Electric device, electric driving system and vehicle

Abstract

An electrical device comprises: a housing (100) provided with at least one accommodating cavity; the heat dissipation device (200) comprises a main body and a cooling loop used for enabling a cooling medium to circulate, the main body (210) comprises at least one side wall, and the cooling loop is arranged in the at least one side wall; the at least one circuit board assembly (300) comprises a substrate (310) and a heating element (320) arranged on the substrate (310); wherein each containing cavity is defined by one of the side walls and the peripheral wall (120) of the shell (100), and each circuit board assembly (300) is arranged in the corresponding containing cavity close to the corresponding side wall; the electrical device (10) further comprises a pouring sealant (400) arranged in the containing cavity, and the substrate (310) and the heating element (320) are at least partially immersed in the pouring sealant (400). The electric driving system comprises the electric device. The vehicle comprises the electric device or the electric driving system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electric drive system for a vehicle, in particular an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. The present disclosure particularly relates to an electrical device, an electric drive system including the electrical device, and a vehicle including the electrical device or the electric drive system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, higher requirements are put forward for the heat dissipation of power devices in the electric drive system. Currently, power devices in the electric drive system, such as MOSFETs, IGBTs, etc., are usually arranged around the peripheral side wall of the heat dissipation device, which usually requires the use of elastic clamping clips made of, for example, metal and plastic brackets for ensuring electrical insulation between the elastic clamping clip and the heat dissipation device and maintaining the elastic clamping clip. This results in a large number of parts, high material costs, high defect rates, low production efficiency, and high production costs. In addition, fixed devices such as elastic clamping clips may have fatigue problems due to frequent extrusion. More specifically, during vehicle driving, the power devices may be continuously affected by external vibrations, and fixed devices such as elastic clamping clips are prone to losing elasticity or even failing under variable loads. This will lead to poor heat dissipation due to the inability to press the power devices against the heat dissipation device, resulting in reduced power consumption or failures. Moreover, the design pressure of the elastic clamping clip is determined by the design compression amount, the thickness of the device on the heat dissipation substrate, and the arrangement position. The specifications of different devices are often inconsistent, which will cause the corresponding elastic clamping clip to require re-design, simulation, and measurement. These factors that cannot be precisely controlled will cause a large deviation in the pressure of the elastic clamping clip.

[0003] Therefore, there is still a need for a new solution to at least partially overcome the above problems existing in the prior art. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] To this end, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electrical device is proposed. According to an embodiment, the electrical device includes:

[0005] A housing provided with at least one receiving cavity;

[0006] A heat dissipation device, including:

[0007] A main body, the main body including at least one side wall;

[0008] A cooling circuit for allowing a cooling medium to flow, the cooling circuit being provided in the at least one side wall;

[0009] At least one circuit board assembly including a substrate and heat generating elements provided on the substrate;

[0010] Wherein, each of the receiving cavities is defined by one of the side walls and the peripheral wall of the housing, and each of the circuit board assemblies is disposed in the corresponding receiving cavity close to the corresponding side wall;

[0011] Wherein, the electrical device further includes potting glue disposed in the accommodating cavity, and the substrate and the heating element are at least partially immersed in the potting glue.

[0012] Thus, in the electrical device of the present disclosure, by providing the accommodating cavity and the potting glue located in the accommodating cavity, wherein the substrate and the heating element are at least partially immersed in the potting glue, the holding and fixing of the substrate and the heating element can be achieved via the potting glue, thereby allowing the omission of fixing devices such as elastic clamping clips that must be used in the prior art, reducing the number of parts, and thus simplifying the assembly, improving production efficiency, and thus enhancing cost-effectiveness. In addition, the potting glue allows for flexible adaptation to different specifications of the substrate and the heating element. Also, the potting glue allows for absorption of a certain amount of external vibration and thus avoids loosening of the substrate and the heating element caused by external vibration, ensuring the stability of product performance. Furthermore, the use of the potting glue also allows for effective conduction of the heat dissipated by the heating element during operation.

[0013] According to various embodiments, the electrical device proposed by the present disclosure may further include one or more of the following further developments.

[0014] In some embodiments, the substrate is a metal substrate or a ceramic substrate.

[0015] In some embodiments, the substrate of the circuit board assembly is attached to the corresponding side wall through a heat conducting member. This ensures effective conduction of heat from the substrate to the heat dissipation device, and more specifically to the cooling circuit, during operation of the electrical device.

[0016] In some embodiments, the heat conducting member is a heat conducting adhesive. The heat conducting adhesive allows for enhanced firm holding of the substrate in place.

[0017] In some embodiments, the heat conducting member is a non-adhesive member.

[0018] In some embodiments, the heat conducting member is at least one of silicone grease or heat conducting glue.

[0019] In some embodiments, the heating element is provided with a heat dissipation surface on the side facing the substrate. This further facilitates the dissipation of the heat generated by the heating element during operation.

[0020] In some embodiments, the peripheral wall of the housing is arranged to surround the heat dissipation device. This allows for simplification of the design of the housing and the accommodating cavity, facilitates manufacturing, improves manufacturing efficiency, and thus is beneficial for cost-effectiveness.

[0021] In some embodiments, the heat dissipation device has two side walls facing each other, and the cooling circuit is provided in each side wall; the housing is provided with two receiving cavities; each receiving cavity is defined by the peripheral wall of the housing and one of the two side walls. This allows more functions to be integrated into the electrical device with a simple structure while ensuring the compactness of the overall structure of the electrical device.

[0022] In some embodiments, the main body of the heat dissipation device further includes a connecting side wall connecting the two side walls, and the cooling circuit is formed in an integral U-shaped in the two side walls and the connecting side wall.

[0023] In some embodiments, a connector is provided on the substrate for electrical connection with an additional circuit board. This allows the functions of the electrical device to be expanded in a simple manner.

[0024] In some embodiments, the substrate is provided with a first shape mating structure, and the housing is provided with a second shape mating structure that mates with the first shape mating structure.

[0025] In some embodiments, the first shape mating structure is a notch or a protrusion provided at the edge of the substrate, and the second shape mating structure is correspondingly a protrusion or a notch provided on the housing.

[0026] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an electric drive system, which includes the electrical device according to any one of the above embodiments, and thus has corresponding advantages and benefits.

[0027] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle, which includes the electrical device according to any one of the above embodiments, or includes the electric drive system as described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of an electrical device according to an exemplary embodiment, in which potting compound is not shown;

[0029] Figure 2 is a perspective view of an electrical device according to an exemplary embodiment, in which potting compound is shown.

[0030] LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0031] 10 Electrical device

[0032] 100 Housing

[0033] 110a, 110b Receiving cavity

[0034] 110 First receiving cavity

[0035] 110b Second receiving cavity

[0036] 120 peripheral wall

[0037] 200 heat dissipation device

[0038] 210 main body

[0039] 220a, 220b side walls

[0040] 220a first side wall

[0041] 220b second side wall

[0042] 230 connecting side wall

[0043] 300 circuit board assembly

[0044] 310 substrate

[0045] 311 connector

[0046] 312 first form - fitting structure

[0047] 320 heating element

[0048] 400 potting glue

[0049] 500 accommodation space Detailed implementation manners

[0050] Hereinafter, an electrical device, an electric drive system, and a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0051] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure claimed, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0052] Unless otherwise defined in the context, the singular forms include the plural forms. Throughout the specification, the terms "including", "having", etc. are used herein to specify the presence of the described features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

[0053] In addition, even though terms including ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" may be used to describe various components, these components are not limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish one element from other elements. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may be referred to as the first component.

[0054] In the description of the present utility model, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, or the orientation or positional relationship in which the disclosed product is customarily placed during use, or the orientation or positional relationship commonly understood by those skilled in the art. It is only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.

[0055] As Figure 1-2 shown, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electrical device 10 is provided. In an exemplary application environment, the electrical device 10 is part of a power module or an electric drive system, such as part of an on-vehicle power module or an electric drive system of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. It should be understood that the on-vehicle power module can be used to charge an energy storage device (for example, a battery or a supercapacitor outside the on-vehicle power module). It can receive filtered alternating current input from the outside (for example, an external charging pile or charging device) and rectify and transform it into direct current, and then deliver it to a load or an energy storage device for charging. After the on-vehicle power module charges the energy storage device, the power conversion circuit generates drive power based on the power from the energy storage device to drive the motor to rotate.

[0056] According to one embodiment, the electrical device 10 includes a housing 100, a heat dissipation device 200, and at least one circuit board assembly 300. The housing 100 includes a peripheral wall 120 and is provided with at least one receiving cavity 110a, 110b. The heat dissipation device 200 includes a main body 210. The main body 210 includes at least one side wall 220a, 220b, and a cooling circuit for allowing a cooling medium to flow is provided in the at least one side wall 220a, 220b. The cooling medium is water in a specific embodiment, but it is not limited to water. Each circuit board assembly 300 includes a substrate 310 and a heating element 320 provided on the substrate 310. Exemplarily but not exclusively, the substrate 310 is a metal substrate, such as an aluminum substrate, or a ceramic substrate. Exemplarily but not exclusively, the heating element 200 may include an IGBT power transistor and / or a MOSFET. Wherein, each receiving cavity 110a, 110b is defined by a corresponding one of the side walls 220a, 220b of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200 and the peripheral wall 120 of the housing 100, and each circuit board assembly 300 is disposed in the corresponding receiving cavity 110a, 110b close to the corresponding side wall 220a, 220b. In addition, the electrical device 10 further includes a potting adhesive 400 disposed in the receiving cavities 110a, 110b, and the substrate 310 and the heating element 320 of the corresponding circuit board assembly 300 are at least partially immersed in the potting adhesive 400, for example, completely immersed in the potting adhesive 400.

[0057] Thus, in the electrical device 10 of the present disclosure, by providing the receiving cavities 110a, 110b and the potting adhesive 400 located in the receiving cavities 110a, 110b, wherein the substrate 310 and the heating element 320 are at least partially immersed in the potting adhesive 400, the holding and fixing of the substrate 310 and the heating element 320 can be achieved via the potting adhesive 400, thereby allowing the omission of fixing devices such as elastic clamping clips that must be used in the prior art, reducing the number of parts, and thus simplifying the assembly, improving the production efficiency, and thus enhancing the cost-effectiveness. In addition, the potting adhesive allows for flexible adaptation to different specifications of substrates and heating elements. And, the potting adhesive allows for absorbing a certain amount of external vibration, and thus avoiding loosening of the substrate and the heating element caused by external vibration, ensuring the stability of the product performance. In addition, the use of the potting adhesive also allows for effectively conducting the heat dissipated by the heating element during operation.

[0058] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1-2As shown, the heat dissipation device 200 may have two side walls 220a and 220b that face each other, which may be referred to as the first side wall 220a and the second side wall 220b hereinafter, and a cooling circuit is provided in each of the side walls 220a and 220b. The housing 100 may be provided with two accommodation cavities 110a and 110b, which may be referred to as the first accommodation cavity 110a and the second accommodation cavity 110b hereinafter. Each of the first accommodation cavity 110a and the second accommodation cavity 110b is defined by the peripheral wall 120 of the housing 100 and one of the first side wall 220a and the second side wall 220b of the heat dissipation device 200. More specifically, the first accommodation cavity 110a is defined by the peripheral wall 120 of the housing 100 and the first side wall 220a of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200, and the second accommodation cavity 110b is defined by the peripheral wall 120 of the housing 100 and the second side wall 220b of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200. More specifically, a circuit board assembly 300 is disposed in the first accommodation cavity 110a adjacent to the first side wall 220a, and a circuit board assembly 300 is disposed in the second accommodation cavity 110b adjacent to the second side wall 220b. This allows more functions to be integrated into the electrical device 10 with a simple structure while ensuring the compactness of the overall structure of the electrical device 10. According to a more specific embodiment, the housing 100 further includes a bottom wall, and the bottom wall of the housing 100 also constitutes the bottoms of the first accommodation cavity 110a and the second accommodation cavity 110b. In some embodiments, as Figure 1-2 shown, the peripheral wall 120 of the housing 100 may be arranged to surround the heat dissipation device 200. This allows for simplifying the design of the housing 100 and the accommodation cavities 110a and 110b, facilitating manufacturing, improving manufacturing efficiency, and thus being beneficial to cost-effectiveness.

[0059] In some embodiments, as Figure 1-2 shown, the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200 may further include a connecting side wall 230 connecting the two side walls 220a and 220b, and the cooling circuit is formed in an overall U-shaped in the two side walls 220a and 220b and the connecting side wall 230. More specifically, the two side walls 220a and 220b and the connecting side wall 230 of the heat dissipation device 200 may together define an accommodation space 500, which may be used to accommodate electronic and electrical components or devices, and thus allows heat dissipation of the accommodated electronic and electrical components or devices.

[0060] In some embodiments, the substrate 310 of each circuit board assembly 300 can be attached to the corresponding side walls 220a, 220b of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200 through a heat conducting member. This ensures the effective conduction of heat from the corresponding substrate 310 to the heat dissipation device 200, and more specifically to the cooling circuit during the operation of the electrical device 10. In more specific embodiments, a circuit board assembly 300 is disposed in the first receiving cavity 100a such that its substrate 310 is attached to the first side wall 220a of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200 through a heat conducting member. Additionally or alternatively, a circuit board assembly 300 is disposed in the second receiving cavity 110b such that its substrate 310 is attached to the second side wall 220b of the main body 210 of the heat dissipation device 200 through a heat conducting member. In some embodiments, the heat conducting member is a heat conducting adhesive member, such as a heat conducting adhesive. The heat conducting adhesive member allows for enhanced secure retention of the substrate 310 in place. Alternatively, the heat conducting member can also be a non - adhesive member; optionally, the adhesive member is at least one of silicone grease or heat conducting glue.

[0061] In some embodiments, the heating element 320 is provided with a heat dissipation surface on the side facing the substrate 310. This further facilitates the dissipation of heat generated by the heating element 320 during operation, and more specifically promotes the transfer of heat generated by the heating element 320 during operation to the cooling circuit of the heat dissipation device 200 via the heat dissipation surface, for example via the above - mentioned heat conducting member.

[0062] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 shown, a connector 311 can be provided on the substrate 310 for electrical connection to an additional circuit board. This allows for the simple expansion of the functions of the electrical device 10. The connector 311 can include, for example, one of pins, chip contacts, spring beams, tuning fork contacts, or slots. Exemplarily, the additional circuit board can be the main circuit board of the electrical device 10, which is mainly used for electrical and signal connection to external components, for example.

[0063] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 shown, the substrate 310 is provided with a first form - fitting structure 312, and the housing 100 is provided with a second form - fitting structure that mates with the first form - fitting structure 312, thereby allowing for the convenient connection of the substrate 310 to the housing 100. More specifically, the first form - fitting structure 312 is provided on the bottom edge of the substrate 310, and the second form - fitting structure is provided on the bottom wall of the housing 100. Exemplarily but not exclusively, as Figure 1 shown, the first form - fitting structure 312 is a notch or a protrusion provided at the edge of the substrate 310, and the second form - fitting structure is correspondingly a protrusion or a notch provided on the housing 100, more specifically on the bottom wall of the housing 100.

[0064] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides an electric drive system, which includes the electrical device 10 according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0065] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle, which includes the electrical device 10 according to any one of the above embodiments, or includes the electric drive system as described above. The vehicle may be an electrified vehicle, such as a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a range extended electric vehicle, a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The vehicle may also be a hydrogen energy vehicle.

[0066] The exemplary embodiments of the electrical device, the electric drive system, and the vehicle proposed by the present utility model have been described in detail above with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art can understand that, without departing from the concept of the present utility model, various modifications and variations can be made to the above specific embodiments, and various combinations of the technical features and structures proposed by the present utility model can be made, without exceeding the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0067] The scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the embodiments described above, but is defined by the appended claims and their equivalent scope.

Claims

1. An electrical device, characterized in that, The electrical device (10) includes: A housing (100) provided with at least one accommodation cavity (110a, 110b); A heat dissipation device (200), including: A main body (210), the main body (210) including at least one side wall (220a, 220b); A cooling circuit for circulating a cooling medium, the cooling circuit being provided in the at least one side wall (220a, 220b); At least one circuit board assembly (300), including a substrate (310) and a heating element (320) provided on the substrate (310); Wherein, each of the accommodation cavities (110a, 110b) is defined by one of the side walls (220a, 220b) and the peripheral wall (120) of the housing (100), and each circuit board assembly (300) is disposed in the corresponding accommodation cavity (110a, 110b) close to the corresponding side wall (220a, 220b); Wherein, the electrical device (10) further includes a potting adhesive (400) disposed in the accommodation cavities (110a, 110b), and the substrate (310) and the heating element (320) are at least partially immersed in the potting adhesive (400).

2. The electrical device according to claim 1, characterized in that The substrate (310) is a metal substrate or a ceramic substrate.

3. The electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The substrate (310) of the circuit board assembly (300) is attached to the corresponding side wall (220a, 220b) through a heat conducting member.

4. The electrical device according to claim 3, characterized in that The heat conducting member is a heat conducting adhesive member.

5. The electrical device according to claim 3, characterized in that The heat conducting member is a non - adhesive member.

6. The electrical device according to claim 5, characterized in that The heat conducting member is at least one of silicone grease or heat conducting glue.

7. The electrical device according to claim 3, characterized in that The heating element (320) is provided with a heat dissipation surface on the side facing the substrate (310).

8. The electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The peripheral wall (120) of the housing (100) is arranged to surround the heat dissipation device (200).

9. The electrical device according to claim 8, characterized in that The heat dissipation device (200) has two opposite side walls (220a, 220b), and the cooling circuit is provided in each side wall; The housing (100) is provided with two accommodation cavities (110a, 110b); Each accommodation cavity (110a, 110b) is defined by the peripheral wall (120) of the housing (100) and one of the two side walls (220a, 220b).

10. The electrical device according to claim 9, characterized in that The main body (210) of the heat dissipation device (200) further includes a connecting side wall (230) connecting the two side walls (220a, 220b), and the cooling circuit is formed in an integral U-shaped in the two side walls (220a, 220b) and the connecting side wall (230).

11. The electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein A connector is provided on the substrate for electrical connection with an additional circuit board.

12. The electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The substrate is provided with a first form-fit structure, and the housing is provided with a second form-fit structure that mates with the first form-fit structure.

13. The electrical device according to claim 12, wherein The first form-fit structure is a notch or a protrusion provided at the edge of the substrate, and the second form-fit structure is correspondingly a protrusion or a notch provided on the housing.

14. An electric drive system, characterized in that, The electric drive system includes the electrical device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle includes the electrical device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or includes the electric drive system according to claim 14.

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