Thermal media heating device

Abstract

To reduce costs by simplifying internal electrical connections and by reducing the number of parts in a heat medium heating device.SOLUTION: A heat medium heating device includes: a housing 10 in which a heater 2 is supported and which includes, near the heater, a flow channel 6 where a heat medium flows; and a control chamber 20 which is provided in the housing and provided with a control board that controls the heater. The housing includes: a support protrusion 21 that supports the control board at a position away from the heater; and a raised part 22 that has a placement surface 22A raised in a direction where the support protrusion protrudes and to be close to the control board, and that is in thermal contact with the flow channel of the heat medium. On the placement surface, heat generative circuit components 4 to be connected to the control board are placed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a heat medium heating device. [Background technology]

[0002] An electric coolant heater (ECH) is a device that electrically heats a heat medium (including water, coolant, refrigerant, etc.) that flows through a heat exchanger for air conditioning, etc., and has a heating element such as an electric wire heater or a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater inside a housing that has a flow path for the heat medium.

[0003] Within the housing of such a heat medium heating device, a control board that controls the aforementioned electric heating wire heater and PCT heater is arranged in a storage space separated from the heat medium flow path, and electrical components such as IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) mounted on the control board are arranged in this storage space (see Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-225074 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In conventional electric heat medium heating devices, the control board is arranged parallel to the heater at a position separated from the heater's location in the housing so that the control board is not close to the heater. In addition, the IGBT mounted on the control board is a switching element for passing a large current through the heater, and therefore the IGBT itself becomes a heat source. Therefore, in conventional heat medium heating devices, the IGBT is cooled by being placed close to the heat medium flow path.

[0006] For this reason, in a heat medium heating device having a housing in which a heater is supported inside and which has a flow path through which the heat medium flows near the heater, the control board and the IGBT unit are arranged in a separated state, and in order to connect the IGBT terminals to the control board, it is necessary to interpose a relay component with the terminals inserted therein or to provide connection wiring between the IGBT terminals and the control board, which makes the electrical connection between the two complicated and increases the number of parts, resulting in high costs.

[0007] The present invention addresses these problems by simplifying the internal electrical connections in a heat transfer medium heating device and reducing the number of parts to reduce costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve such problems, a heat medium heating device according to the present invention has the following configuration. 1. A heat medium heating device comprising: a housing that supports a heater therein and has a flow path through which a heat medium flows near the heater; and a control room within the housing in which a control board that controls the heater is disposed, wherein the housing has support protrusions that support the control board at a position away from the heater, and a mounting surface that protrudes in the direction in which the support protrusions protrude and is close to the control board, and has a raised portion that is in thermal contact with the flow path; and heat-generating circuit components connected to the control board are mounted on the mounting surface. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The heat medium heating device of the present invention having such characteristics can simplify the internal electrical connections and reduce the number of parts, thereby reducing costs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view of a heat medium heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2]1 is an exploded perspective view of a heat medium heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 1 is an enlarged view of a main part of a heat medium heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an exploded side view of the heat medium heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main body frame on which the heater, control board, and circuit components are mounted (cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the heater). [Figure 6] A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main body frame on which the heater, control board, and circuit components are mounted (cross-section along the longitudinal direction of the heater). [Figure 7] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate parts with the same function, and duplicated descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

[0012] 1 to 4, the heat medium heating device 1 includes a housing 10 that supports a heater 2 therein and has a flow path (not shown) through which the heat medium flows near the heater 2. In the example shown, the housing 10 is made up of three divisible blocks, each of which is a main body frame 10A, a cover frame 10B, and a heater support frame 10C.

[0013] The housing 10 is provided with an inlet 11 and an outlet 12 for the heat medium. In the illustrated example, of the three divisible blocks of the housing 10, the inlet 11 is provided in the heater support frame 10C and the outlet 12 is provided in the main body frame 10A, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0014] In the illustrated example, the heater 2 is a cartridge-type cylindrical electric wire heater, and a pair (two) of heaters 2 are arranged in parallel inside the housing 10, with a portion passing through the heater support frame 10C and the end portion housed in the main frame 10A.

[0015] A flow path is formed around the heater 2 inside the housing 10, through which the heat medium that flows in from the inlet 11 flows, and the heat medium that has passed through this flow path and been heated by the heater 2 flows out from the outlet 12. External pipes (not shown) are connected to the inlet 11 and the outlet 12, respectively, and seals are formed at the connections between these.

[0016] The main body frame 10A and heater support frame 10C of the housing 10 are airtightly connected via a gasket 13. The flow path for the heat medium described above is formed within the opening of the gasket 13, and the flow path within the heater support frame 10C that communicates with the inlet 11 and the flow path within the main body frame 10A that communicates with the outlet 12 communicate with each other within the opening of the gasket 13. Furthermore, the heater insertion opening 14 of the heater support frame 10C is sealed with a sealing member 2A when the heater 2 is inserted, and the connection terminal 2B at the end of the heater 2 is exposed on the side of the main body frame 10A facing the control chamber 20 (described later), but this exposed opening (not shown) is sealed with a sealing member 2C.

[0017] The housing 10 includes a main body frame 10A that supports the control board 3, a lid frame 10B that covers the control board 3 and is detachably attached to the main body frame 10A, and a heater support frame 10C that detachably supports the heater 2 on the main body frame 10A. The control chamber 20 is formed by a portion of the main body frame 10A that is opened by removing the lid frame 10B and the space inside the lid frame 10B, and is airtightly separated from the above-mentioned heat medium flow path in the housing 10.

[0018] The housing 10 has support protrusions 21 that support the control board 3 on the side of the main body frame 10A facing the control room 20, and also has raised portions 22 that protrude in the direction of protrusion of the support protrusions 21. The control board 3 is supported on the tips of the support protrusions 21 and fixed with screws 3P, so that the control board 3 is supported parallel to the heater 2 at a position separated from the heater 2 supported inside the housing 10.

[0019] A protruding portion 22 provided on the main body frame 10A of the housing 10 has a mounting surface 22A at its top, and a heat-generating circuit component (e.g., an IGBT unit) 4 is mounted on the mounting surface 22A via an insulating sheet 4F. The mounting surface 22A faces the surface of the control board 3, and a terminal 4A of the circuit component 4 mounted on the mounting surface 22A is connected to the control board 3.

[0020] The main body frame 10A and the lid frame 10B of the housing 10 are fastened together with a plurality of screws 15, forming an airtight control chamber 20 therein. The outer peripheral edge of the main body frame 10A is formed with fastening surfaces 23 for fastening the lid frame 10B with the screws 15. These fastening surfaces 23 include two of the four short sides of the roughly rectangular parallelepiped housing 10 that are diagonally opposite each other, and are formed so as to diagonally cross the side of the housing 10 on which the inlet 11 and the outlet 12 are provided.

[0021] By forming the fastening surface 23 between the main body frame 10A and the lid frame 10B of the housing 10 at an angle in this manner, the heater insertion port 14 described above and the wiring insertion holes described below can be concentrated on the side of the housing 10 that is not connected to the lid frame 10B, and further, the open space of the control room 20 can be increased when the lid frame 10B is removed. This improves the ease of handling the heater 2 and wiring, and also improves the ease of installation and maintenance of the control board 3 and the like inside the control room 20.

[0022] The side surface of the housing 10 (the side surface of the main body frame 10A) is provided with insertion holes 30 through which wires 5 pass, the ends of which are connected to the control board 3 arranged in the control room 20. In the illustrated example, three insertion holes 30 (insertion holes 30A, 30B, 30C) are provided, two of which are provided for HV wiring to pass a large current to the heater 2 via the heat-generating circuit components 4, and the other is provided for communication wiring (LV wiring) to transmit a control signal from the in-vehicle network to the control board.

[0023] In the heat transfer medium heating device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the aforementioned insertion hole 30 is provided on the side surface of the housing 10 (main body frame 10A), the opening of the insertion hole 30 is provided on the end surface 16A of the protrusion 16 that protrudes outward from the side surface of the housing 10 (main body frame 10A).

[0024] A seal member 31 that seals the insertion hole 30 is attached to the end face 16A of the protrusion 16. Here, a fixing hole 16B is provided in the end face 16A, and by fastening a screw 31P into this fixing hole 16B via the seal member 31, the seal member 31 is attached in a state of intimate contact with the end face 16A. The seal member 31 seals the insertion hole 30 with the wiring 5 inserted therethrough, and includes an insertion seal portion 31A through which the wiring 5 is inserted.

[0025] In the illustrated example, two insertion holes 30A and 30B are sealed with a sealing member 31, and the other insertion hole 30C is sealed by a connector 32. The connector 32 has a lead-out terminal 32A connected to the control board 3, and the communication wiring is connected to the control board 3 by connecting a terminal of the communication wiring to the connector 32.

[0026] In the heat medium heating device 1, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the raised portion 22 is formed on the housing 10 (main body frame 10A) and the mounting surface 22A at the top of the raised portion 22 is located close to the control board 3. This makes the distance H1 from the mounting surface 22A of the raised portion 22 to the control board 3 facing it shorter than the distance H2 from the mounting surface 22A to the heat medium flow path 6 formed around the heater 2 (H1 <H2)。

[0027] As a result, the heat-generating circuit component 4 placed on the mounting surface 22A via the insulating sheet 4F can be connected to the control board 3 simply by soldering its own terminal 4A to the control board 3, eliminating the need for relay components and connection wiring that were previously required to connect the circuit component 4 to the control board 3. This simplifies the electrical connection between the circuit component 4 and the control board 3 and reduces the number of components, thereby reducing costs.

[0028] In this case, the distance between the heat-generating circuit component 4 and the heat transfer medium flow path 6 becomes larger than in the past, but by using a material with high thermal conductivity (e.g., an aluminum-based material) for the material of the housing 10 (main body frame 10A), particularly the material of the portion that constitutes the raised portion 22, the heat transfer medium flow path 6 and the raised portion 22 will be in efficient thermal contact, and the heat-generating circuit component 4 can be effectively cooled by the heat transfer medium flowing through the flow path 6 inside the housing 10.

[0029] In such a configuration, the thermal conductivity of the raised portion 22 becomes important. Therefore, when the housing 10 is configured from three blocks as described above, the effect described above can be obtained regardless of the materials of the other blocks by using a material with particularly high thermal conductivity for the main body frame 10A on which the raised portion 22 is provided (using a material different from that of the other blocks). In particular, since the heater support frame 10C that supports the heater 2 is required not to dissipate heat from the heater 2, making the heater support frame 10C a separate block from the main body frame 10A is also effective in obtaining the effect described above.

[0030] The fixing structure of the circuit component 4 will be described in more detail using the example shown in Figures 5 and 6. In this example, the protruding direction of the support protrusions 21 that support the control board 3 is perpendicular to the surface of the control board 3, and the aforementioned raised portions 22 protrude in the protruding direction of the support protrusions 21. Positioning portions 22B that protrude in the protruding direction of the support protrusions 21 (the direction perpendicular to the surface of the control board 3) are provided on the sides of the mounting surface 22A. The positioning portions 22B are provided on both the left and right sides of the mounting surface 22A, and the insulating sheet 4F is positioned and disposed between the pair of positioning portions 22B. Providing such positioning portions 22B improves the workability when positioning the insulating sheet 4F.

[0031] 6, the circuit component 4 placed on the mounting surface 22A is fixed by a fixture 4C, one end of which is attached to the main body frame 10A by a fixing screw 4B. In addition, a temperature sensor 7 for managing the temperature of the circuit component 4 is mounted on the surface of the control board 3 facing the circuit component 4. In this example, by shortening the distance between the control board 3 and the circuit component 4, the temperature sensor 7 can be mounted directly on the control board 3, allowing the temperature of the circuit component 4 to be managed. This makes it possible to omit wiring, etc., for connecting the temperature sensor 7 to the control board 3, which also contributes to reducing the number of components and costs.

[0032] As shown in Fig. 6, the end of the heater 2 housed in the main body frame 10A is supported around the periphery by a sealing member 2C, and the connection terminal 2B at the end is exposed on the side of the main body frame 10A facing the control room 20. In the control room 20, the connection terminal 2B of the heater 2 is connected to the control board 3 via a relay component 2B1.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 7 , the control chamber 20 in which the control board 3 is housed is formed inside the peripheral fastening surface 23 of the main body frame 10A. Here, the screws 15 for fastening the main body frame 10A and the cover frame 10B are fastened inside the control chamber 20 so as not to protrude outside the periphery of the main body frame 10A (housing 10). In the embodiment of the present invention, by bringing the circuit components 4 close to the control board 3, relay components and connection wiring for connecting the two are omitted, thereby ensuring fastening space for the screws 15 inside the control chamber 20. In this way, by locating the fastening space for the screws 15 inside the control chamber 20, it is possible to eliminate the protruding portion of the housing 10 to the outside, thereby making it possible to reduce the installation space (space saving) when mounting the heat medium heating device 1 on a vehicle, etc.

[0034] The heat medium heating device 1 described above is mounted on vehicles such as hybrid cars and electric cars, and is applied to vehicle air conditioning systems, etc., in the case of hybrid cars as an auxiliary heat source that supplies heat to compensate for the lack of waste heat from the engine, and in the case of electric cars as an alternative heat source that supplies heat in place of the non-existent engine.

[0035] As an example, in the case of a hybrid vehicle, LLC (Long Life Coolant) for cooling the engine flows as a heat medium through the flow path of the heat medium heating device 1 and is heated by the heater 2. The LLC circuit is provided in a vehicle air conditioner, and the heat of the LLC heated by the engine and the heat medium heating device 1 is used to heat the refrigerant circulating in a refrigerant circuit provided in the vehicle air conditioner, thereby heating or cooling the vehicle cabin. Furthermore, in both hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, the heat medium heating device 1 is provided together with a heater core in a heating circuit through which antifreeze circulates, and the heat medium heating device 1 is used as a heat source for heating the antifreeze, and air heated by the heater core is blown into the vehicle cabin during heating.

[0036] In the case of an electric vehicle, the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit flows through the flow path of the heat medium heating device 1, and is heated by the heater 2. The refrigerant circuit itself functions as a heat pump and serves as a heat source for the vehicle air conditioner, but hot water can be obtained by flowing the heat medium (water) in a heat medium circuit (water circuit) that exchanges heat with the refrigerant circuit through the flow path of the heat medium heating device 1, and this hot water can be used as a heat source for the vehicle air conditioner or for controlling the temperature of a temperature-controlled object such as a battery.

[0037] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention also includes design changes within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments can be combined by utilizing each other's technologies as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems in their purposes, configurations, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1: Heat medium heating device, 2: heater, 2A, 2C: sealing material, 2B: connection terminal, 2B1: relay part, 3: Control board, 3P: Screw, 4: Circuit components (IGBT units), 4A: Terminal, 4B: Fixing screw, 4C: Fixing tool, 4F: Insulating sheet, 5: Wiring, 6: Flow path, 7: Temperature sensor, 10: Housing, 10A: Main body frame, 10B: Lid frame, 10C: Heater support frame, 11: Inlet, 12: Outlet, 13: Gasket, 14: Heater insertion port, 15: Screw, 16: Protrusion, 16A: End face, 16B: Fixing hole, 20: Control room, 21: Support protrusion, 22: raised portion, 22A: mounting surface, 22B: positioning portion, 23: fastening surface, 30 (30A, 30B, 30C): Through hole, 31: sealing member, 31A: insertion seal portion, 31P: screw, 32: Connector, 32A: Pull-out terminal

Claims

1. A heat medium heating device comprising a housing that supports a heater therein and has a flow path through which a heat medium flows near the heater, and a control room in which a control board that controls the heater is disposed is provided within the housing, the housing includes a support protrusion that supports the control board at a position away from the heater, and a raised portion that protrudes in a protruding direction of the support protrusion and has a mounting surface that is close to the control board and is in thermal contact with the flow path; The heat medium heating device is characterized in that a heat-generating circuit component connected to the control board is placed on the placement surface.

2. 2. The heat medium heating device according to claim 1, wherein the distance from the mounting surface to the control board is shorter than the distance from the mounting surface to the flow path.

3. 3. The heat medium heating device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting surface has a positioning portion for positioning the circuit component.

4. 2. The heat medium heating device according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a main body frame on which the control board is supported, and a lid frame that covers the control board and is detachably attached to the main body frame, and the control chamber is formed inside the lid frame.

5. 5. The heat medium heating device according to claim 4, wherein the housing includes a heater support frame that detachably supports the heater relative to the main body frame.

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