US-12621967-B2 - Direct-current converter and method for manufacturing same

US12621967B2US 12621967 B2US12621967 B2US 12621967B2US-12621967-B2

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, provided is a DC converter, including a main housing having an accommodation space formed therein; a cooling module which is coupled to the main housing to partition the accommodation space into a plurality of spaces and to discharge heat generated in the accommodation space to the outside; an inductor module which is accommodated in any one space of the spaces partitioned into a plurality and located adjacent to the cooling module; and a capacitor module which is accommodated in the other one space of the spaces partitioned into a plurality and located adjacent to the cooling module.

Inventors

Gun Haeng HEO
Sang Hun YUN

Assignees

HL MANDO CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20221219
Priority Date: 20201027

Claims (12)

1 . A vehicle, comprising: a main housing having an accommodation space formed therein and includes an upper cover disposed to cover an upper space of the accommodation space and a lower cover disposed to cover a lower space of the accommodation space; a cooling module which is coupled to the main housing to partition the accommodation space into the upper space and the lower space, and to discharge heat generated in the accommodation space to an outside; an inductor module which is accommodated in the lower space and located adjacent to the cooling module; a capacitor module which is disposed on one side of the upper space, located adjacent to the cooling module and disposed to be stacked with the inductor module with the cooling module interposed therebetween; a semiconductor module which is disposed on the other side of the upper space so as to be adjacent to an upper side of the cooling module and the capacitor module, and is configured to convert DC power applied from the outside into AC power; a shielding module which covers the semiconductor module and is disposed on the other side of the upper space to electrically separate the semiconductor module from the outside; and an energization module which is disposed on the other side of the upper space, is energizably connected to at least one of the inductor module, the capacitor module and the semiconductor module, and is energizably connected to an external power source and load.
2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the main housing comprises: a housing body which surrounds the accommodation space in an outer peripheral direction; and brackets which are respectively provided on a pair of surfaces of the housing body facing each other with the accommodation space interposed therebetween, and are coupled to the outside.
3 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the cooling module comprises: a cooling plate which is formed in a plate shape and is positioned between the capacitor module, the semiconductor module and the inductor module to be configured to receive heat generated from the capacitor module and the semiconductor module or the inductor module; a flow passage which is formed to be recessed inside the cooling plate, extends between different corners of the cooling plate and has each end open in an extending direction thereof, wherein communication portions are respectively provided on another pair of surfaces facing each other with the accommodation space among the surfaces of the housing body.
4 . A DC converter, comprising: a main housing having an accommodation space formed therein and includes an upper cover disposed to cover an upper space of the accommodation space and a lower cover disposed to cover a lower space of the accommodation space; a cooling module which is coupled to the main housing to partition the accommodation space into the upper space and the lower space, and to discharge heat generated in the accommodation space to an outside; an inductor module which is accommodated in the lower space and located adjacent to the cooling module; a capacitor module which is disposed on one side of the upper space, located adjacent to the cooling module and disposed to be stacked with the inductor module with the cooling module interposed therebetween; a semiconductor module which is disposed on the other side of the upper space, located adjacent to the capacitor module and the cooling module, respectively, and disposed to be stacked with the inductor module with the cooling module interposed therebetween; a shielding module which covers the semiconductor module and is disposed on the other side of the upper space to electrically shield the semiconductor module from the outside; and an energization module which covers the shield module, is disposed on the other side of the upper space and is electrically connected to an external power source or load.
5 . The DC converter of claim 4 , wherein the cooling module comprises: a cooling plate having a predetermined thickness in a height direction of the main housing and a cross-section corresponding to a cross-section of the accommodation space, and which absorbs heat generated by the inductor module or the capacitor module; and a flow passage which is formed to be recessed inside the cooling plate and extends between at least two different corners among corners of the cooling plate through which a fluid absorbing the heat generated in the accommodation space flows.
6 . The DC converter of claim 5 , wherein the cooling plate is disposed to be spaced apart from one end and the other end in the height direction of the main housing, wherein any one of the inductor module and the capacitor module is disposed in a space formed between the cooling plate and the one end, and wherein the other one of the inductor module and the capacitor module is disposed in a space formed between the cooling plate and the other end.
7 . The DC converter of claim 5 , wherein the cooling module comprises a communication portion which is coupled through the main housing and communicates with an end of the flow passage and an external fluid supply source, respectively.
8 . The DC converter of claim 7 , wherein the main housing partially surrounds the accommodating space and comprises a housing body having a through hole which communicates with the accommodating space and the outside therein, and wherein the communication portion is through-coupled to the through hole formed in the housing body, a part of which is located in the accommodation space, and another part of which is located outside the main housing.
9 . The DC converter of claim 8 , wherein the housing body comprises a plurality of surfaces surrounding the accommodation space from different sides, wherein the through hole is formed through each of the plurality of surfaces, and wherein a plurality of communication portions are provided, and the plurality of communication portions are through-coupled to a plurality of through holes and communicate with one end and another end of an extension direction of the flow passage, respectively.
10 . The DC converter of claim 5 , wherein the fluid which is configured to absorb the heat generated by the inductor module or the capacitor module flows in the flow passage.
11 . The DC converter of claim 4 , wherein the shielding module comprises: a shield plate which is positioned between the semiconductor module and the energization module to physically separate the semiconductor module and the energization module; and an insulating sheet which covers the shield plate and is positioned between the shield plate and the energization module to electrically block the semiconductor module and the energization module.
12 . A method for manufacturing a DC converter, comprising the steps of: (a) forming an upper space and a lower space inside a main housing by accommodating a cooling plate in an accommodation space of the main housing to partition the accommodation space into the upper space and the lower space; (b) accommodating a first component in the low space of the interior of the main housing; and (c) accommodating a second component in the upper space of the main housing to be stacked with the first component with the cooling module interposed therebetween, wherein step (b) comprises the steps of: (b1) covering a cooling plate accommodated inside the main housing by an inductor module to be accommodated in the low space; and (b2) covering the inductor module and the low space by a low cover to be coupled to a housing body, so as to seal the low space, wherein step (c) comprises the step of: (c1) covering a cooling plate accommodated inside the main housing by a capacitor module to be accommodated in one side of the upper space; (c2) covering the cooling plate accommodated inside the main housing by a semiconductor module to be accommodated in the other side of the upper space; (c3) covering the semiconductor module by a shielding module to be accommodated in the other side of the upper space; (c4) covering the shielding module by a PCB unit to be accommodated in the other side of the upper space; and (c5) covering the capacitor module, the semiconductor module, the shielding module and the PCB unit by a upper cover to be coupled to a housing body, so as to seal the other side of the upper space.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2021/015220, filed on Oct. 27, 2021, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0140166, filed on Oct. 27, 2020, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0140170, filed on Oct. 27, 2020, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a DC converter and a method for manufacturing the same, and more specifically to a DC converter that can receive DC power and adjust a voltage and output as DC power while reducing the size thereof and improving cooling efficiency, and a method for manufacturing the same. BACKGROUND ART The DC converter refers to a device that receives direct current (DC)-type power and adjusts a voltage to output the same. Recently, as the technical requirements for using a DC power supply increase due to issues such as power loss and the like, research on a DC converter is being actively conducted. Examples of the device provided with a DC converter include eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles (EV), fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV), battery electric vehicles (BEV) and the like. Regulations are strengthened on the depletion of fossil fuels and the reduction of carbon and nitrogen oxides generated by the combustion thereof, and interest in the eco-friendly vehicle is increasing. The DC converter currently in use is generally manufactured by including a device for storing energy and a device for performing switching. As a device for storing energy, a capacitor and an inductor are provided, and as a device for performing switching, a semiconductor device such as silicon carbide (SiC) and the like is provided. However, capacitors and inductors for storing energy generate a lot of heat as the DC converter operates. If the generated heat is not properly dissipated, the performance of the DC converter may be deteriorated, and other components constituting the DC converter may be damaged. Accordingly, a heat transfer fluid may be considered as a method for quickly and effectively discharging heat generated from components of a DC converter such as a capacitor and an inductor. The heat transfer fluid may be introduced into the DC converter, absorb the generated heat, and then discharge the heat inside the DC converter in the form of being discharged again. In this case, when the heat transfer fluid flows arbitrarily in the internal space of the DC converter, the operational reliability may be deteriorated, and thus, the heat transfer fluid generally flows inside the DC converter through a separate flow path. In order for this heat dissipation process to be effectively performed, a capacitor, an inductor and the like must be located adjacent to a flow path through which the heat transfer fluid flows. Meanwhile, as described above, in order for the DC inverter to be provided in an eco-friendly vehicle, it is required to reduce the size of the DC inverter. Accordingly, the components of the DC inverter are generally densely arranged without a dead space. However, for effective heat dissipation, each component must be disposed adjacent to the flow path through which the supplied heat transfer fluid flows. Therefore, the conventional DC inverter had to have a cross-sectional area greater than or equal to the sum of the cross-sectional areas of its components, which caused a limitation in miniaturization of the DC inverter. Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1204139 discloses a semiconductor device for a DC/DC converter. Specifically, by adding a heat dissipation fin for dissipating heat to a semiconductor device, the semiconductor device for a DC/DC converter capable of improving heat dissipation is disclosed. However, this type of semiconductor device can only achieve heat dissipation of semiconductor equipment among the components constituting the DC converter. That is, the related art document does not suggest a method for improving the heat dissipation effect of the DC/DC converter itself provided with semiconductor equipment. In addition, the heat dissipation fin, which is a method proposed by the related art document, inevitably causes an increase in the size of a semiconductor device and a DC converter including the same. Therefore, there is a limitation against the miniaturization of the size, which is one problem associated with the DC converter. Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-0072029 discloses a heat dissipation device for a DC/DC converter. Specifically, the heat dissipation device for a DC/DC converter in which heat generated inside the DC/DC converter can be cooled by using an insulating pad and a heat sink mounted on the upper surface of a printed circuit board formed inside an ADSL system is disclosed. However, the heat dissipation device of this type of DC/DC converter must be provided with a separate insulating pad and heat dissipation plate.