HEAT EXCHANGER, IN PARTICULAR FOR POWER ELECTRONICS

Abstract

Heat exchanger, in particular for cooling power electronics, comprising an insulating element which separates a first fluid medium, which is in contact with a heat source, from a second fluid medium, which differs in at least one property from the first fluid medium and which is in fluid connection with a heat sink or is itself a heat sink, and a heat transfer element which has a higher thermal conductivity than the insulating element, wherein the insulating element comprises at least a first passage opening in which a first heat transfer element is arranged, wherein the heat transfer element is thermally connected both to the first fluid medium and/or the heat source, and to the second fluid medium and is fluidically sealed with respect to the insulating element by means of a sealing element.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger comprising: an insulating element, wherein the insulating element separates a first fluid medium, which is in contact with a heat source, from a second fluid medium, which differs in at least one property from the first fluid medium and which is in fluid connection and/or contact with a heat sink or is itself a heat sink, and a first heat transfer element which comprises a higher thermal conductivity than the insulating element, wherein the insulating element comprises a first passage opening in which the first heat transfer element is arranged, and the first heat transfer element is thermally connected both to the first fluid medium and/or the heat source, and to the second fluid medium and together with a sealing element fluidically seals the passage opening.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a material of the first heat transfer element is selected from a group comprising copper, gold, silver, brass, tungsten, iron, aluminum, magnesium, silicon and alloys with at least one of these metals.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the first heat transfer element is in thermal connection with the second fluid medium by means of a pin heat sink.

4. The heat exchanger according to any claim 1, wherein the sealing element is an O-ring.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the first heat transfer element is designed as a screw element and is screwed into the first passage opening, and the screw element preferably comprises a screw head which has a geometry selected from a group comprising external hexagon, external square, internal hexagon, hexalobular internal, slot and cross slot, and which is preferably suitable for form-fitting with a tool.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the first heat transfer element is thermally connected to the first heat source, which is preferably a power module, by means of the first fluid medium or a further third heat transfer element, and the third heat transfer element is preferably selected from a group comprising a heat conductive paste, a gap pad, an adhesive and metal.

7. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein at least one second heat transfer element is provided, which is arranged in a second passage opening of the insulating element-, and the second heat transfer element is thermally connected both to the first fluid medium and/or a further heat source, and to the second fluid medium and is fluidically sealed with respect to the insulating element by means of a sealing element.

8. The heat exchanger according to claim 7, wherein the second heat transfer element is thermally connected to the further heat source, which is preferably an ancillary component, by means of the first fluid medium or a further third heat transfer element, and the third heat transfer element is preferably selected from a group comprising a heat conductive paste, a gap pad, an adhesive and metal.

9. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the second fluid medium is part of a cooling circuit.

10. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the insulating element comprises a plastic, preferably consists at least partially of a plastic and further preferably consists predominantly of a plastic and in particular is preferably made of a plastic.

11. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the at least one ancillary component is at least one selected from the group comprising a DC link, a busbar, a switch element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. Furthermore, further objectives, advantages and purposes of the present invention are to be taken from the following description in connection with the drawings. In the drawings:

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a section of a heat exchanger according to a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0051] FIG. 1 shows a section of a heat exchanger 1, wherein the section shown serves to cool a heat source 2, in this case a first ancillary component 2. The ancillary component 2 is shown in stylized form. Analogously, the heat exchanger can also be used for cooling any heat source, for example a first heat source, in particular a power module of a power electronics.

[0052] In the exemplary section shown, it is shown that the heat exchanger 1 is provided for power electronics 1000 for cooling the power electronics 1000, wherein the power electronics 1000 comprises at least one power module 100 and at least one ancillary component 2. The ancillary component 2 is surrounded, at least sectionally, by a first fluid medium 22. This could be, for example, air or an inert gas. Typically, however, the heat that can be dissipated by this medium is limited, so that additional devices are required to be able to ensure efficient heat dissipation.

[0053] In the example shown, this is realized by the heat exchanger 1, which comprises a cooling circuit 3 with a second fluid medium 4, which is also referred to as cooling medium 4. The second fluid medium 4 is preferably pumped around within the cooling circuit, wherein it can release heat (for example to the ambient air) at at least one area. The at least one power module 100 (shown only schematically) and the at least one ancillary component 2 can be cooled directly or indirectly by means of the cooling circuit 3. For this purpose, the heat exchanger 1 has an insulating element 15, which in the example shown is designed as a cooling channel 15. In the context of the invention, the term “cooling channel” is therefore to be understood as synonymous with “insulating element”. The insulating element 15 preferably consists, at least in sections, of a plastic and separates the region in which the first fluid medium 22 is arranged from that in which the second fluid medium 4 is guided.

[0054] The heat exchanger 1 comprises a first passage opening 5 in the insulating element 15, into which a first cooling connection element 6 or first heat transfer element 6 is inserted. The first cooling connection element 6 is in thermal connection on the one hand with the second fluid medium 4 of the cooling circuit 3 and on the other hand with the first ancillary component 2, in order to cool the first ancillary component 2.

[0055] Preferably, the heat exchanger 1 has sectionally stiffenings 14 in the insulating element 15, which ensure that the heat transfer element 6 is securely held. Such a stiffening 14 can also be designed as a housing, which can be form-fittingly connected to the heat source 2, 100, for example, clipped on. In such an embodiment, the design of the heat exchanger 1 is set sectionally, in particular the design of the cooling circuit 3, in order to be able to bring this section into the direct vicinity of the heat source 2, 100 in a form fit and/or in a particularly space-saving manner.

[0056] The first cooling connection element 6 is designed as a screw element 12 with a screw head 16 and a threaded part 18. Furthermore, the passage opening 5 has a thread 13, wherein the thread 13 and the threaded part 18 are formed to match each other, so that the threaded part 18 can be screwed into the thread 13. In particular, a form fit of the threaded part 18 in the passage opening 5 is provided.

[0057] The cooling connection element 6 has a coolant-side end 19 and an ancillary component-side or heat source-side end 20, wherein the coolant-side end 19 is in connection with the cooling medium 4 and the ancillary component-side end 20 is in connection with the ancillary component 2 or heat source 2.

[0058] The coolant-side end 19 has a structure 7 which is provided and designed to increase a contact area between the cooling connection element 6 and the cooling medium 4. This enables improved thermal transport from the ancillary component 2 to the cooling circuit 3 and correspondingly improved cooling.

[0059] According to the embodiment shown, the structure 7 is designed as a pin heat sink, a so-called pin fin structure 8, with several pins 21 projecting into the cooling medium 4.

[0060] At the ancillary component-side end 20, the cooling connection element 6 is in thermal connection with the ancillary component 2, particularly preferably by means of a third heat transfer element, which in the example shown is formed as a first heat conducting layer 11. The third heat transfer element is arranged between the ancillary component 2 and the cooling connection element 6. Preferably, unevenness between the ancillary component 2 and the cooling connection element 6 can be compensated for by means of a heat conducting layer 11, so that the largest possible contact area is formed in order to optimize the thermal connection.

[0061] A sealing element 9 is preferably provided to seal the cooling circuit 3 and in particular to prevent cooling medium from escaping through the passage opening 5 to the outside or to prevent the first fluid medium 22 from entering the cooling circuit 3. According to the embodiment shown, the sealing element 9 is formed as an O-ring 10, which is arranged between the housing 14 and the screw head 16. Particularly preferably, the screw head 16 has a recess 17 for this purpose, in which the O-ring 10 is arranged in such a way that the O-ring 10 seals the passage opening 5 with respect to the outside. The recess 17 is preferably complementary to the O-ring 10, or has retaining means, so that the O-ring 10 is secured against falling out easily.

[0062] According to the invention, the same cooling circuit 3 can also be used to cool a power module 100 of the power electronics 1000, which is only shown schematically, so that several heat sources 2, 100, preferably the entire power electronics 1000, can be cooled by the heat exchanger 1. Thus, only a single cooling circuit 3 is provided for cooling the power electronics 1000 with the power module 100 and the ancillary components 2.

[0063] The power module 100 is shown purely schematically. It could be thermally connected to the cooling circuit 3 in the same way as shown for the ancillary component 2. Alternatively, it could also be cooled directly by means of the cooling circuit 3, for example by flowing around with cooling medium 4, or indirectly by means of any cooling structures arranged on the power module 100 and flushed with cooling medium 4.

[0064] The various embodiments with all their features can be combined and interchanged as desired.

[0065] All features disclosed in the application documents are claimed to be essential to the invention insofar as they are new, individually or in combination, compared to the prior art.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0066] 1 heat exchanger [0067] 2 (second) heat source, ancillary component [0068] 3 cooling circuit [0069] 4 second fluid medium, cooling medium [0070] 5 (first or second) passage opening, Disconnection, opening [0071] 6 (first or second) heat transfer element, first cooling connection element [0072] 7 structure [0073] 8 pin heat sink, pin fin structure [0074] 9 sealing element [0075] 10 O-ring [0076] 11 third heat transfer element, first heat conducting layer [0077] 12 screw element [0078] 13 thread [0079] 14 stiffening, housing [0080] 15 insulating element, cooling channel [0081] 16 screw head [0082] 17 recess [0083] 18 threaded part [0084] 19 coolant-side end [0085] 20 ancillary component-side end [0086] 21 pin [0087] 22 first fluid medium [0088] 100 (first) heat source, power module [0089] 1000 power electronics

[0090] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.