Patent Application
20200100400
The present disclosure generally relates to an electronics assembly, and more particularly, to an electronics assembly that may be within an inverter-integrated electric compressor for use in a heat pump system.
A heat pump is a proven solution to improve the driving range of electrified vehicles due to energy efficiency. When a heat pump system operates at low outdoor temperatures to provide heating function to an interior compartment or other components that may require heating (for example a battery pack soaked in cold environment), it may suffer from degraded performance, and loss of capacitance of the capacitors in the electric compressor may contribute to the degradation. Accordingly, it is desired to develop compressors that efficiently operate at all ambient temperatures, including low outdoor temperatures.
According to some aspects of the present disclosure, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an inverter storage unit provided in a housing. An electronics module supplies power to an electric motor. The electronics module is integrated with the inverter storage unit. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module. A heating device is thermally coupled with and disposed externally of the one or more capacitors.
According to some aspects of the present disclosure, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an inverter storage unit provided on a housing. An electronics module supplies power to an electric motor. The electronics module is integrated with the inverter storage unit. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module and extends from a circuit board. A heating device thermally coupled with and disposed proximate an opposing side of the one or more capacitors from the circuit board.
According to some aspects of the present disclosure, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an electric compressor and an electronics module for supplying power to an electric motor and electronics module having a first, higher voltage input and a second, lower voltage input. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module. A heating device thermally is coupled with the capacitor and is disposed externally of the capacitor. The heating device is powered by the first or second voltage input.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
As required, detailed examples of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed examples are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to a detailed design and some schematics may be exaggerated or minimized to show function overview. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
In this document, relational terms, such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like, are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
As used herein, the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.
The following disclosure describes an electronics assembly that may be configured as an inverter-integrated electric compressor. The electronics assembly includes an electronics module provided in a housing. The electronics module may include an inverter module that supplies power to an electric motor. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module. A heating device is thermally coupled with the capacitor and disposed externally of the capacitor. The heating device may be activated when a temperature of the electronics module is below a threshold temperature. In some instances, the one or more capacitors may be configured as electrolytic capacitors and the heating device is configured to raise the temperature of an electrolyte material within the capacitor.
Referring to
The compressor 12 may include an electric motor assembly 62 having any type of motor therein and a compression assembly 64. The compressor 12 may be linked to the motor via a motor shaft and are thus configured so that the compression assembly 64 is driven by the electric motor assembly 62. The housing 14 may include a suction port 16. Low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant gas taken into the housing 14 from the refrigerant suction port 16 flows around the electric motor and is then taken into and compressed by the compression assembly 64. The arrangement is such that the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas compressed by the compression assembly 64 is discharged to the outside from a discharge port 18 provided on the housing 14. The housing 14 may also be provided with attachment legs 20. The integrated-inverter electric compressor 12 is installed on a vehicle by fastening the attachment legs 20 via brackets and bolts to the vehicle. It will be appreciated that any electronics assembly 10 for any use may be made in accordance with the teachings provided herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
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With further reference to
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According to various examples, the heating device 42 may be configured as an ink that is coated on a film 46 by conventional screen printing, flexographic printing, or gravure printing. The wet ink thus coated on the film 46 may then be dried by heating to remove the solvent, thereby yielding a solid polymeric film with a film thickness that may be in the order of micrometers (e.g., 5-25 micrometers), according to some examples.
According to various examples, a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heating device 42 may be utilized, which refers to a material that experiences an increase in electrical resistance when its temperature rises. A PTC heating device 42 based on the polymer thick film PTC carbon compositions can be configured by many electric thermo-resistor units in parallel or in serial to have the designed heating energy density. Each thermo-resistor unit includes two electrodes 48, 50 and a printed resistive strip 52 with a resistance (R) sandwiched between two electrodes 48, 50. Upon applying a voltage (V) between the electrodes, an electric current (A) passes through the PTC resistive strip 52, yields an electric heating power output (W), following the Ohms law: that is the output Power (W)=Current (A)×Voltage (V) and the Current (A)=Voltage (V)/Resistance (R), or W=V2/R. Under an output heating power, the temperature of the heating unit is increased. Due to the PTC nature of polymer thick strip, its resistance is increased along with the increase in temperature, which causes, in turn, the decrease of output heating power. At a certain temperature, the heating power decreases to a point, which just balances the heat loss to its surrounding environment, so the temperature approaches an equilibrium and maintains constantly afterward. Thus, the PTC heating device 42 may demonstrate a self-regulating function.
An exemplary polymeric PTC ink composition may include four parts (or components), and these four parts can be functionally classified as (1) the electrically conductive component to provide electric conductivity; (2) the polymer component as the binder or adhesive to disperse the conductive component and to allow the PTC composition to be coated on a substrate; (3) the solvent to mix all components together in a liquid or gel form and allow the whole composition to be transferred onto a substrate by conventional printing methods; (4) the optional one or more additives to assist in stabilizing the ink composition and improving printability. According to various examples, a PTC ink is printed onto portions of the film 46 and then dried at high-temperature to remove the solvent thereby yielding a PTC film composing the solid parts of PTC ink, including an electrical conductor, polymer resin, and optional additives.
In other examples, the heating device 42 may be configured as a rigid and/or pliable elongated member that may include a low resistance electric conducting material being formed into an electric heating element covering an area to be heated with sufficient resistance to generate heat. In some instances, the heating device 42 is operably coupled with the low-voltage power supply of the electronics module 22. However, it will be appreciated that in some examples, the heating device 42 may additionally and/or alternatively be operably coupled with the high-power voltage.
In some examples, a thermal insulator 54 may be disposed between the circuit board 28 and the heating device 42. The thermal insulator 54 may be integrally formed with a base portion of the heating device 42 or otherwise attached to the electronics module 22 through any method. Moreover, the thermal insulator 54 may be flexible or rigid in various examples. It will be appreciated that any thermally insulating material may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. It will also be appreciated that the thermal insulator 54 in some instances may consist of an air gap.
Referring again to
With further reference to
In some examples, the medium 58 may be configured as a carrier (e.g., silicone) filled with thermally conductive particles. Due to the filler, the medium 58 may be relatively high in thermal conductivity while maintaining conformability and spreadability. Additionally and/or alternatively, due to its heat transfer characteristics and its relatively inexpensive cost, boron nitride may be used as the filler that may be coated with a hydrophobic compound. Further, carbon black may be used as a filler and is a fine particulate form of elemental carbon, which may consist of spherical particles, that in turn come together to form porous agglomerates. Carbon black may be used as a low-cost thermally conductive filler in polymer examples of the medium 58. However, it will be appreciated that any thermally conductive material may be used within the thermal transfer medium 58 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Referring to
A variety of advantages may be derived from the use of the present disclosure. For example, use of the disclosed inverter-integrated compressor may be efficient and/or functional at a wide range of ambient temperatures. Moreover, the use of the heating device within the inverter may allow for use of the inverter at ambient temperatures that would otherwise make the inverter unusable. In addition to the heating device, a heat transfer medium may also be disposed between the heating device and one or more capacitors and/or within the heating device. The thermal transfer medium may be used to transfer additional heat to the one or more capacitors and/or provide additional heating to the capacitors. The inverter-integrated compressor may be manufactured at low costs when compared to other standard heat pump assemblies that operate at low temperatures, such as the integration of a PTC heating device within the climate control system to produce convection heat for the climate control system and/or systems that harvest waste heat to operate at cold temperatures.
According to various examples, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an inverter storage unit provided in housing. An electronics module supplies power to an electric motor. The electronics module is integrated with the inverter storage unit. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module. A heating device is thermally coupled with and disposed externally of the one or more capacitors. Examples of the electronics assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
Moreover, a method of operating an electronics assembly is provided herein. The method includes supplying power from an electronics module to an electric motor. The electronics module is integrated within an inverter storage unit provided on the housing. The method further includes heating one or more capacitors disposed within the electronics module with a heating device thermally coupled with the one or more capacitors and disposed externally of the one or more capacitors.
According to various examples, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an electronics module for supplying power to an electric motor, the electronics module integrated within a housing. The electronics module is integrated with the inverter storage unit. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module and extends from a circuit board. A heating device thermally coupled with and disposed proximate an opposing side of the one or more capacitors from the circuit board. Examples of the electronics assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
According to various examples, an electronics assembly is provided herein. The electronics assembly includes an electric compressor and an electronics module for supplying power to an electric motor and electronics module having a first, higher voltage input and a second, lower voltage input. One or more capacitors is disposed within the electronics module. A heating device thermally is coupled with the capacitor and is disposed externally of the capacitor. The heating device is powered by the first or second voltage input. Examples of the electronics assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described invention and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary examples of the invention disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
Furthermore, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Some examples of operably couplable include, but are not limited to, physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components. Furthermore, it will be understood that a component preceding the term “of the” may be disposed at any practicable location (e.g., on, within, and/or externally disposed from the vehicle) such that the component may function in any manner described herein.
Implementations of the systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods disclosed herein may include or utilize a special-purpose or general-purpose computer including computer hardware, such as, for example, one or more processors and system memory, as discussed herein. Implementations within the scope of the present disclosure may also include physical and other computer-readable media for carrying or storing computer-executable instructions and/or data structures. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer system. Computer-readable media that store computer-executable instructions are computer storage media (devices). Computer-readable media that carry computer-executable instructions are transmission media. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, implementations of the present disclosure can include at least two distinctly different kinds of computer-readable media: computer storage media (devices) and transmission media.
Computer storage media (devices) includes RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, solid state drives (“SSDs”) (e.g., based on RAM), Flash memory, phase-change memory, other types of memory, other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.
An implementation of the devices, systems, and methods disclosed herein may communicate over a computer network. A “network” is defined as one or more data links that enable the transport of electronic data between computer systems and/or modules and/or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or any combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media can include a network and/or data links, which can be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
Computer-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data, which, when executed at a processor, cause a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or special-purpose processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, or even source code. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the described features or acts described above. Rather, the described features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computer system configurations, including an in-dash vehicle computer, personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, tablets, pagers, routers, switches, various storage devices, and the like. The disclosure may also be practiced in distributed system environments where local and remote computer systems, which are linked (either by hardwired data links, wireless data links, or by any combination of hardwired and wireless data links) through the network, both perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
Further, where appropriate, functions described herein can be performed in one or more of: hardware, software, firmware, digital components, or analog components. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) can be programmed to carry out one or more of the systems and procedures described herein. Certain terms are used throughout the description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, components may be referred to by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name, but not function.
It should be noted that the sensor and/or switch examples discussed above might include computer hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof to perform at least a portion of their functions. For example, a sensor and/or switch may include computer code configured to be executed in one or more processors, and may include hardware logic/electrical circuitry controlled by the computer code. These example devices are provided herein for purposes of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting. Examples of the present disclosure may be implemented in further types of devices, as would be known to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).
At least some examples of the present disclosure have been directed to computer program products including such logic (e.g., in the form of software) stored on any computer usable medium. Such software, when executed in one or more data processing devices, causes a device to operate as described herein.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the invention as shown in the exemplary examples is illustrative only. Although only a few examples of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connectors or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system might be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary examples without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present invention. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
