Electric Compressor

Abstract

Provided is an electric compressor which includes a motor which rotates a rotary shaft of a impeller; a housing which accommodates the motor; a plate attached to the housing mounted with a control circuit configured to drive and control the motor; and a refrigerant flow passage provided between the housing and the plate. At least a part of the refrigerant flow passage is formed by a heat radiation fin provided on at least one of the housing and the plate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electric compressor.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] An electric compressor in which a compression unit and a motor are integrated is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an electric compressor for compressing a refrigerant which includes a housing for accommodating a motor, and a control circuit such as a motor drive circuit. The control circuit is mounted on a substrate plate, and the substrate plate is fixed to an outer surface of a peripheral wall of the housing. On the other hand, a suction path of a refrigerant gas serving as a refrigerant flow passage is present in the housing, and heat radiation fins protruding inward are provided on the peripheral wall of the housing. The heat radiation fins can increase a surface area for cooling the housing.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

[0003] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-174178

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

[0004] However, in related art, although it is advantageous for cooling of the housing, there remains a problem in cooling of the control circuit indirectly cooled via the housing.

[0005] The present disclosure describes an electric compressor that can efficiently and effectively cool both the housing and the control circuit with a common refrigerant flow passage.

Solution to Problem

[0006] An aspect of the present disclosure is an electric compressor including: a motor which rotates a rotary shaft of an impeller; a housing which accommodates the motor; a plate attached to the housing and mounted with a control circuit configured to drive and control the motor; and a refrigerant flow passage provided between the housing and the plate. At least a part of the refrigerant flow passage is formed by a heat radiation fin provided on at least one of the housing and the plate.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0007] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, both the housing and the control circuit can be efficiently and effectively cooled by the common refrigerant flow passage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an electric compressor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerant flow passage according to the embodiment, FIG. 2(a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b of FIG. 2(a).

[0010] FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, and is a cross-sectional view illustrating a first modified example of the refrigerant flow passage.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, and is a cross-sectional view illustrating a second modified example of the refrigerant flow passage.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An aspect of the present disclosure is an electric compressor which includes a motor which rotates a rotary shaft of an impeller, a housing which accommodates the motor, a plate which is attached to the housing and on which a control circuit configured to drive and control the motor is mounted, and a refrigerant flow passage provided between the housing and the plate, wherein at least a part of the refrigerant flow passage is formed by heat radiation fins provided on at least one of the housing and the plate.

[0013] In the electric compressor, since the refrigerant flow passage is formed between the housing and the plate, it is possible to efficiently and effectively cool both the control circuit mounted on the plate and the housing. Further, the refrigerant flow passage is formed by the heat radiation fins, and the heat radiation fins are provided on at least one of the housing and the plate. As a result, it is also possible to positively provide the heat radiation fins on a side desired to be preferentially cooled among the housing and the control circuit, and it is also possible to efficiently cool the housing and the control circuit.

[0014] In some embodiments, it is possible to provide the electric compressor in which the heat radiation fin is provided on both the housing and the plate. It is possible to more effectively cool both the housing and the control circuit mounted on the plate.

[0015] In some embodiments, it is possible to provide the electric compressor in which the heat radiation fins provided on the housing side and the heat radiation fins provided on the plate side are alternately arranged. The refrigerant flow passage is formed between the heat radiation fins and the heat radiation fins arranged alternately. As a result, it is advantageous for cooling of both the housing and the control circuit mounted on the plate without deviation.

[0016] In some embodiments, it is possible to provide the electric compressor which thither includes a pair of bearings disposed to sandwich the motor therebetween and supporting the rotary shaft, wherein the housing includes a partition wall between one bearing on the side closer to the plate among the pair of bearings and the plate, and a bearing support portion which supports the one bearing is provided inside the partition wall, and the refrigerant flow passage is provided outside the partition wall facing the bearing support portion. One bearing can also be effectively cooled via the bearing support portion.

[0017] In some embodiments, it is possible to provide the electric compressor in which the refrigerant flow passage is a one-pass meandering flow passage having a folded portion, and the folded portion curves. The curving of the folded portion makes it possible to prevent the retention of the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant flow passage.

[0018] In some embodiments, it is possible to provide the electric compressor in which the surface area facing the refrigerant flow passage is larger on the plate side than on the housing side. It is possible to effectively cool the control circuit mounted on the plate.

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Incidentally, in the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description will not be provided.

[0020] An electric compressor 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the electric compressor 1 is applied to, for example, an internal combustion engine of a vehicle or a ship. The electric compressor 1 is provided with a compressor 7. The electric compressor 1 rotates a compressor impeller (an example of an impeller) 8 by an interaction between a rotor unit 13 and a stator unit 14 to compress a fluid such as air and to generate compressed air. A motor 5 is formed by the rotor unit 13 and the stator unit 14.

[0021] The electric compressor 1 includes a rotary shaft 12 rotatably supported within a housing 2, and the compressor impeller 8 fixed to a front end portion (one end portion) 12a of the rotary shaft 12. The housing 2 includes a motor housing 3 that houses the motor 5 (the rotor unit 13 and the stator unit 14), and an inverter housing 4 that closes an opening of the other end side (a right side in the drawing) of the motor housing 3. A compressor housing 6 which accommodates the compressor impeller 8 is provided on one end side (a left side in the drawing) of the motor housing 3. The compressor housing 6 includes a suction port 9, a scroll portion 10, and a discharge port 11.

[0022] The rotor unit 13 is fixed to a central portion of the rotary shaft 12 in an axial direction, and includes one or a plurality of permanent magnets (not illustrated) attached to the rotary shaft 12. The stator unit 14 is fixed to an inner surface of the motor housing 3 to surround the rotor unit 13, and includes a coil portion (not illustrated) in which a conductive wire is wound. When an alternating current flows in the coil portion of the stator unit 14 through the conductive wire, the rotary shaft 12 and the compressor impeller 8 rotate integrally due to the interaction between the rotor unit 13 and the stator unit 14. When the compressor impeller 8 rotates, the compressor impeller 8 sucks outside air through the suction port 9, compresses the air through the scroll portion 10, and discharges the air from the discharge port 11. The compressed air discharged from the discharge port 11 is supplied to the aforementioned internal combustion engine.

[0023] The electric compressor 1 includes two bearings 20A and 20B that rotatably support the rotary shaft 12 with respect to the housing 2. The bearings 20A and 20B are attached to the rotary shaft 12 by, for example, press-fitting or fitting with a gap. The bearings 20A and 20B are disposed to sandwich the motor 5, and support the rotary shaft 12 by holding two points. One bearing 20A is provided at the end portion of the motor housing 3 on the compressor impeller 8 side. The other bearing 20B is provided on a support wall portion 23 that protrudes from the inverter housing 4 in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 12.

[0024] The inverter housing 4 is provided with a mechanism for supplying a driving current to the stator unit 14. The inverter housing 4 includes a disc-shaped end wall portion (an example of a partition wall) 21 that closes an opening on the other end side of the motor housing 3, and a peripheral wall portion 22 that connects the outer peripheral portion of the end wall portion 21 and the motor housing 3. A conductive wire 14a connected to the stator unit 14 is accommodated in the peripheral wall portion 22. The end wall portion 21 is made of, for example, aluminum, but stainless steel or carbon steel can also be adopted.

[0025] The above-described support wall portion (an example of the bearing support portion) 23 has a base portion 41 protruding from the center of the end wall portion 21 toward the inner side of the rotary shaft 12 in the axial direction, a tubular sleeve receiver 42 further protruding inward from the base portion 41, and a sleeve 43 mounted on the outer periphery of the sleeve receiver 42. An outer ring 51 of the bearing 20B is attached to the sleeve 43 by fitting.

[0026] A module plate 31 is fixed on a side opposite to the inner side of the end wall portion 21, that is, on the outer side the rotary shaft 12 in the axial direction. On the module plate 31, a module (an example of a control circuit) 32 which accommodates a control unit such as an inverter is mounted. A driving control of the electric motor is performed by the control unit of the module 32. A bus bar 33 is connected to the conductive wire 14a. The bus bar 33 penetrates the end wall portion 21 and is connected to the module 32. The bus bar 33 is a conductive member for supplying a driving current, and is made of, for example, copper. Incidentally, as the module plate 31, aluminum, copper, and other metal plates can be adopted.

[0027] A refrigerant flow passage 60 is formed between the module plate 31 and the end wall portion 21. More specifically, the support wall portion 23 which supports the bearing 20B is provided inside the end wall portion 21. The refrigerant flow passage 60 is provided between the end wall portion 21 facing the support wall portion 23 and the module plate 31. The inner sides of the module 32 of the module plate 31 and the inverter housing 4 are cooled by a refrigerant Re (for example, refrigerant gas) passing through the refrigerant flow passage 60. An inlet 61 and an outlet 62 (see FIG. 2) exist in the refrigerant flow passage 60. An inlet pipe 61a of the refrigerant flow passage 60 is connected to the inlet 61, and a discharge pipe 62a of the refrigerant flow passage 60 is connected to the outlet 62. Further, the discharge pipe 62a may be connected to a refrigerant flow passage 3a of the motor housing 3. In this case, for example, the refrigerant Re passes through the refrigerant flow passage 60 of the inverter housing 4, and thereafter is introduced into the refrigerant flow passage 3a of the motor housing 3.

[0028] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the module plate 31 is disposed to close the refrigerant flow passage 60. In the present embodiment, the refrigerant flow passage 60 that connects the single inlet 61 and the single outlet 62 in one pass will be described as an example. However, for example, an aspect may be adopted in which the refrigerant flow passage 60 branches from the single inlet 61 into a plurality of flow passages and is connected to a plurality of outlets 62. Further, an aspect may be adopted in which the refrigerant flow passage 60 is integrated into a single flow passage from a plurality of inlets 61 and connected to a single outlet 62. Further, an aspect may be adopted in which the plurality of inlets 61 and the plurality of outlets 62 are connected to each other. Furthermore, the refrigerant flow passage 60 may be the plurality of independent flow passages.

[0029] The refrigerant flow passage 60 is formed by a substantially rectangular recess 63 formed in the inverter housing 4 and heat radiation fins 64A and MB arranged in the recess 63. Further, the inlet 61 and the outlet 62 of the refrigerant Re are formed in the inverter housing 4. Further, in the inverter housing 4, a seal groove 4a is formed to surround the recess 63. A seal member 4b such as an O-ring is mounted in the seal groove. The seal member 4b is sandwiched between the inverter housing 4 and the module plate 31 by crimping, thereby maintaining the airtightness (or liquid tightness) of the refrigerant flow passage 60.

[0030] A plurality of heat radiation fins 64A and 64B are disposed in the recess 63. A part of the plurality of heat radiation fins 64A and 64B protrudes from the inverter housing 4, and the other thereof protrudes from the module plate 31. In this embodiment, for example, three heat radiation fins 64A and 64B are juxtaposed and the central heat radiation fin is the heat radiation fin 64A on the inverter housing 4 side. Further, the two heat radiation fins disposed to face each other to sandwich the central heat radiation fin 64A are heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side. That is, in the present embodiment, the heat radiation fins 64A on the inverter housing 4 side and the heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side are alternately arranged.

[0031] By arranging the plurality of heat radiation fins 64A and 64B in parallel, the refrigerant flow passage 60 is formed between the heat radiation fins 64A and 64B. For example, the refrigerant flow passage 60 has three folded portions 60a that go around along the end portions 64a of the heat radiation fins 64A and 64B to form meandering flow passages (see FIG. 2(a)). Further, the inlet 61 of the refrigerant Re is provided at one end portion of the refrigerant flow passage 60, and the outlet 62 is provided at the other end portion. As a result, the refrigerant flow passage 60 is a single (one-pass) flow passage. Further, in this embodiment, the folded portion 60a curves to prevent retention of the refrigerant Re. More specifically, the outer peripheral portion 60b of the folded portion 60a is a part of the recess 63, and a part thereof is a recessed curved surface.

[0032] The plurality of heat radiation fins 64A and 64B according to the present embodiment are provided on both the inverter housing 4 and the module plate 31. As a result, it is possible to more effectively cool both the inverter housing 4 and the module 32 mounted on the module plate 31. In particular, in the present embodiment, the heat radiation fins 64A on the inverter housing 4 side and the heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side are alternately arranged, and the refrigerant flow passage 60 is formed between the heat radiation fins 64A and the heat radiation fins 64B alternately arranged. As a result, it is advantageous in cooling both the inverter housing 4 and the module 32 mounted on the module plate 31 without deviation.

[0033] Further, in the present embodiment, the number of the heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side is larger than the number of the heat radiation fins 64A on the inverter housing 4 side. That is, the surface area facing the refrigerant flow passage 60 is larger on the module plate 31 side than on the inverter housing 4 side. As a result, it is advantageous in preferentially and effectively cooling the module 32 mounted on the module plate 31.

[0034] Further, the end wall portion 21 according to the present embodiment partitions between the bearing 20B, which is on the side close to the module plate 31 among the pair of bearings 20A and 20B, and the module plate 31. Here, the support wall portion 23 which supports the bearing 20B is provided inside the end wall portion 21. The refrigerant flow passage 60 is provided on the outer side of the end wall portion 21 facing the support wall portion 23 so as to overlap the support wall portion 23. In this case, the bearing 20B can also be effectively cooled via the support wall portion 23.

[0035] Next, first and second modified examples of the refrigerant flow passage 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Incidentally, in the first and second modified examples, elements and structures common to those of the above-described refrigerant flow passage 60 are denoted by the same reference numerals, a description thereof will not be provided, and differences will be mainly described.

[0036] The refrigerant flow passage 60 according to the first and second modified examples is a meandering flow passage of one pass as described above, and is formed by the plurality of heat radiation fins 64A and 64B arranged in the recess 63 of the inverter housing 4. Here, all of the heat radiation fins of the refrigerant flow passage 60 according to the first modified example are the heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side. Further, the heat radiation fins of the refrigerant flow passage 60 according to the second modified example are all the heat radiation fins 64A on the inverter housing 4 side.

[0037] As in the first modified example, by using all of the heat radiation fins as the heat radiation fins 64B on the module plate 31 side, it is more advantageous in cooling of the module 32. On the other hand, as in the second modified example, by using all of the heat radiation fins as the heat radiation fins 64A on the inverter housing 4 side, it is more advantageous in cooling of the inside of the inverter housing 4 and the inverter housing 4.

[0038] The above-described electric compressor 1 is provided with the common refrigerant flow passage 60 formed between the inverter housing 4 (a part of the housing 2) and the module plate 31. With the refrigerant flow passage 60, it is possible to efficiently and effectively cool both the inverter housing 4 and the module 32 mounted on the module plate 31. Further, the refrigerant flow passage 60 is formed by the heat radiation fins 64A and 64B, and the heat radiation fins 64A and 64B are provided on at least one of the inverter housing 4 and the module plate 31. As a result, it is also possible to positively provide the heat radiation fins 64A and 64B on a side desired to be preferentially cooled among the inverter housing 4 and the module 32, and it is possible to efficiently cool the inverter housing 4 and the module 32.

[0039] The present disclosure can be implemented in various forms including various modifications and improvements based on knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the above-described embodiments. Further, it is also possible to constitute a modified example of each embodiment, using the technical matters described in the above embodiment. The configurations of the embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

[0040] Further, the present disclosure is not limited to those applied to electric compressors for automobiles, but may be applied to vessels and the like.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0041] 1: electric compressor, 2: housing, 4: inverter housing, 5: motor, 8: compressor impeller (impeller), 12: rotary shaft, 20A, 20B: bearing, 21: end wall portion (partition wall), 23: support wall portion (bearing support portion), 31: module plate (plate), 60: refrigerant flow passage, 60a: folded portion, 64A, 64B: heat radiation fin.

Claims

1.-6. (canceled)

7. An electric compressor comprising: a motor which rotates a rotary shaft of an impeller; a housing which accommodates the motor; a plate attached to the housing and mounted with a control circuit configured to drive and control the motor; and a refrigerant flow passage provided between the housing and the plate, wherein at least a part of the refrigerant flow passage is formed by a heat radiation fin provided on at least one of the housing and the plate.

8. The electric compressor according to claim 7, wherein the heat radiation fin is provided on both the housing and the plate.

9. The electric compressor according to claim 8, wherein the heat radiation fin provided on the housing side and the heat radiation fin provided on the plate side are alternately arranged.

10. The electric compressor according to claim 7, further comprising: a pair of bearings disposed to sandwich the motor therebetween and supporting the rotary shaft, wherein the housing includes a partition wall between one bearing on the side closer to the plate among the pair of bearings and the plate, and a bearing support portion which supports the one bearing is provided inside the partition wall, and the refrigerant flow passage is provided outside the partition wall facing the bearing support portion.

11. The electric compressor according to claim 7, wherein the refrigerant flow passage is a one-pass meandering flow passage having a folded portion, and the folded portion is bent.

12. The electric compressor according to claim 7, wherein a surface area facing the refrigerant flow passage is larger on the plate side than on the housing side.

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