Inverter device with cooling arrangement therefor

• US 6,166,937 A
• Filed: 05/21/1999
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Suzuki, Osamu, Yasukawa, Akio, Yamamura, Hirohisa, Matsudaira, Nobunori
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Peter S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel, Rajnikant B.
• Application Number:
  US09/315,817
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: 363/141, 363/144, 363/137, 363/146, 361/700, 361/709, 361/326, 361/388, 257/723, 257/724
• US Class Current: 363/141
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/45124 Aluminium (Al) as principal constituent
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48091 Arched
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48472 the other connecting portion not on the bonding area also being a wedge bond, i.e. wedge-to-wedge
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73265 Layer and wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/473 by flowing liquids H01L23/4332, H01L23/4338 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 25/165 Containers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1305 Bipolar Junction Transistor [BJT]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/13055 Insulated gate bipolar transistor [IGBT]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/19105 in a side-by-side arrangement on a common die mounting substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20927 Liquid coolant without phase change

Abstract

IGBT modules, bus bars and capacitors in an inverter main circuit are secured on the front face of a heat sink and at the back side of the heat sink a water cooling channel is formed to cool the IGBT modules. The bus bars and the capacitor, thereby the size of an inverter device used in an electric car is reduced and the duration thereof is prolonged.

Claims

1. A three phase inverter device, comprising:

a plurality of semiconductor switching modules, each formed by mounting an IGBT chip and an anti-parallel diode chip connected in parallel with said IGBT chip on an aluminum nitride insulating substrate through a high temperature solder which constitutes either a positive side arm or a negative side arm for respective phases;

a plurality of bus bars, each serving to connect a corresponding one of said semiconductor switching modules to either a power source or a load and being positioned around the corresponding one of said semiconductor switching modules;

a capacitor being connected between the input bus bars from the power source; and

a heat sink made of a material selected from one of aluminum, copper and AlSic, and having a first major surface and a second major surface, said heat sink mounting on the first major surface said semiconductor switching modules through a low temperature solder, said bus bars and said capacitor through an aluminum nitride insulating substrate, the second major surface of said heat sink, corresponding to a portion of the first major surface where said semiconductor switching modules and said bus bars are mounted other than a portion where said capacitor is mounted, is used for forming a water cooling channel for said heat sink, and a plurality of cooling fins with a pitch in a range from 1 mm to 6 mm being provided on the second major surface of said heat sink in the water cooling channel.