1. Technical Field
This application relates generally to a power converter equipped with a semiconductor module and a capacitor working to smooth the voltage applied to the semiconductor module.
2. Background Art
FIG. 43 illustrates a conventional power converter 9, as taught in Japanese Patent First Publication No. 2010-119274, which works to perform power conversion between DC power and AC power. The power converter consists of a plurality of semiconductor modules 92 in which semiconductor devices are installed and a cooling pipe which dissipates thermal energy from the semiconductor modules 92.
Each of the semiconductor modules 92 includes a plurality of power terminals 98 and control terminals 921. The power terminals 98 are broken down into a positive terminal 98a to be connected to a positive electrode of a dc power supply (not shown), a negative terminal 98b to be connected to a negative electrode of the dc power supply, and ac terminals 98c to be coupled to an ac load (not shown). The control terminals 921 are coupled to a control circuit board 94. The control circuit board 94 works as a controller to control operations of the semiconductor modules 92 to translate a dc voltage applied to the positive terminal 98a and the negative terminal 98b into an ac voltage which is to be outputted from the ac terminals 98c. 
The power terminals 98a to 98c are coupled to bus bars 99 (i.e., a positive bus bar 99a, a negative bus bar 99b, and an ac bus bar 99c). Specifically, the power terminals 98a and 98b are joined to the dc power supply through the positive terminal 98a and the negative terminal 98b. The ac terminal 98c is joined to the ac load. A smoothing capacitor 97 is connected to the positive bus bar 99a and the negative bus bar 99b. 
The control circuit board 94 has fabricated thereon a voltage detector which monitors the voltage developed at the smoothing capacitor 97. The monitored voltage is used for controlling the operation of the ac load. The smoothing capacitor 97 is coupled to the voltage detector through wires 95 and an electric connector 96.
The power converter 9, however, faces the problem that the assembling of the power converter 9 requires two discrete steps: one is to join the semiconductor modules 92 to the control circuit board 94, and the other is to connect the smoothing capacitor 97 to the control circuit board 94.
Specifically, the production of the power converter 9 needs two connecting steps of putting the control terminals 921 into connector holes 93 formed in the control circuit board 94 and then drawing the wires 95 from the smoothing capacitor 97 to joint them to the connector 96.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds