Cooling apparatus for a motor vehicle having a drive which comprises two motors

• US 20070107962A1
• Filed: 10/11/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nexans Incorporated (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nexans Incorporated (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Steinberg, Helmut, Mayer, Udo, Hohenner, Hans, Hanebuth, Helmut, Krauthan, Josef
• Granted Patent: US 9,131,629 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/68.200
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20927 Liquid coolant without phase change

Abstract

A cooling apparatus for a motor vehicle having a drive which comprises two motors, of which one is an internal combustion engine and the other is an electric motor (3) which is connected to an inverter (2), which is connected to an electrical energy source (1), via electrical cables (4, 5). For the purpose of cooling the energy source (1) and the inverter (2), the latter are each equipped with at least one cooling element, which directly surrounds the energy source or inverter, for conducting a fluid coolant. The electrical cables (4, 5) are combined with at least two pipes which at one end are connected to the cooling elements of the energy source (1) and inverter (2) and at the other end are connected to a heat exchanger (7) in order to form a coolant circuit.

Claims

1. Cooling apparatus for a motor vehicle having a drive with two motors, of which one is an internal combustion engine and the other is an electric motor comprising:

an inverter connected to said drive, which is connected to an electrical energy source, via electrical cables, in which said cooling apparatus for cooling the energy source and the inverter are arranged in the interior of the motor vehicle, and wherein

the energy source and the inverter are each equipped with at least one cooling element, which directly surrounds the said energy source or inverter, for conducting a fluid coolant; and

the electrical cables are combined with at least two pipes which at one end are connected to the cooling elements of the energy source and inverter and at the other end are connected to a heat exchanger in order to form a coolant circuit.

2. Cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energy source and the inverter are sealed off from the outside in a moisture-tight manner and are each surrounded by a moisture-tight casing in order to form the respective cooling element with the inclusion of an intermediate space, and

in that the pipes of the cables are connected to the intermediate spaces formed in this way.

3. Cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energy source and inverter are each equipped with a heat exchanger which is connected to the coolant circuit.

4. Cooling apparatus according to claims 1, wherein the electrical conductors of the cables and the pipes are embedded in a common carrier which is composed of insulating material.

5. Cooling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the conductors and pipes are arranged next to one another in one plane in order to form a flat cable.

6. Cooling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein conductors and pipes are combined in the form of a round cable.

7. Cooling apparatus according to claims 4, wherein the conductors are of hollow design and are therefore themselves designed as pipes for conducting the coolant.