Patent ID: 8299664

Claim:
A drive apparatus comprising: an electric motor that includes: a motor case that is configured into a tubular form; a stator that is placed radially inward of the motor case and has a plurality of winding wires wound at the stator to form a plurality of phases; a rotor that is placed radially inward of the stator; and a shaft that is rotatable integrally with the rotor; and at least one semiconductor module, each of which includes: a semiconductor chip that is adapted to switch an electric current, which flows through each corresponding one of the plurality of winding wires; an encapsulation body that covers the semiconductor chip; and at least one special terminal that is embedded in the encapsulation body, wherein: the motor case includes at least one engaging portion that corresponds to the at least one special terminal; the at least one special terminal projects from the encapsulation body and is engaged with the at least one engaging portion to limit a positional deviation of the semiconductor module relative to the motor case; the motor case includes a heat releasing portion which projects from a wall surface of the motor case; the at least one semiconductor module contacts the heat releasing portion; the encapsulation body of each semiconductor module is configured into a generally parallelepiped form; six surfaces of the encapsulation body includes: back and front surfaces, which are opposed to each other and generally parallel to a chip surface of the semiconductor chip; bottom and top surfaces, which are opposed to each other and are generally perpendicular to the back and front surfaces; right and left lateral surfaces, which are opposed to each other and are generally perpendicular to the back and front surfaces and the bottom and top surfaces; the semiconductor module is positioned such that the back surface of the encapsulation body contacts the heat releasing portion; the at least one engaging portion includes an engaging portion that is formed in a right terminal receiving portion, which projects from the wall surface of the motor case; and the at least one special terminal includes a special terminal, which projects from the right lateral surface of the encapsulation body and is received in a groove formed in the right terminal receiving portion, so that the special terminal, which projects from the right lateral surface of the encapsulation body, is engaged with the engaging portion formed in the right terminal receiving portion.