U.S. patent application number 09/852655 was filed with the patent office on 2001-12-27 for electronic power device.
This patent application is currently assigned to ALSTOM. Invention is credited to Cettour-Rose, Jacques, Fellmann, Daniel, Petitbon, Alain.
Application Number | 20010055714 09/852655 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 8850474 |
Filed Date | 2001-12-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010055714 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cettour-Rose, Jacques ; et
al. |
December 27, 2001 |
Electronic power device
Abstract
An electronic power device comprising support plates each having
one face receiving one or more power components and an opposite
face in contact with a cooling fluid for cooling said power
components by conduction, wherein at least one support plate is
associated with another support plate disposed facing it and
provided with similar power components, and wherein the power
components of the two facing support plates are disposed facing one
another and in the immediate vicinity of one another.
Inventors: |
Cettour-Rose, Jacques;
(Ordizan, FR) ; Fellmann, Daniel; (Ibos, FR)
; Petitbon, Alain; (Pau, FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUGHRUE, MION, ZINN, MACPEAK & SEAS, PLLC
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington
DC
20037-3213
US
|
Assignee: |
ALSTOM
|
Family ID: |
8850474 |
Appl. No.: |
09/852655 |
Filed: |
May 11, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
429/122 ;
361/200 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/2089 20130101;
H02M 7/003 20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 2924/0002
20130101; H01L 2924/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
429/122 ;
361/200 |
International
Class: |
H01M 006/00; H01M
010/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 22, 2000 |
FR |
00 06 512 |
Claims
1. An electronic power device comprising support plates each having
one face receiving one or more power components and an opposite
face in contact with a cooling fluid for cooling said power
components by conduction, wherein at least one support plate is
associated with another support plate disposed facing it and
provided with similar power components, and wherein the power
components of the two facing support plates are disposed facing one
another and in the immediate vicinity of one another.
2. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein each
support plate is associated with another support plate disposed
facing it and provided with similar power components, the power
components of the facing support plates being disposed facing one
another and in the immediate vicinity of one another.
3. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein said
support plates are distributed over two frames made of electrically
insulating material, each of the frames having openings whose
outlines form seats for receiving said support plates, said two
frames being of a form enabling the two frames to be associated one
against the other with the support plates of the two facing frames,
the free faces of the two adjacent frames supporting respective
cooling boxes each having a cooling fluid circulation volume and
means for supplying and for removing said fluid.
4. An electronic power device according to claim 3, wherein said
two frames are identical.
5. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein each
support plate is fed with electricity via at least one emitter and
at least one collector projecting respectively from two opposite
edges of said support plate so that the emitter feeding one support
plate is disposed on the same side as and close to the collector
feeding the facing support plate.
6. An electronic power device according to claim 3, wherein each
support plate is fed with electricity via at least one emitter and
at least one collector projecting respectively from two opposite
edges of said support plate so that the emitter feeding one support
plate is disposed on the same side as and close to the collector
feeding the facing support plate, and wherein said frames support
said emitters, said collectors, and a control circuit for
controlling the power components.
7. An electronic power device according to claim 5, wherein each of
said support plates receives two IGBT components presenting a
common emitter disposed between the two IGBT components and
projecting laterally from one side of the frame, each of said IGBT
components having an independent collector projecting laterally
from the other side of the frame.
8. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein a strip
of heat conducting material such as copper or aluminum is brazed or
soldered to those faces of the support plates which come into
contact with the cooling fluid, said strip having folds
constituting micro-channels encouraging heat exchange with said
fluid.
9. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein said
frames and boxes are molded out of a plastics material and are
assembled to one another by adhesive or by means of a sealing
gasket.
10. An electronic power device according to claim 1, wherein said
support plates are made by assembling an electrically insulating
material that conducts heat such as aluminum nitride with a
composite material that conducts heat and has a coefficient of
expansion matching that of the electrically insulating material
such as a composite of aluminum and silicon carbide, said
electrically insulating material supporting the power components
and said composite being in contact with the cooling fluid.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to an electronic power device, and
more particularly to a device comprising power chips fixed on
support plates, the plates being cooled by a cooling fluid. The
electronic power device of invention is particularly applicable to
electronic devices used in converter type circuits for distributing
power in railway applications, in which the delivered current and
voltage values are particularly large.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In conventional manner, it is known to cool an electronic
power component by coupling it to a heat exchanger and by inserting
a ceramic plate between these two components to isolate the heat
exchanger electrically from the component. Thus, document FR 2 775
416 discloses an electronic power device having power chips fixed
on one face of a support plate, the other face of the plate having
a heat exchanger. It is also known from that document to associate
support plates in pairs by placing them on opposite sides of a
cooling circuit, the heat exchangers then been disposed facing each
other.
[0003] Nevertheless, such an electronic power device suffers from
the drawback of generating parasitic switch loops of high
inductance and thus of generating high voltage surges on switching,
thus requiring the power components to be over-dimensioned so as to
enable them to withstand such surges. Naturally, such
over-dimensioning of power components presents the drawback of
increasing manufacturing cost and of causing the power components
to be larger in size.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The object of the present invention is to propose an
electronic power circuit enabling the above-mentioned drawbacks of
a prior art to be mitigated.
[0005] To this end, the invention provides an electronic power
device comprising support plates each having one face receiving one
or more power components and an opposite face in contact with a
cooling fluid for cooling said power components by conduction,
wherein at least one support plate is associated with another
support plate disposed facing it and provided with similar power
components, and wherein the power components of the two facing
support plates are disposed facing one another and in the immediate
vicinity of one another.
[0006] In particular embodiments, the electronic power device can
comprise one or more of the following characteristics taken in
isolation or in any technically feasible combination:
[0007] each support plate is associated with another support plate
disposed facing it and provided with similar power components, the
power components of the facing support plates being disposed facing
one another and in the immediate vicinity of one another;
[0008] said support plates are distributed over two frames made of
electrically insulating material, each of the frames having
openings whose outlines form seats for receiving said support
plates, said two frames being of a form enabling the two frames to
be associated one against the other with the support plates of the
two facing frames, the free faces of the two adjacent frames
supporting respective cooling boxes each having a cooling fluid
circulation volume and means for supplying and for removing said
fluid;
[0009] said two frames are identical;
[0010] each support plate is fed with electricity via at least one
emitter and at least one collector projecting respectively from two
opposite edges of said support plate so that the emitter feeding
one support plate is disposed on the same side as and close to the
collector feeding the facing support plate;
[0011] said frames support said emitters, said collectors, and a
control circuit for controlling the power components;
[0012] each of said support plates receives two IGBT components
presenting a common emitter disposed between the two IGBT
components and projecting laterally from one side of the frame,
each of said IGBT components having an independent collector
projecting laterally from the other side of the frame;
[0013] a strip of heat conducting material such as copper or
aluminum is brazed or soldered to those faces of the support plates
which come into contact with the cooling fluid, said strip having
folds constituting micro-channels encouraging heat exchange with
said fluid;
[0014] said frames and boxes are molded out of a plastics material
and are assembled to one another by adhesive or by means of a
sealing gasket; and
[0015] said support plates are made by assembling an electrically
insulating material that conducts heat such as aluminum nitride
with a composite material that conducts heat and has a coefficient
of expansion matching that of the electrically insulating material
such as a composite of aluminum and silicon carbide, said
electrically insulating material supporting the power components
and said composite being in contact with the cooling fluid.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The objects, aspects, and advantages of the present
invention will be understood better on reading the following
description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of
non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of
the electronic power device of invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how support plates are
assembled on one of the frames of the FIG. 1 device;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view on a larger scale showing the
FIG. 1 device when both frames and the bottom housing have been
assembled together; and
[0020] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 when all of the elements
have been assembled together.
MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] To make the drawings easier to read, only those elements
which are necessary for understanding invention have been
shown.
[0022] FIG. 1 it shows an electronic power device for a converter
comprising two frames 1 of generally rectangular shape capable of
being placed one against the other via one of their faces and
capable of receiving respective cooling boxes 2 via their other
faces. The frames 1 are substantially identical and they are made
of an electrically insulating moldable material, e.g. an injection
moldable resin of the polyphenylene dioxide type (PPO).
[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, each frame one has three openings 11
each receiving a support plate 3 of metallized aluminum nitride
having two power components 31 brazed thereto, e.g. of the
insulated gate bipolar transistor type (IGBT). The support plates 3
also have respective strips of copper 5 brazed to their faces
opposite their faces receiving the IGBT components 31, these copper
strips 5 having folds constituting micro-channels that can be seen
in FIGS. 1 and 3.
[0024] The support plates 3 are held pressed against the inside
peripheries of the openings 11 by adhesive, optionally with gaskets
(not shown) being interposed therebetween, in order to ensure a
perfectly leak-proof connection. In a variant embodiment that is
not shown, sealing between the support plates 3 and the frame 1 can
equally well be provided by more intimate co-operation between the
support plate 3 and the surround of the opening 11 that receives
it, for example by overmolding the frame 1 on the support plates
3.
[0025] The power current feed of the IGBT components 31 in each
support plate 3 takes place by means of emitters 12 and collectors
13 integrated in the frame 1 and extending respectively from two
opposite sides of the frame 1. In each opening 11, the emitters 12
are constituted by respective conductive members passing centrally
through the opening 11 and serving as an emitter common to both
IGBT components 31 carried by the support plate 3. At one end, each
emitter 12 has a connection tongue extending laterally from one
side of the frame 1 and enabling it to be connected to an external
connector (not shown). In each opening 11, the collectors 13
comprise two conductive members placed on the edge of the opening
11 remote from its edge receiving the connection tongue of the
emitter 12. The collectors 13 are disposed on either side of the
end of the emitter 12, and they project outside the frame 1 via
connection tongues.
[0026] Control current is fed to the IGBT components 31 by means of
a printed circuit 4 carried by the frame 1 and connecting to the
grids of the IGBT components. The printed circuit 4, shown in FIG.
1, has connectors 41 disposed perpendicularly to the plane of the
frame 1 and enabling connection to be made with wires (not shown)
for controlling the IGBT components.
[0027] The two frames 1 present complementary shapes enabling them
to be assembled one against the other in such a manner that the
support plates 3 of the frames 1 face each other and the IGBT
components 31 carried by each support plate 3 of the frame 1 are
disposed facing and in the immediate vicinity of the identical IGBT
components 31 carried by a support plate 3 of the other frame 1. As
shown in FIG. 3, once the two frames 1 have been put together, they
form a compact assembly from which only the micro-channels of the
copper strips 4 brazed to the support plates 3 extend from each
opening 11.
[0028] The micro-channels of the support plates 3 are fed with
cooling fluid by the two boxes 2 which are fitted to the frames 1,
which boxes 2 have respective plane side faces provided with edges
that match the outline of the frame 1, a sealing gasket that is not
shown being interposed between each box 2 and the frame 1.
[0029] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, both boxes 2 are generally
elongate in shape and include two channels extending longitudinally
relative to the frame 1, having one end fitted with openings 22
enabling cooling fluid to be supplied and removed. Advantageously,
the boxes 2 are made by molding a polymer material, of e.g. of the
polyetherimide type (PEI).
[0030] Such an electronic power device presents the advantage of
having very low parasitic inductance because the power components
carried by each support plate are close to the identical power
components carried by a facing support plate, which makes it
possible to reduce switching surges considerably. For given
operating power, such a device thus makes it possible to use
components that withstand smaller surges and that are therefore
less expensive, and it also makes it possible to take full
advantage of possibilities for improving cooling.
[0031] A device to the invention also has the advantage of placing
the emitters of the power components carried by one support plate
close to the collectors of the power components carried by the
other support plate facing it, thus making it possible
substantially to cancel out the parasitic inductance generated
thereby.
[0032] Furthermore, the use of a heat exchanger having a copper
strip with folds to form micro-channels and which is brazed to a
ceramic plate of standard type makes it possible to ensure that the
power components are provided with excellent cooling at very low
manufacturing cost.
[0033] The naturally, the invention is not limited in any way to
the embodiment described and shown which has been given purely by
way of example.
[0034] Thus, in a variant electronic device of invention, the
copper strip having folds could be made in some other material that
conducts heat, such as aluminum.
[0035] In a variant embodiment, the support plates could be made of
a composite material constituted by a layer of metal in contact
with the cooling fluid together with a fine insulating layer
supporting the power components.
* * * * *