Capacitor

Abstract

To provide a capacitor that allows for easy vertical positioning of a plurality of capacitor modules.SOLUTION: A capacitor comprises a capacitor element 11, a plurality of capacitor modules 10 having an electrode plate 12 connected to the capacitor element 11, a case 20 for housing a plurality of capacitor modules 10, and a resin 30 filled into the case 20, and the case 20 includes a support part 21 that supports the electrode plate 12 of the plurality of capacitor modules 10 within the case 20 from below.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a capacitor in which a plurality of capacitor modules, each having a capacitor element and an electrode plate connected to the capacitor element, are housed in a case, and the case is filled with resin. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a capacitor element having a terminal metal fitting and a case that houses the capacitor element, with protrusions on the terminal metal fittings fitting into recesses on the inner surface of the case. Patent Document 2 describes a capacitor element, an electrode plate connected to the capacitor element, and a case, with engagement portions on the electrode plate connected to protrusions on the inner surface of the case. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-16767 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-216618 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a plurality of capacitor modules are housed in the same case, if the heights of the electrode plates differ among the capacitor modules, this may affect the connection with external devices and the like.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a capacitor that allows for easy positioning of electrode plates of a plurality of capacitor modules in the height direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The capacitor of the present invention comprises a plurality of capacitor modules 10, each having a capacitor element 11 and an electrode plate 12 connected to the capacitor element 11, a case 20 that houses the plurality of capacitor modules 10, and resin 30 filled in the case 20, and is characterized in that the case 20 has support portions 21 that support the electrode plates 12 of the plurality of capacitor modules 10 from below within the case 20.

[0007] In a capacitor having the above configuration, it is preferable that the electrode plates 12 of the plurality of capacitor modules 10 are each supported by the same support portion 21.

[0008] Furthermore, it is preferable that each of the electrode plates 12 of the multiple capacitor modules 10 has an external connection portion 13a that is pulled out to the outside of the case 20 and an exposed portion 13b that is exposed from the resin 30, and that the exposed portion 13b is positioned in the height direction by the support portion 21.

[0009] Moreover, it is preferable that exposed portion 13b be used for heat dissipation.

[0010] Furthermore, it is preferable that the supported portion 13g and the exposed portion 13b are aligned in the vertical direction. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The capacitor of the present invention has support parts that support the electrode plates of the plurality of capacitor modules from below within the case, so that the electrode plates of the plurality of capacitor modules can be easily positioned in the height direction.

[0012] In the capacitor having the above configuration, when the electrode plates of a plurality of capacitor modules are supported by the same support portion, the heights of the electrode plates can be easily made uniform between the capacitor modules.

[0013] When the electrode plates of the multiple capacitor modules each have an external connection portion that is pulled out of the case and an exposed portion that is exposed from the resin, and the exposed portions are positioned in the vertical direction by the support portion, the heights of the multiple exposed portions are uniform, making it easier to abut external equipment across the multiple exposed portions, for example.

[0014] When the exposed portions are used for heat dissipation, a cooler can be brought into contact with the exposed portions across the plurality of exposed portions.

[0015] When the supported portion and the exposed portion are aligned vertically, positioning can be performed with higher accuracy than when the exposed portion and the supported portion are not aligned vertically. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a capacitor. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a capacitor with the resin omitted. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a capacitor with the resin omitted. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a modified example in which the arrangement of the support portions is changed. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example in which the heights of the support portions are made different. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the capacitor module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] A capacitor according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. As shown in Figure 1, capacitor 1 includes two capacitor modules 10, a case 20 that houses the two capacitor modules 10, and resin 30 that fills case 20. Each of the above components will be described below, but the concepts of "upper and lower" refer to the case when resin 30 is filled into case 20, and do not necessarily define "upper and lower" during use.

[0018] The capacitor module 10 includes a capacitor element 11 and an electrode plate 12 connected to the capacitor element 11 .

[0019] Capacitor element 11 is, for example, a film capacitor in which a metallized film made by vapor-depositing metal onto an insulating film is wound, and electrode portions 11a and 11b are provided on both axial end surfaces by spraying metal. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a plurality of capacitor elements 11 are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction with the axis tilted sideways so that the electrode portions 11a (11b) do not face each other. Note that there may be only one capacitor element 11.

[0020] Electrode plate 12 is formed by cutting a conductive metal plate such as aluminum or copper into a predetermined shape and bending it. Electrode plate 12 includes a first electrode plate 13 connected to electrode portion 11a on one side of capacitor element 11 (the center side of case 20 in the figure) and a second electrode plate 14 connected to electrode portion 11b on the other side of capacitor element 11 (the side of side wall portion 20b of case 20 in the figure).

[0021] 1 and 3, the first electrode plate 13 has an external connection portion 13a that is drawn out from the opening 20c of the case 20 to the outside of the case 20, an exposed portion 13b that is exposed from the resin 30, and a connecting portion 13c that connects the external connection portion 13a and the exposed portion 13b. The exposed portion 13b is a portion that is used for heat dissipation of the capacitor 1, for example.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3 , the connecting portion 13c has a generally L-shape rotated 180 degrees in side view, and includes a horizontal portion 13d facing the top surface of the capacitor element 11 and a vertical portion 13e facing one electrode portion 11a. The horizontal portion 13d is, for example, shorter than the width of the capacitor element 11. The vertical portion 13e faces one electrode portion 11a of all of the capacitor elements 11 arranged in a row. The vertical portion 13e is provided with an element connection portion 13f for connecting to one electrode portion 11a. The vertical portion 13e is also provided with two supported portions 13g supported by a support portion 21, which will be described later. The supported portions 13g are provided so as to protrude on the opposite side of the capacitor element 11. Specifically, the vertical portion 13e is a convex portion formed by cutting out a portion of the vertical portion 13e and bending it horizontally.

[0023] In a plan view, the exposed portion 13b is provided at the same position as the supported portion 13g. Specifically, it extends from the upper end of the portion of the vertical portion 13e where the supported portion 13g is provided. In other words, the exposed portion 13b and the supported portion 13g are aligned in the vertical direction. The exposed portion 13b extends in the horizontal direction and faces the upper surface of the capacitor element 11. The exposed portion 13b is used as a portion to which a cooler (not shown) for dissipating heat from the capacitor 1 comes into contact, for example.

[0024] External connection portion 13a extends upward from the outer edge of horizontal portion 13d. Note that no terminal block or the like for fixing external connection portion 13a is provided on case 20. Therefore, of electrode plate 12, only supported portion 13g comes into contact with case 20 in the sinking direction of capacitor module 10.

[0025] The second electrode plate 14 has the same configuration as the first electrode plate 13, but differs in that the vertical portion 13e faces the other electrode portion 11b of the capacitor element 11 and the element connection portion 13f is connected to the other electrode portion 11b. Since the other points are the same as those of the first electrode plate 13, the same reference numerals are used for the respective parts and detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0026] The external connection portion 13a of the first electrode plate 13 and the external connection portion 13a of the second electrode plate 14 are arranged closely facing each other, and the element connection portion 13f of the first electrode plate 13 is electrically and mechanically connected to one electrode portion 11a of the capacitor element 11, and the element connection portion 13f of the second electrode plate 14 is electrically and mechanically connected to the other electrode portion 11b of the capacitor element 11 using solder or the like to form a capacitor module 10. The two capacitor modules 10 have the same configuration.

[0027] The case 20 is approximately box-shaped and includes a bottom 20a that is approximately rectangular when viewed from above, side wall portions 20b that rise from each of the four sides of the bottom 20a, an opening 20c that opens at the upper end of the side wall portion 20b, and a support portion 21 that supports the supported portion 13g from below.

[0028] The support portion 21 includes a first support portion 22 rising upward from the bottom portion 20a and a second support portion 23 provided on the side wall portion 20b. The first support portion 22 is generally prismatic and has a flat upper surface (support surface) 22a on which the supported portion 13g is placed. The second support portion 23 is a step provided in the middle of the side wall portion 20b in the vertical direction. The upper surface of the step is the support surface 23a. This support surface 23a is also flat. The support surface 23a of the second support portion 23 is located at the same height as the support surface 22a of the first support portion 22. A vertical groove 23b is provided above the step to guide the supported portion 13g from the case opening 20c to the support surface 23a. This vertical groove 23b determines the lateral positioning of the second electrode plate 14.

[0029] The case 20 is made of, for example, an insulating material. Specifically, it is made of an insulating synthetic resin, more specifically, a thermoplastic resin such as polyphenylene sulfide or polybutylene terephthalate. The support portion 21 may be provided separately and attached to the bottom portion 20a or the side wall portion 20b with adhesive or the like. In this case, the support portion 21 and the bottom portion 20a or the side wall portion 20b may be made of the same material or different materials.

[0030] The resin 30 filled in the case 20 is an insulating synthetic resin, and is preferably a thermosetting resin or a photosetting resin, and specifically, for example, an epoxy resin, a urethane resin, or a silicone resin.

[0031] Next, the manufacturing process of the capacitor 1 of the present invention will be described. First, two capacitor modules 10 are housed in the case 20, respectively. At this time, the capacitor modules 10 are housed so that the vertical portions 13e of the first electrode plates 13 face each other. The supported portions 13g of the first electrode plates 13 are placed on the first support portions 22, and the supported portions 13g of the second electrode plates 14 are placed on the second support portions 23. The two capacitor modules 10 are housed so that the supported portions 13g of the first electrode plates 13 are supported by the same first support portion 22. In other words, the two capacitor modules 10 share the same first support portion 22. With the supported portions 13g supported by the support portions 21, the capacitor element 11 does not abut against the case 20 in the sinking direction.

[0032] Next, resin 30 is filled into case 20, and capacitor element 11 is resin-molded. At this time, connecting portions 13c of electrode plate 12 are also embedded in resin 30. External connection portions 13a and exposed portions 13b of electrode plate 12 are exposed to the outside of resin 30. If capacitor module 10 floats up, it is pressed down with a pressing means such as a jig, so that supported portions 13g continue to rest on (contact) supporting portions 21. When resin 30 hardens, the manufacture of capacitor 1 is completed.

[0033] In the capacitor 1 configured as described above, the electrode plates 12 are supported from below by the support members 21, which allows for easy positioning of the electrode plates 12 of multiple capacitor modules 10 in the height direction. In particular, the areas of the support surfaces 22a and 23a are sufficiently smaller than the bottom 20a of the case 20, allowing for accurate formation of the support surfaces 22a and 23a, enabling more accurate positioning than when the electrode plates 12 are supported by the bottom 20a. Furthermore, because the capacitor element 11 is formed by laminating a dielectric (film) and an electrode (evaporated metal), dimensional errors in the thickness direction tend to be large. However, because the capacitor element 11 does not contact the case 20 in the sinking direction, accurate positioning is possible. Furthermore, because one first support member 22 is shared by two capacitor modules 10, the heights of the electrode plates 12 between the capacitor modules 10 can be easily aligned. Because the heights of the electrode plates 12 are uniform, for example, it is easy to connect an external device (not shown) to each external connection portion 13a, and it is also easy to abut a cooler across each exposed portion 13b. Furthermore, because the exposed portions 13b and the supported portions 13g are aligned vertically, when the exposed portions 13b of the electrode plates 12 are pressed down from above with a lift-up prevention jig or a cooler, the supported portions 13g support the pressure directly below, and unnecessary stress (including twisting and rotation) is less likely to be applied to the electrode portions 11a, 11b and the element connection portions 13f.

[0034] Next, modified examples of the capacitor 1 will be described. In the capacitor 1 of Fig. 3, the first support portion 22 and the second support portion 23 are arranged side by side in the short-side direction of the case 20 in a plan view, but as shown in Fig. 4A, they may be arranged offset in the long-side direction of the case 20. Also, as shown in Fig. 4B, the support portion 21 and the supported portion 13g may each be made wider. Also, as shown in Fig. 4C, the support portion 21 may be arranged on the short side of the case 20, or may be arranged at a corner (recessed corner) of the case 20.

[0035] Furthermore, the height of support surfaces 22a, 23a of support portion 21 is preferably located near the center of case 20, but may also be located near opening 20c or bottom 20a. However, it is preferable that supported portion 13g placed on support portion 21 is buried in resin 30. Furthermore, if supported portion 13g is provided near opening 20c, the vertical distance between supported portion 13g and element connection portion 13f will be large, which may result in unintended force being applied to the joint between element connection portion 13f and electrode portions 11a, 11b of capacitor element 11. Therefore, it is preferable to shorten the vertical distance between supported portion 13g and element connection portion 13f.

[0036] 1, the support surface 22a of the first support portion 22 and the support surface 23a of the second support portion 23 are aligned in height, but they may be different as shown in FIG. 5. The heights of the support surfaces 22a (23a) of the first support portions 22 or the second support portions 23 may be different. Lowering the height of the support surface 22a (23a) creates space above, which may be used to store other components, etc.

[0037] Alternatively, electrode portions 11a and 11b of capacitor element 11 may face up and down. In this case, capacitor module 10 may be formed by sandwiching capacitor element 11 between first electrode plate 13 and second electrode plate 14 from above and below.

[0038] Next, we will explain modified examples of the capacitor module 10. In the capacitor module 10 of FIG. 1, the external connection portion 13a extends from the horizontal portion 13d embedded in the resin 30. However, as shown in FIG. 6A, the horizontal portion 13d may be replaced with an exposed portion 13b, and the external connection portion 13a may extend from the exposed portion 13b. The dashed-dotted line in the figure indicates the resin surface RL. However, in this configuration, there is no portion embedded in the resin 30 between the exposed portion 13b and the external connection portion 13a. Also, as shown in FIG. 6B, two exposed portions 13b may be provided on one electrode plate 13, 14. In this case, it is preferable that the upper portion of the vertical portion 13e connecting the exposed portions 13b is positioned above the resin surface RL and exposed from the resin 30. Also, as shown in FIG. 6C, the number of capacitor elements 11 may be reduced to, for example, two. By positioning the upper portion of the vertical portion 13e above the resin surface RL, a portion not embedded in the resin 30 can be formed between the exposed portion 13b and the external connection portion 13a.

[0039] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the present invention. For example, electrode plate 12 is supported by support portion 21 by placing supported portion 13g on support surface 22a (23a) of support portion 21. However, various supporting methods other than placing can be used, such as clamping, engagement, latching, fitting, mechanical joining with screws or pins, as long as it is possible to maintain electrode plate 12 at the intended height (preventing contact of capacitor element 11 with case bottom 20a in the sinking direction). Support portion 13g can be formed by bending or by attaching a separate part by adhesive or the like.

[0040] Furthermore, the number of capacitor modules 10 is not limited to two, and three or more may be provided. In this case, it is sufficient that at least two capacitor modules 10 are supported by the support portions 21, and there may be capacitor modules 10 that are not supported by the support portions 21. That is, for example, three capacitor modules 10 may be provided, and the supported portions 13g of two of the electrode plates 12 may be supported by one and the same support portion 21.

[0041] Furthermore, the film capacitor may be laminated instead of wound. The capacitor element 11 is not limited to a film capacitor; various capacitor elements, such as ceramic capacitors and electrolytic capacitors, may be used, and a combination of multiple types may also be used. Electrical components other than the capacitor module 10 may also be housed in the case 20. The electrical components may have a supported portion, which may be supported by the supporting portion 21. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1 capacitor 10 Capacitor Module 11 Capacitor element 11a One electrode part 11b Other electrode part 12 Electrode plate 13 1st electrode plate 13a External connection part 13b Exposed part 13c Joint 13d Lateral part 13e Vertical section 13f Element connection part 13g Supported part 14 Second electrode plate 20 cases 20a bottom 20b Side wall part 20c opening 21 Support part 22 1st support part 22a Support surface 23 Second support part 23a Support surface 23b Vertical groove 30 Resin RL resin surface

Claims

1. a plurality of capacitor modules each having a capacitor element and an electrode plate connected to the capacitor element; a case for accommodating a plurality of capacitor modules; a resin filled in the case; A capacitor in which the case has support portions that support electrode plates of a plurality of capacitor modules from below within the case.

2. 2. The capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the electrode plates of the plurality of capacitor modules are supported by the same support.

3. Each of the electrode plates of the plurality of capacitor modules has an external connection portion that is drawn out to the outside of the case and an exposed portion that is exposed from the resin, 2. The capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the exposed portion is positioned in the height direction by the support portion.

4. 4. The capacitor of claim 3, wherein the exposed portion is adapted for heat dissipation.

5. 4. The capacitor according to claim 3, wherein the supported portion and the exposed portion are aligned vertically.

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