control unit

Abstract

The invention relates to a control device (10), comprising a housing (14) having a lower housing part (16) and an upper housing part (18) which form an interior space (28) for receiving a printed circuit board (30), with fastening domes (34) formed monolithically on the lower housing part (16), with supports (35) formed on the fastening domes (34) for at least indirectly supporting the printed circuit board (30) in the direction of the lower housing part (16), wherein the fastening domes (34) penetrate with first partial sections (36) first through-openings (40) in the printed circuit board (30) and with second partial sections (42) second through-openings (44) in the upper housing part (18), wherein the second partial sections (42) on the side of the upper housing part (18) facing away from the printed circuit board (30) are designed at least indirectly to fasten the upper housing part (18) to the lower housing part (16), wherein at least one arranged on the circuit board (30),heat-generating component (32) is thermally coupled to the housing (14) by means of a heat conducting means (48), and wherein a spacer element (46) is arranged between the circuit board (30) and the facing side of the housing upper part (18), which spacer element is designed to form a stop of the housing upper part (18) in the direction of the circuit board (30).

Description

Technical FieldThe invention relates to a control device which is distinguished by a particularly advantageous structural design of its housing for simple assembly in conjunction with good dissipation of heat from the environment of at least one heat-generating component arranged in the housing on a printed circuit board.Prior ArtDE 102011 086 107 A1 discloses a control device having the features of the preamble of claim 1. The control device has a printed circuit board with at least one heat-generating component, wherein the printed circuit board is arranged between a lower housing part and an upper housing part of the housing. A heat-generating component arranged on the underside of the printed circuit board is thermally connected to a housing base or the housing lower part by means of a heat-conducting means. The lower housing part has fastening domes which project in the direction of the upper housing part and penetrate both through-openings in the printed circuit board and through-openings in the upper housing part and project beyond the upper side of the upper housing part. In order to establish a fixing or fixed connection between the lower housing part and the upper housing part, the fastening domes are connected by means of securing washers which press against the upper side of the upper housing part.Furthermore, DE 10 2019 260 250 A1 discloses a housing, in the lower housing part of which fastening domes are arranged, which penetrate through openings in the upper housing part and which are deformed by hot caulking against the housing cover in order to firmly connect the upper housing part to the lower housing part.Disclosure of the InventionThe control device according to the invention having the features of claim 1 has the advantage that it has, on the one hand, a very good heat transfer from at least one heat-generating component via the housing to the environment of the control device and, on the other hand, a particularly simple assembly with a structurally simple structure of the housing is made possible.The invention is based on the concept of enabling the thermal coupling of the at least one heat-generating component via an upper housing part made of metal, specifically with the interposition of a heat-conducting means which at the same time ensures a possibly tolerance-dependent geometry compensation between the component and the side of the upper housing part facing it. Furthermore, a further housing part made of plastic is used to be connected to the upper housing part by a simple connecting technique, wherein the thermal coupling of the heat-generating component to the upper housing part takes place simultaneously during the mounting of the upper housing part via the heat-conducting means.Against the background of the above explanations, a control device according to the invention having the features of claim 1 therefore has a housing which comprises a lower housing part and an upper housing part. The housing forms an interior space for receiving a printed circuit board, wherein monolithically formed fastening domes are provided on the housing lower part, and wherein supports for at least indirectly bearing the printed circuit board in the direction of the housing lower part are provided on the fastening domes. Furthermore, the fastening domes pass through first through-openings in the printed circuit board with first subsection and second through-openings in the upper housing part with second subsection. The second partial sections are formed at least indirectly on the side of the upper housing part facing away from the printed circuit board for fixing the upper housing part to the lower housing part, wherein a spacer element is arranged between the printed circuit board and the facing side of the upper housing part, which spacer element is formed for forming a stop of the upper housing part in the direction of the printed circuit board. At least one heat-generating component arranged on the printed circuit board is also thermally coupled to the housing by means of a heat-conducting means. The control device according to the invention is characterized in that the lower housing part is designed as an injection-molded part made of plastic, that the upper housing part consists of metal, that the heat-conducting means is arranged between the heat-generating component and the upper housing part, and that the fastening domes are deformed against the upper housing part by hot caulking on the side of the upper housing part facing away from the interior and thereby fix the upper housing part to the lower housing part.Advantageous refinements of the control unit according to the invention are listed in the dependent claims.With regard to the upper housing part, there are different possibilities with regard to its manufacture. In a first variant, it can be provided that the upper housing part is designed as a sheet metal component, and that the spacer element is designed as a component separate from the upper housing part.In an alternative embodiment, however, it is also possible for the upper housing part to be designed as a sheet metal component, and for the spacer element to be designed as a component which is produced by a forming process and is formed monolithically with the upper housing part. Such a configuration results in a particularly simple and reliable mounting, since the spacer element does not have to be mounted separately or stored in the manufacture.Alternatively to this, however, it can also be provided that the upper housing part is designed as a cast part. In particular, the upper housing part is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.In a preferred development of the last proposal, it can likewise be provided that the spacer element is monolithically formed on the casting.Regardless of the design of the upper housing part and the spacer element, however, it is always advantageously provided that the spacer element is sleeve-shaped. This makes it possible to allow the fastening dome to project through a longitudinal opening of the spacer element, with the result that the spacer element requires a minimized installation space on the printed circuit board, as viewed in the lateral direction.It is furthermore particularly preferred that both the upper housing part and the lower housing part are designed in the shape of a trough.In order to allow tolerance compensation in the direction of the fastening domes between the housing lower part and the housing upper part with simultaneous sealing function of the housing, it is provided in a development of the last proposal that the housing upper part with first side walls laterally project beyond the housing lower part in the region of second side walls and abut the second side walls in an overlap region.It is furthermore preferred that the heat conducting means is a heat conducting adhesive or similar medium. A heat-conducting adhesive has the advantage that it is usually designed in paste form for assembly and, if appropriate, cures after application. The pasty or moldable material of the heat-conducting adhesive thus makes it possible to effect a tolerance compensation between the upper side of the heat-generating component and the lower side of the upper housing part facing the component or to bridge the gap present.A preferred embodiment or application of the control unit provides that it is designed as a gateway control unit for a vehicle.Further advantages, features and details of the invention are evident from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention and with reference to the drawing.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGFIG. 1 shows a partial area of a control device according to the invention in a longitudinal section.Embodiments of the InventionFIG. 1 shows a detail of a control device 10 which is preferably, but not restrictive, designed as a gateway control device 12 for a motor vehicle.The control device 10 has a housing 14 of multi-part design. The housing 14 consists of a lower housing part 16 and an upper housing part 18. The upper housing part 18 consists of metal, in particular of aluminum, and is designed as a sheet metal part or as a cast part. The lower housing part 16 and the upper housing part 18 are each trough-shaped. For this purpose, the lower housing part 16 has a housing base 20 with first side walls 22 protruding perpendicularly from the housing base 20. The upper housing part 18 forms a housing cover 24 with second side walls 26 likewise projecting perpendicularly from the plane of the housing cover 24. The second side walls 26 of the housing cover 24 cover the first side walls 22 of the housing base 20 in an overlap region 27 and bear against the first side walls 22 from the outside.The lower housing part 16 and the upper housing part 18 delimit or form an interior space 28 in the housing 14. The interior 28 serves to accommodate at least one circuit carrier in the form of a printed circuit board 30, on the side of which facing the housing cover 24 at least one heat-generating component 32, for example an IC 33, is arranged.The printed circuit board 20 arranged parallel to the housing base 20 and to the housing cover 24 and at a distance from the latter is positioned within the interior 28 via a plurality of, in particular four, fastening domes 34 arranged in corner regions of the printed circuit board 30, of which only one fastening dome 34 is visible in FIG. 1. The fastening domes 34 are preferably cylindrical in cross section and are formed monolithically with the housing lower part 16. In particular, the fastening domes 34 form supports 35 which serve for bearing the printed circuit board 30 in order to position the printed circuit board 30 with respect to the housing lower part 16. Furthermore, the fastening domes 34 have first partial sections 36 of reduced diameter, which pass through first through-openings 40 of the printed circuit board 30. The fastening domes 34 are designed to be extended in the direction of the upper housing part 18 and pass through second through-openings 44 of the upper housing part 18 with second subsection 42.Between the upper side of the printed circuit board 30 and the facing underside of the housing cover 24, a sleeve-shaped spacer element 46 is furthermore arranged, through which the fastening dome 34 passes.Between the heat-generating component 32 and the underside of the housing cover 24 facing the component 32, a heat-conducting means 48 in the form of a heat-conducting adhesive 50 is arranged, which is arranged both in contact with the component 32 and with the housing cover 24 and thereby forms a thermal coupling.The second subsection 42 of the fastening dome 34 is deformed by hot caulking in the region which is located outside the housing cover 24 on the upper side thereof to form a rivet-head-shaped fastening section 52 and bears against the upper side 38 of the housing cover 24, as a result of which the housing cover 24 is simultaneously pressed against the spacer element 46.Since the control device 10 described so far can be modified or modified in a variety of ways without departing from the inventive concept. Thus, it is also conceivable, for example, instead of using sleeve-shaped spacer elements 46, to use block-shaped spacer elements which are arranged laterally next to or at a distance from the fastening domes 34. It can also be provided in principle that the spacer elements 46 are integrally or monolithically formed on the upper housing part 18, in particular if it is formed as a cast part, or else by a forming process in the case of an upper housing part 18 formed as a sheet metal part.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 102011 086 107 A1

[0002] DE 10 2019 260 250 A1

[0003]

Claims

Control device (10), having a housing (14) which has a housing lower part (16) and a housing upper part (18) which form an interior space (28) for receiving a printed circuit board (30), having fastening domes (34) which are monolithically formed on the housing lower part (16), having supports (35) which are formed on the fastening domes (34) for at least indirectly bearing the printed circuit board (30) in the direction of the housing lower part (16), the fastening domes (34) passing through first through openings (40) in the printed circuit board (30) by way of first partial sections (36) and second through openings (44) in the housing upper part (18) by way of second partial sections (42), the second partial sections (42) being formed at least indirectly on the side of the housing upper part (18) which is remote from the printed circuit board (30), in order to fix the housing upper part (18) to the housing lower part (16), wherein at least one heat-generating component (32) arranged on the printed circuit board (30) is thermally coupled to the housing (14) by means of a heat-conducting means (48), and wherein a spacer element (46) is arranged between the printed circuit board (30) and the facing side of the upper housing part (18), which spacer element is designed to form a stop of the upper housing part (18) in the direction of the printed circuit board (30), characterized in that the lower housing part (16) is designed as an injection-moulded part consisting of plastic, and the upper housing part (18) is designed as a metal, in that the heat-conducting means (48) is arranged between the at least one heat-generating component (32) and the upper housing part (18), and in that the second partial sections (42) of the fastening domes (34) are deformed on the side of the upper housing part (18) facing away from the interior space (28) by hot caulking against an upper side (38) of the upper housing part (18) and thereby fix the upper housing part (18) to the lower housing part (16).Control device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the upper housing part (18) is designed as a sheet metal component, and in that the spacer element (46) is designed as a component which is separate from the upper housing part (18).Control device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the upper housing part (18) is designed as a sheet metal component, and in that the spacer element (46) is designed as a component which is produced by a forming process and is formed monolithically with the upper housing part (18).Control device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the upper housing part (18) is designed as a cast part.Control device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the spacer element (46) is formed monolithically on the casting.Control device according to one of Claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the spacer element (46) is of sleeve-shaped design and passes through the fastening dome (34).Control device according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the lower housing part (16) and the upper housing part (18) are of trough-shaped design.Control device according to Claim 7, characterized in that the upper housing part (18) with side walls (26) projects laterally beyond the lower housing part (16) in the region of further side walls (22) and bears against the further side walls (22) in an overlap region (27).Control device according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the heat-conducting means (48) is a heat-conducting adhesive (50).Control device according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the control device (10) is designed as a gateway control device (12) for a vehicle.

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