U.S. patent application number 09/817087 was filed with the patent office on 2001-10-25 for power supply unit or battery charging device.
Invention is credited to Duerbaum, Thomas, Halfmann, Juergen, Luerkens, Peter.
Application Number | 20010033148 09/817087 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7637013 |
Filed Date | 2001-10-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010033148 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Duerbaum, Thomas ; et
al. |
October 25, 2001 |
Power supply unit or battery charging device
Abstract
The invention relates to a power supply unit or battery charging
device (1). While of compact type, the device is to dissipate to
the environment the heat generated during operation and, on the
other hand, is to be extremely handy. There is proposed to provide
cooling fins (4) on the housing (2) of the device, while the
cooling fins (2) are arranged so that the cooling fin interstices
are suitable for locking a cable (5) of the device.
Inventors: |
Duerbaum, Thomas;
(Langerwehe, DE) ; Luerkens, Peter; (Aachen,
DE) ; Halfmann, Juergen; (Buehlertal, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Corporate Patent Counsel
U.S. Philips Corporation
580 White Plains Road
Tarrytown
NY
10591
US
|
Family ID: |
7637013 |
Appl. No.: |
09/817087 |
Filed: |
March 26, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
320/107 ;
320/150 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 5/0247 20130101;
H05K 7/20427 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
320/107 ;
320/150 |
International
Class: |
H02J 007/00; H02J
007/04; H02J 007/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 30, 2000 |
DE |
10015885.4 |
Claims
1. A power supply unit or battery charging device having a housing
(2) with cooling fins (4), the cooling fins (2) being arranged so
that the interstices between the cooling fins are suitable for
locking a cable (5) of the device.
2. A power supply unit or battery charging device as claimed in
claim 1, characterized in that the housing (2) is arranged as a
plastic injection-molded part.
3. A power supply unit or battery charging device as claimed in
claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a coating (6) having a high
coefficient of thermal conductivity is deposited on the inside of
the housing (2).
4. A power supply unit or battery charging device as claimed in one
of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that cooling fins (8) are
provided on the inside of the housing (2).
5. A mains or charging device as claimed in one of the claims 1 to
4, characterized in that the housing (2) has recesses (7) on the
inside.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a power supply unit or battery
charging device. Power supply units convert currents or voltages
from energy supply networks into currents or voltages suitable for
the operation of electric units or devices. Battery charging
devices are used for charging accumulators, for example, for mobile
telephones, cordless telephones or portable computers.
[0002] The housing of a power supply unit or battery charging
device is usually made of plastic, which is cost effective and
guarantees an electrical insulation. A device cable that can be
plugged into the power supply unit or battery charging device is
used for setting up a connection to the device or accumulator
respectively to be supplied with power.
[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,139 discloses a power supply unit in
which the housing comprises two parts and is at least partly made
of metal or plastic. The upper part of the housing has an area in
the form of a grid of fins. The fins end in the plane of the upper
part of the housing and have their base in a base area of
substantially the same thickness, which is shaped so that it is
complementary with the shape of two capacitors in the assembled
power supply unit and holds them in a bracket device. The basic
area has on the side facing the capacitors a coating that has a
high coefficient of thermal conductivity, so that heat produced by
the capacitors during the operation of the power supply unit is
very well dissipated to the environment.
[0004] It is an object of the invention to provide a power supply
unit which, having a compact structure, dissipates heat well to the
environment during operation and, is also extremely handy.
[0005] The object is achieved in that the power supply unit or
battery charging device has a housing with cooling fins, in which
the cooling fins are arranged so that the interstices between the
cooling fins are suitable for locking a cable of the device.
[0006] With such an embodiment of the unit, the cooling fins are
used not only for cooling the device involved but, in addition,
also for accommodating a cable which can be locked between the
cooling fins (clamped), so that a compact handy unit is developed.
Locking the cable of the device between the cooling fins is
particularly advantageous for the transport of the device, because
the cable is then not transported as a loose part and cannot be
lost as a separate part during transport either. Only a respective
distance between the cooling fins is to be guaranteed. Further
additional material is not necessary.
[0007] More particularly, the housing is arranged as an injection
molding plastic part and can be manufactured cost effectively,
while the curving of the cooling fins is no problem.
[0008] To further improve the heat dissipation to the environment,
there is proposed that on the inside of the housing a coating is
deposited which has a high coefficient of thermal conductivity. A
strong heating of the housing in small areas is avoided, so that
also a guarantee may be given that a housing made of plastic
exceeds the permissible maximum temperature of the plastic at no
spot whatsoever. The coating having a high coefficient of thermal
conductivity is, for example, a metallic coating which can be
deposited on the inside of the housing of the device in an easy and
cost effective manner. An additional effect is that the radiation
of electromagnetic waves to the environment is reduced i.e. the EMV
properties of the power supply unit or battery charging device are
improved.
[0009] Alternatively, or in addition to an inside coating of the
housing of the unit having a high coefficient of thermal
conductivity, cooling fins may be arranged on the inside of the
housing to promote the dissipation of heat from the inside of the
housing to the environment.
[0010] In another embodiment is provided that the housing has
recesses on the inside. They additionally increase the surface and
also enhance the heat dissipation to the environment. They may be
adapted to the device components to be installed on the inside of
the housing i.e. they should be arranged closest possible to the
inside of the housing.
[0011] Examples of embodiment of the invention will be further
explained with reference to the drawings to be discussed
hereinafter, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a power supply unit or battery
charging device,
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a section through part of the housing of the
device,
[0014] FIG. 3 shows a section through part of another embodiment of
a housing of a device and
[0015] FIGS. 4 to 6 show further embodiments of a housings of a
device.
[0016] FIG. 1 shows a power supply unit or battery charging device
1 having a plastic housing 2 which is shown here to be one integral
part and surrounds the whole device 1 except for bare mains plug
contacts 3. On the outside of the housing of the device 2 lie
cooling fins 4 in parallel with each other. The housing 2 including
the cooling fins 4 is manufactured as a single part with the
plastic injection molding method. Between the cooling fins 4 is
clamped a cable 5 of the device. The cable is wound around the
housing 2. The cooling fins 4 have such a distance to each other
that the cable 5 can be detachably fixed between the cooling fins
4. The distance between the cooling fins 4 is so much smaller than
the diameter of the cable 5 that this cable can be inserted into
the cooling fin interstices without any problem and, in addition,
still a sufficient clamping force is exerted by the cooling fin
side walls onto the inserted (wound) cable 5 of the device.
[0017] FIG. 2 shows a section through the upper region of the
housing 2 of FIG. 1. The inside of the housing has a coating
6--metallic here--that has a high coefficient of thermal
conductivity and is used for improving the heat dissipation. For
example, recesses 7 are shown, which are adapted to the internal
components of the device (not shown). The recesses 7 increase the
internal surface of the housing, which enhances the thermal
conductivity and are further used for clamping the components lying
inside the device.
[0018] FIG. 3 shows additional cooling fins 8 on the inside of the
housing 2 arranged in a sectional drawing of the housing shown in
FIG. 2, which cooling fins are used for improving the dissipation
of heat from the inside of the device to the environment of the
device. Cooling fins 8 provided on the inside and the coating 6 may
be used separately and in combination.
[0019] FIGS. 4 to 6 show sectional drawings of the device 1, with
various possibilities of embodiment for the conducting coating 6 of
the housing. Inside the housing 2 is arranged a printed circuit
board 10, which carries electric modules. A number of these modules
is shown, but only diagrammatically (in the form of rectangular
blocks), to clarify that they are to have a certain minimum
distance to the coating 6. A dashed line 11 is used for clarifying
that the electric modules and switching circuits of the primary
side and the secondary side are arranged spatially remote from each
other. To the left of the line 11 lie the modules of the primary
side, to the right of the line 11 lie the modules of the secondary
side. Basically, the modules of the primary side have to adhere to
a predefined distance to the modules of the secondary side.
Furthermore, minimum distances are to be observed between the
modules of the printed circuit board and the coating 6, i.e. there
are certain minimum creepage distances to be observed, which are
normally predefined by standards, for example, by the IEC 60950
(compare chapters 2.10.4 to 2.10.6 in the 1999-04 edition).
[0020] In FIG. 4 the coating 6 is continuously deposited on the
inside of the housing and has a floating connection to the printed
circuit board 10. Both the modules of the primary side and the
modules of the secondary side have to adhere to certain minimum
distances to the coating 6. For example, distances d41, d42, d43
and d44 are shown, which must not be below certain minimum
values.
[0021] FIG. 5 shows the case where the coating 6 consists of two
sub-surfaces 6a and 6b, which have a distance d53 and have a
primary side and secondary side, respectively. The sub-surface 6a
is connected to the ground potential of the primary side
(connection 13). This leads to the fact that only for the modules
of the secondary side (see, for example, distances d51 and d52) a
minimum creepage distance to the coating 6 (i.e. to the sub-surface
6b) is to be adhered to. Furthermore, a minimum creepage distance
is to be maintained between the sub-surfaces 6a and 6b, i.e. the
distance d53 shown must exceed a certain minimum value.
[0022] In the variant of embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the coating 6,
just like in FIG. 5, consists of two sub-surfaces 6a and 6b between
which, however, a non-electrically conducting fin 12 is arranged,
which leads to the fact that the distance between the sub-surfaces
6a and 6b, which is referred to as d6, may be smaller than the
distance without a fin (like in FIG. 5). In FIG. 6 the sub-surface
6a is connected to the ground potential of the primary side
(connection 14) and sub-surface 6b to the ground potential of the
secondary side (connection 15), so that only for the distance d6
there is a minimum creepage distance.
[0023] The possibilities of embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are to
indicate the multitude of possible embodiments of the inside
coating 6. Further combinations and variants are possible,
obviously. For example, in FIG. 4, the coating 6 may also be
connected to the ground potential of the primary or the secondary
side. In FIG. 5 could be effected, instead of or in addition to the
connection of the sub-surface 6a to the ground potential of the
primary side, a connection of the sub-surface 6b to the ground
potential of the secondary side. The variants thus produced in
connection with FIG. 5 may naturally also be transferred to the
embodiment shown in FIG. 6.
* * * * *