Patent ID: 8462531

Claim:
A power inverter, comprising: a first power module having a plurality of switching devices, and a DC terminal; a second power module having a plurality of switching devices; a capacitor; a positive busbar connecting an electrode of the capacitor to a first side of the DC terminal of the first power module; a negative busbar connecting the other electrode of the capacitor to a second side of the DC terminal of the first power module; a coolant portion having a coolant passage; a chassis that houses the first and second power modules, the capacitor, the positive busbar, the negative busbar, and the coolant portion; a capacitor module that smoothes DC electricity and supplies smoothed DC electricity to the first power module and the second power module; a control circuit board controlling a switching of the switching device of the first power module; a base plate on which the control circuit board is mounted; and a lower case; wherein: a maximum conversion electric power of the second power module is smaller than a maximum conversion electric power of the first power module; an interior portion of the chassis is divided into a first region and a second region; the first power module is disposed in the first region; the second power module is disposed in the second region; the capacitor is disposed in the second region; the positive busbar and the negative busbar cross a space between the first region and the second region; the capacitor module is disposed at a cover for covering an opening formed at the second region, and a heat conduction passage is formed between the cover and the capacitor module; the second power module is disposed in the second region at the coolant passage while keeping a predetermined space between the second power module and the capacitor module, and auxiliary power module terminals extend from the capacitor module and are connected to the second power module across the predetermined space; the chassis has a first opening facing the first region and a second opening facing of the second region; the base plate is fixed to the chassis so that the base plate covers the first opening; the lower case is fixed to the chassis so that the lower case covers the second opening; and the capacitor is disposed on the lower case.