US-20260124903-A1 - COOLING SYSTEM

Abstract

A cooling system includes a motor, a power converter, a flow path through which a cooling fluid flows to the motor and the power converter, and a switching valve that switches the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows. The flow path includes a first flow path and a second flow path that are bifurcated and rejoined, the motor is disposed in the first flow path, and the power converter is disposed in the second flow path. The switching valve is disposed at a position where the flow path branches into the first flow path and the second flow path, and is configured to be switchable the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path.

Inventors

• Sho Hasegawa

Assignees

• AISIN CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20231020

Priority Date

20221025

Claims (6)

1. 1 . A cooling system comprising: a motor; a power converter; a flow path through which a cooling fluid flows to the motor and the power converter; and a switching valve that switches the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows, wherein the flow path includes a first flow path and a second flow path that are bifurcated and rejoined, the motor is disposed in the first flow path, the power converter is disposed in the second flow path, and the switching valve is disposed at a position where the flow path branches into the first flow path and the second flow path, and is configured to be switchable the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path.
2. 2 . The cooling system according to claim 1 , further comprising a battery used to drive the motor, wherein the switching valve switches the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path based on a temperature of the battery.
3. 3 . The cooling system according to claim 2 , comprising a battery flow path connectable to the flow path in which the first flow path and the second flow path are joined, wherein the battery is connected to the battery flow path.
4. 4 . The cooling system according to claim 3 , wherein the switching valve switches the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path based on a temperature of the power converter.
5. 5 . The cooling system according to claim 4 , wherein the switching valve is switched so as to allow the cooling fluid to flow only through the first flow path when a temperature of the battery is lower than or equal to a first predetermined temperature and a temperature of the power converter is lower than a second predetermined temperature, and the switching valve is switched so as to allow the cooling fluid to flow only through the second flow path when the temperature of the battery is lower or equal to than the first predetermined temperature and the temperature of the power converter exceeds a third predetermined temperature higher than the second predetermined temperature.
6. 6 . The cooling system according to claim 4 , wherein the switching valve is switched so as to allow the cooling fluid to flow through both the first flow path and the second flow path when a temperature of the battery exceeds a first predetermined temperature.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a cooling system. BACKGROUND ART In recent years, automobiles including motors as traveling drive sources (hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), battery electric vehicle (BEV), fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), and the like) have been widely used. These automobiles (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “electric vehicles”) include a battery for driving a motor. The electric vehicle includes many devices that require cooling, such as a motor (including an internal combustion engine such as an engine), a battery, an air conditioner, and an ECU. For this reason, a cooling circuit that circulates cooling water or a refrigerant is configured to cool these devices. However, these devices may have different appropriate operating temperatures. In such a case, in order to change the temperature of the cooling water or the refrigerant to be circulated for each device having a different operating temperature, heat is transferred through a heat exchanger such as a chiller or a water-cooled condenser to control the temperature of the cooling water or the refrigerant. The cooling circuit disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of control modes of controlling a first pump, a second pump, a first switching valve, and a second switching valve to change the flow of cooling water in a first cooling water flow path, a second cooling water flow path, a third cooling water flow path, a fourth cooling water flow path, and a bypass flow path depending on an outside air temperature or a battery water temperature. In the second cooling water flow path, an inverter cooling unit and a motor generator cooling unit are arranged in series in this order from the upstream side in the flow direction of the cooling water. CITATIONS LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: JP 2019-023059 A SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problems In the second cooling water flow path of the cooling circuit disclosed in Patent Literature 1, cooling water is heated by heat exchange with an inverter and a motor generator. In the cooling circuit, the inverter cooling unit is disposed on the upstream side in the flow direction of the cooling water in the second cooling water flow path, and the motor generator cooling unit is disposed on the downstream side. For this reason, the cooling water is first heated by absorbing heat of the inverter in the inverter cooling unit, and then heated by absorbing heat of the motor generator in the motor generator cooling unit. Therefore, the cooling water absorbs the heat of the motor generator after absorbing the heat of the inverter, and thus the absorption amount of heat of the motor generator in the motor generator cooling unit decreases. The present disclosure has been made in view of the above problems, and the present disclosure provides a cooling system capable of efficiently absorbing heat generated by a cooling fluid in a motor. Solutions to Problems One embodiment of a cooling system according to the present disclosure includes a motor, a power converter, a flow path through which a cooling fluid flows to the motor and the power converter, and a switching valve that switches the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows, the flow path includes a first flow path and a second flow path that are bifurcated and rejoined, the motor is disposed in the first flow path, the power converter is disposed in the second flow path, and the switching valve is disposed at a position where the flow path branches into the first flow path and the second flow path, and is configured to be switchable the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path. In the cooling system of the present embodiment, the motor is disposed in the first flow path, the power converter is disposed in the second flow path, and the switching valve is disposed at the position where the flow path branches into the first flow path and the second flow path, and the switching valve is configured to be switchable the flow path through which the cooling fluid flows to the first flow path and the second flow path. As a result, the motor and the power converter are arranged in parallel with the flow path, so that the problem that the amount of heat absorbed by the cooling fluid in the motor decreases because the cooling fluid absorbs the heat of the power converter and then absorbs the heat of the motor does not occur. As a result, it is possible to provide the cooling system in which that the cooling fluid can efficiently absorb the heat generated in the motor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a control example of a cooling system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the cooling system. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a control example of the cooling system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a