Power electronics module for electric vehicle
AssigneeLiveWire EV, LLC
InventorsSamuel Nicholas Reitinger, Christian Handley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A power electronics module for an electric vehicle includes a housing and a charger circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components on a first side of the housing. A motor controller circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components is provided on a second side of the housing. A cooling plate is provided in the housing and sandwiched between the inverter of the motor controller circuit on a first side of the cooling plate and the plurality of electronic components of the charger circuit on a second side of the cooling plate opposite the first side.
Claims10
A power electronics module for an electric vehicle, the power electronics module comprising:
- a housing;
- a charger circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components on a first side of the housing, the charger circuit including an AC input and a DC output;
- a motor controller circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components on a second side of the housing, the motor controller circuit including a DC input, an inverter, and an AC output;
- a cooling plate provided in the housing, the cooling plate being sandwiched between the inverter of the motor controller circuit on a first side of the cooling plate and the plurality of electronic components of the charger circuit on a second side of the cooling plate opposite the first side;
- and
- a cooling channel extending through the housing to direct a flow of liquid coolant through a portion of the cooling channel positioned along the inverter of the motor controller circuit and through a separate portion of the cooling channel positioned along the plurality of electronic components of the charger circuit,
- wherein the housing includes a main housing including a dividing wall dividing the first side of the housing from the second side of the housing, the first and second sides being selectively closed by respective covers to create a first enclosed space for the charger circuit and a second enclosed space for the motor controller circuit,
- wherein the dividing wall and the cooling plate cooperate to create the cooling channel, and
- wherein the dividing wall has an opening in which the inverter is directly exposed to the cooling channel.
A power electronics module for an electric vehicle, the power electronics module comprising:
- a housing;
- a charger circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components on a first side of the housing, the charger circuit including an AC input and a DC output;
- a motor controller circuit including a circuit board with a plurality of electronic components on a second side of the housing, the motor controller circuit including a DC input, an inverter, and an AC output;
- and
- a cooling plate provided in the housing, the cooling plate being sandwiched between the inverter of the motor controller circuit on a first side of the cooling plate and the plurality of electronic components of the charger circuit on a second side of the cooling plate opposite the first side,
- wherein the housing includes a main housing including a dividing wall dividing the first side of the housing from the second side of the housing, the first and second sides being selectively closed by respective covers to create a first enclosed space for the charger circuit and a second enclosed space for the motor controller circuit,
- wherein the dividing wall and the cooling plate cooperate to create a cooling channel for liquid coolant, the cooling channel having a portion positioned along the inverter of the motor controller circuit, and the cooling channel having another portion positioned along the plurality of electronic components of the charger circuit, and
- wherein the housing includes
- a first coolant inlet configured to pass coolant from a radiator into the cooling channel,
- a first coolant outlet configured to pass coolant from the cooling channel out of the housing to an external cooling loop,
- a second coolant inlet configured to receive coolant from the external cooling loop, and
- a second coolant outlet configured to return coolant to the radiator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.