POWER CONTROLLER

Abstract

Power controller for electric power flow control, consisting of at least one printed circuit board for supporting and electrically interconnecting power controller components. Power controller further consists of at least one power switching element (21) arranged on one the side of the printed circuit board, and at least one heat sink (28) arranged on the remaining side of the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is provided with a network of openings (29) passing through the printed circuit board, with the openings (29) being plated or completely filled with metal. At the same time, there is at least one layer (27) of thermally conductive and electrically insulating material between the heat sink (28) and the printed circuit board.

Claims

1. Power controller for electric power flow control consisting of at least one printed circuit board for supporting and electrically interconnecting power controller components, further comprising at least one power switching element (21) arranged on one of the sides of the printed circuit board, and at least one heat sink (28) arranged on the remaining side of the printed circuit board, characterized in that the printed circuit board is provided with a network of openings (29) passing through the printed circuit board, with the openings (29) being plated or completely filled with metal and at the same time, there is at least one layer (27) of thermally conductive and electrically insulating material between the heat sink (28) and the printed circuit board.

2. Power controller according to claim 1, characterized in that the diameter of the openings (29) is of the order of 0.2 mm to 0.25 mm, and the spacing of adjacent openings (29) is of the order of 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm.

3. Power controller according to claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of plating of the opening (29) is in the range from 20 to 60 μm.

4. Power controller according to claim 1, characterized in that a plate electrode (24) of the housing of the power element (21) is arranged between the power switching element (21) and the printed circuit board, with the plate electrode (24) being in contact with plating, or with a metal filling of at least one of the openings (29).

5. Power controller according to claim 2, characterized in that the thickness of plating of the opening (29) is in the range from 20 to 60 μm.

6. Power controller according to claim 2, characterized in that a plate electrode (24) of the housing of the power element (21) is arranged between the power switching element (21) and the printed circuit board, with the plate electrode (24) being in contact with plating, or with a metal filling of at least one of the openings (29).

7. Power controller according to claim 3, characterized in that a plate electrode (24) of the housing of the power element (21) is arranged between the power switching element (21) and the printed circuit board, with the plate electrode (24) being in contact with plating, or with a metal filling of at least one of the openings (29).

Description

EXPLANATION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] The present invention will be explained in detail by means of the following figures where:

[0015] FIG. 1 schematically shows a section of a controller through its power switching element, a printed circuit board and a heat sink,

[0016] FIG. 2 schematically shows a network of openings through a printed circuit board.

EXAMPLE OF THE INVENTION EMBODIMENTS

[0017] It shall be understood that the specific cases of the invention embodiments described and depicted below are provided for illustration only and do not limit the invention to the examples provided here. Those skilled in the art will find or, based on routine experiment, will be able to provide a greater or lesser number of equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention which are described here.

[0018] The schematic section of FIG. 1 shows an SMD power switching element 21 (MOSFET, SiC, etc.), which has on the one hand conventional outlets 23 (electrodes as S or G) connected to the chip 22, and on the other hand D electrode 24 oriented below the element 21 with the largest surface area. SMD stands for Surface Mount Device.

[0019] Through this electrode 24, the element 21 is firstly most cooled (i.e. removes heat generated by the passage of current through the element 21 and also generated by the switching of current (switching losses)), and secondly the current is thus supplied (removed) to the element 21. The element 21 is soldered with the electrode 24 (mounting surface of the element 21) to the upper Cu layer 25 of the printed circuit board.

[0020] The printed circuit board is formed by several layers 25 of copper (Cu), which are insulated from each other by means of insulating layers 26. On the printed circuit board, a network of micro openings 29 with a diameter of the order from 0.2 mm to 0.25 mm with small spacings (of the order of 0.5 mm) is placed under the electrode 24 so that up to 400 such openings 29 can be placed on an area of about 10×10 mm. An example of the grid of these openings 29 is shown in FIG. 2.

[0021] The actual size and spacing of the openings 29 depend on the printed circuit board manufacturing technology used, as well as the magnitude of current flowing through the openings 29, as well as the amount of heat to be removed by the openings 29 to the heat sink 28.

[0022] The openings 29 are optimally plated in a layer 20 to 60 μm thick, or optionally in a thicker layer, or are completely filled with Cu, thanks to which they efficiently transfer the heat generated by operation of the power element 21 to the heat sink 28 through the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer 27. At the same time, electric current is supplied through these openings 29 or their surface or the entire volume of the opening 29, depending on the technology used, to the electrode 24 of the SMD power element 21. It is irrelevant whether the heat sink 28 is air, liquid, etc. The use of SMD power elements 21 and their connection to the printed circuit board by means of a network of micro openings 29 is advantageous both from the point of view of minimizing the resistance of copper paths of the printed circuit board and from the point of view of minimizing parasitic inductances of the circuit.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0023] The electric power flow controller according to the invention finds its application in the field of regulation of electrical appliances, in particular electric motors.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0024] 21 power switching element [0025] 22 chip [0026] 23 conventional outlet [0027] 24 power element housing electrode [0028] 25 printed circuit layer [0029] 26 insulating layer of printed circuit board [0030] 27 thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer [0031] 28 heat sink [0032] 29 opening