Double-sided cooling apparatus for power module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12402286-B2
Application number	US-202217946962-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2022
Priority date	Dec 15, 2021
Publication date	Aug 26, 2025
Grant date	Aug 26, 2025

Abstract

A double-sided cooling apparatus for a power module, includes a first cooling module contacting with a first side of the power module to which a switching device is mounted, and allowing cooling fluid to flow therein; and a second cooling module contacting with a second side of the power module provided opposite to the first side, and including a tube allowing the cooling fluid to flow in the tube, wherein the first cooling module includes a manifold cover including a plurality of cooling channels formed by a plurality of guide walls extending in a first direction, and a fin plate including a plurality of fins extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and the cooling channel includes a blocker so that the cooling fluid in the first cooling module flows in a mixed form of lateral flow and vertical flow of the cooling fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A double-sided cooling apparatus for a power module, the double-sided cooling apparatus comprising:
a first cooling module including an inlet through which cooling fluid flows in, the first cooling module provided to be in contact with a first side of the power module to which a switching device of the power module is mounted, and allowing the cooling fluid to flow in the first cooling module;
wherein the first cooling module includes:
a manifold cover including a plurality of cooling channels formed by a plurality of guide walls extending in a first direction; and
a fin plate including a plurality of fins extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and
wherein the cooling channels include:
at least one blocker formed in a predetermined portion of the cooling channels so that the cooling fluid in the first cooling module flows in a mixed form of a lateral flow in the first direction and a vertical flow in the second direction of the cooling fluid within the manifold cover, and
a second cooling module including an outlet through which the cooling fluid flows out, the second cooling module provided to be in contact with a second side of the power module, the second side of the power module opposite to the first side of the power module and away from the switching device mounted on the first side of the power module, the second cooling module including a tube allowing the cooling fluid to flow within the tube in an unmixed form of a lateral flow in a direction opposite to the first direction,
wherein the first cooling module and the second cooling module are coupled in a vertical direction to form a single flow path from the inlet to the outlet that sequentially passes through the first cooling module and the second cooling module.

2. The cooling apparatus of The cooling apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the cooling channels of the manifold cover include at least one first channel and at least one second channel, and the at least one blocker includes at least one first blocker and at least one second blocker,
wherein the at least one first channel is blocked at a downstream end portion of the first channel by the at least one first blocker, and the at least one second channel is blocked at an upstream end portion of the at least one second channel by the at least one second blocker, and
wherein the fin plate includes a first fin side being in contact with the power module and an opposite second fin side formed with the plurality of fins, the second fin side is coupled to the manifold cover with the fins facing the guide walls so that the cooling fluid flows into and through the at least one first channel in the first direction, flows in at least in part in the second direction around at least one of the guide walls, the at least one first blocker or the at least one second blocker, and then flows through and out of the at least one second channel in the first direction.

3. The cooling apparatus of claim 2 ,
wherein the at least one first channel of the manifold cover is formed with the at least one first blocker connecting downstream end portions of the guide walls separating the at least one first channel from the at least one second channel so that the at least one first channel is blocked at an outlet side of the at least one first channel, and
wherein the at least one second channel of the manifold cover is formed with the at least one second blocker connecting upstream end portions of the guide walls separating the at least one second channel from the at least one first channel so that the at least one second channel is blocked at an inlet side of the at least one second channel.

4. The cooling apparatus of claim 3 ,
wherein the power module include a plurality of power modules, the plurality of power modules are provided being spaced apart between the first cooling module and the second cooling module so that the plurality of power modules share the first cooling module and the second cooling module, and
wherein the plurality of cooling channels include a plurality of cooling channel groups, each of the plurality of cooling channel groups having the at least one first blocker and the at least one second blocker, the first cooling module includes the plurality of channel groups respectively corresponding to each of the power modules.

5. The cooling apparatus of claim 4 , wherein each of the cooling channel groups includes the at least one first channel and the at least one second channel, the at least one first channel being formed with the at least one first blocker connecting the downstream end portions of the guide walls separating the at least one first channel from the at least one second channel so that the at least one first channel is blocked at the outlet side of the at least one first channel, and the at least one second channel being formed with the at least one second blocker connecting the upstream end portions of the guide walls separating the at least one second channel from the at least one first channel so that the at least one second channel is blocked at the inlet side of the at least one second channel.

6. The cooling apparatus of claim 5 ,
wherein the plurality of cooling channel groups include a first cooling channel group and a second cooling channel group adjacent to the first cooling channel group, and
wherein the at least one first blocker in the at least one first channel of the first cooling channel group is proximate to the at least one second blocker of the second at least one channel of the second cooling channel group, and an outlet side of the at least one second channel of the first cooling channel group is connected to an inlet side of the at least one first channel of the second cooling channel group.

7. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second cooling module includes a pressing cover to surround the tube, and the pressing cover uniformly presses the tube toward the second side of the power module.

8. The cooling apparatus of claim 7 ,
wherein the pressing cover includes a plurality of first openings spaced from each other along a longitudinal direction of the pressing cover,
wherein the manifold cover includes a plurality of second openings positioned corresponding to the first openings, and
wherein the first openings of the pressing cover and the second openings of the manifold cover are coupled to each other to form pressing contact coupling between the first cooling module, the power module, and the second cooling module.

9. The cooling apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first openings are formed as equidistantly spaced apart along edge portions of the pressing cover, and the second openings are formed at positions corresponding to the first openings, so that surface pressure is uniformly applied between the first cooling module, the power module, and the second cooling module.

10. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an intersection angle between the first direction, in which the guide walls of the manifold cover are formed, and the second direction, in which the fins of the fin plate are formed, ranges from 80 degrees to 100 degrees.

11. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first direction in which the guide walls of the manifold cover are formed perpendicularly intersects the second direction in which the fins of the fin plate are formed.

12. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first cooling module has higher stiffness than the second cooling module.

13. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second cooling module is made of a material softer than a material of the first cooling module.

14.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Kwon Se Heun
• Park Hyong Joon
• Lee Sang Hun

Classifications

• H10W40/475 Primary

  using jet impingement (H10W40/776 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H10W40/47

  by flowing liquids, e.g. forced water cooling · CPC title

• H05K7/20254

  Cold plates transferring heat from heat source to coolant · CPC title

• H05K7/20272

  Accessories for moving fluid, for expanding fluid, for connecting fluid conduits, for distributing fluid, for removing gas or for preventing leakage, e.g. pumps, tanks or manifolds · CPC title

• H05K7/20927 Primary

  Liquid coolant without phase change · CPC title