Inverter device with cooling arrangement therefor

Claim 1

A three phase inverter device, comprising: a plurality of semiconductor switching modules, each formed by mounting an IGBT chip and an anti-parallel diode chip connected in parallel with said IGBT chip on an aluminum nitride insulating substrate through a high temperature solder which constitutes either a positive side arm or a negative side arm for respective phases; a plurality of bus bars, each serving to connect a corresponding one of said semiconductor switching modules to either a power source or a load and being positioned around the corresponding one of said semiconductor switching modules; a capacitor being connected between the input bus bars from the power source; and a heat sink made of a material selected from one of aluminum, copper and AlSic, and having a first major surface and a second major surface, said heat sink mounting on the first major surface said semiconductor switching modules through a low temperature solder, said bus bars and said capacitor through an aluminum nitride insulating substrate, the second major surface of said heat sink, corresponding to a portion of the first major surface where said semiconductor switching modules and said bus bars are mounted other than a portion where said capacitor is mounted, is used for forming a water cooling channel for said heat sink, and a plurality of cooling fins with a pitch in a range from 1 mm to 6 mm being provided on the second major surface of said heat sink in the water cooling channel.