Electrically isolating hazardous voltage from vehicle powered transport climate control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12528331-B2
Application number	US-202318353310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2023
Priority date	Jul 17, 2023
Publication date	Jan 20, 2026
Grant date	Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

A transport climate control system configured to provide climate control within a climate controlled space towed by a vehicle is provided. The transport climate control system includes an electrical isolation box configured to house and a drive module and a compressor. The drive module receives power from a vehicle power network including a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to power the compressor. The drive module and the compressor are electrically isolated at a climate control system electrical potential reference, which is different from an electrical potential reference of a vehicle chassis to which the electrical isolation box is connected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A transport climate control system configured to provide climate control within a climate controlled space towed by a vehicle or contained on a vehicle chassis, the transport climate control system comprising:
one or more climate control circuit components including a compressor; a drive module being configured to receive power from a vehicle power network to power the compressor, the vehicle power network including a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS); and an electrical isolation box configured to house the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components, and electrically isolate the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components at a climate control system electrical potential reference, the climate control system electrical potential reference being different from an electrical potential reference of the vehicle chassis to which the electrical isolation box is connected.

2 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical isolation box includes one or more walls defining an at least partially enclosed space, the electrical isolation box comprising one or more plastic or metal materials at the one or more walls.

3 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , wherein the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components are electrically isolated from the electrical isolation box.

4 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical isolation box further comprises an electrically non-conductive material disposed at an interface to allow a working fluid tube from the compressor or an electrical power line from the drive module to pass through a wall of the electrical isolation box.

5 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , further comprising a mounting plate with an electrically non-conductive material inside the electrical isolation box to support and electrically isolate the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components from the electrical isolation box.

6 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , wherein the drive module is configured to provide a high-voltage power referring to Class B of ISO 6469-3 with a maximum working voltage of between 60 VDC and 1500 VDC or between 30 VAC and 1000 VAC.

7 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , wherein the climate control circuit components further include a heater.

8 . The transport climate control system of claim 7 , wherein the drive module comprises a DC-to-AC inverter to power at least one of the compressor and the heater.

9 . The transport climate control system of claim 8 , wherein the drive module further comprises one or more DC-to-DC converters electrically connected to the DC-to-AC inverter.

10 . The transport climate control system of claim 8 , further comprising a power distribution module connected to the DC-to-AC inverter, the power distribution module being located outside of the electrical isolation box to distribute power from the vehicle power network.

11 . The transport climate control system of claim 7 , wherein the drive module comprises an isolation transformer to power at least one of the compressor and the heater.

12 . The transport climate control system of claim 11 , further comprising a switch downstream of the isolation transformer to distribute power from the isolation transformer to one of the compressor and the heater.

13 . The transport climate control system of claim 11 , further comprising a DC-to-AC inverter connecting the isolation transformer to the vehicle power network, the DC-to-AC inverter being located outside of the electrical isolation box.

14 . The transport climate control system of claim 1 , further comprising a fan inside the electrical isolation box.

15 . A method of electrically isolating a hazardous voltage from a vehicle powered transport climate control system used to provide climate control within a climate controlled space towed by a vehicle or contained on a vehicle chassis, the method comprising:
providing, via a drive module, power to one or more climate control circuit components of the vehicle powered transport climate control system, the climate control circuit components including a compressor, the drive module being configured to receive power from a vehicle power network including a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS); and electrically isolating, via an electrical isolation box, the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components at a climate control system electrical potential reference, the climate control system electrical potential reference being different from an electrical potential reference of the vehicle chassis to which the electrical isolation box is connected.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the electrically isolating further comprises positioning the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components inside the electrical isolation box, and electrically isolating the drive module and the one or more climate control circuit components from the electrical isolation box.

17 . An electrical isolation box comprising:
one or more walls defining an at least partially enclosed space, the electrical isolation box comprising one or more plastic or metal materials at the one or more walls; and a mounting mechanism inside the at least partially enclosed space, the mounting mechanism being configured to support one or more climate control circuit components, and electrically isolate the one or more climate control circuit components at a climate control system electrical potential reference, the climate control system electrical potential reference being different from an electrical potential reference of a vehicle chassis to which the electrical isolation box is connected, wherein the electrical isolation box is configured to house a drive module, the drive module being configured to receive power from a vehicle power network that includes a rechargeable energy storage source (RESS), and wherein the electrical isolation box is configured to electrically isolate the drive module at the climate control system electrical potential reference.

18 . The electrical isolation box of claim 17 , further comprising one or more entry/exit interfaces at the walls to allow a working fluid tube from the climate control circuit components to pass through, the entry/exit interfaces including an electrically non-conductive material to electrically isolate the working fluid tube from the walls.

19 . The electrical isolation box of claim 17 , further comprising one or more entry/exit interfaces at the walls to allow an electrical power line to pass through, the entry/exit interfaces including an electrically non-conductive material to electrically isolate the electrical power line from the walls.

20 . The electrical isolation box of claim 17 , further comprising a sound dampening material at the one or more walls.

Assignees

• Thermo King Llc

Inventors

• Vanous Michael James
• Schumacher Ryan Wayne
• Andrade Dias Marcelo
• Srichai Panayu Robert

Classifications

• B60P3/20

  Refrigerated goods vehicles (air treatment of goods space B60H; {air-conditioning means for freight cars, isothermic wagons B61D27/0027; superstructures for refrigerated goods vehicles B62D33/048}) · CPC title

• B60R16/02

  electric {constitutive elements} · CPC title

• B60H1/3222

  characterised by the compressor driving arrangements, e.g. clutches, transmissions or multiple drives (B60H1/3208, B60H1/3226 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60H1/3229

  characterised by constructional features, e.g. housings, mountings, conversion systems (B60H1/3227, B60H1/3233 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60H1/3204

  using compression (B60H1/3233 takes precedence) · CPC title