Self-Guided Air-Actuated Spreader Tool for Thyristor Stack Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for replacing faulty thyristors in a thyristors/heatsinks stack assembly often result in misalignment, which can cause damage to the thyristors or collapse of the stack, especially in horizontal configurations, due to the reliance on technician skill and bulky, unreliable spreading tools that struggle to maintain alignment during separation and reassembly.
Innovation Solution
A self-guided air-actuated spreader tool with a cylindrical form, retractable piston, and guide rods is used to maintain alignment by inserting guide rods through guide holes in the heatsinks and applying compressed air to separate the heatsinks while ensuring force vectors remain aligned, allowing for 100% retention of the stack's alignment during faulty thyristor removal and replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If conventional spreader tools are used to separate heatsinks for thyristor replacement, then the thyristor can be removed and replaced, but the alignment of the stack assembly is lost, causing potential damage or collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces centering pins as intermediary elements that fit into centering holes of the heatsinks and thyristors. These pins act as mediators to maintain the alignment path during the entire replacement process, ensuring that the stack assembly remains properly aligned even when heatsinks are separated for thyristor access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs preliminary alignment actions by inserting centering pins into centering holes before separating the heatsinks. This pre-establishes the alignment path, ensuring that when the heatsinks are pulled apart for thyristor replacement, the remaining stack components stay aligned. The centering pins are reinserted after replacement to restore alignment before reassembly.
2Force
If bulky spreading tools are used to separate heatsinks, then separation force can be applied, but the tools are difficult to fit into the stack assembly and require multiple technicians
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the spreading function into two separate, compact tools that can be inserted on opposite sides of the faulty thyristor. Each tool applies force independently through its own actuation mechanism, allowing the forces to be applied in a controlled manner without requiring a single bulky tool. This segmentation enables fitting into the constrained space of the stack assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses pneumatic actuators (air cylinders) to provide the separation force. These compact pneumatic devices can be fitted into the limited space between heatsinks and provide sufficient spreading force when actuated. The pneumatic actuation allows for controlled, gradual separation while maintaining the alignment path through centering pins.
3Ease of operation
If standard spreader tools are used without alignment guidance, then separation can be achieved, but technician skill is required to maintain alignment, increasing operation time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the alignment maintenance self-service through the centering pins that automatically guide the alignment. The centering holes in the heatsinks and thyristors, combined with the centering pins, create a self-aligning mechanism that does not depend on technician skill. The alignment path is self-maintaining throughout the replacement process, eliminating the need for continuous manual alignment adjustments.
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 method ensures 100% alignment assurance, reduces the time and skill required for replacement, and allows a single technician to perform the task, eliminating the need for pre-alignment adjustments and reducing the risk of stack collapse or thyristor damage.
Implementation Method 1
A self-guided air-actuated spreader tool with a cylindrical form, retractable piston, and guide rods is used to maintain alignment by inserting guide rods through guide holes in the heatsinks and applying compressed air to separate the heatsinks
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a silicon devices/heatsinks stack assembly and a method to pull apart a faulty silicon device in said stack assembly. Said silicon devices/heatsinks stack assembly comprises an arrangement of many silicon devices disks (20), two adjacent silicon devices disks (20) being separated by a flat heatsink device (22), each silicon device disk (20) and each heatsink (22) comprising a centering hole on its both faces, a centering pin placed between the adjacent centering holes of a silicon device disk and an adjacent heatsink device. Each heatsink device (22) is pierced with two guide holes (24), at two opposite ends of this one.