Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

University of Colorado

Hiroshi Ukegawa

Feng Zhou

Shailesh N Joshi

Ercan Mehmet Dede

Shohei Nagai

Hitoshi Fujioka

Danny J Lohan

Yukio Onishi

Ercan Mehment Dede

Dragan Maksimovic

Robert Warren Erickson

Vivek Sankaranarayanan

Yucheng Gao

Makoto Oishi

Kyosuke N Miyagi

A cooling assembly includes a housing defining a fluid chamber, wick structures arranged on an interior surface of the fluid chamber such that one or more flow channels are present therebetween, and a divider. The divider includes an outer frame comprising a first side and a second side and one or more bridging supports extending between and connecting the first side and the second side of the outer frame. The one or more bridging supports are aligned with the one or more flow channels between the wick structures. Each one of the one or more bridging supports define a plurality of vapor flow paths extending therethrough. The one or more bridging supports further define a plurality of vapor spaces between the one or more bridging supports that are aligned with the wick structures. The plurality of vapor flow paths are fluidly coupled to the vapor spaces.

Cooling assemblies having channels to supply fluid to wick structures

Embedded cooling systems and methods of forming the same are disclosed. A system may include a PCB stack comprising a first major substrate opposite a second major substrate, a pre-preg layer disposed between the first and second major substrates, a power device stack embedded within the PCB stack and comprising a substrate, a power device coupled to the substrate of the power device stack, and a vapor chamber embedded within at least the pre-preg layer of the PCB stack and the power device stack being coupled to the vapor chamber.

Systems including a vapor chamber as the heat spreading substrate of a power device embedded in a PCB and methods of forming the same

A power electronics module includes a glass layer with one or more vias extending through the glass layer and having an electrically and thermally conductive material disposed within the one or more vias, a power electronic device directly bonded to a first surface of the glass layer, and, a cooling structure thermally coupled to a second surface of the glass layer.

Glass-based bonding structures for power electronics

A method for predicting a failure of a power control unit of a vehicle is provided. The method includes obtaining data from a plurality of sensors of the power control unit of a vehicle subject to simulated multi-load conditions, implementing a machine learning algorithm on the data to obtain machine learning data, obtaining new data from the plurality of sensors of power control unit of the vehicle subject to real multi-load conditions, implementing the machine learning algorithm on the new data to obtain test data, predicting a failure of the power control unit based on a comparison between the test data and the machine learning data.

Methods and systems for predicting failure of a power control unit of a vehicle

A hybrid cooling system of an electric machine is contemplated. The hybrid cooling system comprises a propeller positioned on an exterior of an enclosure, at least one electronic component disposed within the enclosure, and a vapor chamber disposed within the enclosure, wherein the vapor chamber comprises an actuator configured to generate mist from a liquid coolant within the enclosure. In operation, in a first mode, the propeller rotates for generating air that is channeled into the enclosure via fins that are disposed on exterior portions of the enclosure, and in a second mode, the actuator generates mist within the vapor chamber, and the propeller rotates for generating air that is channeled into the enclosure via the fins disposed therein.

Vibrating actuator based hybrid cooling systems for electric machines

Printed circuit board (PCB) substrates include at least one pre-preg layer interposed between one or more electrically conductive layers, power device stacks, each having a power device embedded within the PCB substrate in a vertical stack configuration, and a flat heat pipe positioned between the power device stacks within the at least one pre-preg layer, one surface of the flat heat pipe directly bonded to a first one of the power device stacks and an opposite surface of the flat heat pipe thermally coupled to a second one of the power device stacks.

Chip-on-chip power devices embedded in PCB and cooling systems incorporating the same

An integrated power electronic assembly includes a power electronic device, a cooling assembly offset from and thermally coupled to a second edge of the power electronic device, and a thermal spreader offset from and thermally coupled to a first edge of the power electronic device. The first edge of the power electronic device is opposite the second edge of the power electronic device, and the thermal spreader is thermally coupled to the cooling assembly.

High-density integrated power electronic assembly including double-sided cooling structure

A cold plate includes a first cooling surface comprising a first cooling structure bonded to an inner surface of the first cooling surface, a second cooling surface comprising a second cooling structure bonded to an inner surface of the second cooling surface, a manifold comprising an internal cavity defined by a first length, a first width, and a first height, and a flow divider defined by a second length, a second width, and a second height. The manifold is enclosed by the first cooling surface and the second cooling surface on opposing surfaces of the manifold separated by the first height. The flow divider is positioned within the internal cavity of the manifold. The flow divider supports and separates the first cooling structure and the second cooling structure by a portion of the second height of the flow divider.

Double-sided hybrid cooling of PCB embedded power electronics and capacitors

A cold plate having a manifold includes a recess extending from a first side to a second side of the manifold, where the recess includes openings to the recess positioned lengthwise along the first side and a single opening to the recess on the second side, an inlet and an outlet fluidly coupled to the recess, a plurality of plates fastened to the first side enclosing the openings, a heat sink fastened to the second side enclosing the single opening on the second side, and a plurality of fluid cores one of each positioned between each of the plurality of plates and the heat sink. The plurality of fluid cores include a flow distribution insert, a first plate fin positioned between the flow distribution insert and the heat sink fastened to the second side, and a second plate fin positioned between the flow distribution insert and the heat sink.

Asymmetric configurable double-sided manifold micro-channel cold plates

Systems including power device embedded PCBs coupled to cooling devices and methods of forming the same are disclosed. One system includes a power device embedded PCB stack, a cooling assembly including a cold plate having one or more recesses therein, and a buffer cell disposed within each of the one or more recesses. The cooling assembly is bonded to the PCB stack with a insulation substrate disposed therebetween. The cooling assembly is arranged such that the buffer cell faces the PCB stack and absorbs stress generated at an interface of the PCB stack and the cooling assembly.

Systems including a power device-embedded PCB directly joined with a cooling assembly and method of forming the same

A circuit board assembly includes a printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, a cooling assembly, an intermediate layer, one or more power devices, and a plurality of conductive layers arranged within the PCB substrate. The PCB substrate has a first surface and an opposite second surface that has a first electrical pattern. The cooling assembly is thermally coupled to the second surface of the PCB substrate. The intermediate layer is sandwiched between the PCB substrate and the cooling assembly. The one or more power devices are embedded within the PCB substrate. The plurality of conductive layers are configured to electrically couple the one or more power devices and thermally couple the one or more power devices to the cooling assembly. At least a portion of the intermediate layer has a second electrical pattern that is similarly patterned to the first electrical pattern of the second surface of the PCB substrate.

Driver board assemblies and methods of forming a driver board assembly

A solder degradation information generation apparatus related to a motor drive circuit that includes a power supply, a converter, a smoothing capacitor, and an electric motor is disclosed. The solder degradation information generation apparatus includes a semiconductor element that forms an upper arm of the converter and is bonded to a substrate via a solder, the substrate being cooled by a coolant, a measuring unit configured to measure a temperature of the semiconductor element and a processing device that generates information indicating a degradation state of the solder based on a measurement result of the measuring unit that is obtained during a period in which the smoothing capacitor is charged.

Solder degradation information generation apparatus

A hybrid vehicle includes a first controller configured to output a first control signal for a first inverter, a second controller configured to output a second control signal for a second inverter and a third control signal for the first inverter, and a selection circuit configured to output either of the first control signal or the third control signal to the first inverter. The third control signal is a signal for simultaneously turning on either of upper arm switching elements or lower arm switching elements of a plurality of arms of the first inverter. The second controller starts an engine by outputting the third control signal while outputting the second control signal to drive a second motor generator when abnormality occurs in the first controller.

Hybrid vehicle

A power supply apparatus is provided which includes a power supply; a DC/DC converter including a switching element of an upper arm, a switching element of a lower arm and a reactor; a first switch provided between the switching element of the lower arm and the negative electrode of the power supply, the first switch being normally closed; a power supply fuse provided between the positive electrode of the power supply and the other end of the reactor; a second power supply fuse connected to the power supply fuse in parallel; a second switch connected to the second power supply fuse in series and connected to the power supply in parallel, the second switch being normally opened; and a controller that opens the first switch and closes the second switch upon a short circuit failure of the switching element of the lower arm being detected.

Growing community of inventors

Nisshin, Japan

Hiroshi Ukegawa