BUS BAR AND POWER ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH CURRENT SHAPING TERMINAL CONNECTOR AND METHOD OF MAKING A TERMINAL CONNECTOR

• US 20170358897A1
• Filed: 11/18/2015
• Published: 12/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: YOUNG, Henry Todd, MARI CURBELO, Alvaro Jorge, KUTTENKULER, Jason Daniel, BERTONCELLI, Tiziana, CILLESSEN, Sean Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 10,128,625 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/46 involving the transfer of heat by flowing fluids H01L23/42, H01L23/44 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/492 Bases or plates or solder therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/562 Protection against mechanical damage H01L23/02, H01L23/28 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 25/115 the devices being arranged next to each other
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/162 Electrical connections between or with rails or bus-bars rails having primarily a non electrical function H01R4/64
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 43/16 for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 5/005 Laminated bus-bars
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/155 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/003 Constructional details, e.g. physical layout, assembly, wiring or busbar connections
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/537 using semiconductor devices only, e.g. single switched pulse inverters
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/2089 for power electronics, e.g. for inverters for controlling motor
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20927 Liquid coolant without phase change

Abstract

A current shaping phase leg bus bar for power electronics systems includes a first terminal connector, a second terminal connector, insulated from the first terminal connector, and a third terminal connector, insulated from the first and second terminal connectors. At least one of the terminal connectors is a current shaping terminal connector that includes one or more layers having a plurality of pre-defined locations for electrical connections, said plurality of pre-defined locations including one or more first locations and a plurality of second locations, and includes one or more gaps within or among its one or more layers, to provide substantially balanced conductive pathways among its one or more first locations and its plurality of second locations.

Claims

1. A bus bar comprising:

plural terminal connectors comprising;

a first terminal connector;

a second terminal connector insulated from the first terminal connector; and

a third terminal connector insulated from the first terminal connector and the second terminal connector;

wherein at least one of the terminal connectors is a current shaping terminal connector that includes;

one or more layers having a plurality of pre-defined locations for electrical connections, said plurality of pre-defined locations including one or more first locations and a plurality of second locations; and

one or more gaps within or among the one or more layers, to provide substantially balanced conductive pathways among the one or more first locations and the plurality of second locations.

2. The bus bar of claim 1, wherein at least two of the terminal connectors are current shaping terminal connectors that are configured to provide substantially balanced conductive pathways among their respective first locations and second locations.

3. The bus bar of claim 2, wherein two of the at least two of the terminal connectors are matching inverts of each other.

4. The bus bar of claim 3, wherein the two terminal connectors that are matching inverts are overlaid adjacent an intervening insulative layer.

5. The bus bar of claim 2, wherein the terminal connectors are arranged such that a magnetic field induced by current in a conductive pathway in one of the at least two terminal connectors is substantially canceled by a magnetic field induced by current in a corresponding conductive pathway in the other of the at least two terminal connectors.

6. The bus bar of claim 1, wherein the current shaping terminal connector comprises an even number of layers overlaid to provide reversing conductive pathways.

7. The bus bar of claim 6, wherein:

the current shaping terminal connector comprises a bridge layer overlaying and substantially insulated from an island layer,

the bridge layer has lateral wings conductively joined by a central bridge,

the island layer has lateral islands that are not conductively joined within the island layer,

each lateral island of the island layer includes either at least one first location or at least one second location, and is conductively joined by at least one hot spot to an overlying lateral wing of the bridge layer,

gaps are formed in the islands and wings to define substantially discrete conductive pathways from each of the one or more first locations to a corresponding one of the second locations,

each of the substantially discrete conductive pathways includes the central bridge, and

each of the substantially discrete conductive pathways includes a portion in the bridge layer that overlies in anti-parallel a portion of that same conductive pathway in the island layer.

8. The bus bar of claim 1, wherein the current shaping terminal connector includes at least one window.

9. The bus bar of claim 1, wherein the current shaping terminal connector includes substantially discrete conductive pathways amongst the one or more first locations and the plurality of second locations.

10. The bus bar of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gaps is a region of reduced material thickness.

11. A power electronic device comprising:

a heat sink with a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet;

first and second switch packages, each package having supply terminals and load terminals, the supply terminals of the first and second switch packages are substantially thermally equidistant from the coolant inlet at a first thermal distance and the load terminals of the first and second switch packages are substantially thermally equidistant from the coolant inlet at a second thermal distance that is less than the first thermal distance; and

at least one first current shaping terminal connector connecting the load terminals of the first and second switch packages, the current shaping terminal connector including one or more layers having a plurality of pre-defined locations for electrical connections, said plurality of pre-defined locations including one or more first locations and a plurality of second locations, and including one or more gaps within or among its one or more layers, to provide substantially balanced conductive pathways among its one or more first locations and its plurality of second locations.

12. The power electronic device of claim 11, wherein at least one of the gaps is a region of reduced material thickness.

13. The power electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one first current shaping terminal connector comprises an even number of layers overlaid to provide reversing conductive pathways.

14. The power electronic device of claim 13, wherein:

the at least one first current shaping terminal connector comprises a bridge layer overlaying and insulated from an island layer,

the bridge layer has lateral wings conductively joined by a central bridge,

the island layer has lateral islands that are not conductively joined within the island layer,

each lateral island of the island layer includes either at least one first location or at least one second location, and is conductively joined by at least one hot spot to an overlying lateral wing of the bridge layer,

gaps are formed in the islands and wings to define substantially discrete conductive pathways from each of the one or more first locations to a corresponding one of the second locations,

each of the substantially discrete conductive pathways includes the central bridge, and

each of the substantially discrete conductive pathways includes a portion in the bridge layer that overlies in anti-parallel a portion of that same conductive pathway in the island layer.

15. The power electronic device of claim 14, wherein each wing of the bridge layer includes at least one window.

16. The power electronic device of claim 14, wherein each island of the island layer includes at least one window.

17. The power electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one first current shaping terminal connector includes substantially discrete conductive pathways amongst the one or more first locations and the plurality of second locations.

18. The power electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one first current shaping terminal connector has its first locations aligned substantially along a first line defined by the load terminals of the first switch package, and has its second locations aligned substantially along the same line connected with the load terminals of the second switch package, with the first locations of equal number as the second locations, and the at least one first current shaping terminal connector includes gaps defining substantially discrete conductive paths connecting pairs of the first and second locations.

19. The power electronic device of claim 11, further comprising:

second and third current shaping terminal connectors respectively connected to the supply terminals of the first switch package and to the supply terminals of the second switch package, wherein the second and third current shaping terminals connectors are matching inverts of each other.

20. The power electronic device of claim 19, wherein the second and third current shaping terminal connectors are arranged such that a magnetic field induced by current in a conductive pathway in one of the second and third current shaping terminal connectors is substantially canceled by a magnetic field induced by current in a corresponding conductive pathway in the other of the second and third current shaping terminal connectors.

21. A method of making a current shaping terminal connector, comprising:

forming at least one conductive plate;

forming on the at least one conductive plate a plurality of pre-defined locations, including at least one first location and a plurality of second locations; and

forming in or about the conductive plate at least one gap that is configured to impose substantially balanced electrical pathways among the at least one first location and the plurality of second locations.