Protective device for an electronic component

Abstract

The invention relates to a protective device (11) for an electronic component (10), said protective device (11) being able to be positioned so that it at least partially surrounds the at least one electronic component (10). The invention also relates to an electronic component (10) having such a protective device (11).

Description

[0001] Protective device for an electronic component

[0002] The invention relates to a protective device for an electronic component, wherein the protective device can be arranged to at least partially surround the at least one electronic component, and to an electronic component with such a protective device.

[0003] High-voltage storage systems, also known as traction batteries or accumulators, are used to provide electrical energy for powering electric motors in motor vehicles. Such a high-voltage storage system supplies high voltages, typically over 100V, to the vehicle's high-voltage system. This system can include a drive motor, power electronics, a charging unit, and cables specifically designed for high voltages. A high-voltage system typically encompasses all vehicle components that can operate with a direct current (DC) voltage between 60V and 1500V and / or an alternating current (AC) voltage between 25V and 1000V, such as an air conditioning compressor, a heating system, a power steering system, and / or a brake assist system.

[0004] For safety reasons, such high-voltage electrical systems require that, in predetermined situations, such as an accident, the system be de-energized as quickly as possible. Rapid discharge components are typically used for this purpose, but these components can be damaged, particularly during the necessary rapid dissipation of high-voltage energy. This can result in the release of particles and / or plasma vapors from the damaged component(s), which can cause hazards and / or damage to adjacent live components.

[0005] Against this background, an object of the invention is to improve a component for high-voltage energy dissipation. In particular, a protective device for such a component is to be improved in order to enable improved protection of surrounding components.

[0006] This problem is solved by a protective device for an electronic component with the features of claim 1 and an electronic component for a motor vehicle with the features of claim 10. The dependent claims relate to advantageous further developments of the invention.

[0007] According to a first aspect, a protective device for an electronic component is specified, wherein the protective device can be arranged to at least partially encompass the at least one electronic component, and wherein the protective device is designed to be expandable.

[0008] An expandable design of the protective device allows it to undergo geometric expansion or surface area enlargement under the influence of an external force and / or pressure, thereby preventing or avoiding damage to the protective device. This allows accelerated degradation products of the electronic component, particularly in the case of current- and / or voltage-induced destruction and / or damage, to remain contained by the protective device, thus preventing or even avoiding contamination of the environment and / or surrounding components.

[0009] According to another aspect, an electronic component for a motor vehicle is specified, wherein the electronic component has a protective device as described herein. An electronic component is, in particular, a component designed for controlling, regulating, converting, storing, and / or amplifying electrical signals and energy, and can, for example, be used in an electrical and / or electronic circuit. The protective device can be, in particular, integrated into, arranged on, and / or attached to the electronic component. By means of an electronic component designed in this way, damage to surrounding components and / or devices can be prevented, especially in the event of a voltage- and / or current-induced failure of the electronic component.

[0010] In one embodiment, the electronic component is a rapid discharge component for a high-voltage system of a motor vehicle. A rapid discharge component is, in particular, a component designed to dissipate or reduce electrical energy from the high-voltage storage device and / or the high-voltage system, especially rapidly and / or in a controlled manner. The rapid discharge component can, for example, be a discharge resistor, in particular a low-resistance standard high-power resistor, or a fuse. The rapid discharge component can, for example, be coupled to at least one sensor and / or a monitoring device configured to determine and / or detect a situation in which activation of the rapid discharge component is to occur, and / or to control and / or trigger the rapid discharge component.Such a situation could be, for example, an accident and / or a critical fault in the high-voltage system.

[0011] The rapid discharge component can include at least one resistor and / or a switch, the switch being configured to open a discharge path. This allows the electric current to be directed to a high-power resistor in the discharge path to dissipate the current flow, particularly in a controlled manner, and the energy, particularly in the form of heat. Such a discharge can result in mechanical destruction of the rapid discharge component, during which, particularly due to the sudden vaporization of conductive components, a change in volume can occur and / or, particularly due to arcing, metallic conductive particles and / or plasma can escape.Such plasma and / or parts of the destroyed component can pose a safety hazard, as it cannot be ruled out that short circuits may occur, which could lead to damage and / or destruction of surrounding components or even a high-voltage storage system of the vehicle.

[0012] The invention is based, among other things, on the idea of ​​creating a spatially flexible enclosure for an electronic component, in particular a rapid discharge component, which is designed to accommodate, contain, and / or control any additional volume expansion that may occur in the event of overload and / or discharge. For this purpose, a protective device, which is expandable, particularly non-destructively, is proposed. This device is designed to accommodate discharge-induced volume expansion, especially of the volume or component enclosed by the protective device, in order to contain plasma and any particles from the component and / or to retain them within a space defined by the protective device.

[0013] The protective device is designed to at least partially or completely enclose the component, thereby defining a space around it. In its initial state, the protective device may be in contact with the component, with little to no free space between the component and the device. In its second, expanded state, the protective device may have an increased surface area to encompass a larger volume, which can result particularly from energy dissipation and the thermal energy released as a result. This expansion of the protective device allows emissions, discharges, and / or releases that may occur during a discharge process to be contained and / or prevented, especially from being uncontrolled, from spreading.The protective device improves the high-voltage energy dissipation of a component and provides better protection for surrounding components.

[0014] In one embodiment, the protective device is designed to be elastically expandable. In this embodiment, the protective device can be configured to expand or increase in size, or to expand its surface area, under the influence of a force or other factor, such as heating, pressure, and / or mechanical strain. The protective device exhibits elastic properties, or the property of at least partially returning to its original shape after the force or factor ceases to act upon it. In particular, after maximum expansion, a complete and / or at least partial return to the original shape of the protective device can be provided. This allows the protective device's impact on adjacent components to be temporarily limited, thus preventing impairment and / or damage to surrounding components.

[0015] In one embodiment, the protective device comprises an elastic material. The protective device can consist entirely or partially of such an elastic material, which can exhibit a predetermined degree of deformability and / or resilience and / or a predetermined modulus of elasticity. This allows the protective device or its material to undergo deformation, particularly an increase in size, especially under the influence of an external force, and to return to its original shape when or after the external force ceases. The protective device or its material can have a predetermined elastic limit, and if this limit is exceeded, the protective device can be plastically deformed, particularly non-destructively.This elastic property allows the protective device to absorb and / or dampen discharge-related effects in order to provide a protective effect.

[0016] In one embodiment, the protective device is configured to perform a mechanical expansion. Here, the protective device can have several interconnected components to effect the expansion or enlargement of the volume enclosed by the protective device through mechanical movement of individual components of the protective device, for example, in the form of folding and / or collapsing movements of one or more components of the protective device relative to each other. This allows a predetermined maximum available expansion space to be defined or specified, thereby limiting or preventing damage to surrounding components.

[0017] In one embodiment, the protective device is configured to define a sealed space around the electronic component in an expanded state. Specifically, the protective device is arranged, or can be arranged, around the component such that in a first, unexpanded state, a predetermined volume is defined by the protective device, and in the second, expanded state, a volume that is larger, particularly relative to the original volume, is defined. This defined or defined space is, in particular, demarcated from the environment in such a way that no liquids, gases, and / or particles can escape, thus preventing material leakage.The protective device is, in particular, impermeable and / or resistant, especially for a specific period and / or under specific conditions, such as pressure and / or temperature, and / or to materials such as conductive or metallic particles and / or plasma generated during discharge. This prevents uncontrolled contamination of the environment with discharge emissions.

[0018] In one embodiment, the protective device is designed to contain particles and / or plasma within the space defined by the protective device. In particular, the protective device is designed such that any contamination in the form of particles and / or plasma that arises after acute discharge and / or expansion or volume change remains within the protective device, thus preventing any subsequent risk of damage. In this context, the available space or volume can be reduced, particularly by means of elasticity of the protective device relative to its maximum expansion. In one embodiment, the protective device incorporates silicone.In further embodiments, the protective device can comprise a textile, in particular a coated one, and / or at least one plastic, in order to provide a predetermined degree of tightness, temperature resistance, mechanical stability and / or deformability.

[0019] In one embodiment, the protective device is designed to be attached to a printed circuit board (PCB). In particular, if the electronic component and / or the rapid discharge component is arranged on a PCB, this PCB can be used to mount the protective device, especially in a sealing manner, around the electronic component or the rapid discharge component. The protective device can be attached to the PCB, particularly by means of an adhesive bond and / or mechanically, to create a mechanically stable arrangement. In other embodiments, the protective device can be attached to the electronic component or to the PCB by means of the electronic component, for example, by clamping.This allows for the creation of an integrated system for space-saving arrangement on a printed circuit board, while simultaneously providing protection for surrounding, especially sensitive, electronic components.

[0020] Further advantages and application possibilities of the invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the figures.

[0021] Figs. 1a and 1b each show a schematic representation of a first embodiment of an electronic component with a protective device for an electronic component according to the present disclosure.

[0022] Figs. 2a and 2b each show a schematic representation of a second embodiment of an electronic component with a protective device for an electronic component according to the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of a third embodiment of an electronic component with a protective device for an electronic component according to the present disclosure.

[0024] Figs. 1a and 1b each show an electronic component 10 with a protective device 11 for an electronic component 10 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure in a schematic representation, wherein Fig. 1a shows the protective device 11 in a first state and Fig. 1b in an expanded, second state.

[0025] The electronic component 10 is designed as a rapid discharge component for a high-voltage system of a motor vehicle and is arranged on a printed circuit board 12. The protective device 11 is attached to the printed circuit board 12 by means of an adhesive bond 13 such that the protective device 11 at least partially surrounds the electronic component 10 and delimits a space 14 or volume around the component 10, in particular a predetermined space 14.

[0026] Fig. 1b shows the electronic component 10 with its protective device 11 in an expanded state. In particular, an electrical discharge process 15 of the rapid discharge component 10 results in an increase in the volume of the space 14, or volume, which is bounded by the protective device 11. Such a discharge typically generates particles 16 and plasma 17, which can be ejected, in particular, by mechanically damaging the electronic component 10. Due to the expandable design of the protective device 11, it can undergo an increase in the volume of the space 14 it bounds, or is designed to expand elastically in order to carry out this volume change without damage.In the embodiment shown here, the protective device 11 is essentially made of an elastic material which, after reaching maximum expansion, can at least substantially return to its original shape. The protective device 11 is designed to seal or limit the space 14 even in its expanded state, so that particles 16 and / or plasma 17 are contained within the protective device 11 to prevent impairment and / or damage to surrounding components. The elastic material can, for example, be silicone and / or a plastic and / or a coating.

[0027] Figures 2a and 2b show a second embodiment of an electronic component 10 with a protective device 11 according to the present disclosure in a schematic representation, wherein Figure 2a shows the protective device 11 in an unexpanded state and Figure 2b in an expanded state.

[0028] The component 10 is arranged on a printed circuit board 12 and enclosed by a protective device 11, the protective device 11 being configured to undergo mechanical expansion. For this purpose, the 11 comprises several interconnected individual components or parts 21, which are configured to move relative to one another under the influence of a force or pressure and / or at least one other mechanical influence 15, in order to create a space 14 around the component 10. This provides an expandable protective device 11, wherein the initial volume 14 limited by the protective device is relatively small in the first state shown in Fig. 2a, and in the second, expanded state, shown in Fig. 2b, a particularly predetermined, enlarged volume 14 can be limited by the protective device. This can improve the mechanical stability of the protective device 11. In Fig.Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of an electronic component 10 with an expandable protective device 11, wherein the protective device 11 is arranged on the electronic component 10 and attached to the printed circuit board 12 by means of the electronic component 10. For this purpose, the component 10 has fastening means 20, which in the illustrated embodiment are designed as pins 20 extending through the printed circuit board 12 in order to be able to arrange the protective device 11 such that it encompasses or surrounds the component 10. This allows the protective device 11 to define a volume or space 14 around the component 10. Of course, the fastening means 20 can have other forms in other embodiments and, for example, be designed as screws, rivets, crimps, or the like.

[0029] REFERENCE MARK LIST

[0030] 10 electronic component / rapid discharge component

[0031] 11 Protective device

[0032] 12 Circuit board 13 Adhesive bond

[0033] 14 Space / Volume

[0034] 15 Discharge process / force

[0035] 16 particles

[0036] 17 Plasma 20 Fasteners

[0037] 21 Part of the protective device

Claims

REQUIREMENTS 1. Protective device (11) for an electronic component (10), wherein the protective device (11) can be arranged to at least partially surround the at least one electronic component (10), characterized in that the protective device (11) is designed to be expandable.

2. Protective device (11) according to the preceding claim, wherein the protective device (11) is designed to be elastically expandable.

3. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective device (11) comprises an elastic material.

4. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective device (11) is configured to carry out a mechanical expansion.

5. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective device (11) is configured to limit a tightly sealed space (14) around the electronic component (10) in an expanded state.

6. Protective device (11) according to the preceding claim, wherein the protective device (11) is configured to contain particles (16) and / or plasma (17) in the space (14) limited by the protective device (11).

7. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective device (11) comprises silicone.

8. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective device (11) is designed to be attachable to a printed circuit board (12).

9. Protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic component (10) is a rapid discharge component for a high-voltage system of a motor vehicle.

10. Electronic component (10) for a motor vehicle, wherein the electronic component (10) has a protective device (11) according to one of the preceding claims.

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