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EP-4739535-A1 - WIRELESS CHARGING MODULE COMPRISING A COOLING SYSTEM

EP4739535A1EP 4739535 A1EP4739535 A1EP 4739535A1EP-4739535-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a wireless charging module (4) which is used to charge a battery (5) of a vehicle (2), said charging module comprising ○ a first, in particular magnetic, assembly (6) for receiving an oscillating electromagnetic field and converting said field into an alternating electric current; ○ a second, in particular electronic, assembly (7) for receiving the alternating electric current and converting said current into an electric current for charging the battery (5) or for supplying power to the consumer; ○ a cooling system (8) for dissipating heat, that is generated by the two assemblies (6, 7) during their operation, by means of a coolant flow (80) between a first coolant connection (81) and a second coolant connection (82) of the cooling system (8); ○ wherein the cooling system (8) has a cooling channel structure (9) with at least one coolant channel (90) and with at least two cooling portions (91, 92). The two cooling portions (91, 92) have different shapes in order to dissipate a higher heat flow in the second cooling portion (92) than in the first cooling portion (91).

Inventors

  • PFÄTTISCH, Veit

Assignees

  • BRUSA Elektronik AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240701

Claims (11)

  1. 1. Wireless charging module for charging a battery (5) of a vehicle (2) and/or for feeding a consumer of the vehicle (2) and/or for delivering energy from the battery (5) of the vehicle (2) and/or for delivering energy from an energy source of the vehicle (2), with • a first, in particular magnetic, assembly (6) for receiving an oscillating electromagnetic field and converting it into an alternating electrical current; • a second, in particular electronic, assembly (7) for receiving the alternating electrical current and converting it into an electrical current for charging the battery (5) or for supplying the consumer, • a cooling system (8) for dissipating heat generated by the two assemblies (6, 7) during their operation by a coolant flow (80) between a first coolant connection (81) and a second coolant connection (82) of the cooling system (8); • wherein the cooling system (8) has a cooling channel structure (9) with at least one coolant channel (90) and with at least two cooling sections (91, 92), o at least one first cooling section (91) which is arranged to dissipate heat from the magnetic assembly (6), and o at least one second cooling section (92) which is arranged to dissipate heat at least from the electronic assembly (7), wherein the two cooling sections (91, 92) are shaped differently in order to dissipate a higher heat flow in the second cooling section (92) than in the first cooling section (91).
  2. 2. Wireless charging module (4) according to claim 1, wherein the cooling channel structure (9) is arranged between at least a first part (41) and a second part (42) and one or more channels (90) of the cooling channel structure (9) are formed by recesses in the first part (41) and/or in the second part (42), in particular wherein the first part (41) and/or the second part (part 42) are plate-like or flat.
  3. 3. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and the second cooling section (91, 92) are arranged at least in regions on coolant channels (90) running parallel to one another.
  4. 4. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and the second cooling section (91, 92) are arranged at successive locations in the flow direction along the same coolant channel (90).
  5. 5. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and the second cooling section (91, 92) have different wall structures, in particular • wherein the one, in particular the first, cooling section (91) has a smooth wall (43) and the other, in particular the second, cooling section (92) has a structured wall (44); or • wherein the one, in particular the first, cooling section (91) has a structured wall (44) and the other, in particular the second, cooling section (92) has a smooth wall (43); or • wherein the one, in particular the first, cooling section (91) has a structured wall (44) and the other, in particular the second, cooling section (92) has a differently structured wall (44).
  6. 6. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cooling channel structure (9) has at least two coolant channels (90) running parallel to one another, and these are designed to guide different proportions of the coolant flow (80), in particular wherein a coolant flow (80a) leading through the first cooling section (91) is less than half or a third or a quarter or a fifth of the coolant flow (80b) leading through the second cooling section (92).
  7. 7. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the cooling sections (91, 92) has structures (45) on at least one channel wall for swirling the coolant flow, in particular wherein the structures are integrally formed on the channel wall.
  8. 8. Wireless charging module (4) according to claim 7, wherein the structures in the region of the at least one cooling section (91, 92) form obstacles protruding into the coolant channel (90) which reduce the flow cross section of the coolant channel (90) compared to adjacent sections.
  9. 9. Wireless charging module (4) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the structures divide the coolant channel (90) into two or more sub-channels (93) with parallel flows, in particular into sub-channels (93) whose shape deviates from a straight line or from a course with constant curvature, in particular into sub-channels (93) with a wavy, zigzag or meandering course.
  10. 10. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims in Dependent on claim 2, wherein at least one of the first part (41) and the second part (42) forms a supporting structure which supports at least one of the magnetic assembly (6) and the electronic assembly (7).
  11. 11. Wireless charging module (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one is the case of • the magnetic assembly (6) is mounted adjacent to the first cooling section (91), and optionally also adjacent to the second cooling section (92), on the first part (41) or on the second part (42); • the electronic assembly (7) is mounted adjacent to the second cooling section (92), on the first part (41) or on the second part (42).

Description

WIRELESS CHARGING MODULE WITH COOLING SYSTEM The present invention relates to a wireless charging module for charging a battery or for feeding a consumer of a vehicle. Batteries of electric vehicles can be charged with alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). Typical AC chargers can provide a charging power of up to 22 kW. AC charging systems can be divided into wired charging systems and wireless charging systems, with wireless charging systems mainly being designed as inductive charging systems (ICS). Wired AC chargers are usually integrated into electric vehicles and are also referred to as on-board chargers. An ICS usually consists of two separate modules, often referred to as a ground pad module (GPM) and a car pad module (CPM). The GPM is installed outside the electric vehicle, while the CPM is attached inside the electric vehicle, usually on the underside of the vehicle. The electromagnetic interaction between the GPM and the CPM enables the transfer of energy from the GPM to the CPM and vice versa, and the CPM is in turn used to charge an electric vehicle battery. Wireless Charging systems are often more convenient for the user as no manual intervention is usually required to start charging the battery other than parking the vehicle over the GPM. The wireless charging module according to the invention can be used in particular for charging a high-voltage battery or for storing a consumer of a vehicle. In this case, it can be referred to as a car pad module (CPM). This can receive an oscillating magnetic field from an external transmitter, which can be referred to as a ground pad module (GPM). The CPM converts the oscillating electromagnetic, predominantly magnetic field into an alternating current, which is converted (typically rectified) and thereby becomes a charging current (typically direct current) that is used to charge the battery or to power the consumer. The wireless charging module can also be called a power conversion assembly. It is used to convert the electromagnetic power of an oscillating electromagnetic field into electrical power of an electric current or an available electric current for charging an electrical storage or for powering an electrical load. Regarding cooling, it is important to understand that a CPM can have two areas of heat generation: an electronic assembly (power electronics), which generates a lot of heat but is concentrated in certain places on the device, where it has a relatively high density of heat-generating elements, and a magnetic assembly (coil and ferrite), which generates less heat and is relatively spatially distributed, i.e. with a low density of heat-generating elements. Previous cooling systems for CPMs are not well adapted to these circumstances and are relatively difficult to manufacture and therefore expensive. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a wireless charging module of the type mentioned above, which eliminates the disadvantages mentioned above. This object is achieved by a wireless charging module having the features of patent claim 1. The wireless charging module is used to charge a battery and/or to power a consumer of a vehicle. It can be used in addition to or as an alternative to supplying electrical energy from the vehicle. It has: • a first, in particular magnetic, assembly for receiving an oscillating electromagnetic field and converting it into an alternating electrical current; • a second, in particular electronic, assembly for receiving the alternating electrical current and converting it into an electrical current for charging the battery or for supplying the consumer, • a cooling system for dissipating heat generated by the two assemblies during their operation by a coolant flow between a first coolant port and a second coolant port of the cooling system. The cooling system has a cooling channel structure with at least one coolant channel and with at least two cooling sections: • at least one first cooling section arranged to dissipate heat from the magnetic assembly, and • at least one second cooling section arranged to dissipate heat at least from the electronic assembly, The two cooling sections are shaped differently in order to dissipate a higher heat flow in the second cooling section than in the first cooling section. The first cooling section is used to dissipate heat generated by the magnetic assembly during operation, and the second cooling section is used to dissipate heat generated by the electronic assembly during operation. By designing the two cooling sections to dissipate different heat flows, i.e. different amounts of heat per unit of time, the operation of the cooling system can be optimized according to the different amounts of heat generated by the two assemblies. This means that the coolant flow is distributed across the two cooling sections through the cooling channel structure so that at least approximately a maximum heat flow can be dissipated from the two assemblies. The f