Plastic Water Jacket Inverter Housing for Compact Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional inverter shells made of cast aluminum are heavy, occupy excessive space due to complex cooling water paths, and have high production pollution and energy consumption, necessitating a reduction in weight and size while maintaining effective cooling.
Innovation Solution
The use of a plastic water jacket with integrated cooling circuits and a metal shell to reduce weight and size, incorporating a second cooling circuit for excitation modules, and integrating components directly through injection molding to simplify structure and reduce parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If cast aluminum material is used for the water jacket, then the structural strength and cooling effectiveness are ensured, but the weight of the inverter increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining plastic (polymer) with reinforcing fibers or fillers to create a water jacket that maintains structural strength while reducing weight. The composite material provides both the mechanical properties needed for structural integrity and the weight reduction benefit, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
2Temperature
If complex cooling water paths are designed in the water jacket, then the cooling effectiveness is improved, but the design space requirement increases and the overall size of the shell grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies nesting by integrating the cooling water paths directly within the wall structure of the water jacket itself, rather than requiring separate external cooling channels. This nested design allows complex cooling circuits to be embedded within the jacket's thickness, achieving effective cooling without increasing the external dimensions of the component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the thickness dimension of the water jacket wall to accommodate complex cooling paths. By designing multi-layered or three-dimensional cooling circuits within the wall structure, the patent achieves effective cooling in the radial direction without increasing the axial or lateral dimensions of the overall component.
3Ease of manufacture
If cast aluminum material is used for the water jacket, then the manufacturing process is established, but the production pollution and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical casting process with plastic injection molding. This substitution eliminates the high energy consumption and pollution associated with aluminum casting, melting, and machining operations, while providing a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process that can directly form complex geometries without extensive post-processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from metal to polymer, which fundamentally alters the manufacturing process parameters. Plastic injection molding operates at lower temperatures and energies compared to aluminum casting, reducing energy consumption and eliminating harmful emissions from metal processing, while still achieving the required manufacturing complexity.
4Device complexity
If the water jacket and shell are integrated as separate components, then the assembly is straightforward, but the number of parts increases and sealing requirements become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by integrating the water jacket functionality directly into the shell structure through injection molding. This combines what were previously separate components (shell and water jacket) into a single integrated part, reducing the total number of parts and eliminating the need for separate sealing elements between these components, while maintaining assembly simplicity.
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 plastic water jacket reduces the inverter's weight by about 35% and overall size, simplifies production, lowers costs, and enhances cooling efficiency while reducing carbon emissions.
Implementation Method 1
the internal orientation and structure of the plastic water jacket body can be directly integrated by injection molding
Implementation Method 2
the cooling water circuit of the water jacket is sealed on the flat cast aluminum shell
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
This application discloses a shell component and an inverter, belonging to the technical field of motor inverters. The provided shell component includes a shell and a water jacket, wherein the interior of the shell has an accommodating space, and at least a portion of the water jacket is provided within the accommodating space; The water jacket comprises a water jacket body and a cooling plate. The water jacket body is made of plastic material, and a cooling channel is formed inside the cooling plate. The water jacket body is equipped with a first cooling circuit for cooling the power module and a second cooling circuit for cooling the excitation module. The first cooling circuit and the second cooling circuit are respectively connected to the cooling channel. An inverter comprising a housing component. This application can at least solve the problem of heavy weight and complex structure of the shell components of traditional inverters.