Patent Application
20060144558
This invention relates to heat dissipating technology, and more particularly, to a fan-driven heat dissipating device with enhanced air blowing efficiency which is designed for use in conjunction with an integrated circuit device, for dissipating the heat produced by the integrated circuit device during operation.
Integrated circuit devices, such as CPU (Central Processing Unit) or logic circuit chips, would normally produce large amounts of heat due to consumption of electrical power during operation. If this heat is undissipated and accumulated within the chip, it would result in burnout of electrical components in the, chip, causing the chip to fail to operate normally. One solution to this problem is to provide a heat-dissipating device, such as an electrical fan, for dissipating the heat produced by the chip during operation. For example, network servers or desktop computers are customarily mounted with one or more modularized fan units in the chassis for producing a flow of air to blow away heat in the electronic system during operation.
Patents related to fan-driven heat dissipating devices include, for example, the ROC Patent Application Number 092202625 Entitled “HEAT-DISSIPATING STRUCTURE FOR USE WITH A HEAT-DISSIPATING WINDOW ON THE CASING OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE”. This patented device utilizes a radial-type propeller to generate a radially-flowing stream of air (the term “radial type” herein means that when the propeller rotates, it generates a stream of air that flows radially rather than axially as most household electrical fans) and direct this air stream via a single outlet toward a thermally-conductive module coupled to the integrated circuit device for the purpose of expelling the heat accumulated on the thermally-conductive module received from the integrated circuit device.
One drawback to the aforesaid patent, however, is that it provides only one single air outlet on the casing for the air stream to exit the casing, and since the air stream is generated radially inside the casing, the majority of the air stream would strike against the inner wall of the casing before exiting from the outlet, thus resulting in a frictional loss that leads to a low air blowing efficiency and thus a low heat-dissipating efficiency.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a fan-driven heat dissipating device with a more enhanced air blowing efficiency than the prior art so as to be able to more efficiently dissipate the heat produced by the integrated circuit device during operation.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a fan-driven heat dissipating device with an enhanced air blowing efficiency that provides a more cost-effective solution to the dissipation of heat from integrated circuit devices in an electronic system.
The fan-driven heat dissipating device according to the invention is designed for use in conjunction with an integrated circuit device, such as a CPU chip or a logic circuit chip, for providing the integrated circuit device with a fan-driven heat-dissipating function to dissipate the heat produced by the integrated circuit device during operation.
The fan-driven heat dissipating device according to the invention is characterized by the provision of a secondary air outlet on the lateral side of the casing beside a primary air outlet, which allows part of the radially-flowing air stream to exit the casing laterally from the secondary air outlet, so that frictional loss due to the air flow striking against the inner wall of the casing can be reduced, thus allowing the fan module to provide a more enhanced air blowing efficiency. This feature allows the fan-driven heat dissipating device of the invention to provide a more enhanced heat-dissipating efficiency than the prior art.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The fan-driven heat dissipating device with enhanced air blowing efficiency according to the invention is disclosed in full details by way of preferred embodiments in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The thermally-conductive plate 110 is made of a thermally-conductive material, such as copper, and which is provided with a chip coupling structure, such as an elastic locking member 111 whose central point is affixed to the thermally-conductive plate 110 and whose two free ends are each formed with a bolting hole 111a for use to fasten the thermally conductive plate 110 to the integrated circuit device 10 by means of bolting through the bolting hole 111a. This attachment allows the thermally-conductive plate 110 to absorb the heat produced by the integrated circuit device 10 during operation. Beside the elastic locking member 111, there exits many other various ways to fasten the thermally-conductive plate 110 to the integrated circuit device 10.
The thermally-conductive fin-like member 120 is also made of a thermally conductive material, such as copper, and which is shaped like a fin for the purpose of increasing the total surface area thereof. This thermally-conductive fin-like member 120 is securely attached to the thermally-conductive plate 110 by means of, for example, bonding with solder, for absorbing the heat produced by the integrated circuit device 10 via the thermally-conductive plate 110.
The covering member 130 is made of a rigid material, such as aluminum, and which is mounted on the thermally-conductive fin-like member 120 for providing an enclosed air flow channel through the thermally-conductive fin-like member 120.
As shown in
Compared to prior art, since the provision of the secondary air outlet 212 on the fan module 200 allows an increased amount of air flow toward the thermally-conductive module 100, it allows the invention to provide a more enhanced air blowing efficiency and thus a more enhanced heat-dissipating efficiency than the prior art.
In conclusion, the invention provides a fan-driven heat dissipating device with enhanced air flowing efficiency for use with an integrated circuit device for dissipating the heat produced by the integrated circuit device during operation, and which is characterized by the provision of a secondary air outlet on the lateral side of the casing beside a primary air outlet, which allows part of the radially-flowing air stream to exit the casing laterally from the secondary air outlet, so that frictional loss due to the air flow striking against the inner wall of the casing can be reduced, allowing the fan module to provide a more enhanced air blowing efficiency than the prior art. This feature allows the fan-driven heat dissipating device of the invention to provide a more enhanced heat-dissipating efficiency than the prior art. The invention is therefore more advantageous to use than the prior art.
The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
