Power distribution connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017166324-A1
Application number	US-201615378136-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 14, 2016
Priority date	Dec 15, 2015
Publication date	Jun 15, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A power distribution connector is provided, which includes an electrically conductive bus bar configured to conduct electricity between a power-supplying node and an opposing power-consuming node, and has a set of surfaces between the opposing nodes and a thermally conductive polymer having a first surface abutting at least a portion of a subset of the bus bar surfaces and a second surface spaced from the first surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A power distribution connector, comprising:
an electrically conductive bus bar configured to conduct electricity between a power-supplying node and a power-consuming node, and having a set of surfaces between the opposing nodes; and a thermally conductive polymer having a first surface abutting at least a portion of a subset of the bus bar surfaces and a second surface spaced from the first surface, wherein the second surface includes at least one of a set of thermal fins or a set of thermal pin fins; wherein the thermally conductive polymer is configured to remove heat generated by the bus bar during a current-carrying operation by way of thermal conduction from the at least a portion of the subset of the bus bar surfaces to the first surface of the polymer and thermal radiation from the second surface of the polymer.

2 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the surface area of the second surface of the thermally conductive polymer is greater than the at least a portion of the subset of the bus bar surfaces.

3 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer includes a set of heat pipes.

4 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermal fins include at least one of straight thermal fins or flared thermal fins.

5 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer has a thermal conductivity greater than 0.8 Watts per milliKelvin.

6 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer is configured to reduce the operating temperature of the bus bar compared to a bus bar without a thermally conductive polymer.

7 . The power distribution connector of claim 6 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer is configured to reduce the operating temperature by at least 10 degrees Celsius.

8 . The power distribution connector of claim 6 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer is configured to reduce the operating temperature by at least 5%.

9 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer includes a third surface abutting at least a different portion of a subset of the bus bar surfaces than the first surface.

10 . The power distribution connector of claim 9 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer envelops at least a concentric portion of the set of surfaces of the bus bar.

11 . The power distribution connector of claim 10 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer abuts a majority of the set of surfaces.

12 . The power distribution connector of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer includes at least one of carbon black, suspended metal particles, or carbon strands.

13 . The power distribution connector of any claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer includes a dielectric material.

14 . A power distribution system, comprising:
a power source; a power-consuming load spaced from the power source; a bus bar having a first contact configured to couple with the power source and a second contact configured to couple with the power-consuming load such that the bus bar electrically couples the power source with the power-consuming load; and a thermally conductive polymer located along the bus bar at a portion other than the first and second contacts and having at least one of a set of thermal fins or a set of pin fins, wherein the thermally conductive polymer is thermally coupled with the bus bar to define a heatsink for the bus bar.

15 . The power distribution system of claim 14 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer envelops at least a concentric portion of the bus bar between the first contact and the second contact.

16 . The power distribution system of claim 14 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer is configured to reduce the operating temperature by at least 50 degrees Celsius.

17 . A power distribution connector, comprising:
an electrically conductive bus bar having a power-supplying node and an opposing power-consuming node, wherein the bus bar includes a positive temperature coefficient and a cross-sectional area, wherein the bus bar is configured to conduct electricity between the power-supplying node and the power-consuming node; and a thermally conductive polymer located along the bus bar, wherein the thermally conductive polymer is thermally coupled with the bus bar to define a heatsink configured to reduce the operating temperature of the bus bar by removing heat generated by a current-carrying operation and dissipating the removed heat by way of thermal radiation; wherein the cross-sectional area of the bus bar is reduced, compared to a bus bar without a heatsink, due to the reduced operating temperature of the bus bar.

18 . The power distribution connector of claim 17 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer envelops at least a concentric portion of the bus bar between the power-supplying node and the power-consuming node.

19 . The power distribution connector of claim 17 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer includes at least one of a set of thermal fins or a set of thermal pin fins.

20 . The power distribution connector of claim 17 , wherein the thermally conductive polymer envelops at least a concentric portion of the bus bar.

Assignees

• Ge Aviat Systems Ltd

Inventors

• Smith Michael James

Classifications

• H10W40/228

  the projecting parts being wire-shaped or pin-shaped · CPC title

• H10W40/226

  characterised by projecting parts, e.g. fins to increase surface area (leadframes for cooling H10W70/461) · CPC title

• H10W40/22

  characterised by their shape, e.g. having conical or cylindrical projections · CPC title

• G06F1/20

  Cooling means · CPC title

• H02B1/56

  Cooling; Ventilation · CPC title