Compressor Drive Assembly With Spring-Loaded PCB Cooling Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrically driven refrigerant compressors face challenges in efficient heat dissipation due to complex and costly mounting processes, which can lead to overheating and reduced service life, especially when power transistors are mounted on a support element rather than directly on the cooling surface.
Innovation Solution
A device with a housing featuring a cooling surface and a power supply arrangement that includes a PCB and a spring element to apply a spring force directly to the switching elements, allowing for improved thermal contact and reduced mechanical stress during assembly, enabling efficient heat transfer to the refrigerant.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If power transistors are mounted on a support element instead of directly on the cooling surface, then the mounting process becomes more complex and costly, but the transistors are easier to attach and connect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the support element from the mounting process entirely. Instead of mounting transistors on a support element and then attaching the support element to the housing, the transistors are mounted directly onto the cooling surface of the housing, eliminating the intermediate support structure and simplifying the overall mounting process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the mounting process into distinct steps: first mounting the power transistors directly on the cooling surface, then separately mounting the PCB. This segmentation allows each component to be attached independently and directly to the housing, avoiding the need for a combined support element structure
2Ease of manufacture
If power transistors are mounted on a support element, then the mounting process is simplified, but heat dissipation efficiency deteriorates due to additional thermal resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The support element is extracted from the thermal conduction path. By mounting transistors directly on the cooling surface, the patent eliminates the additional thermal resistance introduced by the support element's wall structure, creating a direct thermal pathway from transistor to cooling surface
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares the cooling surface in advance by creating recesses that match the transistor footprints. This preliminary action ensures optimal thermal contact area is available before the transistors are mounted, maximizing heat dissipation efficiency from the start
3Loss of energy
If thermal interface materials are used to ensure good thermal contact, then heat transfer is improved, but manufacturing costs and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling surface is preliminarily prepared with recesses that precisely match the transistor footprints before assembly. This preliminary geometric preparation ensures inherent thermal contact without requiring additional interface materials, simplifying both the design and assembly processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates the use of expensive thermal interface materials like thermal paste or foils. Instead, it relies on the geometric design of recesses that provide sufficient thermal contact through direct metal-to-metal contact, removing the need for consumable thermal compounds
4Loss of energy
If mounting pressure is applied to power transistors to ensure thermal contact, then heat transfer is improved, but the transistors experience mechanical stress that may reduce their service life
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling surface is preliminarily formed with recesses that precisely accommodate the transistors. This preliminary geometric preparation ensures that when transistors are mounted, they naturally settle into the recesses achieving optimal thermal contact without requiring excessive external mounting pressure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the cooling surface by creating recesses with specific dimensions matching the transistor footprints. This parameter change in the cooling surface geometry allows thermal contact to be achieved through the recess design itself rather than through high mounting pressure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances heat transfer efficiency, reduces manufacturing costs, and ensures secure operation with a longer service life by maintaining optimal contact pressure on the power transistors, even at varying temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
a spring element for applying a spring force on the switching element
Implementation Method 2
The power transistors are advantageously to be arranged on an outer side of the compressor housing such that they are in contact with the housing and can therefore conduct heat
Data Source
AI summary
A device for driving a compressor of a vaporous fluid which exhibits a housing with a cooling surface and a power supply arrangement with at least one switching element, at least one PCB, as well as at least one spring element for applying a spring force on the at least one switching element. The switching element is connected to the PCB. The cooling surface and the PCB are arranged relative to one another in a direction z with spacing. The at least one switching element is arranged such that it is in contact with the housing with a first surface in the area of the cooling surface and that the at least one spring element for pressing the switching element against the cooling surface is in contact with a second surface of the switching element.