Electrical Equipment Unit

Abstract

To provide an electric apparatus unit which can prevent an increase in size at a low price while efficiently cooling an electronic element.SOLUTION: An electric apparatus unit comprises a heat exchanger, a fan, and an electric apparatus. The heat exchanger is provided inside a housing, and it has an inlet port for sucking air and a blowout port for discharging the air. The fan supplies cooling air into the housing via the heat exchanger. The electric apparatus is provided inside the housing, and it has a conductor plate on which an electronic element is mounted. The conductor plate defines a passage such that the cooling air may circulate inside the housing. The heat exchanger and the fan are disposed in the middle of the passage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electrical equipment unit. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, an electric equipment unit such as a power conversion device includes a housing and a plurality of electric equipment provided in the housing. The electric equipment includes a plurality of electronic elements that generate heat. In order to cool the electronic elements, it is generally known to provide a fan in the housing and to circulate cooling air inside the housing. In addition, various techniques have been proposed to further enhance the cooling effect inside the housing.

[0003] For example, a technique has been disclosed in which a heat exchanger is provided inside a housing, and the heat exchanger cools the warm cooling air inside the housing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also, a technique has been disclosed in which an air tunnel is provided inside a housing and a heat exchanger is provided inside the air tunnel to regulate the flow of cooling air (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3). This technique aims to efficiently cool electronic elements by regulating the flow of cooling air.

[0004] However, it is difficult to efficiently blow the cooling air cooled by the heat exchanger onto the electronic elements, and there is a problem that there is room for improvement in efficiently cooling the electronic elements. Also, if an air tunnel is provided inside the housing, the number of parts in the electric device unit increases, which increases the manufacturing cost and the size of the housing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-129923 A [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2018 / 047229 [Patent Document 3] JP 2020-31169 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an electric device unit which can efficiently cool electronic elements, is inexpensive, and prevents an increase in size. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The electric equipment unit of the embodiment includes a heat exchanger, a fan, an electric equipment, A first windshield and a second windshield, The heat exchanger is provided within the housing and has an intake port through which air is drawn and an outlet port through which air is blown out. The fan supplies cooling air into the housing through the heat exchanger. The electrical device is provided within the housing and has a conductor plate on both sides of which electronic elements are mounted. The conductor plate forms a flow path for circulating the cooling air within the housing. The heat exchanger and the fan are disposed midway through the flow path. The first windshield extends from the conductive plate and has insulating properties. The second windshield is provided to separate the outer periphery of the conductive plate from the housing. The first windshield is in contact with the heat exchanger. The first windshield separates the intake port and the exhaust port of the heat exchanger. Cooling air flows on both sides of the conductor plate to cool the electronic elements. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an electric device unit according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an electric device unit according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrical device unit 1. As shown in FIG. The electric equipment unit 1 is, for example, a panel provided in an electric facility etc. The panel is a switchboard, a distribution board, a control board etc. that constitutes a power conversion device, a power supply device, a motor drive device etc. 1, the electric equipment unit 1 includes a housing 2, and an electric equipment 3 and an air-cooling unit 4 provided in the housing 2. In the following description, the up-down direction when the housing 2 is installed on an installation surface F is simply referred to as the up-down direction or Z direction, the left-right direction on the paper surface is referred to as the X direction, and the depth direction on the paper surface is referred to as the Y direction.

[0011] The housing 2 is formed in a box shape and has an opening and closing door (not shown) provided on one of the sides. When this opening and closing door is closed, the inside of the housing 2 is completely isolated from the outside. The electric device 3 includes a power converter 5 that constitutes a main circuit, a cooling unit 6 for cooling the power converter 5, and a support frame 7 that supports the power converter 5 at approximately the center of the housing 2. The power converter 5 includes a plurality of semiconductor elements (an example of the electronic elements in the claims) 8, a plurality of smoothing capacitors (an example of the electronic elements in the claims) 9, and a conductor plate 10 on which the semiconductor elements 8 and the smoothing capacitors 9 are mounted.

[0012] The power converter 5 is, for example, an inverter. The semiconductor element 8 is, for example, a transistor which is a switching element for switching current flow and a diode for rectification. The conductor plate 10, for example, performs at least one of input and output of current flow to the power converter 5. The conductor plate 10 is made of metal and formed into a plate shape along, for example, the ZY plane. Such a conductor plate 10 is supported by the support frame 7 via an insulating material such as an insulator (not shown).

[0013] The conductor plate 10 is disposed in a large part of the center of the housing 2 while ensuring an insulating distance from the housing 2. The conductor plate 10 divides the inside of the housing 2 into two parts in the X direction with a gap between them in the vertical direction. As a result, a flow path 14 is formed between the conductor plate 10 and the housing 2, which runs along both sides 10b, 10c (one side 10b and the other side 10c) of the conductor plate 10 in the thickness direction and the inner side surface 2a of the housing 2.

[0014] The conductor plate 10 may be made up of a plurality of plates. The interior of the housing 2 may be partitioned in the X direction by a plurality of conductor plates 10. It is desirable to provide an insulating windshield plate 11 between both Y direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2 to close the gap between both Y direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. For example, a semiconductor element 8 is mounted on one surface 10b in the thickness direction of such a conductor plate 10. For example, a smoothing capacitor 9 is mounted on the other thickness direction surface 10c of the conductor plate 10.

[0015] The cooling unit 6 is intended to mainly cool the semiconductor elements 8 of the power converter 5 that generate a large amount of heat. The cooling unit 6 includes a cooling pipe 12 routed around the semiconductor elements 8, and a pump 13 that sends a coolant to the cooling pipe 12. For example, water is used as the coolant. However, the coolant is not limited to water, and various fluids can be used. The cooling pipe 12 is routed to the outside via the housing 2, and is connected to the pump 13 outside the housing. The cooling pipe 12 is also routed to the air-cooling unit 4.

[0016] The air-cooling unit 4 is disposed at the bottom of the housing 2, for example, near the side where the smoothing capacitor 9 is disposed. That is, the air-cooling unit 4 is disposed in the middle of the flow path 14. The air-cooling unit 4 includes a heat exchanger 15 and a fan 16 that supplies cooling air into the housing 2 through the heat exchanger 15. The heat exchanger 15 includes a heat exchange housing 17 having an intake port 17a and an air outlet 17b, and a heat exchange pipe 18 routed within the heat exchange housing 17. The heat exchange pipe 18 is formed by extending the cooling pipe 12 of the cooling unit 6 and routed within the heat exchange housing 17. That is, the cooling pipe 12 also serves as the heat exchange pipe 18.

[0017] The intake port 17a is formed, for example, on the top surface 17c of the heat exchanger housing 17. The air outlet 17b is formed, for example, on one of the side surfaces 17d of the heat exchanger housing 17 along the Z direction, on the side on which the semiconductor element 8 is arranged. A fan 16 is provided in the air outlet 17b. Air is sucked into the housing 2 from the intake port 17a by the fan 16. This air is cooled by passing through a heat exchange pipe 18 in the heat exchanger housing 17, and the cooled air becomes cooling air and is blown out from the air outlet 17b (also see the arrow in FIG. 1).

[0018] Here, an insulating windshield plate 20 is provided at the lower end of the conductive plate 10. The lower portion of the windshield plate 20 is in contact with the space between the intake port 17a and the air outlet 17b of the heat exchanger housing 17. The windshield plate 20 blocks the space between the conductive plate 10 and the heat exchanger housing 17. The windshield plate 20 also separates the space between the intake port 17a and the air outlet 17b of the heat exchanger housing 17.

[0019] With this configuration, the air in the housing 2 is circulated along the flow path 14 by driving the fan 16 of the air-cooling unit 4. During this, the cooling air sent from the air outlet 17b of the heat exchanger 15 first passes around the semiconductor element 8. This cools the semiconductor element 8. The cooling air that has been heated by heat exchange with the semiconductor element 8 flows toward the smoothing capacitor 9 and is then sucked into the intake port 17a of the heat exchanger 15. Then, after the cooling air is cooled again by the heat exchanger 15, the cooling air is sent from the air outlet 17b. By repeating this, the cooling air is circulated in the flow path 14 and the semiconductor element 8 is efficiently cooled. In addition, the semiconductor element 8 is also cooled by the cooling unit 6, so that it is reliably cooled.

[0020] Here, heat is exchanged between the semiconductor elements 8, and the temperature of the heated cooling air is kept low enough to cool the smoothing capacitor 9. Therefore, even the cooling air that has passed through the semiconductor elements 8 is able to sufficiently cool the smoothing capacitor 9.

[0021] Thus, the above-mentioned electric device unit 1 includes the electric device 3, the heat exchanger 15, and the fan 16 provided in the housing 2. The conductor plate 10 of the electric device 3 forms a flow path 14 so that cooling air is circulated in the housing 2. The heat exchanger 15 and the fan 16 are disposed in the middle of this flow path 14. Therefore, by circulating the cooling air through the flow path 14, the cooling air can be effectively and continuously blown onto the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and other heat generating elements of the electric device 3. Therefore, the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and other elements can be efficiently cooled.

[0022] Furthermore, there is no need for a separate member for forming an air tunnel to form the flow path 14, and the conductive plate 10 that is already provided is used as a member for forming the flow path 14. Therefore, the number of parts of the electric equipment unit 1 is not increased, and the electric equipment unit 1 can be manufactured at low cost. Furthermore, since the number of parts of the electric equipment unit 1 is not increased, the number of parts that block the flow path 14 can also be reduced. As a result, the pressure loss of the cooling air flowing through the flow path 14 can be reduced, and the cooling efficiency of the semiconductor element 8, smoothing capacitor 9, etc. can be further improved. Moreover, since no additional members are required, there is no need to secure a separate space for providing the flow path 14 within the housing 2. This makes it possible to prevent the electric device unit 1 from becoming large in size.

[0023] In the electric equipment unit 1, the space between the conductor plate 10 and the heat exchanger 15 is blocked by an insulating windshield 20. The windshield 20 separates the suction port 17a and the blower port 17b of the heat exchanger 15. This prevents a shortcut path for the cooling air from being formed between the suction port 17a and the blower port 17b of the heat exchanger 15. That is, it prevents the cooling air blown from the blower port 17b from returning to the suction port 17a without passing through the flow path 14. This allows the cooling air reliably cooled by the heat exchanger 15 to be efficiently blown onto the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like. This further increases the cooling efficiency of the air-cooling unit 4 for the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like.

[0024] The electric equipment unit 1 has an insulating windshield plate 11 provided between both Y-direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. The windshield plate 11 closes the gap between both Y-direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. This prevents the cooling air from leaking out of the flow path 14, and allows the cooling air to circulate more efficiently within the flow path 14. This further increases the cooling efficiency of the air-cooling unit 4 for the semiconductor elements 8, smoothing capacitors 9, and the like.

[0025] The cooling pipes 12 of the cooling unit 6 for cooling the semiconductor elements 8 also serve as the heat exchange pipes 18 of the heat exchanger 15. This makes it possible to further reduce the number of parts in the electric equipment unit 1. In addition, the cooling unit 6 and the heat exchanger 15 can share the same refrigerant, making it possible to unify the cooling system.

[0026] In the above embodiment, the electronic elements mounted on the conductor plate 10 are the semiconductor element 8 and the smoothing capacitor 9. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various elements can be mounted as the electronic elements. In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which an insulating windshield plate 11 is provided between both Y-direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. However, this is not limited to this, and if an insulation distance between the housing 2 and the conductor plate 10 can be ensured and leakage of cooling air from between the housing 2 and the conductor plate 10 is negligible in terms of cooling the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, etc., the windshield plate 11 does not have to be provided.

[0027] In the above embodiment, the case where the power converter 5 is provided as the electric device 3 inside the housing 2 has been described. However, this is not limited to this, and various electric devices 3 other than the power converter 5 may be provided inside the housing 2. In the above embodiment, the air-cooling unit 4 is disposed, for example, near the side where the smoothing capacitor 9 is disposed, at the bottom inside the housing 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the air-cooling unit 4 may be disposed anywhere in the flow path 14.

[0028] In the above embodiment, the fan 16 is provided at the air outlet 17b of the heat exchanger housing 17. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The fan 16 may be provided at the air inlet 17a of the heat exchanger housing 17, and the fan 16 may blow air into the heat exchanger housing 17.

[0029] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, the electric device 3, the heat exchanger 15, and the fan 16 are provided in the housing 2. The conductor plate 10 of the electric device 3 forms a flow path 14 so that cooling air is circulated in the housing 2. The heat exchanger 15 and the fan 16 are disposed in the middle of the flow path 14. Therefore, by circulating the cooling air through the flow path 14, the cooling air can be effectively and continuously blown onto the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like, which are heat generating bodies of the electric device 3. Therefore, the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like can be efficiently cooled.

[0030] Furthermore, there is no need for a separate member for forming an air tunnel to form the flow path 14, and the conductive plate 10 that is already provided is used as a member for forming the flow path 14. Therefore, the number of parts of the electric equipment unit 1 is not increased, and the electric equipment unit 1 can be manufactured at low cost. Furthermore, since the number of parts of the electric equipment unit 1 is not increased, the number of parts that block the flow path 14 can also be reduced. As a result, the pressure loss of the cooling air flowing through the flow path 14 can be reduced, and the cooling efficiency of the semiconductor element 8, smoothing capacitor 9, etc. can be further improved. Moreover, since no additional members are required, there is no need to secure a separate space for providing the flow path 14 within the housing 2. This makes it possible to prevent the electric device unit 1 from becoming large in size.

[0031] In the electric equipment unit 1, the space between the conductor plate 10 and the heat exchanger 15 is blocked by an insulating windshield 20. The windshield 20 separates the suction port 17a and the blower port 17b of the heat exchanger 15. This prevents a shortcut path for the cooling air from being formed between the suction port 17a and the blower port 17b of the heat exchanger 15. That is, it prevents the cooling air blown from the blower port 17b from returning to the suction port 17a without passing through the flow path 14. This allows the cooling air reliably cooled by the heat exchanger 15 to be efficiently blown onto the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like. This further increases the cooling efficiency of the air-cooling unit 4 for the semiconductor element 8, the smoothing capacitor 9, and the like.

[0032] The electric equipment unit 1 has an insulating windshield plate 11 provided between both Y-direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. The windshield plate 11 closes the gap between both Y-direction sides 10a of the conductor plate 10 and the inner surface 2a of the housing 2. This prevents the cooling air from leaking out of the flow path 14, and allows the cooling air to circulate more efficiently within the flow path 14. This further increases the cooling efficiency of the air-cooling unit 4 for the semiconductor elements 8, smoothing capacitors 9, and the like.

[0033] The cooling pipes 12 of the cooling unit 6 for cooling the semiconductor elements 8 also serve as the heat exchange pipes 18 of the heat exchanger 15. This makes it possible to further reduce the number of parts in the electric equipment unit 1. In addition, the cooling unit 6 and the heat exchanger 15 can share the same refrigerant, making it possible to unify the cooling system.

[0034] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims, as well as in the scope and spirit of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1...electrical equipment unit, 2...housing, 3...electrical equipment, 4...air-cooling unit, 5...power converter ( Electrical equipment), 6... Cooling unit, 8... Semiconductor element (electronic element), 9... Smoothing capacitor (electric child element), 10...conductor plate, 11 ...Second windshield plate (windshield plate), 20… first Wind shield (Wind shield plate ), 12 ... cooling pipe, 14 ... flow path, 15 ... heat exchanger, 16 ... fan, 18 ... heat exchange pipe

Claims

1. a heat exchanger provided within the housing and having an intake port through which air is drawn and an air outlet through which air is blown out; a fan for supplying cooling air into the housing through the heat exchanger; an electric device provided in the housing and having a conductor plate on both sides of which electronic elements are mounted; A first insulating wind shielding plate extending from the conductor plate; A second wind shielding plate provided to separate an outer circumferential edge of the conductive plate from the housing; Equipped with the conductive plate forms a flow path for circulating the cooling air within the housing, The heat exchanger and the fan are disposed midway through the flow path, The first wind shield is in contact with the heat exchanger, The first wind shielding plate separates the intake port and the exhaust port of the heat exchanger, An electric equipment unit in which the cooling air flows on both sides of the conductor plate to cool the electronic elements.

2. the electrical device includes a cooling pipe through which a refrigerant for cooling the electronic element passes, The cooling pipe also serves as a heat exchange pipe for heat exchange in the heat exchanger.

2. An electrical equipment unit as claimed in claim 1.

Images