Patent Application
20210298203
This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 109108844 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Mar. 17, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an automotive electronic device and, in particular, to an automotive electronic device suitable for operation under a high temperature environment.
The operating environment of the automotive device is mostly high temperature, outdoor, or even enclosed in the vehicle. The automotive electronic device must be durable and maintain normal operation under such operating environments, and it will not be damaged while being exposed to high temperature for a long time. Since the components in the automotive electronic device still generate heat and operate under high temperature, it is needed to dissipate the heat of the components outside the casing through the heat dissipation mechanism of the automotive electronic device.
In the past, if an automotive electronic device was expected to operate in a temperature range of −30° C. to 70° C., an aluminum extruded casing could meet the thermal resistance requirements under this temperature condition. However, under more severe conditions, the automotive electronic device is expected to operate in an environment below 85° C., but the components may generate heat of a higher temperature than the operating environment during operation. Under such an expected temperature environment, the heatsink of the casing of the automotive electronic device can adopt the general method to meet the thermal resistance requirements under this condition. The general method is to determine the intervals of the fins of the heatsink based on the process limit. The fins of the heatsink of the casing manufactured by die-casting process generally have intervals of about 3 mm. This method is also to arrange the fins of the heatsink as close as possible to increase the number of fins and thus increase the total fin area, but this design will cause the bad natural convection effect.
However, the above methods cannot satisfy the severe thermal resistance requirement and the expected operation environment for the automotive electronic device at the temperature of 95° C.
In view of the foregoing, this disclosure is to provide an automotive electronic device suitable for operation under a high temperature environment.
In one embodiment, an automotive electronic device durable in an automotive environment of at least 95° C. comprises a bottom cover, a circuit board and a heatsink casing. The circuit board is installed on the bottom cover. The heatsink casing is assembled with the bottom cover and covers the circuit board between the heatsink casing and the bottom cover. The heatsink casing comprises an outer surface, a plurality of long fins and a plurality of side fins. The long fins are arranged on the outer surface along a first direction, and two adjacent ones of the long fins have a distance at least greater than 8 mm. The side fins are arranged on an edge of the outer surface along a second direction and connected to one of the long fins.
In one embodiment, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, main axes of the long fins are disposed along the second direction, main axes of the side fins are disposed along the first direction, and the heatsink casing and the bottom cover are assembled to form a closed space for accommodating the circuit board so as to provide dustproof and waterproof to the circuit board.
In one embodiment, the outer surface comprises a plurality of regions with different heights, the regions are individually disposed between two adjacent ones of the long fins so as to form grooves with different depths for providing different heat convection effects.
In one embodiment, a lower part of the outer surface is formed with a concave portion, the concave portion has a thicker casing thickness, and the concave portion is located right above a communication module or a processor of the circuit board.
In one embodiment, the side fins are perpendicular to the long fins, and the side fins are parallel to a gravity direction for inducing a heat convection on the outer surface by a hot air buoyancy.
In one embodiment, the heatsink casing is an aluminum die-casting casing, and the bottom cover is an aluminum stamping casing or an aluminum die-casting casing.
In one embodiment, the electronic device further comprises a component unit and a heat conductive element. The component unit is disposed on the circuit board, and a gap between the component unit and the heatsink casing is less than 0.5 mm. The heat conductive element is filled in the gap, and a thickness of the heat conductive element in the gap is less than 0.5 mm.
In one embodiment, the bottom cover further comprises a protruding platform disposed right underneath a communication module or a processor of the circuit board. A gap between the circuit board and the protruding platform is less than 2 mm, a heat conductive element is filled in the gap, and a thickness of the heat conductive element in the gap is less than 0.2 mm.
In one embodiment, the heat conductive element is a heat conductive paste, a heat conductive pad, or a heat conductive putty.
In one embodiment, the automotive electronic device comprises a battery, the heatsink casing comprises a battery cover, the battery and the side fins are disposed at two opposite sides of the automotive electronic device, the battery cover comprises a recess portion, and the recess portion covers above the battery and contacts the battery through a heat conductive element for dissipating a heat of the battery.
In one embodiment, the electronic device further comprises a heat conductive medium disposed on the circuit board and contacting the heatsink casing or the bottom cover.
In one embodiment, a distance between two adjacent ones of the long fins is wide enough for a hot air to rise between the long fins, thereby carrying an upper air to flow downwardly to supplement a space where the hot air originally stays for enhancing a heat convection efficiency.
In one embodiment, the automotive electronic device comprises a plurality of terminal joints individually disposed at sides of the heatsink casing, the heatsink casing comprises a plurality of joint covers disposed over the terminal joints, and the joint covers are substantially the same height as the long fins, and in a view from a top of the heatsink casing, two of the long fins and the joint covers surround four sides of a groove to enclose the groove, so that air is forbidden to flow directly into the groove through the four sides of the groove, and a width of the groove is configured to help a relatively cold air above the groove to enter the groove to induce a heat convection.
As mentioned above, in the automotive electronic device of this disclosure, the distance between two adjacent long fins is at least greater than 8 mm, which is obviously larger than the intervals (3 mm) of the fins of the conventional heatsink manufactured based on the process limit and the close arrangement rule. Since the distance of this disclosure is wide enough, more air can be carried to flow downwardly to supplement the original space of the hot air after the hot air rises between the fins. Compared with the conventional design (the interval of 3 mm between the fins), this disclosure can provide a better convection effect and increase the airflow circulation under the condition of maintaining or sacrificing some fins within the same surface area. Accordingly, the automotive electronic device of this disclosure is durable in the automotive environment of at least 95° C.
In addition, compared with the design of disposing the long fins parallel to the long sides, the long fins and the short sides of the heatsink casing are in parallel along the second direction, so that the length of the fins can be reduced so as to decrease the flowing distance of air after entering the interval between the fins. This configuration can decrease the flowing resistance and the pressure loss, and increase the heat exchange coefficient. Moreover, the side fins are perpendicular to the long fins, and the surfaces of the side fins are parallel to the gravity direction. Thus, the heat convection generated by the hot air buoyancy can be effectively utilized. Furthermore, the gap between the component unit and the heatsink casing is less than 0.5 mm, the heat conductive element is filled in the gap, and the thickness of the heat conductive element in the gap is less than 0.5 mm. This configuration can sufficiently decrease the heat transfer resistance. Accordingly, the automotive electronic device of this disclosure can be durable in the automotive environment of at least 95° C., and the additional fan is unnecessary. In this disclosure, only the natural convection is enough for dissipating the heat, thereby maintaining the stable operation of the electronic components inside the device.
The disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are given for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present disclosure, and wherein:
The present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.
The circuit board 12 is installed on the bottom cover 13. For example, the circuit board 12 can be a printed circuit board, a flexible circuit board, or the like. The circuit board 12 can be configured with one or more component units 14 such as the battery, active element, passive element and the likes (e.g. chips, antennas, resistors, capacitors, inductors, or the likes). The heat of the circuit board 12 and the component units can be dissipated to outside through the heatsink casing 11 and/or the bottom cover 13. Regarding an automotive chip, the upper limit of the tolerable operating temperature is about 115° C. In the general vehicle conditions, the temperature of the chip will be about 10° C. higher than the environment. If the vehicle temperature reaches 95° C., the temperature of the chip will be at least 95° C. or more, or even at least 105° C. or more, and the temperature of the heatsink casing 11 will be at least 95° C. or more.
The heatsink casing 11 is assembled with the bottom cover 13 and covers the circuit board 12 between the heatsink casing 11 and the bottom cover 13. The heatsink casing 11 and the bottom cover 13 can be assembled to form a closed space for accommodating the circuit board 12. This configuration can provide the protections (e.g. dustproof and waterproof) to the components inside the automotive electronic device such as the circuit board 12 or the component units.
As viewing from the top of the figures, the shapes of the heatsink casing 11 and the circuit board 12 are rectangles. The long sides of the heatsink casing 11 and the circuit board 12 are arranged along a first direction D1, and the short sides of the heatsink casing 11 and the circuit board 12 are arranged along a second direction D2. The first direction D1 can be perpendicular to the second direction D2. In addition, in other embodiments, the heatsink casing 11 may have a different shape, and the shape of the heatsink casing 11 depends on the shape of the circuit board 12.
The heatsink casing 11 comprises an outer surface 111, a plurality of long fins 112, and a plurality of side fins 113. The long fins 112 are arranged on the outer surface 111 along the first direction D1, and two adjacent ones of the long fins 112 have a distance G1, which is at least greater than 8 mm. The main axis of each long fin 112 is arranged along the second direction D2 and is parallel to the short sides of the heatsink casing 11. The long fins 112 can be perpendicular to the outer surface 111.
The side fins 113 are arranged on an edge of the outer surface 111 along the second direction D2 and connected to one of the long fins 112. The main axis of each side fin 113 is disposed along the first direction D1. The side fins 113 can be perpendicular to the outer surface 111. In addition, the side fins 113 are parallel to a gravity direction D3. That is, the normal direction of the outer surface 111 can be parallel to the gravity direction D3.
The outer surface 111 comprises a plurality of regions 1111 and 1112 with different heights. The region 1112 is lower than the region 1111 so as to form a concave portion, which can allow the heatsink casing 11 to be closer to the heat source. The regions 1111 and 1112 are individually disposed between two adjacent ones of the long fins 112 so as to form a groove 117 with different depths or multiple grooves individually having different depths for providing different heat convection effects. The outer surface 111 and the long fins 112 with different heights can also form the grooves with different depths for providing different heat convection effects. The grooves 117 with different depths can be formed by configuring the regions 1111 and 1112 with different heights and/or the long fins 112 with different heights. The regions with different depths can be applied to the heat sources with different heat levels or different structural shapes. For example, as shown in
Referring to
In addition, the automotive electronic device 1 further comprises a battery 18. The battery 18 and the side fins 113 are disposed at two opposite sides S3 and S4 of the automotive electronic device 1, respectively. The battery 18 is disposed at the side S4 for preventing the influence of heat dissipation. The heatsink casing 11 comprises a battery cover 116, which covers the battery 18. The battery cover 116 comprises a recess portion 1161, and the recess portion 1161 covers above the battery 18 and contacts the battery 18 through a heat conductive element for dissipating a heat of the battery 18. The long fins 112 may have different lengths. For example, the long fin 1123 located next to the battery cover 116 is shorter.
As shown in
In addition, compared with the design of disposing the long fins parallel to the long sides, the long fins 112 and the short sides of the heatsink casing 11 are in parallel along the second direction D2, so that the length of the fins can be reduced so as to decrease the flowing distance of air after entering the interval between the long fins 112. This configuration can decrease the flowing resistance and the pressure loss, and increase the heat exchange coefficient so as to increase the heat dissipating effect.
Regarding the groove 118 (four sides of the groove 118 are blocked), in the case adopting the conventional design (3 mm), no external air can enter the groove 118 through the four sides of the groove 118, and only the natural convection is applied to dissipating heat under the environment of over 95° C. Thus, the amount of the relatively cold air located above the long fins 112 flowing downwardly into the groove 118 is limited, so that the air convection is poor and the heat is almost not dissipated. In the design of this disclosure, the above problem can be effectively solved, thereby improving the heat convection and enhancing the heat convection efficiency. Accordingly, this disclosure is suitable for the operation environment of at least 95° C. Of course, this disclosure also works in the case of the groove 119, wherein three sides of the groove 119 are blocked.
As shown in
Referring to
The bottom cover 13 further comprises a protruding platform 131, which protrudes from the bottom cover 13 towards the heatsink casing 11. A gap G3 between the circuit board 12 and the protruding platform 131 is less than 2 mm, a heat conductive element 16 is filled in the gap G3, and a thickness of the heat conductive element 16 in the gap G3 is less than 0.2 mm. The heat conductive element 16 can be a heat conductive paste, a heat conductive pad, or a heat conductive putty. For example, the heat conductive paste is a heat conductive AB glue. As shown in
In addition, if the heat dissipation requirement of the heat source gets higher, it is possible to form the concave portion of the casing above the heat source and the protruding platform of the bottom cover 13 below the heat source, so that the heat of the heat source can be dissipated through the upper side and the lower side.
The electronic device may further comprise a heat conductive medium 17. The heat conductive medium 17 can be disposed on the upper surface of the circuit board 12 and contact the heatsink casing 11. Alternatively, the heat conductive medium 17 can be disposed on the lower surface of the circuit board 12 and contact the bottom cover 13. For example, the heat conductive medium 17 is a heat conductive AB glue. The thickness of the heat conductive medium 17 can be less than 0.5 mm or, preferably, less than 0.2 mm. The heat conductive medium 17 may encapsulate some components.
The gap between the component (unit) and the heatsink casing can be filled by the heat conductive element or medium for decreasing the thermal resistance. The thermal resistance of thermal conduction is directly proportional to the thickness of the heat conductive medium and inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity coefficient. Therefore, reducing the thickness of the heat conductive medium to less than 0.5 mm can greatly reduce the thermal resistance of thermal conduction. The gap G2 between the component unit 14 and the heatsink casing 11 is less than 0.5 mm. Therefore, the thickness of the heat conductive element 15 in the gap G2 is less than 0.5 mm, which can greatly reduce the thermal resistance of thermal conduction. Similarly, the thickness of the heat conductive element 16 in the gap G3 is less than 0.2 mm, and the thickness of the heat conductive medium 17 can be less than 0.5 mm, or even less than 0.2 mm, which can greatly reduce the thermal resistance of thermal conduction.
In the past, the heat conductive medium also provides the function of absorbing assembly tolerances, so a thicker heat conductive medium with the compressible property is used. In order to cover the range of possible gaps, and to reduce the reaction force after compression to avoid excessive deformation of the circuit board, the thickness of the thermal conductive medium is usually more than 2 mm. However, if the thickness of the heat conductive medium is increased and the thermal resistance is to be reduced, a heat conductive medium with a high thermal conductivity coefficient must be used. However, the heat conductive medium with a high thermal conductivity coefficient may lead to the increase of hardness and decrease of compression. Therefore, the heat conductive medium must be thicker, which leads to a vicious cycle of design. In contrast, the automotive electronic device of this disclosure can avoid the above-mentioned vicious cycle.
In summary, in the automotive electronic device of this disclosure, the distance between two adjacent long fins is at least greater than 8 mm, which is obviously larger than the intervals (3 mm) of the fins of the conventional heatsink manufactured based on the process limit and the close arrangement rule. Since the distance of this disclosure is wide enough, more air can be carried to flow downwardly to supplement the original space of the hot air after the hot air rises between the fins. Compared with the conventional design (the interval of 3 mm between the fins), this disclosure can provide a better convection effect and increase the airflow circulation under the condition of maintaining or sacrificing some fins within the same surface area. Accordingly, the automotive electronic device of this disclosure is durable in the automotive environment of at least 95° C.
In addition, compared with the design of disposing the long fins parallel to the long sides, the long fins and the short sides of the heatsink casing are in parallel along the second direction, so that the length of the fins can be reduced so as to decrease the flowing distance of air after entering the interval between the fins. This configuration can decrease the flowing resistance and the pressure loss, and increase the heat exchange coefficient. Moreover, the side fins are perpendicular to the long fins, and the surfaces of the side fins are parallel to the gravity direction. Thus, the heat convection generated by the hot air buoyancy can be effectively utilized. Furthermore, the gap between the component unit and the heatsink casing is less than 0.5 mm, the heat conductive element is filled in the gap, and the thickness of the heat conductive element in the gap is less than 0.5 mm. This configuration can sufficiently decrease the heat transfer resistance. Accordingly, the automotive electronic device of this disclosure can be durable in the automotive environment of at least 95° C., and the additional fan is unnecessary. In this disclosure, only the natural convection is enough for dissipating the heat, thereby maintaining the stable operation of the electronic components inside the device.
Although the disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 109108844 | Mar 2020 | TW | national |
