Abstract:
Disclosed herein is a capacitor module including at least one capacitor, a cooling case accommodating the capacitor, and a cooling unit disposed in the cooling case and cooling a side surface of the capacitor. 
     According to the present invention, cooling efficiency of the capacitor is maximized and fixing force of the capacitor in the cooling case is superior so that product reliability of the capacitor module can be improved.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of Korean Patent Application Serial No. 10-2011-0013293, entitled “Capacitor Module” filed on Feb. 15, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a capacitor module, and more particularly, to a capacitor module capable of maximizing cooling efficiency of a capacitor and having improved fixing force of the capacitor in a cooling case. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    The car industry has advanced rapidly over the past 100 years, which mainly focused on gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines, but today, is facing great changes such as environmental regulations and energy security threat along with the depletion of fossil fuel. 
         [0006]    All the countries in the world including advanced countries are competing desperately to develop environmentally-friendly cars, and all car makers are striving to survive the competition for technical development of an environmentally-friendly car for the future, which requires environmentally-friendly and high technology of high efficiency. 
         [0007]    In particular, in order to meet the demands of the times for developing more environmentally-friendly products, while solving the depletion problem of fossil fuel, the car makers are actively conducting a study on an electric car, which uses an electric motor as a driving source, in recent years. 
         [0008]    A field that is most actively studied currently is about a hybrid vehicle and a fuel cell vehicle. 
         [0009]    The hybrid vehicle refers to combining two or more different driving sources effectively and driving a vehicle in a broad sense, but in most cases, refers to a vehicle that obtains a driving force from an engine using fuel such as gasoline or diesel and an electric motor (driving motor). This vehicle may be called a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). 
         [0010]    Such a hybrid type vehicle mounts an engine and a generator-motor therein as a driving source, and has a capacitor device storing electricity generated by the generator-motor driven by the engine. 
         [0011]    The capacitor device serves to function as a power source to supply electricity to the generator-motor. As a capacitor device, a capacitor module  1  having a high capacity capacitor is applied, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0012]    However, since driving and deceleration of the hybrid type vehicle are frequently repeated, load applied to the capacitor  11  of the related-art capacitor module  1  greatly fluctuates and an amount of heat emitted from the capacitor easily increases. Thus, there is a problem in that the capacitor rapidly deteriorates and a lifespan of the capacitor is reduced. 
         [0013]    In order to prevent this problem, a cooling means is provided in the capacitor module, for cooling the capacitor and dissipating the heat generated from the capacitor  11  effectively. 
         [0014]    The related art capacitor module  1  forms a channel  13  with a cooling medium flowing therein on a bottom surface  12   a  of a heat dissipating body  12  in which the capacitor  11  is accommodated, in order to cool a lower end surface of the capacitor. 
         [0015]    However, since the heat is mainly emitted from a body of the capacitor  11 , that is, a side surface, rather than the bottom surface of the capacitor  11 , the cooling method of the related art capacitor module has difficulty in increasing cooling efficiency of the capacitor. 
         [0016]    Also, the capacitor  11  of the related art capacitor module  1  is seated on a metal plate  14  fixed to an inner bottom surface of the heat dissipating body  12  and is accommodated in the heat dissipating body  12 . However, since the metal plate  14  only divides the capacitor  11  and has no structure to fix the capacitor, there is a problem in that the related art capacitor module is vulnerable to vibration or shock. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    An object of the present invention is to provide a capacitor module capable of maximizing cooling efficiency of a capacitor. 
         [0018]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a capacitor module capable of improving fixing force of a capacitor. 
         [0019]    According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a capacitor module including: at least one capacitor, a cooling case accommodating the capacitor, and a cooling unit disposed in the cooling case and cooling a side surface of the capacitor. 
         [0020]    The cooling unit may include: a cooling channel allowing coolant to flow therein, and contacting the side surface of the capacitor to cool the side surface of the capacitor through the flow of the coolant, a coolant supply unit supplying the coolant to the cooling channel, and a coolant discharge unit discharging the coolant cooling the side surface of the capacitor from the cooling channel. 
         [0021]    The cooling channel may include: an upper cooling channel disposed on an upper portion of the side surface of the capacitor, and supplied with the coolant from the coolant supply unit to cool the upper portion of the side surface of the capacitor, and a lower cooling channel disposed on a lower portion of the side surface of the capacitor to fluidly communicate with the upper cooling channel, and supplied with the coolant from the upper cooling channel to cool the lower portion of the side surface of the capacitor and then to discharge the coolant to the coolant discharge unit. 
         [0022]    The capacitor module may further include a heat transfer member disposed between the side surface of the capacitor and the cooling channel. 
         [0023]    The heat transfer member may include a thermal pad made of a silicon material. 
         [0024]    The capacitor module may further include a seating member disposed on an inner bottom surface of the cooling case and allowing a lower end portion of the capacitor to be seated thereon when the capacitor is accommodated in the cooling case. 
         [0025]    The seating member may include a pad made of a rubber material. 
         [0026]    The seating member may have a lower end support portion protruding therefrom, the lower end support portion fixedly supporting a side surface of the lower end portion of the capacitor. 
         [0027]    The capacitor module may further include a bracket disposed above the cooling case and covering an upper end portion of the capacitor when the capacitor is accommodated in the cooling case. 
         [0028]    The bracket may have an upper end support portion protruding therefrom, the upper end support portion fixedly supporting a side surface of the upper end portion of the capacitor. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0029]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a related art capacitor module; 
           [0030]      FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view schematically illustrating the heat dissipating body, the gasket, and the cover of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a capacitor module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0032]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the cooling case and the cooling unit of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0033]      FIG. 5  is a configuration view explaining the flow of coolant in the cooling channel of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the seating member of  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0035]      FIGS. 7A and 7B  are a top perspective view and a bottom perspective view schematically illustrating the bracket of  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0036]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention in which objects of the present invention may be specifically implemented will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the same terms and reference numerals will be used to describe the same components. Therefore, an additional description for the same component will be omitted below. 
         [0037]    Hereinafter, a capacitor module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 3 to 6 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a capacitor module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 4  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the cooling case and the cooling unit of  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 5  is a configuration view explaining the flow of coolant in the cooling channel of  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 6  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the seating member of  FIG. 3 , and  FIGS. 7A and 7B  are a top perspective view and a bottom perspective view schematically illustrating the bracket of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a capacitor module  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of capacitors  110 , a cooling case  120  accommodating the capacitors  110 , and a cooling unit  130  disposed in the cooling case  120  to cool side surfaces  111  of the capacitors  110 . 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the cooling unit  130  may include a cooling channel  131  in which coolant flows and which contacts the side surfaces  111  of the plurality of capacitors  110  to cool the side surfaces  111  of the plurality of capacitors  110  through the flow of the coolant, a coolant supply unit  132  supplying the coolant to the cooling channel  131 , and a coolant discharge unit  133  discharging the coolant cooling the side surfaces  111  of the plurality of capacitors  110  from the cooling channel  131 . 
         [0041]    The cooling channel  131  is disposed among the plurality of capacitors  110  to divide the plurality of capacitors  110  from one another in the cooling case  120 , and cools the side surface  111  of each capacitor  110 . 
         [0042]    In this case, the cooling channel  131  is configured to contact the side surface with a wider size among the side surfaces of each capacitor  110 , and thus further improves cooling efficiency of the capacitors  110 . 
         [0043]    Also, as shown in  FIG. 5 , in order to further improve the cooling efficiency on the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110 , the cooling channel  131  may include an upper cooling channel  131   a  and a lower cooling channel  131   b  corresponding to an upper portion and a lower portion of the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110 , respectively, and allowing the coolant to flow in opposite directions with reference to the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110 . 
         [0044]    More specifically, the upper cooling channel  131   a  is located on the upper portion of the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110  to be supplied with the coolant from the coolant supply unit  132  and cool the upper portion of the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110 . 
         [0045]    Also, the lower cooling channel  131   b  is located on the lower portion of the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110  to fluidly communicate with the upper cooling channel  131   a , and is supplied with the coolant from the upper cooling channel  131   a  and cools the lower portion of the side surface  1111  of the capacitor  110 , and then discharges the coolant to the coolant discharge unit  133 . 
         [0046]    The capacitor module  100  according to the exemplary embodiment may further include a heat transfer member  140  disposed between the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110  and the cooling channel  131 . 
         [0047]    The heat transfer member  140  may include a thermal pad made of a silicon material. The thermal pad may contact the cooling channel  131  in close contact with the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110  when the capacitor  110  is accommodated in the cooling case  120 . 
         [0048]    Accordingly, the heat transfer member  140  improves a heat transfer effect between the capacitor  110  and the cooling channel  131  and thus further improves the cooling efficiency of the capacitor  110 . 
         [0049]    The coolant supply unit  132  has a coolant inlet  132   a  through which the coolant flows in and a coolant supply pipe  134  is connected to the coolant inlet  132   a.    
         [0050]    Accordingly, the coolant may be supplied to the coolant supply unit  132  having the coolant inlet  132   a  through the coolant supply pipe  134  from a pump (not shown). 
         [0051]    The coolant discharge unit  133  includes a coolant outlet  133   a  discharging the coolant and a coolant discharge pipe  135  is connected to the coolant outlet  133   a.    
         [0052]    Accordingly, the coolant cooling the side surface  111  of the capacitor  110  may be discharged outside through the coolant discharge pipe  135 . 
         [0053]    The coolant supply unit  132  may be formed to have a volume gradually decreasing from the coolant inlet  132   a  to an opposite side along a side surface of the cooling case  120  in order to minimize pressure loss while supplying the coolant. That is, the coolant supply unit  132  may be formed to have a larger volume at the coolant inlet  132  so that the coolant is uniformly supplied to the upper cooling channel  131   a.    
         [0054]    The coolant discharge unit  133  may be disposed under the coolant supply unit  132  in an inverse form of the coolant supply unit  132  in order to minimize pressure loss while discharging the coolant. 
         [0055]    As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the capacitor module  100  according to the exemplary embodiment may further include a seating member  150  disposed on an inner bottom surface of the cooling case  120  to allow lower end portions of the capacitors  110  to be seated thereon when the capacitors  110  are accommodated in the cooling case  120 . 
         [0056]    In this case, the seating member  150  may include a pad made of a rubber material, and may have a lower end support portion  151  protruding from a seating surface thereof, the lower end support portion  151  fixedly supporting a side surface of the lower end portion of the capacitor  110 . 
         [0057]    Accordingly, the lower end portions of the capacitors  110  are fixedly supported through the seating member  150  so that durability of the capacitor  110  can be improved in response to external vibration and shock due to improved fixing force, when the capacitors  110  are accommodated in the cooling case  120 . 
         [0058]    As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIGS. 7A and 7B , the capacitor module  100  according to the exemplary embodiment may further include a bracket  160  disposed above the cooling case  120  to cover upper end portions of the capacitors  110  when the capacitors  110  are accommodated in the cooling case  120 . 
         [0059]    The bracket  160  may have an upper end support portion  161  protruding therefrom, the upper end support portion  161  fixedly supporting a side surface of the upper end portion of the capacitor  110 . 
         [0060]    Accordingly, the upper end portions of the capacitors  110  are fixedly supported through the bracket  160  so that the durability of the capacitor  110  can be further improved in response to external vibration and shock due to improved fixing force when the capacitors  110  are accommodated in the cooling case  120 . 
         [0061]    The capacitor module  100  according to the exemplary embodiment may include an exterior case protecting the inner parts and forming an exterior, and the exterior case includes a lower case  171  in which the cooling case  120  is seated and fixed, a main body case  172  assembled with the lower case  171  to enclose the cooling case  120 , and an upper case  173  assembled with the main body case  172  to cover the upper end of the cooling case  120 . 
         [0062]    As described above, the capacitor module according to the present invention cools the side surface of the capacitor, which is the main heat emitting portion of the capacitor, so that the cooling efficiency of the capacitor can be maximized. 
         [0063]    Also, the capacitor module according to the present invention securely fixes the capacitor in the cooling case by means of the seating member and the bracket, so that the fixing force of the capacitor can be improved and the capacitor module is invulnerable to vibration and shock. 
         [0064]    Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions, and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. Accordingly, such modifications, additions and substitutions should also be understood to fall within the scope of the present invention.