Abstract
A power converting system including a power converter device, a housing, and a thermally conductive filler. The housing encloses the power converter device and the thermally conductive filler. The thermally conductive filler surrounds the power converter device and fills at least in part a space between the power converter device and at least a part of an internal surface of the housing. The embodiments further refers to a battery charger including such a power converting system.
Claims
1-25. (canceled)
26. A power converting system, comprising: a power converter device, a thermally conductive filler, and a housing that encloses the power converter device and the thermally conductive filler, wherein the thermally conductive filler surrounds the power converter device and fills at least in part a space between the power converter device and at least a part of an internal surface of the housing.
27. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the filler encloses the power converter device completely
28. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the filler is in direct contact with the power converter device and/or with the at least a part of the internal surface of the housing.
29. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the thermally conductive filler comprises a polyurethane resin, an epoxy resin, a thermosetting plastic, a silicone rubber gel or a combination thereof.
30. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the housing comprises a first internal compartment, wherein the power converter device is received within the first internal compartment, and wherein the filler further fills at least in part a space between the power converter device and at least a part of an internal surface of the first internal compartment.
31. The power converting system of claim 30, wherein the first internal compartment is limited by one or more lateral compartment walls and a part of the internal surface of the housing; and/or wherein a part of an internal surface of the first internal compartment coincides with a part of an internal surface of the housing.
32. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the housing comprises a top plate, a bottom plate and at least a lateral housing wall extending between the bottom plate and the top plate; wherein the bottom plate and/or the top plate is removably attachable to the rest of the housing.
33. The power converting system of any of claim 31, wherein the housing comprises a top plate, a bottom plate and at least a lateral housing wall extending between the bottom plate and the top plate; and wherein the one or more lateral compartment walls extend from the top plate to the bottom plate.
34. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the housing is monolithic or wherein the housing comprises a monolithic part of the housing comprising at least the bottom plate or the top plate and further comprising the one or more lateral walls; and/or wherein the power converting system further comprises one or more heat dissipation fins arranged on an outer surface of the housing on an outer surface of a monolithic part of the housing.
35. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the housing comprises a thermally conductive material.
36. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the power converter device is configured for operating in the high frequency range, in the range from 100 kHz to 2 MHz.
37. The power converting system of claim 26, further comprising electronic components arranged on an internal surface of the housing.
38. The power converting system of claim 37, further comprising a dielectric sheet directly arranged on the internal surface of the housing, wherein the electronic components are arranged on the dielectric sheet.
39. The power converting system of claim 37, wherein the housing comprises a second internal compartment, and wherein the power converting system further comprises electronic components arranged in the second internal compartment.
40. The power converting system of claim 37, wherein at least a portion of an internal surface of the housing is polished, and wherein the electronic components are arranged over said at least a portion.
41. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the power converter device is an AC-AC power converter device.
42. The power converting system of claim 26, wherein the housing further comprises at least two resealable openings respectively arranged on opposed surfaces of the housing.
43. The power converting system of claim 42, further comprising a third internal compartment filled with a fluid, preferably a gas, more preferably air, wherein preferably the third internal compartment is adjacent to the first internal compartment and/or to the second internal compartment.
44. The power converting system of claim 43, further comprising a fourth internal compartment adjacent to the second internal compartment and to the third internal compartment, wherein the third internal compartment is arranged between the first internal compartment and the fourth internal compartment.
45. A battery charger for charging power batteries comprising a power converting system according to claim 26.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0037] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a power converting system according to embodiments of the invention, wherein FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c illustrate different views.
[0038] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a power converting system according to embodiments of the invention, wherein FIGS. 2a and 2b illustrate different views.
[0039] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a housing of a power converting system according to embodiments of the invention, wherein FIGS. 3a to 3d illustrates different views.
[0040] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a power converting system according to embodiments of the invention, wherein FIGS. 4a to 4c illustrates different views.
[0041] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a battery charger according to embodiments of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates a power converting system 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1a illustrates a top view of the power converting system 10, while FIG. 1b illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the power converting system 10. The power converting system 10 comprises a power converter device 12, which in the embodiment shown is an AC-AC power converter configured to operate at a frequency of 450 kHz.
[0043] The power converter device 12 is surrounded by a thermally conductive filler 16 made of polyurethane resin. In the embodiment shown, the thermally conductive filler 16 completely surrounds the power converter device 12 in the plane shown in FIG. 1a and, as seen in FIG. 1b, encloses all sides of the power converter device 12, which in the embodiment shown has a rectangular cuboid form, with the exception of the top side of the power converter device 12, which remains exposed by the thermally conductive filler 16 and can be used for coupling or connecting the power converter device 12 to further devices, for example by means of wired electrical connections.
[0044] The power converter device 12 is supported by the thermally conductive filler 16 and is attached to the internal surface of the housing 15 by the thermally conductive filler 16, such that the position of the power converter device 12 is fixed by the thermally conductive filler 16.
[0045] The power converting system 10 further comprises an aluminium housing 14 that encloses the power converter device 12 and the thermally conductive filler 16, such that the power converter device 12 and the thermally conductive filler 16 are received in the interior of the housing 14. In the embodiment shown, the housing 14 has a box-like rectangular cuboid shape.
[0046] FIG. 1c illustrates a perspective view of the housing 14 from an exterior of the power converting system 10. The housing 14 comprises a rectangular top plate 14a, a rectangular bottom plate 14b and four lateral housing walls 14c-14f, which extend from the bottom plate 14b to the top plate 14a. The top plate 14a is removably attachable to the four housing walls 14c-14f, such as to close and open the housing 14. Since the housing 14 is of aluminium, when the housing is closed by the removable top plate 14a, the housing 14 forms a Faraday cage that encloses the power converter device 12 and a thermally conductive filler 16. In the embodiment shown, the top plate 14a is removably attached to the housing walls 14c-14f by means of screws 15.
[0047] As seen in FIG. 1b, the thermally conductive filler partly fills a space between the power converter device 12 and a part of an internal surface of the bottom plate 14b. The thermally conductive filler 16 is in direct contact with the power converter device 12 and with said part of the internal surface of the bottom plate 14b.
[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates a power converting system 10 according to a related embodiment of the invention that comprises all components described for the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, for which the same reference numerals are used. A new detailed description of these components is omitted for brevity.
[0049] In the power converting system 10 illustrated in FIG. 2, the housing 14 comprises a first internal compartment 20, which is separated from a remaining part of the interior of the housing 14 by a first lateral compartment wall 20a and a second lateral compartment wall 20b. FIG. 2a illustrates a top view of the power converting system 10, in which the top plate 14a is omitted for illustrative purposes. The first and second lateral compartment walls 20a and 20b are mutually perpendicular. The first lateral compartment wall 20a is arranged between the second and fourth lateral housing walls 14d and 14f parallel thereto and perpendicular to the first lateral housing wall 14c. The first lateral compartment wall 20a extends from the first lateral housing wall 14c for a length smaller than a length of the second and fourth lateral housing walls 14d and 14f. Likewise, the second lateral compartment wall 20b is arranged between the first lateral housing wall 14c and the third lateral housing wall 14b and extends, from the second lateral housing wall 14d, perpendicular thereto and parallel to the first and third lateral housing walls 14c and 14e for a length smaller than a length of the 1st and 3rd lateral housing walls 14c and 14c.
[0050] FIG. 2b illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the power converting system 10 illustrated in FIG. 2a corresponding to a cutting plane A-A′ that is indicated in FIG. 2a with a dashed line. The first internal compartment 20 is delimited by the first and second lateral compartment walls 20a and 20b, by a part 14c′ of the first lateral housing wall 14c extending between the first lateral compartment wall 20a and the second lateral housing wall 14d, and by a part 14d′ of the second lateral housing wall 14d extending between the first lateral housing wall 14c and the second lateral compartment wall 20b. As seen in FIG. 2, the first internal compartment 20 is hence limited by the first and second lateral compartment walls 20a and 20b and by a part of the internal surface of the housing 14 corresponding to the internal surface of the aforesaid parts of 14c′ and 14d′ of the first and second lateral housing walls 14c and 14d.
[0051] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the power converter device 12 is received within the first internal compartment 20 and the thermally conductive filler 16 encloses the power converter device 12 completely, on all sides of the power converter device 12, and completely fills a space between the power converter device 12 and the internal surface of the first internal compartment 20.
[0052] The internal surface of the first internal compartment 20 is formed by the internal surface of the first and second lateral compartment walls 20a and 20b and by the internal surface of the aforementioned parts 14c′ and 14d′ of the first and second lateral housing walls 14c and 14d. The aforesaid parts 14c′ and 14d of the first and second lateral housing walls 14c and 14d form part of the internal surface of the first internal compartment 20 and also form part of the internal surface of the housing 14. Thus, at the aforesaid parts 14c′ and 14d′, the internal surface of the first internal compartment 20 coincides with the internal surface of the housing 14.
[0053] The same applies, as illustrated in FIG. 2b, to a part 14a′ of the top plate 14a of the housing extending between the first lateral housing wall 14c and the second lateral compartment wall 20b and to a corresponding part 14b′ of the bottom plate 14b. As seen in FIG. 2b, the second lateral compartment wall 20b extends from the bottom plate 14b to the top plate 14a. The same applies to the first lateral compartment wall 20a.
[0054] FIG. 3 illustrates a housing 14 of a power converting system 10 according to embodiments of the present invention, wherein only the housing 14 is shown, for illustrative purposes, whereas the remaining components of the power converting system 10, in particular the power converter device 12 and the thermally conductive filler 16 are not shown in FIG. 3.
[0055] FIG. 3a shows a perspective view of the rectangular top plate 14a of the housing 14. FIG. 3b shows a corresponding perspective view of the remaining parts of the housing, including the four lateral housing walls 14c to 14f and the bottom plate 14b. In the embodiment shown, the top plate 14a is dimensioned such as to fit to an outer perimeter defined by the upper edge of the four lateral housing walls 14c-14f. The top plate 14a can hence be engaged with the four lateral housing walls 14c-14f, thereby forming a pressure snap connection between the top plate 14a and the lateral housing walls 14c-14f. The top plate 14a hence works as a removable cover of the housing 14. The top plate 14a comprises a sealing element 11, which in the embodiment shown is a sealing rubber band extending around an external perimeter of the top plate 14a on an internal surface thereof, i.e. on a surface facing the interior of the housing 14 when the top plate 14a is attached to the remaining part of the housing 14. Thus, when the top plate 14a is attached to the rest of the housing 14, the interior of the housing is sealed.
[0056] FIG. 3b illustrates a perspective view of the remaining part of the housing 14, i.e. of parts of the housing apart from the top plate 14a. FIGS. 3c and 3d respectively illustrate a top view (in which the top plate 14a is omitted for illustrative purposes) and a bottom view of the housing 14 of FIG. 3a.
[0057] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the housing comprises the first internal compartment previously described for the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 and further comprises a second internal compartment 30, a third internal compartment 40 and a fourth internal compartment 50. The first internal compartment 20, the third internal compartment 40 and the fourth internal compartment 50 are all arranged adjacent to the second lateral housing wall 14d and adjacent to the second internal compartment 30. An internal wall formed by the first lateral compartment wall 20a, a first lateral compartment wall 40a of the third internal compartment 40 and a first lateral compartment wall 50a of the fourth internal compartment 50 separates the second internal compartment 30 from each of the first internal compartment 20, the third internal compartment 40 and the fourth internal compartment 50.
[0058] The interior of the housing 14 is hence divided in the first to fourth internal compartments 20, 30, 40 and 50. The third internal compartment 40 is arranged between the first internal compartment 20 and the fourth internal compartment 50, such that the first and fourth internal compartments 20 and 50 are mutually separated by the third internal compartment 40. The second internal compartment 30 is arranged adjacent to the first lateral housing wall 14f and is limited by the fourth lateral housing wall 14f, by an internal lateral wall formed by the first lateral compartment walls 20a, 40a and 50a of the first, third and fourth internal compartments 20, 40 and 50, which extends from the first lateral housing wall 14c to the third lateral housing wall 14e, and by corresponding parts of the first and third lateral housing walls 14c and 14e, as seen in FIG. 3b. The first internal compartment 20 is separated from the first internal compartment 40 by the second lateral compartment wall 20b of the first internal compartment 20. The fourth internal compartment 50 is separated from the third internal compartment 40 by a second lateral compartment wall 50b of the fourth internal compartment 50. All lateral compartment walls can be similar in construction to the first and second compartment walls 20a and 20b described above for the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0059] As seen in FIGS. 3b and 3d, the housing 14 further comprises, in the embodiment shown, a plurality of heat dissipation fins 18 arranged on an outer surface of the bottom plate 14b of the housing 14. Although three heat dissipation fins 18 are exemplary shown in FIG. 3, the power converting system can comprise any larger number of heat dissipation fins 18.
[0060] All parts of the housing 14 illustrated in FIGS. 3b to 3d, including the four lateral housing walls 14c-14f, the bottom plate 14b and the lateral compartment walls 20a, 20b, 40a, 50a and 50b, as well as the heat dissipation fins 18, form a monolithic part of the housing that can be formed in a single manufacturing step, for example by using the same mould in a moulding process.
[0061] Also shown in FIG. 3 are a first resealable opening 19a formed in the top plate 14a (cf. FIG. 3a) and a second resealable opening 19b formed in the bottom plate 14b (cf. FIG. 3c).
[0062] FIG. 4 illustrates a power converting system 10 according to embodiments of the invention that comprises the housing described with respect to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the different parts of which are indicated with the same reference numerals and shall not be described in detail again for brevity. The power converting system illustrated in FIG. 4 further comprises the components of a power converting system previously described for the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 4a is a schematic top view of the power converting system 10 in which the top plate 14a is omitted for illustrative purposes. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the power converter device 12 is received within the first internal compartment 20. The thermally conductive filler 16 encloses the power converter device 12 completely and fills a major part of the space between the power converter device 12 and the internal surface of the first internal compartment 20, i.e. a majority of the volume of the interior of the first internal compartment 20. The thermally conductive filler is in contact with all sides of the power converter device 12 and with all sides of the interior surface of the first internal compartment 20.
[0063] A portion 17 of the internal surface of the bottom plate 14b comprised within the second internal compartment 30 is polished. The polished portion 17 can be polished as a result of a mechanical polishing process. The power converting system 10 of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 further comprises a dielectric sheet 64 of mica arranged on the polished portion 17 of the internal surface of the bottom plate 14b. A plurality of MOSFETs are directly arranged on the dielectric sheet 64, within the second internal compartment 30. As shown in FIG. 4b, the MOSFETs 60 are attached to the polished portion 17 of the internal surface of the bottom plate 14b via the dielectric sheet 64. A PCB 66 is arranged on the MOSFETs 60. The PCB 66 comprises electronic circuitry for controlling the main functionalities required for the operation of the power converting system 10, such as connectivity to other devices or a charging program, including charging parameters such as electric current, electric voltage, and electric power.
[0064] The power converting system 10 further comprises an auxiliary coil 62 comprised in the fourth internal compartment 50. The auxiliary coil 62 is arranged on the bottom plate 14b. In the embodiment shown, the auxiliary coil 62 operates as a power factor correction coil. FIG. 4b illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the power converting system 10 of FIG. 4a corresponding to a cutting-plane B-B′ that is indicated in FIG. 4a as a dashed line. FIG. 4c illustrates a further cross-section side view corresponding to a second cutting-plane C-C′.
[0065] The internal compartment 40 is arranged between the first internal compartment 20 and the fourth internal compartment 50, such that the first internal compartment is separated from the fourth internal compartment 50 by the third internal compartment 40. The third internal compartment 40 is filled with air and hence forms an air chamber that thermally isolates the first internal compartment from the fourth internal compartment.
[0066] As seen in FIG. 4c, the removable top plate 14a and the bottom plate 14b respectively comprise a first resealable opening 19a and a second resealable opening 19b. The first and second resealable openings 19a and 19b comprise a pressure sensitive movable closing element, such as a mechanical pressure valve or a movable membrane, which can react to pressure gradients in the interior of the housing 14. When heat concentrates in an upper part of the interior of the housing 14, a pressure gradient between the upper part—proximal to the top plate 14a—and the lower part—proximal to the bottom plate 14b—of the housing, causes the movable closing elements of the sealable openings 19a, 19b to open, such that air from the exterior of the housing 14 can flow into the interior of the housing 14, for example entering through the second opening 19b, and back to the exterior of the housing 14, for example through the second opening 19a, thereby cooling down the interior of the housing 14. The resealable openings 19a and 19b can be configured to open when the aforesaid pressure gradient reaches or exceeds a predefined pressure gradient threshold. As long as this pressure gradient threshold is not reached or exceeded, the resealable openings 19a and 19b remain closed, such that the interior of the housing 14 is sealed.
[0067] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a battery charger 100, which comprises a power converting system 10 and a protective case 110. The power converting system 10, which may be a power converting system according to any of the previously discussed embodiments, is attached to a wall, which may for example be a building wall or a wall of a stable element such as a charging column, and is enclosed by the protective case 110. The battery charger of FIG. 5 is attached to a vertical wall by either the bottom plate or the top plate of the housing. The external surface of the battery charger in FIG. 5 may comprise one or more heat dissipation fins, which, in combination with the internal compartment arrangement of the housing, provide adequate cooling capacity without the need for forced ventilation. When the battery charger is attached to a vertical wall, this effect is particularly enhanced if the heat dissipation pins are distributed vertically over the larger outer surface, i.e. over the bottom plate and/or the top plate. The power converting system 10 operates as an AC-DC converter. The battery charger 100 is configured for charging a power battery 200, which may for example correspond to the battery of an electric car. The battery charger 100 is electrically connected to the battery 200 by means of a charger cable 120.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
[0068] 10 power converting system [0069] 12 power converter device [0070] 14 housing [0071] 14a top plate [0072] 14b bottom plate [0073] 14c-14f lateral housing walls [0074] 15 attaching means [0075] 16 thermally conductive filler [0076] 17 polished portion of housing surface [0077] 18 heat dissipation fins [0078] 19a, 19b resealable openings [0079] 20 first internal compartment [0080] 20a, 20b internal compartment walls [0081] 30 second internal compartment [0082] 40 third internal compartment [0083] 40a internal compartment wall [0084] 50 fourth internal compartment [0085] 50a internal compartment wall [0086] 60, 62 electronic components [0087] 64 dielectric sheet [0088] 66 PCB [0089] 100 battery charger [0090] 110 protective case [0091] 200 battery
