US 4,872,102 A · D.C. to A.C. inverter having improved structure providing improved thermal dissipation

Abstract

A DC to AC power inverter has an improved construction providing for substantially improved thermal disipation, reliability, and efficiency; the inverter has a unitary combination frame and heat diffuser with a pair of opposed U-shaped sections at right angles to each other and with a common base, a cover, a transformer, a primary internal heat sink inside of and on the frame, a plurality of power switches fastened on the internal heat sink, a printed circuit board fastened to and spaced from the heat sink with leads from the switches connected to the board, the transformer is fastened onto the frame in heat exchange relationship and part of the coil extends through the frame into an air passageway. All of the wiring access is on a field wiring end and the opposite end is a control end with the switches and circuit board; an improved arrangement of components and leads provides discrete separation of the high and low voltage components and leads. The inverter is extremely effective at heat disipation and has been UL tested and approved.

Claims25

Dependent claims

An electrical DC to AC inverter having improved structure for providing improved thermal dissipation, comprising:

(a) a combination structural frame and primary heat diffuser of thermally conductive material, said frame having first and second opposed generally U-shaped cross-sections, said cross-sections being generally at right angles to each other and having a common base;
(b) a cover over the said second U-shaped section, said cover being fastened to the frame and jointly defining with the frame an internal and enclosed electrical component compartment;
(c) converting means mounted to the frame and within the component compartment for converting DC to AC, said converting means including a transformer mounted in direct heat exchange relationship to said common base;
(d) means on the outside of the inverter frame for field wiring the inverter;
and
(e) secondary dissipation means mounted on an exterior surface of the frame for secondarily dissipating heat from the frame, said dissipation means being spaced from said field wiring means and being on a different side of the inverter.

3 more elements

An electrical DC to AC inverter having improved structure for providing improved thermal dissipation, comprising:

(a) a combination structural frame and primary heat diffuser of thermally conductive metal having an elongate U-shaped section which has a base and a pair of spaced apart legs with there being a concave side of the frame in between said legs, said concave side of said section facing outward from the base with each leg of the section having a means for mounting of the inverter, there being an open ended cooling air passageway between the legs and the mounting means;
(b) a cover over a convex side of the section, said convex side being on the opposite side of the base from the concave side, said cover and said frame jointly forming an internal electrical component compartment;
and
(c) converting means inside of the compartment for converting DC to AC;
said converting means having
(1) a transformer having its metal laminations mounted tightly against and in direct heat exchange relationship with the convex side of the base, said base having an aperture of lesser size then the laminations with one side of the transformer coil projecting through the base into the cooling air passageway within the convex side of the U-section,
(2) said converting means including solid state power switches in conductive thermal communication with an upstanding first end leg on a first end of the base,
(3) said transformer being adjacent a second and opposed upstanding second end on a second end of the base, said transformer being spaced from said power switches, and
(4) a PCB having a control circuit thereon, said PCB being mounted to and spaced off of said base and being spaced from and being in between both the transformer and the power switches, said control circuit being electrically connected to both the transformer and the power switches.

6 more elements

An electrical DC to AC inverter having improved structure for providing improved thermal dissipation, comprising:

(a) a thermally conductive frame;
(b) a cover on said frame, said cover and frame jointly defining an enclosed electrical component compartment;
(c) converting means in said compartment for converting D.C. to A.C.;
(d) an internal heat sink mounted within the compartment and directly upon and in direct thermal exchange relationship with the frame;
(e) said converting means including a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted to and spaced from said frame, said PCB having circuit means thereon for controlling the functioning of the inverter;
(f) said converting means further including a plurality of transistorized power switches having their bodies mounted directly upon and in direct thermal exchange relationship the internal heat sink, said switches having leads from the bodies to the PCB, said leads being permanently secured to said PCB with the bodies being spaced from the PCB;
and
(g) fasteners fixedly mounting said PCB to said internal heat sink and spacers spacing the PCB from said internal sink, so that most heat from the switches is absorbed directly and conductively by the heat sink discretely away from the PCB, and so that the switch leads to the PCB are not subject to flexure, cracking and connection breakage during motion of the entire inverter.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

D.C. to A.C. inverter having improved structure providing improved thermal dissipation

Life of this patent

D.C. to A.C. inverter having improved structure providing improved thermal dissipation

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims25