Cooler and semiconductor module using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9960100-B2
Application number	US-201515027419-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2015
Priority date	Mar 20, 2014
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A cooler includes: a jacket having an internal coolant conduction space surrounded by a main cooling surface top plate, an opposite bottom plate, and a side wall; coolant inflow and outflow pipes connected to two through holes in the side wall; a coolant introduction channel forming a part of the coolant conduction space and communicating with the coolant inflow pipe; a coolant discharge channel forming a part of the coolant conduction space and communicating with the coolant outflow pipe; and a fin unit between the coolant introduction and discharge channels. The fin unit includes a plurality of fins having separate main surfaces and thermally connected to the top plate. The fins have first ends acutely angled relative to a direction of flow of coolant in the coolant introduction channel, and second ends acutely angled relative to a direction of flow of coolant in the coolant discharge channel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cooler comprising:
a jacket having a top plate that is a main cooling surface, a bottom plate that is disposed opposite the top plate, and a side wall that connects an outer periphery of the top plate and the bottom plate, the jacket being provided internally with a coolant conduction space that is surrounded by the top plate, the bottom plate, and the side wall, the side wall including a first side wall portion, a second side wall portion that is disposed opposite the first side wall portion, and a third side wall portion other than the first and second side wall portions;
a coolant inflow pipe connected to a through hole provided in the third side wall portion at a position closer to the first side wall portion than to the second side wall portion;
a coolant outflow pipe connected to a through hole provided in the third side wall portion at a position closer to the second side wall portion than to the first side wall portion;
a coolant introduction channel that forms a part of the coolant conduction space and communicates with the coolant inflow pipe, and is arranged such that a coolant can be introduced from the coolant inflow pipe along a first inner side wall provided by the first side wall portion inside the jacket;
a coolant discharge channel that forms a part of the coolant conduction space and communicates with the coolant outflow pipe, and is arranged such that the coolant can be outflowed from the coolant outflow pipe along a second inner side wall provided by the second side wall portion inside the jacket; and
a fin unit located between the coolant introduction channel and the coolant discharge channel, the fin unit being thermally connected to the top plate and comprising a plurality of fins having (i) main surfaces separated from one another to form a space therebetween, (ii) first end portions disposed to direct the coolant from the coolant introduction channel into the space between the main surfaces, and (iii) second end portions disposed to direct the coolant from the space between the main surfaces to the coolant discharge channel;
wherein:
all of the first end portions of the fins are disposed so as to extend away from the coolant introduction channel in a direction that forms an acute angle with a direction of flow of coolant in the coolant introduction channel such that a direction of flow of coolant in the first end portions is inclined toward a direction opposite the direction of flow of coolant in the coolant introduction channel, and
all of the second end portions of the fins are disposed so as to extend toward the coolant discharge channel in a direction that forms an acute angle with a direction of flow of coolant in the coolant discharge channel such that a direction of flow of coolant in the second end portions is inclined toward a direction opposite the direction of flow of coolant in the coolant discharge channel.

2. The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein the cooler further comprises a baffle being disposed in the coolant discharge channel.

3. The cooler according to claim 2 , wherein a height of the baffle is lower than a height of the coolant discharge channel.

4. The cooler according to claim 3 , wherein the baffle is disposed in contact with the bottom plate.

5. The cooler according to claim 3 , wherein the baffle is disposed in contact with the top plate.

6. The cooler according to claim 2 , wherein the baffle is set apart from a fourth side wall portion of the side wall opposite the third side wall portion to which the coolant outflow pipe connects.

7. The cooler according to claim 2 , wherein the main surfaces of the fins are corrugated.

8. The cooler according to claim 7 , wherein the the plurality of fins comprise:
a first corrugated fin; and
a second corrugated fin adjacent to the first corrugated fin;
wherein a convex portion of the second corrugated fin is closer to the first corrugated fin side than a line linearly joining adjacent concave portions of the first corrugated fin.

9. The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein the direction of flow in the coolant introduction channel and the direction of flow in the coolant discharge channel are anti-parallel.

10. The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein the coolant is a liquid.

11. A semiconductor module comprising the cooler according to claim 1 , the semiconductor module comprising:
a semiconductor module unit, in which a semiconductor element is disposed, the semiconductor module unit being provided on a surface of the top plate opposite a surface to which the fin unit is connected.

12. The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein:
all of the first end portions of the fins are bent so that all of the first end portions are oriented away from the third side wall portion in a direction facing the coolant introduction channel, and
all of the second end portions of the fins are bent so that all of the second end portions are oriented away from the third side wall portion in a direction facing the coolant discharge channel.

Assignees

• Fuji Electric Co Ltd
• Fuji Electric Co Ltd

Inventors

• Arai Nobuhide
• Gohara Hiromichi

Classifications

• H10W40/77

  Auxiliary members characterised by their shape · CPC title

• H10W40/73

  for cooling by change of state · CPC title

• H10W40/43

  by flowing gases, e.g. forced air cooling · CPC title

• H10W40/40

  involving heat exchange by flowing fluids · CPC title

• H10W40/22

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