Patent ID: 7760060

Claim:
A vehicle transformer comprising: a tank; a cooling unit for cooling a cooling medium filling the tank; a circulating pump for forcibly circulating the cooling medium through the tank interior; a core disposed in the tank interior and including a center leg; a winding disposed in the tank interior and comprising a plurality of coil plates each including a winding wound about an axis around the center leg, the coil plates being spaced apart along said axis by insulating washers which are interposed between adjacent coil plates to define cooling medium paths between the adjacent coil plates; and a partition structure disposed within the tank interior for forming therein first and second cooling medium channels, the partition structure including partition spacers disposed on the insulating washers and extending between adjacent coil plates, wherein a first portion of each cooling medium path is disposed in the first cooling medium channel, and a second portion of each cooling medium path is disposed in the second cooling medium channel, the first and second cooling medium channels communicating with one another through a communication part disposed at a first end side of the tank, the first cooling medium channel arranged to receive cooling medium from the cooling unit through an inlet disposed at a second end side of the tank opposite the first end side, and the second cooling medium channel arranged to discharge cooling medium to the cooling unit through an outlet disposed at the second end side of the tank, wherein cooling medium enters the first cooling medium channel through the inlet and passes through the first portions of the cooling medium paths in a direction transversely of the axis, then travels into the second cooling medium channel via the communication part and passes through the second portions of the cooling medium paths in a direction transversely to the axis before exiting the tank through the outlet.