Insulating Enclosure for Power Modules Reducing Isolation Gaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
In high-power applications, medium voltage power electronics devices require substantial space for safety isolation, leading to increased size due to the need for wide clearances and creepage distances between energized components and grounded metal housings, complicating assembly and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The use of insulating material for the enclosure of power modules eliminates the need for these clearances, allowing all external connections to be placed on one side, reducing the device's size and enabling closer module placement within a metal housing, with optional slide bars for assembly and liquid cooling to minimize overall dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional conductive metal housing with grounding is used, then safety isolation is ensured, but the device size increases due to required wide clearances and creepage distances
Solution Approach 1:
An insulating housing acts as an intermediary barrier between energized components and the grounded metal structure, eliminating the need for large clearances and creepage distances. The insulating housing provides the necessary electrical isolation while allowing compact component arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing material parameter is changed from conductive metal to insulating material, fundamentally altering the electrical isolation mechanism. This parameter change allows the elimination of safety distance constraints while maintaining isolation requirements.
2Reliability
If wide clearances and creepage distances are maintained for safety isolation, then user safety is ensured, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The safety isolation function is extracted from the mechanical clearance/creepage distance arrangement and transferred to the insulating housing material itself. This eliminates the need for complex isolation arrangements such as standoff insulators and careful clearance maintenance.
3Ease of operation
If all external connections are placed on one side of the power module, then assembly and maintenance ease is improved, but the housing design becomes more constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The power module and housing are designed with asymmetric connection arrangement where all external connections are concentrated on one side. This asymmetric design simplifies assembly and maintenance operations while the insulating housing provides the flexibility to accommodate this configuration.
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
This configuration minimizes the size of power electronics devices by eliminating unnecessary isolation gaps, facilitating easier assembly and maintenance while maintaining safety standards, and reducing the size of the cooling system.
Implementation Method 1
mounting the energized components of the power module within enclosure parts that have been made substantially of an insulating material
Implementation Method 2
the power modules have been mounted... the modules are cooled by liquid, thus minimizing the sizes of the cooler and the whole module
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A housing arrangement of a power electronics device, comprising one power module or several identical power modules (ML1...MW1), each module with at least one part connected to a hazardous voltage, the arrangement further comprising a housing part (6) having room for at least one power module (ML1...MW1). Each power module comprises an enclosure part (5, 10) which essentially surrounds the power module (ML1...MW1, MU1) and comprises electrically insulating material. All the external connections of the power module are placed on one single wall of the enclosure part (5, 10). The power modules (ML1.. MW1, MU1) and the enclosure part (5, 7) of the power modules are arranged such that when the power module (ML1...MW1, MU1) is installed to the housing part (6) the power module (ML1...MW1, MU1) is electrically insulated from the housing part (6) and external connections of the power module (ML1...MW1, MU1) are directed to the front side of the housing part.