Connector arrangement structure of power conversion device, and power conversion device

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of improving noise resistance by shortening the length of a cable connecting two connectors. A control substrate 5 is attached to the upper part of a power module 2. A bus bar 6 connected to the power module 2 is inserted into a hole in a substrate 4 of a current sensor 3. A connector 5a of the control substrate 5 is disposed above (U side) a connector 4a of the substrate 4. The connector 5a of the substrate 5 is disposed so as to be joinable to a connector 10a of a cable 10 from the lateral direction, as shown by an arrow Q. The connector 4a of the substrate 4 is disposed so as to be joinable to a connector 10b of the cable 10 from above, as shown by an arrow S. The connector 5a is disposed offset from the connector 5a of the substrate 5 in the width direction of the control substrate 5.

Description

Connector arrangement structure for power conversion device, power conversion device

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector arrangement structure for communicating signals from a current sensor of a power conversion device to a control board, and to a power conversion device equipped with the arrangement structure.

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In an inverter device that uses semiconductor switching elements such as IGBTs to convert DC voltage into AC voltage and supply power to a load such as a motor, the AC output current of the inverter is often measured and used for controlling the inverter device.

[0003] Such a technique is known from Patent Document 1, in which a current sensor and a control circuit board are connected by a signal cable. In this technique, the control circuit board generates an on / off command for the IGBT based on a current detection value received from the current sensor, thereby performing a switching operation of the IGBT.

[0004] Patent Publication No. 2014-241726

[0005] In Patent Document 1, the connector of the current sensor and the connector of the control circuit board, which are connected to the signal cable, are both oriented in the same direction (horizontal), which increases the length of the signal cable, and electromagnetic noise generated by the switching of the IGBTs may be superimposed on the cable signal, resulting in a malfunction.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such conventional problems, and aims to improve noise resistance by shortening the length of the cable connecting two connectors.

[0007] (1) One aspect of the present invention is a connector arrangement structure of a power conversion device comprising a power module, a control board, and a current sensor, and communicating signals from the current sensor to the control board, wherein the control board is attached to an upper portion of the power module, and comprises a cable connecting the connector of the control board and the connector of the current sensor board, a bus bar connected to the power module is inserted into a hole in the current sensor, the connector of the control board is arranged above the connector of the current sensor board in the vertical direction of the power module, and the connector of the current sensor board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from the vertical direction, while the connector of the control board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from a horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.

[0008] (2) Another aspect of the present invention is a connector arrangement structure of a power conversion device comprising a power module, a control board, and a current sensor, and communicating a signal from the current sensor to the control board, wherein the control board is attached to a side of the power module, and comprises a cable connecting the connector of the control board and the connector of the current sensor board, a bus bar connected to the power module is inserted into a hole of the current sensor, the connector of the control board is arranged above the connector of the current sensor board in the vertical direction of the power module, and the connector of the current sensor board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from the side direction, while the connector of the control board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from a lateral direction perpendicular to the side direction.

[0009] In each of the above aspects, the connector of the control board may be disposed offset from the connector of the current sensor board in the left-right direction of the control board.

[0010] According to the present invention, noise resistance can be improved by shortening the length of the cable connecting the two connectors.

[0011] 1 is a side view showing a state in which a current sensor board and a control board of a power conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention are connected by a cable;

[0012] The connector arrangement structure for a current sensor of a power conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. This connector arrangement structure is primarily used in inverter devices for driving vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, and effectively utilizes the space within the housing by arranging the connectors that communicate signals from the current sensor to the control board in a three-dimensional manner.

[0013] 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an embodiment of the connector arrangement structure. The connector arrangement structure of this embodiment is arranged inside the housing of an inverter device.

[0014] (1) Configuration Example This embodiment includes a power module 2 equipped with IGBTs (power semiconductor transistors), a current sensor 3 that measures the inverter's AC output current, a circuit board (current sensor board) 4 for the current sensor 3, and a control board 5 that generates IGBT on / off commands based on the current detection value received from the current sensor 3, causing the IGBTs to perform switching operations. The current sensor board 4 and the control board 5 are connected by a cable 10 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the power module 2 has a flat, approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape. Furthermore, the direction of the surface on which the terminals 2a are located is defined herein as the upward direction (the direction of arrow U in FIG. 2). Note that the vertical direction of the power module 2 (the directions of arrows U and D) does not necessarily have to coincide with the vertical direction within the housing.

[0015] In this example, the power module 2 and the current sensor 3 are arranged opposite each other, and a control board 5 is arranged above the power module 2. A three-phase bus bar 6 for connection to a load (such as a motor) is connected to a terminal 2a of the power module 2. The bus bar 6 extends toward the current sensor board 4 and is inserted into a hole (not shown) in the current sensor 3.

[0016] This enables the sensor IC 3a of the current sensor 3 to detect the inverter AC output current from the magnetic flux of the bus bar 6. Here, the current sensor board 4 is positioned at a 90-degree angle to the control board 5, and both boards 4, 5 are equipped with connectors 4a, 5a for cable connection.

[0017] 2, the connector 5a is disposed at position A, while the connector 4a is disposed at position B. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the connector 5a is disposed above the connector 4a (on the side of the arrow U) in the vertical direction (directions of the arrows U and D) of the power module 2.

[0018] In this sense, connector 5a is disposed farther upward (in the direction of arrow U) from power module 2 than connector 4a. Here, the connector pins of connector 4a face upward (in the direction of arrow U), while the connector pins of connector 5a face horizontally (in the direction of arrow P) perpendicular to the upward direction.

[0019] In addition, the connectors 4a, 5a are offset from each other in the width direction of the control board 5 (the left-right direction of the power module 2: the direction of arrows R and L in FIG. 1) so as not to overlap. Furthermore, although the current sensor board 4 is exposed to the outside in FIG. 1, this is not limiting and only the connector 4a may be exposed from the case of the current sensor 3.

[0020] (2) Connection State of Cable 10 A state in which the current sensor board 4 and the control board 5 are connected by the cable 10 will be described with reference to Figure 2. Here, one connector 10a of the cable 10 is joined to the connector 5a, and the other connector 10b is joined to the connector 4a. This makes it possible to communicate the value of the current flowing through the bus bar 6 to the control board 5, and control of the inverter device is performed using the current detection value.

[0021] 2, the connector 5a is located at position A, while the connector 4a is located at position B. In other words, the positional relationship between the control board 5 and the current sensor board 4 is determined so that the connector position (position A) of the control board 5 is located above the connector position (position B) of the current sensor board 4 in the vertical direction of the power module 2.

[0022] This positional relationship allows connectors 10a, 10b of cable 10 to be inserted into connectors 5a, 4a from the orthogonal vertical and horizontal directions, as indicated by arrows Q and S. That is, as indicated by arrow S, connector 10b is inserted from above (in the U direction) of connector 4a and joined, thereby electrically connecting the connector pins. Also, as indicated by arrow Q, connector 10a of cable 10 is inserted into connector 5a from the horizontal directions, as indicated by arrow Q, thereby electrically connecting the connector pins.

[0023] This allows the routing distance (cable length) of the cable 10 to be shortened, thereby improving noise resistance. Also, the connectors 10a and 10b of the cable 10 can be easily inserted and removed, improving assembly efficiency.

[0024] Furthermore, since connectors 4a and 5a are positioned so that they do not overlap in the left-right direction in Figure 1, there is more space available for inserting and removing connector 4a, making the work easier and improving workability.

[0025] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, if the control board 5 is provided on a side surface in the left and right directions (directions of arrows R and L) of the power module 2 rather than on the top of the power module 2, the connector 5a will be arranged on the same side surface of the power module 2.

[0026] In this case, in the vertical direction (directions of arrows U and D) of the power module 2, the connector 5a is positioned above the connector 4a (towards arrow U), the connector 5a is positioned so that its connector pins face the direction of arrow P, and both connectors 4a, 5a are positioned offset in the horizontal direction (directions of arrows R and L).

[0027] This allows the connectors 10a, 10b of the cable 10 to be inserted into the connectors 5a, 4a from both the right-left direction and the front-rear lateral direction, which are orthogonal to each other, to be connected. That is, the connector 10b can be inserted into the connector 4a from above the power module 2 to be joined, and the connector 10a can be inserted into the connector 4a from the front-rear lateral direction (the direction of arrow Q) to be joined, thereby achieving the same effect as in the embodiment.

[0028] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to inverter devices, but can be applied to any power conversion device that includes a power module 2, a current sensor 3, and a control board 5.

[0029] 2... Power module 2a... Terminal 3... Current sensor 4... Current sensor board 4a, 5a... Connectors 5... Control board 6... Bus bar 10... Cable

Claims

1. A connector arrangement structure for a power conversion device comprising a power module, a control board, and a current sensor, and communicating signals from the current sensor to the control board, wherein the control board is attached to the top of the power module, and comprises a cable connecting the connector of the control board and the connector of the current sensor board, a bus bar connected to the power module is inserted into a hole in the current sensor, the connector of the control board is arranged above the connector of the current sensor board in the vertical direction of the power module, and the connector of the current sensor board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from the vertical direction, while the connector of the control board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from a horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.

2. A connector arrangement structure for a power conversion device comprising a power module, a control board, and a current sensor, and communicating signals from the current sensor to the control board, wherein the control board is attached to the side of the power module, and comprises a cable connecting the connector of the control board and the connector of the current sensor board, a bus bar connected to the power module is inserted into a hole in the current sensor, the connector of the control board is arranged above the connector of the current sensor board in the vertical direction of the power module, and the connector of the current sensor board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from the side direction, while the connector of the control board is arranged so that the cable can be connected from a lateral direction perpendicular to the side direction.

3. A connector arrangement structure for a power conversion device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the connector of the control board is arranged offset from the connector of the current sensor board in the left-right direction of the control board.

Images