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US 11,888,376 B2Granted
Rotary electric machine unit having rotary electric machine with cooling part and electric power conversion device
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsRyota Tanabe, Yuta Hashimoto, Tomohisa Sano, Tomoyuki Shinkai
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotary electric machine unit including a rotary electric machine, and an electric power conversion device having a plurality of power modules. The rotary electric machine includes a stator, a rotor, and a housing. The housing includes a housing flow path through which a refrigerant flows. The power modules of the electric power conversion device and the rotary electric machine are configured to be cooled by the refrigerant.
Claims17
A rotary electric machine unit, comprising:
- a rotary electric machine that has an annular stator, a rotor disposed on an inner side of the stator, and a housing accommodating the stator and the rotor therein;
- and
- an electric power conversion device that converts an electric power to be supplied to the rotary electric machine from DC power to AC power, wherein
- the electric power conversion device includes a plurality of power modules each having semiconductor devices constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit and being attached to the housing individually from each other,
- the housing includes:
- a housing flow path through which a refrigerant flows, the housing flow path being located on a radially outer side of the stator so that a virtual plane perpendicular to a centerline of the rotor intersects both the housing flow path and a stator core of the stator;
- a first cooling part that extends along an outer peripheral surface of the stator and cools the stator with the refrigerant flowing in the housing flow path, the outer peripheral surface of the stator being a radially outer surface of the stator and extending in a circumferential direction about the centerline of the rotor;
- and
- a second cooling part that cools the power modules with the refrigerant flowing in the housing flow path and that is disposed on a radially outer side of the housing flow path,
- the plurality of power modules are disposed radially outside of the stator and are arranged along the second cooling part in sequence in the circumferential direction, and
- the second cooling part is configured so that each power module is cooled from opposite sides with the refrigerant.
8 more elements
A rotary electric machine unit, comprising:
- a rotary electric machine that has an annular stator, a rotor disposed on an inner side of the stator, and a housing accommodating the stator and the rotor therein;
- and
- an electric power conversion device that converts an electric power to be supplied to the rotary electric machine from DC power to AC power, wherein
- the housing includes:
- a housing flow path that extends along an outer peripheral surface of the stator and allows a refrigerant to flow therein, the outer peripheral surface of the stator being a radially outer surface of the stator and extending in a circumferential direction about a centerline of the rotor;
- and
- a housing cooling part that defines the housing flow path and that cools the stator with the refrigerant flowing through the housing flow path,
- the electric power conversion device includes:
- a plurality of power modules that each have semiconductor devices constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit and that are attached to the housing individually from each other radially outside of the stator and in sequence in the circumferential direction along the housing flow path, each power module being oriented such that one surface of each semiconductor device is adjacent to the housing;
- and
- a module cooling unit that includes a module flow path that (i) is in communication with the housing flow path, (ii) extends along a rear surface of each semiconductor device opposite to the one surface, and (iii) cools the semiconductor devices with the refrigerant flowing in the module flow path.
8 more elements
A rotary electric machine unit, comprising:
- a rotary electric machine that has an annular stator, a rotor disposed on an inner side of the stator, and a housing accommodating the stator and the rotor therein;
- and
- an electric power conversion device that converts an electric power to be supplied to the rotary electric machine from DC power to AC power, wherein
- the housing includes:
- a housing flow path that allows a refrigerant to flow therein and that extends along an outer peripheral surface of the stator so that a virtual plane perpendicular to a centerline of the rotor intersects both the housing flow path and a stator core of the stator, the outer peripheral surface of the stator being a radially outer surface of the stator and extending in a circumferential direction about the centerline of the rotor;
- and
- a housing cooling part that defines the housing flow path and that cools the stator with the refrigerant flowing through the housing flow path,
- the electric power conversion device includes a plurality of power modules that each include semiconductor devices constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit, each of the semiconductor devices having one surface and a rear surface opposite to the one surface in a thickness direction, and
- the plurality of power modules are attached to the housing individually from each other and are arranged in sequence in the circumferential direction along the housing flow path such that the housing flow path exists on both the one surface and the rear surface of each semiconductor device and each semiconductor device is cooled with the refrigerant flowing in the housing flow path.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.