Refrigeration Heat Sink Coupling for Power Electronics Cooling

The patent merges the power electronic device mounting plate with a heat sink structure, integrating thermal management directly into the mounting infrastructure. The heat sink is thermally coupled to both the mounting plate and the refrigeration circuit, creating a unified thermal management system that simultaneously supports mechanical mounting and thermal dissipation functions.

The patent converts the waste heat, which is initially harmful to device operation, into a useful resource by transferring it to the refrigeration circuit. The heat sink captures waste heat from the power electronic devices and transfers it to the refrigerant in the suction tube, where it can be utilized in the refrigeration cycle, thereby turning a harmful thermal byproduct into a beneficial contribution to the system's cooling function.

The patent combines multiple functions into unified components: the mounting plate serves both as a mechanical support structure and as a thermal conduction path, while the heat sink integrates both heat collection and heat transfer functions. This merging approach improves cooling efficiency by reducing thermal resistance paths while avoiding the complexity of separate dedicated cooling components for each power electronic device.

The heat sink structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a thermal bridge between the mounting plate and the refrigeration circuit, provides a large surface area for heat transfer, and enables direct thermal coupling with the refrigerant flow. This multi-functionality achieves superior cooling efficiency without proportionally increasing device complexity, as the same structural elements perform multiple thermal management tasks.