POWER CONVERTER WITH COLOR-ANODIZED ALUMINUM BUSBARS, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SUCH A POWER CONVERTER

Abstract

In a method for producing a power converter, a surface or at least part of the surface of at least two aluminum busbars is subjected to an anodizing treatment to color the surface with at least one specifiable color, and a cold gas coating is applied on a first part of the surface to produce a contact surface.

Claims

1.-4. (canceled)

5. A method for producing a power converter, said method comprising: subjecting a surface or at least part of the surface of at least two aluminum busbars to an anodizing treatment to color the surface with at least one specifiable color; and applying a cold gas coating on a first part of the surface to produce a contact surface.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the color is specified depending on a function and/or a hazard potential of the at least two aluminum busbars.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising signaling by the color a function and/or a hazard potential of the at least two aluminum busbars.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising: applying an anodized coating on a second part of the surface through the anodizing treatment to designate with the color a function of the respective one of the at least two aluminum busbars; and signaling by the color an intended use of the respective one of the at least two aluminum busbars for direct voltage or direct current or alternating voltage or alternating current.

9. A power converter, comprising at least two aluminum busbars, each of the at least two aluminum busbars having a surface colored with a specified color which has been applied to the surface through an anodizing treatment, wherein the color of one of the at least two aluminum busbars is different than the color of another one of the at least two aluminum busbars.

10. The power converter of claim 9, wherein the color of the one of the at least two aluminum busbars and the color of the other one of the at least two aluminum busbars are selected depending on a function and/or a hazard potential of the at least two aluminum busbars.

11. The power converter of claim 10, wherein the color of the one of the at least two aluminum busbars and the color of the other one of the at least two aluminum busbars are designed to signal both the function and the hazard potential.

12. The power converter of claim 9, wherein, when a protective low voltage is applied to one of the at least two aluminum busbars, the color is a first color, when a low voltage up to 1000 V is applied to one of the at least two aluminum busbars, the color is a second color, and when a medium voltage or high voltage is applied to one of the at least two aluminum busbars, the color is a third color.

13. The power converter of claim 9, wherein the surface of each of the at least two aluminum busbars includes a first part and a second part, and further comprising: a cold gas coating on the first part of the surface, with the first part of the surface representing a contact surface; and an anodized coating on the second part of the surface, with the color of the anodized coating designating a function of the respective one of the at least two aluminum busbars.

14. The power converter of claim 13, wherein the color designates an intended use of the respective one of the at least two aluminum busbars for direct voltage or direct current or alternating voltage or alternating current.

Description

[0018] The invention is described and explained in more detail hereinafter with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures, in which:

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a color-anodized aluminum busbar with a cold gas coating, and

[0020] FIG. 2 shows a power converter with such an aluminum busbar.

[0021] FIG. 1 shows an aluminum busbar 1. The surface 2 of the aluminum busbar 1 was subjected to an anodizing treatment in the course of the production process. A cold gas coating was subsequently carried out on a first part 21 of the surface 2. This first surface constitutes the contact surface on which electrical contact with another component can take place. Often, the first part 21 with the cold gas coating is located at the end of the busbar as this is usually provided for electrical contacting. A second part 22 of the surface 2 has a specified color. This color can characterize the function of the aluminum busbar, for example use as a busbar for direct voltage or direct current, or alternating voltage or alternating current. The second part 22 of the surface 2, which has a specified color, can be located circumferentially around the aluminum busbar 1, as shown. Alternatively, it is also possible for only one flat or planar part, for example a lateral surface, of the aluminum power plane to have a color. For example, a flat rectangular part of a lateral surface of the aluminum busbar 1 can have a specified color.

[0022] In addition, this busbar has a further color on a third part 23 of its surface 2. This can be used, for example, for characterizing the hazard potential, for example the voltage level, such as protective low voltage, low voltage or high voltage. The different areas of the surface 2 are characterized by different hatching in FIG. 1. The hatching is circumferential, but advantageously only a usually flat surface would be coated.

[0023] As an alternative to the exemplary embodiment shown here, it is also possible to use only one color characterization for the aluminum busbar 1. In this case, the third part 23 of the surface can be colorless or the surface can consist only of a first part 21 and a second part 22.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a power converter 10 having a plurality of aluminum busbars 1 which are arranged in a power converter cabinet 31 of the power converter 10. The aluminum busbars 1 are used, inter alia, to electrically connect electrical components 30 such as, for example, semiconductors, capacitors, coils, fuses or connections to one another. In this case, for example, the aluminum busbars 1, which are arranged between the electrical components 30, can be busbars for the transmission of direct current, in which a direct voltage is present between these two busbars. These are therefore characterized by a defined color. The groups of, in each case, three aluminum busbars 1 extending perpendicularly in the power converter 10 can be used for the transmission of alternating current with an alternating voltage. Due to the different function, these have a different color compared to the defined color of the direct current busbar. This is characterized by different hatching in FIG. 2. In this exemplary embodiment, the surface 2 of the aluminum busbars 1 has, in each case, only a first and a second part 21,22 and thus only one color. In addition, it is also possible, by inserting a third part 23 of the surface 2, to signal a further property such as, for example, the hazard potential of the busbar by means of further colors. For the sake of clarity, however, it has been omitted in the illustration in FIG. 2.

[0025] In conclusion, the invention relates to a method for producing an aluminum busbar for a power converter or a power converter with at least two aluminum busbars. To improve the assembly and maintenance of a power converter with such an aluminum busbar, it is proposed that in a first step, the surface or at least parts of the surface of the aluminum busbar are provided with a specifiable color by means of an anodizing treatment, in a second step a cold gas coating then being used at least on a first part of the surface to produce a contact surface. Furthermore, the invention relates to an aluminum busbar for a power converter produced by such a method, the surface of the aluminum busbar having a specified color which has been applied to the surface by means of the anodizing treatment. The invention further relates to a power converter with such aluminum busbars, the color of at least two of the aluminum busbars of the power converter differing.