Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-15
2001-09-25
Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S689000, C361S699000, C361S704000, C361S711000, C257S714000, C174S015100, C165S080400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06295199
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronics module comprising a substrate and at least one electronic power component that needs cooling. A particularly important, although non-exclusive, application of the invention lies in the field of motor vehicle electronics where some systems incorporate power components, e.g. coils or capacitors, which generate large amounts of heat in operation and which are located in a high-temperature environment.
The invention relates more particularly to a module comprising a metal substrate having one face that is insulated and that carries electrical connection tracks, with at least one power component fixed to the substrate and having junction tabs soldered to the tracks. Such substrates are now in use where the face is insulated by forming an insulating layer, e.g. by oxidizing, nitriding, or anodizing. Until now, the components have usually been mounted on the insulated face side of the substrate, and this does not give rise to any problem for components that are thin and that dissipate little heat. In contrast, mounting power components on this face, opposite from the non-insulated face against which a cooling fluid is caused to circulate, gives rise to a considerable increase in the size of the module.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a cooled power electronics module of reduced bulk. To this end, there is provided a module in which the power component(s) is/are fixed on the non-insulated face and is/are placed in a housing constituting an inside wall of a cooling fluid circuit or is/are bonded to such a wall, and its tabs pass through the substrate via holes therein.
As a general rule, the power component will be coated in resin, enabling heat to be dissipated towards the housing which may be electrically insulating. When the housing is stuck to the inside wall of the cooling circuit, the resin used will generally be of the same kind as the resin used for adhesive purposes.
The connection tabs may be insulated so as to make it simpler to pass them through the substrate. Nevertheless, it is also possible to use bare metal tabs providing the walls of the holes are insulated (e.g. by being oxidized) or an insulating eyelet is interposed between each tab and the wall of the corresponding hole.
There is also provided a method of manufacturing an electronics module, in which a metal substrate is formed having one face that is insulated, and that carries electrical connection tracks, the substrate being pierced by through holes, a power component is mounted on the non-insulated wall of the substrate with connection tabs of the component passing through holes in the substrate, and the tabs are soldered to areas of the tracks located close to the holes.
To facilitate mounting the power component and fixing of its tabs, the tabs are advantageously preformed prior to mounting of the component, and the holes are of a size that is sufficient to allow the angled tabs to pass therethrough. In particular, holes can be provided having a broad portion for allowing a tab to pass through and a narrow portion into which the tab is brought by moving the component sideways prior to soldering the tabs. The component can be provided with a peg designed to engage in an oblong hole of the substrate and to snapfasten therein when the component is in its final position so as to hold the component temporarily until it has been soldered, with soldering being performed by a reflow technique, for example.
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IBM Technical Disclosure Bulleting, US, IBM Corp., vol. 34, No. 12, May 1, 1992; pp. 387-388.
Chervinsky Boris L.
Larson & Taylor PLC
Picard Leo P.
Sagem SA
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