Modular Electrical Equipment Casing with Sealed Interface Walls
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for creating a box for electrical equipment, such as inverters and DC/DC converters in vehicles, face challenges in integration density and cooling efficiency due to the complexity of assembling two separate parts and ensuring tightness of the cooling circuit.
Innovation Solution
A modular assembly design where two casings with interface walls and side walls form a compact box structure, allowing for efficient cooling and electrical connectivity through a sealing electrical connector, which reduces the height of the second box and facilitates integration while maintaining cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a two-part electrical equipment enclosure is designed with separate housings for inverter and DC/DC converter components, then cooling efficiency is improved through dedicated cooling circuits, but manufacturing complexity increases and assembly tightness becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical equipment enclosure is divided into two functional housings: a first housing for inverter components and a second housing for DC/DC converter components. Each housing has its own cooling circuit, allowing independent thermal management optimized for each component type while maintaining separate manufacturing and assembly processes
Solution Approach 2:
Interface walls with integrated cooling circuit connections serve as intermediaries between the two housings. These interface walls include cooling circuit connection portions that facilitate fluid communication between housings while providing sealing surfaces and alignment features that simplify assembly and maintain manufacturing simplicity
2Adaptability or versatility
If a two-part enclosure is used with separate housings, then component integration is improved, but maintaining watertightness of the cooling circuit becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The interface walls incorporate localized sealing features and cooling circuit connection portions at specific locations where housings join. These localized features include sealing surfaces, gasket retention structures, and aligned connection ports that ensure watertightness precisely at the critical junction points without compromising overall component integration
Solution Approach 2:
The interface walls are pre-configured with cooling circuit connection portions and sealing features during housing manufacturing. Alignment features and pre-assembled cooling circuit segments are prepared in advance, allowing for precise mating of housings during final assembly and ensuring watertight connections without complex post-assembly procedures
3Reliability
If the connection portion extends towards the first enclosure to receive sealing pieces, then electrical connector sealing is improved, but the height of the second box increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection portion of the interface wall is designed to extend into the spatial envelope of the first housing, nesting the sealing function within the existing housing boundary. This allows the connection portion to receive and seal electrical connectors while the first housing structure provides the outer boundary, preventing additional external height increase
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~7
AI summary
The invention relates to an assembly forming a casing for electrical equipment, said assembly comprising: a first casing for receiving at least a first electronic component of the electrical equipment; a second casing for receiving at least a second electronic component of the electrical equipment; a first wall of the first casing, known as the first interface wall, and a second wall of the second casing, known as the second interface wall, said walls being arranged to press against one another in order to form the assembly. According to the invention, the first and second casings each comprise at least one side wall, known as the first and second sidewalls respectively, said side walls extending from the first and second interface walls respectively in the opposite direction relative to the other casing; and the second side wall comprises an opening, known as the connection opening, for receiving an electrical connector, and a portion around the opening, known as the connection portion, for receiving a sealing part of the electrical connector, said first and second side walls being arranged such that the connection portion extends towards the first casing so as to face one surface of the first side wall.