Claims:
1. An electrical converter system for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), said system comprising:
a sealed housing made of a heat conductive material; and
a contractible mechanism disposed in said sealed housing, said mechanism configured to be received in said sealed housing in a contracted state thereof, and configured to expand when received in said sealed housing, said mechanism configured to facilitate mounting of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) having Integrated Circuit (IC) chips thereon, and facilitate abutting of said Integrated Circuit (IC) chips to an inner surface of said sealed housing when said mechanism expands in said sealed housing, thereby increasing conductive heat transfer area to increase heat transfer from said Integrated Circuit (IC) chips to said sealed housing.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contractible mechanism includes:
a pair of support members arranged in a spaced apart configuration; and
a plurality of holding members coupled to an operative outer surface of said support members via spring and rod assemblies, said mechanism is contracted when said holding members are pressed towards said support members, thereby compressing said spring.
3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said support members has a closed profile defined by a plurality of connected elements.
4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said holding members are coupled to said connected elements in a one-to-one relationship.
5. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said housing comprises a pair of frames connected to said support members, said frames having a passage configured to facilitate passing of electric cables therethrough.
6. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said spring and rod assemblies comprises:
a rod secured to said holding member via a cotter pin; and
a spring disposed between said support member and respective holding member, said rod passes through said spring.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing has a polygonal shape defined by a plurality of edges.
8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein number of edges of said polygonal housing is equal to number of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) to be mounted.
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing is waterproof.
10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said converter system is a DC/DC converter system.
11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system includes heat sinks configured on an external surface of said housing.
12. An apparatus for increasing heat transfer from a heated element, said apparatus comprising:
a heat conductive surface having surface area more than the surface area of the heated element; and
a contractible mechanism including a spring loaded holding member configured to support said heated element thereon and facilitate continuous contact between said heat conductive surface and said heated element, thereby increasing the conductive heat transfer area to increase heat transfer from said heated element.
13. A method of increasing heat transfer from a heated element, said method comprising the steps of:
mounting at least one heated element on a contractible mechanism; and
abutting said heated element to a heat conductive surface via said contractible mechanism, thereby maximizing conductive heat transfer area of said heated element to dissipate heat from said heated element.
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10, Rule 13]

AN ELECTRICAL CONVERTER SYSTEM FOR A REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE (ROV)

PLANYS TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD,, A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE LAWS OF INDIA, WHOSE ADDRESS IS NO. 5, JAYA NAGAR EXTENSION, BALAJI NAGAR MAIN ROAD, G.K. AVENUE, PUZHUTHIVAKKAM, CHENNAI – 600091, INDIA

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of converter systems of remotely operated vehicles (ROV).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Mobile applications, such as underwater vehicles, are either powered by an on-board power supply using batteries or from a tethered power supply carrying high voltage current. In tethered mobile applications, the length of the tether is determined by the power losses incurred in transmission and conversion. The current passing through the tether is either Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC). An AC power transmission can affect the communication to the mobile application due to the electromagnetic interferences with the signals. This leads to the requirement of shielding on the cables, which leads to a heavy cable assembly. The aforementioned problem of AC transmission can be mitigated if a DC power transmission is used. However, for long distance transmission of DC power, high voltage needs to be transmitted. A Converter system is provided with the mobile application that converts high voltage current into a low voltage current which is further utilized by various systems of the mobile application. The converter system includes a plurality of converters, wherein each converter typically includes an Integrated Circuit (IC) chips. During operation, the ICs generate heat which results in increase in temperature of the ICs. If this generated heat is not dissipated properly, the temperature of the ICs increases beyond the optimum operating temperature range for the ICs which results in complete shutdown of the ICs. To tackle this problem, conventional housings for the converter systems are provided with fins. However, these housings fail to keep the temperature of ICs in optimum range. Further, existing housings are bulky in shape. Accessing components disposed in these housing is a cumbersome task.
Therefore, there is felt a need of a converter system for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), that alleviates the aforementioned drawbacks of the conventional converter systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An electrical converter system for a remotely controlled vehicle comprises a hollow sealed housing and a contractible mechanism. The sealed housing is made of a heat conductive material. The mechanism is disposed within the sealed housing. The mechanism is configured to be received in the sealed housing in a contracted state thereof, and is configured to expand when received in the sealed housing. The mechanism is configured to facilitate mounting of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) having Integrated Circuit (IC) chips thereon, and facilitate abutting of the Integrated Circuit (IC) chips to an inner surface of the sealed housing when the mechanism expands in the sealed housing, thereby increasing conductive heat transfer area to increase heat transfer from the Integrated Circuit (IC) chips to the sealed housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of an electrical converter system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 2 illustrates an isometric view of a housing of the electrical converter system of figure 1.
Figure 3 illustrates an isometric view of a contractible mechanism of the electrical converter system of figure 1.
Figure 4 illustrates a front view of the contractible mechanism of figure 3.
Figure 5 illustrates an enlarged schematic view of the contractible mechanism of figure 1 depicting mounting arrangement for an electrical component on the mechanism.
Figure 6 illustrates another enlarged schematic view of the contractible mechanism of figure 1 depicting abutment of an electrical component with an inner surface of the housing.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
100 – Electrical converter system
110 – Housing
115 – Heat sinks on housing
120 – O-ring
130 – Mechanism
140 – Support members
140a – First support member
140b – Second support member
145 – Connected elements
150 – Holding members
160 – Spring and rod assemblies
165 – Rod
170 – Spring
175 – Cotter pin
180 – Frames
185 – Heat sinks
200 – PCB
205 – IC
207, 209 – Surfaces of a component

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Although specific terms are used in the following description for sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to particular structure of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.
References in the specification to “an embodiment” mean that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
The present invention relates to an electrical converter system for a remotely operated vehicle. The remotely operated vehicles include, but not limited to, drones, underwater vehicles, underwater electric applications, and the like.
The present disclosure also envisages an apparatus for increasing heat transfer from a heated element. The apparatus comprises a heat conductive surface and a contractible mechanism. The heat conductive surface has a surface area more than the surface area of the heated element. The contractible mechanism includes a spring loaded holding member configured to support the heated element thereon and facilitate continuous contact between the heat conductive surface and the heated element. This increases the conductive heat transfer area to increase heat transfer from the heated element.
The present disclosure further envisages a method of increasing heat transfer from a heated element. The method comprises following steps:
• mounting at least one heated element on a contractible mechanism; and
• abutting the heated element to a heat conductive surface via the contractible mechanism, thereby maximizing conductive heat transfer area of the heated element to dissipate heat from the heated element.
The apparatus and the method are now described with reference to an electrical converter system. Here, the apparatus is analogous to an electrical converter system, and the heat conductive surface is analogous an inner surface of a housing of the electrical converter system.
The electrical converter system is now described with reference to Figure 1 to Figure 6.
Referring to Figure 1, an electrical converter system (100), in accordance with an embodiment is shown. The electrical converter system (100) comprises a hollow sealed housing (110) and a contractible mechanism (130). The housing (110) is made of a thermally conductive material. Further, heat sinks (115) are configured on an external surface of the housing (110). The heat sinks (115) can be in the form of slots configured on the housing (110) or can be in the form of fins configured on the housing (110). The heat sinks (115) and the thermally conductive housing (110) facilitates maximum heat transfer from interior of the housing (110) to exterior of the housing (110).
The housing (110) is made waterproof. This makes the housing (110) suitable for underwater applications. Various seals, such as an O-ring (120), are provided on the housing (110) to prevent water ingress therein and to seal the housing (110).
The housing (110) can have any suitable shape. In an embodiment, the housing (110) has polygonal shape. The number of edges of the polygonal housing (110) is equal to number of components to be mounted in the housing (110).
The contractible mechanism (hereafter also referred to as mechanism) (130) is disposed within the housing (110). The mechanism (130) is configured to expand and contract. The mechanism (130) is configured to be received in the housing (110) in contracted state thereof, and further configured to expand when received in the housing (110). The mechanism (130) is configured to facilitate mounting of the components of the converter system, which generate heat during their operation, thereon. Further, the mechanism (130) facilitates abutting of the components to an inner surface of the housing (110) when the mechanism (130) expands in the housing (110). Due to abutment, the surface area available for the conductive heat transfer increases. This results in increase in heat dissipation from the heated components of the system.
The mechanism (130) comprises a pair of support members (140) and a plurality of holding members (150). The support members (140) are arranged in a spaced apart configuration. In an embodiment, each of the support members (140) has a frame like structure defined by a plurality of connected elements (145). The connected elements (145) can be rigid plates or rods connected to each other. In another embodiment, the elements (145) are so connected that they form a closed profile. The support members (140) can have any suitable shape. Typically, the shape of the support members (140) is complementary to the shape of an inner surface of the housing (110). In an embodiment, the support members (140) have a polygonal shape defined by the connected elements (145). Typically, the number of elements (145) of the polygonal support members (140) is equal to the number of components to be mounted on the mechanism (130). The connected elements (145) are made of a metallic material.
The support members (140) define a space to facilitate easy access to the components within housing (110) and to provide passage for electrical cables.
The holding members (150) are coupled to an operative outer surface of the support members (140) via spring and rod assemblies (160). More specifically, one end of each of the holding members (150) is coupled to a first support member (140a), whereas the other end of the holding members (150) is coupled to a second support member (140b). Typically, each end of the holding members (150) is coupled to the support members (140) using two spring and rod assemblies (160). In an embodiment, the holding members (150) are coupled to the connected elements (145) in a one-to-one relationship. More specifically, number of holding members (150) is equal to the number of connected elements (145) of the support members (140). For example, six holding members (150) are coupled to the support members (140) having a hexagonal shape. In another embodiment, more than one holding member (150) is coupled to single connected elements (145) of each of the support members (140).
The components of the converter system are securely mounted on the holding members (150). The shape and configuration of the holding members (150) is determined as the shape, configuration, and type of the components to be mounted thereon. In an embodiment, the holding members (150) are rectangular frames. In another embodiment, the components are converters in the form of Printed Circuit Boards (200) (PCB) having Integrated Circuit (IC) chips (205) of a converter system, typically, a DC/DC converter system. The PCBs (200) are mounted on the holding members (150) such that when the mechanism (130) expands in the housing (110), the IC chips (205) of the PCBs tightly abuts against the inner surface of the housing (110), thereby maximizing heat transfer between the ICs (205) and the housing (110).
To prevent current loss through the hosing, strips of thermally conductive but electrically insulating material are inserted between each IC chip and the inner surface of the housing (110).
In an embodiment, a single component is mounted on each holding member (150). In another embodiment, more than one component is mounted on each holding member (150).
Each of the spring and rod assemblies (160) comprises a rod (165) and a spring (170) circumscribing the rod (165). The spring (170) is arranged between the holding member (150) and respective connected element (145) such that when the holding member (150) is pressed towards the connected element (145), the spring (170) gets compressed. The rod (165) passes through the spring (170). One end of the rod (165) is secured to a connected element (145), whereas the other end of the rod (165) is secured to the respective holding member (150). In an embodiment, the rod (165) is secured to the holding member (150) via a cotter pin (175).
The mechanism (130) comprises a pair of frames (180) connected to the support members (140). The frames (180) have a passage configured to facilitate passing of electric cables therethrough. Typically, the frames (180) are orthogonally connected to the support members (140) near operative ends of the housing (110).
In an operative configuration, the Printed Circuit Boards (200) (PCB) are mounted on the holding members (150) of the mechanism (130). Electrical connections in the form of cables are established with Printed Circuit Boards (200) (PCB) and other components of the system (100). To insert the mechanism (130) in the housing (110), all the holding members (150) are pressed towards the support members (140), thereby compressing the springs (170). The mechanism (130) is now in contracted state. The mechanism (130) in then inserted in the housing (110). Once the mechanism (130) is fully inserted in the housing (110), the tension on the holding members (150) is released. This allows the springs (170) to expand within the housing (110), thereby pushing the holding members (150) towards the inner walls of the housing (110). The configuration and size of the mechanism (130) and the tension in the spring are determined such that when the springs (170) expand in the housing (110), the Integrated Circuit chips (205) mounted on the holding members (150) tightly abut or are pressed against the inner surface of the housing (110). This maximizes the heat transfer between the Integrated Circuit chips (205) and the housing (110), thereby preventing shutdown of the converter system due to excess heating.
The cables are taken out of the housing (110) and conveyed to the controlling unit of the vehicle (ROV). The space around the cables at the opening of the housing (110) is filled with a rigid epoxy material to prevent ingress of fluid surrounding the housing (110) into the housing (110).
A plurality of heat sinks (185) are provided proximal to the components mounted on the holding members (150). The components, specifically the ICs, of the converter system, dissipate heat from an operative top and bottom surface thereof. Typically, one surface (207) of the components is kept in direct physical contact with the inner surface of the housing (110). The housing (110) further dissipates heat from the components into the fluid environment surrounding the housing (110). The heat sinks (185) help in dissipating heat from the other surface (209) of the components. To maximize the heat transfer, a thermally conductive tape is sandwiched between every mechanical interface between the housing (110) and the internal heat dissipating parts. The aforementioned measures ensure that the components of the converter system operate in optimal temperature range.
The power density of the system (100) is 22 W/cu-in whereas other systems typically achieve around 10 W/cu-in
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others, skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omission and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient, but such are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.