Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki

Naohito Kanie

Toshiaki Nagase

Kazuyoshi Kontani

Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Toshinari Fukatsu

Jun Ishikawa

Hiroyuki Onishi

Tomohiro Yamagami

Tomohiro Ohba

Naotaka Matsumoto

Takuya Higashi

Nobuyuki Inayoshi

Kenichiro Ito

Takahiro Nakamura

An inverter includes a power substrate mounting power element groups arranged apart from each other, each power element group constituted by power elements arranged, a control substrate disposed apart from the power substrate in a plate thickness direction of the power substrate and mounting an electronic component for controlling the power elements, a capacitor substrate disposed between the power substrate and the control substrate and mounting capacitors, a release member fixed to the power substrate, and a spacer electrically connecting the power substrate and the capacitor substrate. The spacer includes a body portion disposed between two adjacent power element groups of the power element groups and a heat transfer portion disposed outside the power element groups in a direction in which the power elements are arranged and provided at a position not overlapping with the capacitors as viewed in a plate thickness direction of the capacitor substrate.

Inverter

An inverter unit includes a first temperature detector that detects a first temperature of at least one of semiconductor elements and a periphery of the semiconductor elements, current detectors that detect a current of a motor, and a controller that switches a modulation mode of the motor to a two-phase modulation mode or a three-phase modulation mode on the basis of a detection result of the first temperature by the first temperature detector and detection results of the current by the current detectors.

Inverter unit

An inverter device includes an inverter circuit, which has switching elements in a bridge connection, a capacitor, which is connected in parallel to the input side of the inverter circuit, a control device, which controls the inverter circuit, a temperature detector, which detects the temperature of the capacitor, a degree-of-deterioration determiner, which determines the degree of deterioration of the capacitor, and a warm-up controller. When the temperature of the capacitor detected by the temperature detector is lower than a prescribed temperature, the warm-up controller controls the switching elements of the inverter circuit to supply a direct current set based on the degree of deterioration and the temperature of the capacitor to the coil of an electric motor connected to the output side of the inverter circuit.

Inverter device

A plurality of arm elements is arrayed along a first direction of a substrate. Each arm element includes a plurality of semiconductor elements connected in parallel. Each arm element is configured such that a plurality of semiconductor elements is arrayed along a second direction of the substrate which is perpendicular to the first direction and separated into a first element group and a second element group. The substrate includes a first region where the semiconductor element included in the first element group is arranged and a second region where the semiconductor element included in the second element group is arranged, and the first region and the second region are separated along the second direction. An input electrode unit and an output electrode unit are arranged along the first direction in a region provided between the first region and the second region on the substrate.

Semiconductor device having a substrate and input and output electrode units

An inverter device includes a substrate, upper arm elements, lower arm elements, positive and negative input electrodes, and an output electrode. The upper arm elements serve as an upper switching element and are arranged along a first direction. The lower arm elements serve as a lower arm switching element and are arranged along the first direction. At least one of bus bars of the positive and negative input electrodes and the output electrode extends parallel to the first direction. At least one of the bus bars of the positive and negative input electrodes and the output electrode has a length in the longitudinal direction that is greater than a width between two ends of the upper arm elements and the lower arm elements in the first direction.

Inverter device with upper and lower arm elements

A switching circuit () includes: a plurality of insulated gate transistors (-) connected in parallel between a high voltage line (L) and a low voltage line (L); gate resistors (-) each provided for one of the plurality of insulated gate transistors (-) and each including a first terminal connected to a gate electrode of each of the insulated gate transistors (-); and a single gate voltage application unit () configured to apply pulsing gate voltage to the gate electrode of each of the insulated gate transistors (-) via the gate resistors (-). A second terminal of each of the gate resistors (-) provided for each of the plurality of insulated gate transistors (-) is connected to the gate voltage application unit () via a gate voltage apply line (L), and a single capacitor is connected between the gate voltage apply line (L) and the high voltage line (L).

Switching circuit

An inverter includes a warm-up control section and a switching control section. In a state in which an electric motor is not operating, the warm-up control section controls switching elements of an inverter circuit to perform warm-up control, in which direct currents are supplied to the coils of the respective phases of the electric motor, when the temperature of the capacitor is lower than a prescribed temperature. When a warm-up control is switched to a normal operation control, the switching control section sets initial phases of alternating currents such that the relationship between the values of the alternating currents supplied to the coils of the electric motor in the normal operation control matches with the relationship between the values of the direct currents that have been supplied to the corresponding coils of the electric motor in the warm-up control.

An electronic unit includes a first circuit board having a power semiconductor device and an electrolytic capacitor and a second circuit board having an electronic component to control the power semiconductor device. The second circuit board is arranged perpendicular to the first circuit board and along the surface of the electrolytic capacitor. The electronic unit further includes a connecting member being jointed at one end thereof to the first circuit board and jointed at the other end thereof to the second circuit board for electrical connection between the first and second circuit boards.

Electronic unit

A power converter includes a switching device composed of parallel-connected semiconductor chips evenly divided into two groups. The power converter includes a positive conductor, a capacitor and an output electrode. The positive conductor includes first and second terminal portions. The output electrode includes an end portion joined to a base portion having first and second connecting portions. The output electrode is formed so as to reduce or cancel a difference existing between an inductance Lof a current path from a positive terminal of the capacitor to the first terminal portion and an inductance Lof a current path from the positive terminal to the second terminal portion, by providing a difference between an inductance Lof a current path from the first connecting portion to the end portion and an inductance Lof a current path from the second connecting portion to the end portion.

Power converter

A power converter apparatus includes a substrateon which switching elements Q, Qto Qare mounted, positive and negative terminal interconnection membersmounted on the substrate, and a capacitorhaving a positive terminalconnected to the main body of the positive terminal interconnection memberand a negative terminalconnected to the main body of the negative terminal interconnection member. The interconnection members each have a plate-like main bodythat is located above and parallel to the substrate. The main bodies of the interconnection members are stacked to be close to each other while being electrically insulated from each other. Each of the positive terminal interconnection member and the negative terminal interconnection member further includes a plate-like extensionthat extends from the corresponding main body toward the substrate, and a terminal portionthat extends from the extension and is joined to the substrate. The extensions extend to positions closest to the substrate, while being parallel to and close to each other.

Growing community of inventors

Kariya, Japan

Naohito Kanie