 is closed and the second valve 500 is opened, and the piston 200 quickly compresses the heat exchange chamber 110 and discharges the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 through the gas outlet 114 .

[0042] Afterwards, the second valve 500 is closed, and the first valve 400 is opened to add new refrigerant.

[0043] From the above, it can be seen that the heat exchange device provided in the present application performs heat exchange by directly sleeve-mounting the sealing sleeve 100 on the outside of the power element 800. It is not only compact in structure and easy to install, but also has extremely high heat exchange efficiency through rapid discharge and replenishment of refrigerant.

[0044] In one embodiment, if Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the heat exchange device also includes a partition 600 and a third valve 700. The partition 600 is arranged in the heat exchange chamber 110 to separate the heat exchange chamber 110 into a liquid storage chamber 111 and a vaporization chamber 112. The power element 800 is partially or completely immersed in the liquid storage chamber 111. The liquid inlet 113 is arranged in the liquid storage chamber 111. The vaporization chamber 112 is arranged on a side of the partition 600 close to the piston 200. The gas outlet 114 is arranged in the vaporization chamber 112. The third valve 700 is arranged on the partition 600 and is electrically connected to the controller. The controller can control the third valve 700 to connect or isolate the liquid storage chamber 111 and the vaporization chamber 112.

[0045] When the driving element 300 drives the piston 200 to move in a direction away from the power element 800 and squeeze the compression chamber 120, the controller controls the third valve 700 to open, so that the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage chamber 111 quickly enters the vaporization chamber 112 under the action of the pressure difference and vaporizes into a gaseous working fluid.

[0046] When the driving element 300 drives the piston 200 to move in a direction close to the power element 800 and squeeze the heat exchange chamber 110, the controller controls the third valve 700 to close, so that the gaseous working medium in the vaporization chamber 112 is quickly discharged through the second valve 500. At this time, the gaseous refrigerant will not be remixed with the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage chamber 111, thereby preventing the gaseous refrigerant from being reliquefied in the heat exchange chamber 110 and causing a decrease in heat exchange efficiency.

[0047] Moreover, such a configuration can avoid the discharge of liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage chamber 111 while discharging the gaseous refrigerant, thereby reducing the number of times the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber 110 is replenished.

[0048] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the first valve 400, the second valve 500 and the third valve 700 are one-way valves, which have simple control logic and low cost, and are conducive to reducing the manufacturing cost of the heat exchange device.

[0049] In another embodiment, the first valve 400 , the second valve 500 , and the third valve 700 are two-way valves.

[0050] Furthermore, in another embodiment, if Figure 2 As shown, there are multiple liquid storage chambers 111 , and the multiple liquid storage chambers 111 are respectively connected to the gasification chamber 112 , and one or more power elements 800 are independently disposed in each liquid storage chamber 111 .

[0051] Such arrangement can, on the one hand, increase the arrangement density of the power elements 800 and improve the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchange device, and on the other hand, avoid the single liquid storage chamber 111 being too large to affect the installation of the power elements 800.

[0052] Further, in one embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, the sealing sleeve 100 is provided with an assembly opening 130 , so that the power element 800 can be installed in the liquid storage cavity 111 through the assembly opening 130 and partially or completely immersed in the refrigerant in the liquid storage cavity 111 .

[0053] Specifically, the outer wall of the power element 800 may be sealed and welded to the assembly opening 130 , or may be sealed and clamped to the assembly opening 130 .

[0054] However, the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the power element 800 may also be arranged to fit the outer surface or the inner surface of the sealing sleeve 100 to reduce the difficulty of assembling the power element 800 and the sealing sleeve 100 .

[0055] The present application also provides a robot thermal management system, which includes the heat exchange device described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0056] The present application also provides a robot, which includes the robot thermal management system described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0057] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0058] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of patent protection of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

[0059] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0060] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0061] In this application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0062] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being “above” or “below” a second feature may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being “above”, “above”, and “above” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being “below”, “below”, and “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0063] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be a central element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be a central element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be the only implementation method.

[0064] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used herein in the specification of this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

Claims

1. A heat exchange device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a sealing sleeve (100), a piston (200), a driving element (300), a first valve (400), a second valve (500) and a controller, wherein the controller is electrically connected to the driving element (300), the first valve (400) and the second valve (500), respectively; the sealing sleeve (100) is provided with a sealing cavity, a refrigerant is provided in the sealing cavity, a power element (800) is partially or completely immersed in one end of the sealing cavity, and the piston (200) is movably arranged at the other end of the sealing cavity, and the sealing cavity is divided into a heat exchange cavity (110) provided with the power element (800) and a compression cavity (120) away from the power element (800); The heat exchange chamber (110) has a liquid inlet (113) and an air outlet (114) respectively connected to the heat exchange chamber, the first valve (400) is arranged at the liquid inlet (113), and the second valve (500) is arranged at the air outlet (114); The driving element (300) can drive the piston (200) to move in a direction approaching or away from the power element (800); when the controller controls the first valve (400) and the second valve (500) to be closed, and the driving element (300) drives the piston (200) to move in a direction away from the power element (800), the heat exchange cavity (110) can expand, so that the liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange cavity (110) can be phase-changed into gaseous refrigerant; When the controller controls the first valve (400) to close, the second valve (500) to open, and the driving element (300) drives the piston (200) to move in a direction close to the power element (800) and squeeze the heat exchange chamber (110), the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant in the heat exchange chamber (110) can be discharged through the outlet (114).

2. The heat exchange device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat exchange chamber (110) further comprises a partition (600) and a third valve (700); the partition (600) is arranged in the heat exchange chamber (110) to separate the heat exchange chamber (110) into a liquid storage chamber (111) and a vaporization chamber (112); the power element (800) is partially or completely immersed in the liquid storage chamber (111); the liquid inlet (113) is arranged in the liquid storage chamber (111); the vaporization chamber (112) is arranged on a side of the partition (600) close to the piston (200); the gas outlet (114) is arranged in the vaporization chamber (112); the third valve (700) is arranged on the partition (600) and is electrically connected to the controller; the controller is capable of controlling the third valve (700) to connect or disconnect the liquid storage chamber (111) and the vaporization chamber (112).

3. The heat exchange device according to claim 2, characterized in that: There are a plurality of liquid storage chambers (111), and the plurality of liquid storage chambers (111) are respectively connected to the gasification chamber (112), and one or more power elements (800) are independently disposed in each of the liquid storage chambers (111).

4. The heat exchange device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The sealing sleeve (100) is provided with an assembly opening (130), so that the power element (800) can be installed in the liquid storage cavity (111) through the assembly opening (130).

5. The heat exchange device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The outer wall of the power element (800) is sealed and welded to the assembly opening (130), or the outer wall of the power element (800) is sealed and clamped to the assembly opening (130).

6. The heat exchange device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first valve (400), the second valve (500) and the third valve (700) are one-way valves, or the first valve (400), the second valve (500) and the third valve (700) are two-way valves.

7. The heat exchange device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid inlet (113) is arranged on a side of the power element (800) away from the piston (200), and the gas outlet (114) is arranged on a side of the power element (800) close to the piston (200).

8. The heat exchange device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving element (300) is a motor or a cylinder.

9. A robot thermal management system, characterized in that: Comprising a heat exchange device as described in any one of claims 1 to claim 8.

10. A robot, characterized in that: Comprising the robot thermal management system as described in claim 9.

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