U.S. patent number 3,603,381 [Application Number 05/020,699] was granted by the patent office on 1971-09-07 for liquid-cooled assembly of disc cells.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft. Invention is credited to Klaus Ludwig, Friedrich Scherbaum.
United States Patent |
3,603,381 |
Scherbaum , et al. |
September 7, 1971 |
LIQUID-COOLED ASSEMBLY OF DISC CELLS
Abstract
Assembly includes a stack of members having at least one disc
cell with a coolant member coordinated therewith and at least one
insulating member, and a force-storing member clamping the members
of the stack between two opposing bearings of a framework, the disc
cell including a cooling pan having a hollow inner space, a channel
member having means for supplying thereto and discharging therefrom
a liquid coolant, the channel member being located adjacent the
cooling pan, so as to close off the inner space of the cooling pan,
and sealing means disposed intermediate the cooling pan and the
channel member, the force-storing device having such a biasing
force as to form a liquidtight force fit between the cooling pan
and the channel member.
Inventors: |
Scherbaum; Friedrich (Munich,
DT), Ludwig; Klaus (Munich, DT) |
Assignee: |
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
(Berlin and Munich, DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5729065 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/020,699 |
Filed: |
March 18, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
|
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Mar 22, 1969 [DT] |
|
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P 19 14 790.1 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
165/80.4;
257/714; 257/686; 257/727; 257/E25.027; 257/E23.098 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L
23/473 (20130101); H01L 25/117 (20130101); H01L
2924/0002 (20130101); H01L 2924/0002 (20130101); H01L
2924/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01L
23/473 (20060101); H01L 25/11 (20060101); H01L
25/10 (20060101); H01L 23/34 (20060101); F28f
007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;200/166K
;317/234A,234W,243,100 ;165/80 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Dority, Jr.; Carroll B.
Claims
We claim:
1. A disc cell assembly comprising a stack of members including at
least one disc cell having a coolant member coordinated therewith
and at least one insulating member, and a force-storing member
clamping the members of said stack between two opposing bearings of
a framework, said coolant member comprising a cooling pan having a
hollow inner space, a channel member having means for supplying
thereto and discharging therefrom a liquid coolant, said channel
member being located adjacent said cooling pan so as to close off
the inner space of said cooling pan, and sealing means disposed
intermediate said cooling pan and said channel member, said
force-storing device having such a biasing force as to form a
liquidtight force fit between said cooling pan and said channel
member.
2. Assembly according to claim 1, wherein said coolant pan has a
base and a lateral wall, and a distributor member formed with a
central bore is seated in said inner space of said cooling pan for
guiding a flow of coolant from said channel member through said
central bore against said base of said coolant pan and between said
lateral wall of said coolant pan and said distributor member back
into said channel member.
3. Assembly according to claim 2, wherein said cooling pan is
formed with a flange having a surface on which said channel member
is supported, said flange being formed with an annular groove in
said surface thereof for receiving a seal therein, said distributor
member having a surface disposed in the same plane as said surface
of said flange.
4. Assembly according to claim 2, wherein said channel member
comprises a plate having opposite flat sides extending
substantially parallel to one another, said plate being formed with
two transverse bores extending through said plate substantially,
perpendicularly to said flat sides thereof, and including centering
means located on both sides of said channel member and on one side
of said cooling pan for mutually aligning said channel member and
said cooling pan so that one of the transverse bores formed in said
channel member communicates with the central bore of said
distributor member, the other transverse bore formed in said
channel member being in communication said inner space of said
cooling pan between said lateral wall of said coolant pan and said
distributor member, said channel member having a pair of narrow
sides located at one end thereof, and including a longitudinal bore
formed in said plate and extending parallel to said flat sides
thereof from each transverse bore, respectively, through a
respective narrow side to the outside of said plate.
5. Assembly according to claim 4, wherein said longitudinal bores
have axes defining an acute angle therebetween, said narrow sides
in the vicinity of the outlet of said longitudinal bores from said
plate extending parallel thereto.
6. Assembly according to claim 4, including an insulating member
located at one side of said channel member, and a sealing disc
interposed therebetween for closing off the transverse bores formed
in said channel member.
7. Assembly according to claim 6, wherein said sealing disc is
formed with a flange, and said flange is, in turn, formed with an
annular groove on the side thereof facing said channel member for
receiving a seal therein.
8. Assembly according to claim 6, having at least two disc cells
connected electrically in series, wherein one channel member and
two cooling pans disposed on said flat sides, respectively, of said
channel member are located between said series-connected disc
cells, respectively.
9. Assembly according to claim 8 having a bearing in the form of a
screw threadedly secured in a thread formed in the framework, and
including a buffer member having an end portion facing said stack
of members, said buffer member being displaceable relative to said
bearing, said bearing and said buffer having stops for limiting end
positions of said buffer relative to said bearing, said
force-storing device being clamped between a stop of said buffer
and a shoulder of said bearing.
10. Assembly according to claim 9, wherein said bearing is formed
with a hollow space in which said force-storing device and a
predominant portion of said buffer are received.
Description
Our invention relates to assembly of a stack of members including
at least one disc cell having a coolant member therewith and at
least one insulating member, the stack being clamped by a
force-storing member between two opposing bearings of a framework.
It is an object of our invention to provide assembly of the
foregoing type wherein the conventional air cooling is replaced by
liquid cooling. It is accordingly a further object of the invention
to provide such liquid cooling whereby a large number of circuit
variations, such as series circuits, parallel circuits and
series-parallel circuits can be produced with least possible
identical members.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, we provide in
accordance with our invention, assembly comprising a stack of
members including at least one disc cell having a coolant member
coordinated therewith and at least one insulating member, and a
force-storing member clamping the members of the stack between two
opposing bearings of a framework, the disc cell comprising a
cooling pan having a hollow inner space, a channel member having
means for supplying thereto and discharging therefrom a liquid
coolant, the channel member being located adjacent the cooling pan
so as to close off the inner space of the cooling pan, and sealing
means disposed intermediate the cooling pan and the channel member,
the force-storing device having such a biasing force as to form a
liquidtight force fit between the cooling pan and the channel
member.
A special advantage afforded by our invention is that clamping
members for clamping the individual cooling pans and the channel
members associated therewith together, can be dispensed with
because the force required to effect sealing therebetween is
provided by the force-storing device which also produces contact
pressure.
In accordance with further features of the invention, the
individual cooling pans are connected to the channel members
coordinated therewith with the aid of pairs of relatively small
screws. These screws thereby exercise essentially the function of
centering means and are of such dimension that a compression force
required for effecting sealing between the channel member and the
cooling pan is capable of attainment.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the
invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as
embodied in liquid-cooled assembly of disc cells, it is
nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since
various modifications and structural changes may be made therein
without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the
scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,
together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be
best understood from the following description of specific
embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing,
in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of an
assembly having six series-connected disc cells, according to our
invention;
FIG. 1a is an enlarged fragmentary view in section of FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of FIG. 1 as
seen in the direction of the arrow II;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly in section, of
FIG. 2, showing a cooling pan thereof;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the cooling pan of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a much enlarged top plan view of a channel member forming
part of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the line
VI--VI;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the line
VII--VII;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged bottom plan view of a distributor member
forming part of the cooling pan of FIG. 3 as seen from the bottom
of FIG. 3 or in the direction of the arrow VIII in FIG. 10;
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of FIG. 8 or as seen in the direction of
the arrow IX in FIG. 10;
FIG. 10 is a sectional view of FIG. 9 taken along the line
X--X;
FIG. 11 is a much enlarged top plan view of a sealing disc forming
part of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2; and
FIG. 12 is a diametrical sectional view of FIG. 11.
By the term disc cell there is meant herein a semiconductor
component (rectifier or thyristor) having a disc or wafer-shaped
construction, the semiconductor member or element of the component
being mounted in a disc-shaped housing having on the exterior
thereof two contact surfaces extending parallel to one another.
Referring now to the drawings, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2
thereof, such disc cells are identified by the reference numeral 3.
From the sectional portion of FIG. 2, it is readily apparent that
the disc cells 3 of the illustrated embodiment are formed with
central recesses on both sides thereof wherein the contact surfaces
thereof are located. A cooling pan 1 is received respectively in
these central recesses of the disc cells 3.
The assemblies of our invention, in the illustrated embodiment of
FIGS. 1 and 2, contain six serially connected disc cells 3, each of
which is disposed in a stack between two coordinated cooling pans 1
and two channel members 2, respectively. At the very ends of the
six disc cells 3 and the cooling pans 1 and channel members 2
associated therewith, there are located respective sealing discs 7
and insulating members 6. A compression member 40 is furthermore
located at one end of the stack in abutment with one of the
insulating members. The entire stacked assembly is clamped in a
framework made up of two bolts 45 and 46 and two clamping plates 43
and 44. One of the insulating members 6 is fastened to the clamping
plate 43 by a screw, while the other insulating member 6 lies on
one side of the compression member 40. The other side of the
compression member 40 is formed with a concave recess wherein a
correspondingly shaped end member 93 of a buffer or cushioning
member 9 is received. The buffer member 9, as shown more clearly in
the enlargement of FIG. 1a, has a shaft 91 which is guided in a
bore 423 formed in a bearing 422. An external thread is provided on
the bearing 422, which is screwed thereby into a corresponding
internal thread formed in a suitable bore of the compression plate
44. The bearing 42 is additionally formed with a bore 422 which is
larger in diameter than the bore 423 and is provided with an
annular groove of even greater diameter wherein a snapring 100
serving as a stop member is seated. The buffer member 9 is provided
with a collar 92 which also serves as a stop member Between the
collar 92 and a shoulder 425 formed in the bearing 42 at the
junction between the two bores 422 and 423 therein, a force-storing
device 5 consisting of a plate spring is disposed. The plate spring
5 is of such dimension and construction that, in the illustrated
position of the buffer member 9 in FIGS. 1 and 1a, a considerable
prestressing is exhibited. By turning or twisting the bearing 42
relative to the compression plate 44, the contact pressure exerted
at the contact surfaces of the disc cells 3 can constantly be
accurately adjusted, unaffected by thread friction; a scale
standardized or calibrated to the contact pressure can be applied
to the clamping plate 44 and a corresponding indicator mark can be
placed on the bearing 42 so that the surface pressure corresponding
to a specific position of the bearing can be read directly
therefrom.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, centering members 8 are also shown whose sole
function is to maintain the disc cells 3 as well as the channel
members 2 and cooling pans 1 in a given position relative to the
bolts 45 and 46.
The construction of the cooling pan 1 is shown in detail in FIGS. 3
and 4. Each pan 1 has a base 14, a sidewall 15, a flange 17 formed
with an annular groove 18 for receiving a sealing ring and with two
bores 16 serving for centering the pan 1. A distributor member 12
is inserted in the interior space 11 of the pan 1 and has a
construction that is now clearly shown in the enlarged views of
FIGS. 8 to 10. As can be seen in the latter figures, the
distributor member 12 is formed of a tube having a central bore 13
and formed with four grooves 131 extending radially outwardly from
the central bore 13. The distributor member 12, when inserted in
the cooling pan 1, as shown in FIG. 3, has its upper surface 19
disposed in the same plane as the surface of the flange 17 of the
cooling pan 1.
The construction of the channel members 2 is more clearly shown in
the enlarged views thereof in FIGS. 5 to 7. A representative
channel member 2 is formed of a metal plate having two opposite and
parallel flat sides 23 and being formed with two adjacent
transverse bores 21 and 22 extending perpendicularly to the two
parallel flat sides 23. A longitudinal bore 25 also formed in the
plate 2 extends from the transverse bore 21 to a narrow end 26
(also see FIG. 7) of the plate 2; correspondingly, another
longitudinal bore 24 formed in the plate 2 extends from the
transverse bore 22 to a narrow end 27 (also see FIG. 6). Nozzles
241 and 251 are soldered, respectively, into the longitudinal bores
24 and 25, tubes of insulating material, such as rubber or plastic
material, for example, being attachable to the nozzles 241 and 251
for supplying to and discharging from the channel member 2 a
suitable liquid coolant, such as water, for example. The
longitudinal channels formed by the bores 24 and 25 are disposed at
an angle of substantially 70.degree. to one another.
The channel member 2 is also formed with two bores 23' extending
transversely to the parallel flat sides 23, which act as centering
means for the channel member. By aligning the bores 23' of a
channel member 2 with the bores 16 of a cooling pan 1, the channel
member and the cooling pan can be secured to one another in
superposed position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. In FIG. 3, the
channel member 2 is shown in phantom, and in FIG. 5, the cooling
pan 1 is shown in phantom. It is believed to be readily apparent
from FIGS. 3 and 5 that the centering function afforded by the
bores 23' of the channel member 2 and the bores 16 of the cooling
pan 1, assures that the transverse bore 21 in the channel member 2
exactly meets and communicates with the bore 13 of the distributor
member 12. If a liquid coolant is then supplied through the
longitudinal channel 25 of the channel member 2, the coolant flows
through the transverse bore 21 and the bore 13 of the distributor
member 12 against the bore 14 of the cooling pan 1 and from there
through the grooves 131 (note also FIGS. 8 to 10) of the
distributor member 12 as well as through the inner space 11 between
the wall 15 of the cooling pan 1 and the distributor member 12 into
the transverse bore 22 and then through the longitudinal bore
24.
It is obvious, of course, that two cooling pans 1 can be placed,
respectively, at both flat sides 23 of a single channel member 2 as
can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The coolant flowing in through the
longitudinal channel 25, then divides and then flows along the
indicated path in parallel flow through both cooling pans. Such a
structural possibility exists primarily only if both adjacent disc
cells can be connected electrically in series or parallel. If, on
the other hand, an insulation is required, then one flat side of
the channel member 2 must be covered by a sealing disc 7 according
to FIGS. 11 and 12 in order thereby to prevent discharge of the
coolant from the one flat side of the member 2. Such sealing discs
7 are placed on both endmost channel members 2 of the stack
assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The sealing discs 7 are formed
with a central recess 73 as guide for the insulating members 6 as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an annular flange 71 formed with an
annular groove 72 for receiving a nonillustrated sealing ring
therein. Also, this sealing disc 7, as seen in FIG. 2, is fastened
to the channel member 2 with the aid of a screw. The force-storing
device or plate spring 5 also produces the sealing pressure between
the insulating members 6 and the respective sealing discs 7.
Depending upon the desired circuit arrangement, two or more channel
members 2 will be employed as connecting pieces or terminals and
will be given a length such as is shown in FIG. 7 and at the ends
and center of the stack in FIG. 2 for the purpose of being used as
connecting pieces or terminals. If, on the other hand, the channel
members 2 are not required to be used as connecting pieces or
terminals, the part thereof shown on the side of the dotted line 29
at the top of FIG. 5 can be dispensed with. These shorter channel
members 2 are the two channel members 2 located between the
respective endmost elongated channel members 2 and the center
elongated channel member 2 in FIG. 2.
The assembly of the illustrated embodiment is made up of,
respectively, three serially connected disc cells 3 between two
terminal members or elongated channel members 2, respectively.
Depending upon the polarity of the inserted disc cells, the
resultant assembly corresponds to two branches of a bridge circuit
or to both branches of a rectifier with center-tap connection.
* * * * *