Patent Application
20150013941
The present disclosure relates to heat removal components and systems for electronics chassis.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Portable and field operative electronic components/cabinets such as card cages and radio equipment often require the internal components to be sealed from atmospheric contaminants, moisture, dirt and the like. This limits or prevents the use of flow through ventilation to remove equipment generated heat. Known solutions include the use of external cooling fins, finned attachments, block-machined cooling surfaces and the like to remove heat from the internal components of the cabinet by convective/conductive heat transfer through the outer walls of the cabinet, through the fins to the atmosphere.
Limitations of known cooling fin designs include the inability to cover the entire surface area of the cabinet with fins due to mechanical attachment limitations, hot spots occurring within the cabinets or at the heat transfer surfaces where radiant and convective heat transfer between the internal components and the cooling fin connection blocks are located, and the inability to evenly distribute the heat load across the surface of the finned components.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
According to several aspects, a heat-pipe conduction cooling system for an electronics chassis includes a first cabinet portion having multiple first chassis slots. A second cabinet portion has multiple second chassis slots. A third cabinet portion has multiple third chassis slots. Multiple first heat-pipes have a first portion received in individual ones of the first chassis slots and a second portion received in individual ones of the second chassis slots. Multiple second heat-pipes have a first portion received in individual ones of the third chassis slots and a second portion received in individual ones of the second chassis slots.
According to other aspects, a heat-pipe conduction cooling system for an electronics chassis includes a first cabinet portion defining a first chassis wall having multiple first chassis slots. A second cabinet portion defining a bottom chassis wall has multiple second chassis slots. A third cabinet portion defining a second chassis wall has multiple third chassis slots. Multiple first heat-pipes are individually received in the first chassis slots and in first ones of the second chassis slots. Multiple second heat-pipes are individually received in the third chassis slots and in second ones of the second chassis slots.
According to still other aspects, a heat-pipe conduction cooling system for an electronics chassis includes a cabinet first wall having multiple heat transfer sleeves defining multiple first chassis slots. A cabinet bottom wall has multiple second chassis slots. Multiple first heat-pipes each have a vertical leg received in one of the first chassis slots and a horizontal leg received one of the second chassis slots.
According to further aspects, an embedded heat-pipe conduction cooling system for an electronics chassis includes a first chassis wall having multiple heat transfer sleeves defining multiple first chassis slots. A cabinet bottom chassis wall has multiple second chassis slots. A cabinet second chassis wall has multiple heat transfer sleeves defining multiple third chassis slots. Multiple first heat-pipes each have a vertical leg received in one of the first chassis slots and a horizontal leg received in one of the second chassis slots. Multiple second heat-pipes each have a vertical leg received in one of the third chassis slots and a horizontal leg received in one of the second chassis slots. A cold plate in direct contact with the cabinet bottom chassis wall completes a conduction heat path including the vertical leg of the first and second heat-pipes through the horizontal leg of the first and second heat-pipes and the bottom chassis wall.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
Referring to
The horizontal legs 46 of the heat-pipes 40 are individually positioned in one of multiple cavities or second chassis slots 58 created in bottom wall 16 and extending downwardly into bottom wall 16 from an upward facing surface 60 of bottom wall 16. A depth “A” of each of the second chassis slots 58 is less than a thickness “B” of bottom wall 16. According to several aspects, a diameter “C” of the heat-pipes, including at the horizontal legs 46 is substantially equal to the depth “A” of the second chassis slots 58, permitting substantially all (the total diameter “C”) of each horizontal leg 46 to be received within the second chassis slots 58, without extending above surface 60. Opposed first and second walls 62, 64 of each of the second chassis slots 58 are in direct contact with the horizontal leg 46 of each of the heat-pipes 40 to maximize convective heat transfer from the horizontal leg 46 to the bottom wall 16. According to several aspects, to maximize conductive heat transfer, a heat conductive filler 65 such as solder or a heat conductive adhesive is inserted into the second chassis slots 58 after installation of the horizontal legs 46 to substantially fill the portion of the second chassis slots 58 not occupied by the horizontal legs 46. According to other aspects, the first and second walls 62, 64 of the second chassis slots 58 can be curved to substantially equal a radius of curvature corresponding to one-half of diameter “C”, thereby further maximizing the surface area of the horizontal legs 46 available for heat transfer to bottom wall 16.
With continuing reference to
Each of the heat-pipes 66 also includes a horizontal leg 70 which is oppositely directed with respect to the horizontal legs 46 of heat pipes 40. Each horizontal leg 70 of the heat-pipes 66 is disposed in alternate ones of the multiple second chassis slots 58 created in bottom wall 16 such that each horizontal leg 46 is positioned proximate to at least one of the horizontal legs 70. A plurality of first mounting posts 72 are also connected to bottom wall 16 and extend upwardly from surface 60 proximate to first side wall 28. Similarly, a plurality of second mounting posts 74 are connected to bottom wall 16 and extend upwardly from surface 60 proximate to second side wall 34.
Referring to
Referring to
Heat-pipes 40, 66 are embedded in the slots 58, 58′ of the bottom wall 16 of the chassis 10. Those skilled in the art will recognize that when embedded the heat-pipes 40, 66 can be positioned in direct contact with walls of the slots 58, 58′ to maximize conductive heat transfer to bottom wall 16, optionally also covered by the filler material 65 when in direct contact with the walls, or freely slidably received in the slots 58, 58′ with clearance to the walls and covered by the filler material 65 to maximize conductive heat transfer to bottom wall 16. Heat-pipes 40, 66 are similarly embedded in the side walls 28, 34 of the conduction cooled chassis 12 via the heat transfer sleeves 50, 50′ which provide a direct thermal path to the bottom wall 16 of the chassis 10. Heat-pipes 40, 66 can also be covered by the filler material 65 to maximize conductive heat transfer. This highly conductive thermal path provides improved thermal performance by transferring heat from the component boards 84 to the bottom wall 16, and also to the cooling fins where the heat is removed. The horizontal legs 46, 70 of L-shaped heat-pipes 40, 66 of the present disclosure are similarly embedded into the bottom wall 16 of the conduction cooled chassis 10. The exemplary implementation shown in
Referring again to
The present design offers several advantages, including that heat is quickly and efficiently moved from the cards/components to the bottom of the chassis, keeping high power devices, such as CPUs and memories of the electronic boards 84 within their operating limits. The embedded heat-pipes 40, 66 can either allow for an increased operating ambient temperature or higher power cards. Improvement of approximately 15-20%, either as a 15-20% higher operating temperature, or as a 15-20% increase in total system power is expected from the addition of directly contacted heat-pipes 40, 66.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
