Cooling structure

Abstract

To provide a technology to appropriately cool heat-generating components of various shapes.SOLUTION: In a power supply device 1 to which a cooling structure is applied, a module 20 composed of a group of various parts related to the drive is housed in a case 10, a water-cooling pipe 30 made of a metal material is arranged along the group of parts, and the module 20 and the water-cooling pipe 30 are sealed with a sealing resin 40 having a high thermal conductivity. The sealing resin 40 is in close contact with the surface of each of the parts. Heat generated from each part when the power supply device 1 is in operation is dissipated from the part to the sealing resin 40, is transferred from the sealing resin 40 to the water-cooling pipe 30, and is discharged into the refrigerant flowing through the water-cooling pipe 30. With such a cooling structure, parts of any shape can be reliably cooled. In addition, by arranging the water-cooling pipe 30 near the parts that generate heat or arranging it to surround the parts that generate high heat, the heat-generating parts can be made to more efficiently discharge heat to be cooled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling structure for cooling heat generated from components mounted on various types of equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a common method for dealing with heat generation in equipment is to attach a heat sink to a heat generating component. For example, a water-cooled heat sink structure is known in which a heat receiving body with a metal pipe inside the body through which a cooling liquid flows is attached to the heat receiving body so as to be in surface contact with the heat receiving body, and the heat generating body is maintained at a predetermined temperature or lower by circulating the cooling liquid through piping tubes connected to both ends of the metal pipe (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-356555 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to the above-mentioned prior art, it is believed that the heat generated by the heating element can be efficiently cooled by the heat receiving element. However, the above-mentioned cooling structure cools the heating element by surface contact, and is difficult to apply to heating components having shapes that make surface contact difficult, and such heating components cannot be sufficiently cooled. In addition, since surface contact is necessary, there is a risk that the arrangement of the heating components will be restricted.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for appropriately cooling heat-generating components of various shapes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the cooling structure of the present invention is a cooling structure that cools heat generated by components mounted on an equipment, and includes piping through which a refrigerant flows that is arranged near the components, a case that houses the components and piping, and a resin part that seals the components and piping with resin filled in the case. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, the resin part is in close contact with the surface of the component, and heat generated from the component is transferred via the resin part to a pipe arranged near the component and is then dissipated into the refrigerant flowing through the pipe, thereby making it possible to appropriately cool the heat-generating component regardless of its shape. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a power supply device 1 to which a cooling structure of an embodiment is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the power supply device 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement of water-cooling piping for components that generate high heat; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a power supply device as an example of an application of a cooling structure.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a power supply device 1 to which a cooling structure according to an embodiment is applied. In the power supply device 1, a module 20 composed of parts related to its operation is housed in a case 10, a water-cooling pipe 30 is arranged in a serpentine manner along the parts of the module 20, and the module 20 and the water-cooling pipe 30 are sealed with a sealing resin 40 that is filled into the case 10 and hardened. In Fig. 1, in order to make it easier to visually recognize the module 20 and the water-cooling pipe 30 sealed with the sealing resin 40, the module 20 and the water-cooling pipe 30 are shown with solid lines and the surface of the sealing resin 40 is shown with a hatched pattern.

[0011] The water-cooled pipe 30 is a curved circular pipe through which a liquid refrigerant flows, and is made of a metal material (e.g., copper or stainless steel) to facilitate heat exchange with the surroundings. The refrigerant flows into one end (e.g., first end 30a) of the water-cooled pipe 30 and is discharged from the other end (e.g., second end 30b). The water-cooled pipe 30 is connected to a mechanism for circulating the refrigerant via these ends 30a and 30b, but since this is not related to the characteristics of the present invention, the description of the configuration is omitted. In addition, a resin having heat dissipation properties (high thermal conductivity) is used for the sealing resin 40. A material having a thermal conductivity suitable for cooling is used for the sealing resin 40 based on the relationship between the upper limit of the temperature in the power supply device 1 and the amount of heat generated by the heat-generating components.

[0012] Various components that generate heat when the power supply device 1 is in operation are mounted on the module 20, and the heat generated from these components is dissipated from the components to the sealing resin 40, transferred from the sealing resin 40 to the water-cooled pipes 30, and is discharged into the coolant flowing through the water-cooled pipes 30. In this way, the heat from the heat-generating components in the power supply device 1 is discharged by water cooling (more precisely, by the interaction between the sealing resin 40, the water-cooled pipes 30, and the coolant). Therefore, the material of the case 10 does not need to have a thermal conductivity.

[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the power supply device 1. As shown in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 2, the sealing resin 40 is omitted.

[0014] The module 20 is composed of a substrate 21 and a group of components mounted thereon, such as a plurality of FETs (field effect transistors) 22, 23, choke coils 24, 25, and a plurality of electrolytic capacitors 26. The first FET 22 is through-hole mounted in the substrate 21, and the second FET 23 is surface mounted on the substrate 21. The substrate 21 has holes at three locations on its edge for passing screws 12 through, and the position of the module 20 relative to the case 10 is determined and fixed by fastening the screws 12 to screw holes 11 provided in the bottom surface of the case 10.

[0015] From above, water-cooled piping 30 is arranged with two ends 30a, 30b facing upward while being aligned with the components of module 20. In the illustrated example, water-cooled piping 30 is arranged along the top of the row of four first FETs 22, the top of choke coil 24, near the row of second FETs 23, near the row of two first FETs 22, and near the choke coil 25. By arranging water-cooled piping 30 near the heat-generating components, it is possible to more efficiently remove heat (cool) those heat-generating components.

[0016] In the illustrated example, the positioning of the water-cooling pipes 30 relative to the module 20 and thus the case 10 is performed using a jig, but some structure may be provided in advance inside the case 10, and the water-cooling pipes 30 may be positioned and fixed using this structure. In any case, by determining the positions of the module 20 and the water-cooling pipes 30 relative to the case 10, it becomes possible to more reliably cool the targeted area.

[0017] After the module 20 and the water-cooling pipes 30 are positioned relative to the case 10, molten sealing resin 40 is filled into the case 10 and adheres closely to the surfaces of the individual components. After the sealing resin 40 hardens, the above-mentioned refrigerant circulation mechanism (not shown) is connected to the water-cooling pipes 30, completing the cooling structure of the power supply device 1.

[0018] The components constituting the module 20 have various shapes, but in the power supply device 1, the water-cooled pipes 30 are bent to fit the shapes of the components, and the sealing resin 40 with high thermal conductivity is in close contact with each component, so that there are no restrictions on the arrangement of the components as in the case of conventional water-cooled heat sinks, and components of any shape can be reliably cooled. In addition, since the entire module 20 is sealed with resin, the electronic circuit will not be submerged in water even if a water leak occurs, and therefore failure of the electronic circuit can be prevented. Furthermore, earthquake resistance and impact resistance can be ensured.

[0019] In the illustrated example, the water-cooled pipes 30 are bent to match the shape of the module 20, but the shape of the water-cooled pipes is not limited to this and can be modified as appropriate depending on the situation. For example, the water-cooled pipes may be three-dimensionally processed to match the shape of the components, and the cross section of the water-cooled pipes may be a shape other than circular as long as it does not impede the flow of the refrigerant.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement of water-cooling piping for components that generate high heat. For components that generate high heat, in other words, components that require cooling in particular, water-cooling piping is arranged to surround the components. For example, a spiral-shaped water-cooling piping 31 is arranged around the transformer 27 that generates high heat. By arranging the water-cooling piping in this way, the high-heat components can be cooled efficiently and reliably. From another perspective, if the high-heat components are designed based on this water-cooling piping arrangement, the high-heat components can be made smaller.

[0021] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied in various modifications. Although the cooling structure of the above-described embodiment is applied to a power supply device, the application of the cooling structure is not limited to the power supply device, and the cooling structure can be applied to various devices equipped with heat-generating components.

[0022] In the above-described embodiment, all components are mounted on the board, but the components sealed with resin together with the water-cooling piping are not limited to those mounted on the board. For example, the components mounted on the board and the components not mounted on the board may be sealed together with the water-cooling piping, or only the components not mounted on the board may be sealed together with the water-cooling piping. With such a cooling structure, it is possible to obtain the same cooling effect as in the above-described embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 1 Power equipment 10 Cases 20 Modules 30 Water cooling piping 40 Sealing resin (resin part)

Claims

1. A cooling structure for cooling heat generated from a component mounted on an apparatus, A pipe through which a refrigerant flows, the pipe being disposed near the component; a case that accommodates the components and the piping; a resin portion in which the parts and the piping are sealed with resin filled in the case; A cooling structure equipped with

2. The cooling structure according to claim 1 , The resin portion is a cooling structure in which the components and the piping are sealed with a resin having heat dissipation properties.

3. The cooling structure according to claim 1 or 2, A cooling structure characterized in that the piping is arranged in a spiral shape surrounding a component that particularly requires cooling.

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