JP2001345486A - Electronic cooling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimally control each electronic cooling unit, though a plurality of electronic cooling units are used, for smaller size and lower cost as a whole. SOLUTION: There are provided a protective sensor 16 contacting a specified position of a heat sink 15, a switch 12a and reactor 12b connected in series each other, between a DC output terminal and a DC input terminal which, as a DC-DC power source 12, receives DC power from a fun/controller power source 3; a diode 12c connected between a ground and a connection point between the switch 12a and the reactor 12d; a capacitor 12d connected between the ground and a connection point between the reactor 12b and the DC output terminal; and a PWM controller 12e which controls the switch 12a by PWM operation with the control signal from a controller 2 as an input. The output signal from the protective sensor 16 is supplied to the PWM controller 12e as an operation stop command signal, and a current at the output terminal of DC-DC power source 12 is supplied to the PWM controller 12e.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic cooling device which uses a thermoelectric element such as a Peltier element as a cooling source and controls the temperature of an object by controlling the operation of the thermoelectric element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic cooling device for cooling a Peltier element has been proposed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic cooling device.

In this electronic cooling device, a cooling surface member 4 of a Peltier module 41 having a Peltier element as a main component is provided.
2 is thermally connected to the temperature control target 43, the heat-dissipating side of the Peltier module 41 is thermally connected to the heat sink 44, and a fan 45 is provided to promote heat exhaust from the heat sink 44. . Then, the temperature control target 43
A temperature sensor 46 for detecting the temperature of the
And a protection sensor 47 for detecting the temperature of the battery. The power supply for fan / controller 48 receives an AC voltage as input and a power supply 49 for electronic cooling unit. The output from power supply for fan / controller 48 is supplied to fan 45.
And to the controller 50,
The control signal output from the controller 50 is supplied to the power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit to control the output power, and the controlled output power is supplied to the Peltier module 41 for operation. Further, the output signal from the protection sensor 47 is supplied to the power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit, and the temperature sensor 4
6 is supplied to the controller 50.
The controller 50 is supplied with a temperature command.

[0005] If the electronic cooling device having this configuration is adopted, the temperature of the temperature controlled object can be controlled as follows.

In the controller 50, a temperature command and an output signal from the temperature sensor 46 are supplied.
A control signal corresponding to the difference between the two is output and supplied to the power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit. The power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit outputs the output power corresponding to the control signal to operate the Peltier module 41 and cool the temperature control target 43 to the command temperature.

While the above operation is being performed, the fan 45 is operated by the output power from the fan / controller power supply 48 so that the heat from the Peltier module 41 is satisfactorily discharged, and the cooling efficiency of the Peltier module 41 is improved. Keep high. Further, since the output signal from the protection sensor 47 is supplied to the power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit,
In response to the detection of the abnormal state, the operation of the power supply 49 for the electronic cooling unit is stopped, and the Peltier module 4
1, overheat protection, overcurrent protection, and the like.

[0008]

When the electronic cooling device having the above configuration is employed, it is necessary to provide a variable output power source for controlling the Peltier module separately from the power source for the controller and the fan. In addition, there is a disadvantage that the size of the entire apparatus is increased and the cost is increased.

When the number of electronic cooling units having a Peltier module as a main part is increased in order to improve the cooling capacity, the output power from the electronic cooling unit power supply is supplied to all the electronic cooling units. Therefore, it is not possible to optimally control each electronic cooling unit, and in addition, the power supply inevitably increases in capacity, leading to an increase in cost, size, weight, and the like. There is also an inconvenience that it is difficult to obtain such a power supply.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can achieve a reduction in size and cost as a whole. In addition, when a plurality of electronic cooling units are used, each electronic cooling unit can be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic cooling device capable of optimally controlling the temperature.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic cooling unit including a thermoelectric element as a cooling source;
Electronic cooling unit control means for controlling the electronic cooling unit, and as the electronic cooling unit,
A DC input-DC output type power supply for controlling a voltage or a current supplied to the thermoelectric element and a heat discharging member for discharging heat from the thermoelectric element are further employed. A device that outputs a signal and supplies the signal to the power supply is employed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the electronic cooling unit further includes a protection sensor for detecting an abnormal operation state and instructing the power supply to stop output, as the electronic cooling unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the electronic cooling device further includes a PWM control means for controlling a voltage or a current as the power supply, and a power element included in the PWM control means is provided to the heat-dissipating member. And thermally connected.

[0014]

According to the electronic cooling device of the present invention, as the electronic cooling unit, a DC input-DC output type power supply for controlling a voltage or a current supplied to the thermoelectric element, and a waste heat for discharging heat from the thermoelectric element. A member that further includes a member is employed, and a device that outputs an output command signal and supplies the power to the power source is employed as the electronic cooling unit control means, so that it is possible to reduce the size as a whole and reduce costs. Can be achieved. When a plurality of electronic cooling units are provided, each electronic cooling unit can be controlled independently, and each electronic cooling unit can be optimally controlled.

According to the electronic cooling device of the second aspect, the electronic cooling unit further includes a protection sensor for detecting an abnormal operation state and instructing the power supply to stop output. , Overcurrent and overheat protection can be performed in the electronic cooling unit, the load on the electronic cooling unit control means can be reduced, and each electronic cooling unit can be optimally controlled. Can be achieved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the power supply further includes a PWM control means for controlling a voltage or a current as the power supply, and a power element included in the PWM control means is connected to the heat-dissipating member. Is thermally connected to the power element, so that it is not necessary to provide a heat radiation member for heat radiation of the power element, so that the configuration can be simplified and the same operation as in claim 1 or 2 can be achieved. Can be achieved.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the electronic cooling device of the present invention.

The electronic cooling unit includes an electronic cooling unit 1 for cooling a temperature control object 4 to perform temperature control, a controller 2 for supplying a control signal to the electronic cooling unit 1, and an electronic cooling unit 1. A DC / DC output type power supply (hereinafter abbreviated as DC-DC power supply) 12 and a fan / controller power supply 3 for supplying DC power to the controller 2. An output signal from a temperature sensor 5 for detecting the temperature of the temperature control target 4 and a temperature command are supplied to the controller 2.

The electronic cooling unit 1 includes a Peltier module 13 having a Peltier element as a main component, and a cooling surface member provided on the heat absorbing side of the Peltier module 13 and thermally connected to the temperature control target 4. 14, a heat sink 15 thermally connected to the heat discharge side of the Peltier module 13, a fan 11 for promoting heat discharge from the heat sink 15, and a DC-DC power supply 12 provided close to the Peltier module 13. Have.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the electronic cooling unit 12 in an enlarged manner.

As can be seen from FIG.
The protection sensor 16 is provided in contact with the predetermined position. Here, examples of the protection sensor 16 include a thermostat and a thermistor. And DC-DC
The power supply 12 includes a switch 12a and a reactor 12b connected in series between a DC input terminal for receiving DC power from the fan / controller power supply 3 and a DC output terminal, a connection point between the switch 12a and the reactor 12b, and a ground. A diode 12c connected between
Pulse width modulation (PWM) with a capacitor 12d connected between the ground between the connection point between the reactor 12b and the DC output terminal and the ground, and a control signal from the controller 2
And a PWM controller 12e that operates to control the switch 12a. In addition, an output signal from the protection sensor 16 is supplied to the PWM controller 12e as an operation stop instruction signal. Furthermore, a DC-DC power supply 1
2 at the output terminal of the PWM controller 12e
To supply.

The operation of the electronic cooling device having the above configuration is as follows.

When the temperature of the temperature controlled object 4 detected by the temperature sensor 5 and the temperature command are supplied to the controller 2, a control signal corresponding to the difference between the two is generated,
PWM controller 12 included in DC-DC power supply 12
e. The PWM controller 12e performs a PWM operation according to a control signal to control the switch 12a. Then, a DC voltage or a DC current is supplied to the Peltier module 13 through the reactor 12b only while the switch 12a is on. Therefore, the Peltier module 13 is switched according to the ON period of the switch 12a.
The supply voltage or the DC current to the power supply changes, and a cooling operation according to the supply voltage or the DC current can be performed.

When an abnormal state is detected by the protection sensor 16, an abnormal state detection signal is supplied to the PWM controller 12e to keep the switch 12a in the off state, so that the Peltier module 13 when the fan is stopped or the like is stopped. (For example, to prevent the Peltier module from being broken due to melting of the solder beforehand). Furthermore, since the current at the output terminal of the DC-DC power supply 12 is supplied to the PWM controller 12e, overcurrent protection can be performed when the output of the DC-DC power supply 12 is short-circuited.

Since these protections can be performed only in the electronic cooling unit 1, the load on the controller 2 can be reduced.

Further, the present invention can be applied to an electronic cooling device including a plurality of electronic cooling units 1. In this case, by supplying a control signal from the controller 2 to each of the electronic cooling units 1, an optimal control is performed. Can be achieved. Further, since the protection can be performed for each electronic cooling unit 1, even if some of the electronic cooling units 1 are broken down, the operation of the remaining electronic cooling units 1 can be continued. Further, each electronic cooling unit 1 is controlled by a controller (for example, a controller such as a temperature controller).
2 can be connected to the electronic cooling unit 1
Can be easily installed and removed.

Further, since there is no need to provide a variable output power supply outside the electronic cooling unit 1, the overall size and cost can be reduced.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the electronic cooling unit.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the heat-dissipating side of the Peltier module 13 is thermally connected to the heat sink 15, and a power element (FET, diode, etc.) 12g mounted on the DC-DC board 12f. Are also thermally connected to the heat sink 15. Note that DC
-DC board 12f and power element 12g are DC-DC
It is included in the power supply 12.

Therefore, when this configuration is adopted, the heat radiation of the power element 12g can be performed by the heat sink 15, and it is not necessary to provide a heat sink specially for the power element 12g, so that the configuration can be simplified. It can be downsized.

Here, it seems that it is necessary to increase the size of the heat sink 15 in accordance with the heat radiation of the power element 12g, but the heat radiation from the power element 12g is 1/10 to 1/10 of the heat generated by the Peltier module 13. Since it is about 1/20, without increasing the size of the heat sink 15,
Exhaust heat from Peltier module 13 and power element 1
2 g of heat can be dissipated.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the size can be reduced as a whole, the cost can be reduced, and when a plurality of electronic cooling units are provided, each electronic cooling unit is provided. The unit can be controlled independently, and a unique effect that each electronic cooling unit can be optimally controlled is exhibited.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, overcurrent and overheat protection can be performed in the electronic cooling unit, the load on the electronic cooling unit control means can be reduced, and each electronic cooling unit can be optimally controlled. In addition to the above, the same effects as those of the first aspect can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a heat radiation member for radiating the power element, so that the structure can be simplified and the same effects as those of the first or second aspect can be obtained. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an electronic cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing an electronic cooling unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an electronic cooling unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic cooling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic cooling unit 2 Controller 11 Fan 12 DC-DC power supply 12e Power element 13 Peltier module 15 Heat sink 16 Protection sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electronic cooling device comprising: an electronic cooling unit (1) including a thermoelectric element (13) as a cooling source; and an electronic cooling unit control means (2) for controlling the electronic cooling unit (1), The electronic cooling unit (1) includes a DC input-DC output type power supply (12) for controlling a voltage or a current supplied to the thermoelectric element (13) and a heat discharge member for discharging heat from the thermoelectric element (13). (11) The electronic cooling device further comprising (15), wherein the electronic cooling unit control means (2) outputs an output command signal and supplies the output command signal to the power supply (12). . 2. The electronic cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic cooling unit further includes a protection sensor for detecting an abnormal operation state and instructing the power supply to stop output. 3. The power supply (12) further includes a PWM control means (12e) for controlling a voltage or a current, and the power element (12g) included in the PWM control means (12e) includes the heat-dissipating member. The electronic cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, which is thermally connected to (15).