Electronics compartment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9167730-B2
Application number	US-201213551342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2012
Priority date	May 7, 2012
Publication date	Oct 20, 2015
Grant date	Oct 20, 2015

Abstract

An electronics compartment with a component space which is sealed off from a surrounding environment by walls, including an internal panel arranged in the component space along a wall of the electronics compartment for delimiting an internal channel between the wall and the internal panel. Air flowing in the internal channel can improve transfer of heat through the wall, and consequently, cools electric components in the component space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronics compartment comprising:
a component space which is sealed off from a surrounding environment by walls of the electronics compartment;
an internal panel arranged in the component space along a wall of the electronics compartment for delimiting an internal channel between the wall and the internal panel;
a first inlet in a vicinity of a first end of the internal channel for allowing air to enter the internal channel from a space located on an opposite side of the internal panel in relation to the internal channel;
a first outlet in a vicinity of a second end of the internal channel for allowing air to exit from the internal channel to the space located on the opposite side of the internal panel in relation to the internal channel;
an external panel arranged along the same wall of the electronics compartment as the internal panel, but outside of the component space, for delimiting an external channel between the wall and the external panel, the wall being air-tight, at least between the external channel and the internal channel, for separating the external channel from the internal channel by preventing airflow between these channels;
a second inlet in a vicinity of a first end of the external channel for allowing air to enter the external channel from the surrounding environment of the electronics compartment;
a second outlet in a vicinity of a second end of the external channel for allowing air to exit from the external channel to the surrounding environment of the electronics compartment; and
wherein the wall between the internal channel and the external channel is provided with protrusions and recesses for increasing the surface area of the wall to improve transfer of heat from the internal channel to the external channel.

2. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the electronics compartment comprises:
an internal fan for generating airflow through the internal channel.

3. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the wall of the electronics compartment which delimits the internal channel is a smooth wall.

4. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the wall which delimits the internal channel with the internal panel is an injection-molded plastic part.

5. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the internal panel is a printed circuit board or a base plate for receiving electric components.

6. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the internal panel is a part of a device provided in the electronics compartment.

7. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the electronics compartment comprises:
an external fan for generating airflow through the external channel.

8. The electronics compartment according to claim 1 , wherein the electronics compartment is an electronics compartment for a motor drive.

Assignees

• Tuomola Juha
• Baldwin Brian
• Crawley Dan
• Abb Technology Oy

Inventors

• Tuomola Juha
• Baldwin Brian
• Crawley Dan

Classifications

• H05K7/20918 Primary

  the components being isolated from air flow, e.g. hollow heat sinks, wind tunnels or funnels · CPC title