Patent Application
20240023285
The technology is generally related to bioanalytical instruments capable of performing massively parallel sample analyses and related methods. More specifically, aspects of the technology relate to systems and methods of thermal management for cooling heat-generating optoelectronic chips.
Instruments that are capable of massively parallel analyses of biological or chemical specimens are typically limited to laboratory settings because of several factors, including a large volumetric footprint, lack of portability, requirement of a skilled technician to operate the instrument, power needs, need for a controlled operating environment, and excessive cost. When a sample is to be analyzed using such equipment, a common paradigm is to extract a sample at a point of care or in the field, send the sample to the lab, and wait for results of the analysis. The wait time for results can range from hours to days.
The technology described herein relates to a bioanalytical instrument for massively parallel sample analyses. The instrument may be useful for clinical and/or point-of-care sample analysis such as nucleic acid or protein sequencing or for personalized medicine. The instrument can be used for other applications (e.g., drug or protein detection, virus detection, tracking of virus or bacteria mutations, proteomics, and metabolic assays) that involve analyses of samples.
According to some aspects, heat transfer systems are provided. The heat transfer system includes a plate configured to deform to receive an optoelectronic chip, wherein the plate is configured to be in thermal communication with the optoelectronic chip at a first interface, and wherein the plate is in thermal communication with a heat sink via a thermally conductive material.
According to some aspects, methods of cooling an optoelectronic chip are provided. The method includes deforming a plate to receive the optoelectronic chip on a first surface of the plate, such that the plate and the optoelectronic chip are in thermal communication; transferring to the plate heat from the optoelectronic chip; and transferring to a thermally conductive material positioned on an opposing surface of the plate heat from the plate.
According to some aspects, methods of manufacturing a heat transfer system are provided. The method includes coupling at least a portion of a first surface of a plate to at least a portion of a first surface of a housing to form a reservoir therebetween; and introducing a thermally conductive material into the reservoir through at least one port formed in the housing; wherein the thermally conductive material is in thermal communication with the plate and the housing, and wherein the housing is in thermal communication with a heat sink.
According to some aspects, heat transfer systems are provided. The heat transfer system includes a thermal interface configured to undergo substantially elastic deformation to receive a chip, wherein the thermal interface is configured to be in thermal communication with the chip, and wherein the thermal interface is configured to repeatedly receive and release one or more chips.
It should be appreciated that the foregoing concepts, and additional concepts discussed below, may be arranged in any suitable combination, as the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. Further, other advantages and novel features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of various non-limiting embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures may be represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. The skilled artisan will understand that the figures, described herein, are for illustration purposes only. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the teachings. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present teachings in any way. In the drawings:
The Inventors have recognized that an instrument capable of massively parallel sample analyses may be highly useful for rapid testing services such as specimen analysis (e.g., sensing for harmful gaseous leaks, combustion by-products, or toxic chemical components, etc.), patient specimen analysis (e.g., blood, urine, etc.) or nucleic acid or protein sequencing. In some cases, it is desirable to have portable, hand-held instruments for analyzing samples, so that technicians or medical personnel can easily carry the instrument into the field to rapidly and accurately analyze a given sample. In clinical settings, a desk-top size instrument may be desired for more complex sample analysis.
In addition, the Inventors have recognized that such an instrument may be able to achieve massively (e.g., tens or hundreds of thousands) parallel testing and analysis by integrating a number of sample wells or reaction chambers on a consumable chip, which may be received by the instrument. The Inventors have recognized that the chip may benefit from features such as integrated optics (e.g., to uniformly excite/illuminate each reaction chamber) and photodetectors (e.g., to detect emissions from the reaction chambers) to reduce a large number of external optical components that might otherwise be needed. An instrument may interact with hundreds or thousands of consumable chips during its lifetime, with each chip having slight variations in geometry.
The Inventors have recognized that such a multifunctional chip and associated electronics may generate heat during operation. Accordingly, it may be necessary to dissipate said heat to reduce the likelihood of adversely affecting the performance, reliability, and lifetime of the chip and other components (e.g., optical components or biological materials) contained within the instrument. For example, the temperature of the chip may need to be controlled to ensure that reactions within the sample wells proceed with a low likelihood of specimens (such as genomic or proteomic materials) degrading while undergoing testing within the instrument.
Heat-generating elements can be cooled using heat sinks configured to rapidly transport heat away from the element to maintain said element at a desired temperature. For example, heat sinks are used in microelectronics devices as a means of thermal management. Heat sinks can be passive, such as heat pipes or high surface area/high thermal conductivity metallic bodies, or active, such as thermo-electric coolers (hereinafter referred to as “coolers”) or fans. To optimize heat flow away from the heat-generating element, a thermally conductive material, such as a thermal compound (with a thermal conductivity greater than air) can sometimes be applied in between the element and the heat sink to thermally couple the two components and reduce the thermal resistance of the interface.
The Inventors have recognized that employing conventional chip cooling technologies (e.g., applying a thermal compound such as thermal paste to thermally couple a heat sink to a heat-generating element) to cool a consumable chip used in a bioanalytical instrument may be challenging and impractical given the significant number of variably sized chips any individual instrument may interact with. Specifically, hundreds and thousands of chips may be installed and removed from the instrument during its lifetime. Accordingly, applying a thermal compound to each individual chip of hundreds and thousands of chips inserted into the instrument can be time-consuming, costly, and lead to undesirable contamination. For example, the Inventors have recognized that the process of precisely applying a thermal compound to a surface of a chip, inserting said chip into the instrument, removing said chip from the instrument, and cleaning the thermal compound off of the chip and the instrument following every test can be impractical and wasteful with regards to material (e.g., thermal compound) and time. In addition, repeated application and removal of the thermal compound may lead to contamination of the instrument. In some cases, contamination of the instrument with the thermal compound may result in instrument damage and/or dysfunction.
In some instances, a consumable chip may be inserted into and removed from a bioanalytical instrument through one or more supporting structures (e.g., a clamping system for accepting/releasing the chips) to ensure proper and consistent positioning of the chip in the instrument after insertion and during testing. The supporting structures may exert pressures on the chips within the instrument, such that portions of the chip in contact with the supporting structures may undergo deformation. The Inventors have also recognized that such deformations may reduce the quality of contact between the chip and a heat sink of the bioanalytical instrument, resulting in greater thermal resistance in between the heat sink and the chip. In this way, the deformation can reduce the cooling efficiency of the heat sink, and can, in some instances, result in overheating of the chip.
In view of the above, the Inventors have recognized the benefits of an apparatus and associated methods for making and operating a bioanalytical instrument capable of repeated, massively parallel sample analyses. In overview and according to some embodiments, the instrument may include a heat transfer system for an optoelectronic chip (hereinafter referred to as a “chip”). In particular, the Inventors have recognized the benefits of a heat transfer system that can effectively cool a variety of differently sized consumable chips to biologically-useful temperatures, by thermally coupling said chips to a heat sink. In addition, as noted previously, chip deformation due to the use of supporting or clamping structures may lead to inefficient cooling due to reduced quality of contact between the chip and the heat sink. Repeated insertion and removal cycles of a consumable chip from a bioanalytical instrument may also deform the chip, resulting in inconsistent heating/cooling between cycles. Thus, the Inventors have also recognized the benefits of a heat transfer system that is convenient to use and can consistently cool the chip spanning a significant number of chip insertion and removal cycles by maintaining a consistent thermal resistance in between the chip and the heat sink—regardless of deformation and/or the frequency of chip insertion/removal from the instrument. Of course, instances in which different benefits are offered by the systems and methods disclosed herein are also possible.
According to exemplary embodiments described herein, a bioanalytical instrument may include a heat-generating element, such as an optoelectronic chip, and a heat transfer system configured to cool said element. In some embodiments, the heat transfer systems described herein may include a heat sink, which may be an active component, such as a thermo-electric cooler (e.g., a Peltier device). To accommodate slight variations in chip geometries, repeated insertion/removal of said chips into the bioanalytical instrument, and pressures exerted by supporting structures within the instrument (e.g., clamping systems) designed to receive and maintain the chips in a constant position, the heat transfer systems described herein may employ a flexible plate in thermal communication with the chip and the heat sink. In some embodiments, the flexible plate may elastically deform to receive and conform to a variety of differently sized chips and/or in response to pressures exerted by supporting structures of the instrument. Conformal contact between the plate and chip may reduce the thermal resistance at the interface of said components when compared to a flat, inflexible plate.
In some embodiments, a heat transfer system may include a flexible plate configured to elastically deform. The elastic deformation of the plate may serve multiple purposes, including, but not limited to, to receive a variety of differently sized optoelectronic chips, to respond to pressures exerted by supporting structures (e.g., a clamping system for accepting/releasing the chips) of the instrument, and/or to accommodate a significant number of insertion/removal cycles of the chips. The heat transfer system may also include a heat sink (e.g., a cooler) and optionally a thermally conductive material (e.g., a thermal compound with a thermal conductivity greater than air) located in between the plate and heat sink. The flexible plate may be configured to be in contact with the optoelectronic chips on one surface (e.g., an optoelectronic chip may press against the surface of the flexible plate when installed), and in contact with the thermal compound on an opposing surface. The thermal compound may then be in direct or indirect contact with the heat sink. In this way, the optoelectronic chips may be in thermal communication with the heat sink through the thermal compound and the flexible plate. Thus, in some embodiments, the heat transfer system is configured such that thermal compound is not required to be placed between the flexible plate and an optoelectronic chip when installed. In some embodiments, the heat sink may be positioned in a heat sink housing, such that the thermal compound may be in thermal communication with the heat sink through the heat sink housing. As discussed previously, the thermal compound (which may, in some embodiments, be a thermal paste, thermal grease, thermal gel, thermal oil, thermal pad, combinations thereof, etc.) may reduce the thermal resistance of the interface at which it may be applied.
Heat transfer systems described herein may operate to transport heat away from an optoelectronic chip, which may generate heat when carrying out one or more functions (e.g., biochemical assays). The heat transfer system may be part of a thermal circuit including a chip, an optional chip interface module, a flexible plate, a thermal compound, a heat sink housing, and the heat sink itself. In some embodiments, an optional chip interface module may be positioned in between the chip and the flexible plate. The module may include a printed circuit board and electronic components (e.g., integrated circuit chips and discrete components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, inductors, etc.) to enable various optoelectronic functions of the chip.
In some embodiments, a method of assembly of a heat transfer system may include attaching a pre-formed flexible plate to a heat sink housing using one or more binders. In some embodiments, the one or more binders may effectively seal off an internal volume or reservoir formed in between the heat sink housing and plate, save for one or more conduits configured to be fluidically connected to a surrounding environment. The conduits (e.g., channels connected to ports) may be used to introduce a thermal compound into the reservoir, and may also allow air and/or the thermal compound to flow out of the reservoir upon deformation of the flexible plate.
The one or more binders may comprise any suitable material configured to attach the plate to the heat sink housing. In some embodiments, the binder may be stable at the operational temperatures of the heat transfer system and may absorb mechanical stresses from the cyclical loading/unloading of the chip/chip interface module without significant loss in structural integrity and/or adhesive properties. In some embodiments, the binder may be an adhesive, epoxy, solder, combinations thereof, and/or any other suitable substance that can robustly attach the flexible plate to the heat sink housing. In some embodiments, the binder may join the plate and the housing using a conductive solder and associated solder reflow processes. In this way, the binder may enhance the overall thermal conductivity of the heat transfer system (e.g., by allowing heat to flow out of the plate through the binder and the thermal compound, instead of primarily through the thermal compound) as well as the mechanical resilience of the interface between the plate and housing. It should be appreciated that any suitable material or combination of materials may be used to join the housing and flexible plate, as the present disclosure is not so limited.
In some embodiments, a thermal compound may be introduced into a reservoir in between the flexible plate and the heat sink housing prior to operation. Accordingly, the thermal compound may reduce the thermal resistance of said interface, facilitating more efficient heat transfer away from the chip. The thermal compound may directly contact a bottom surface of the flexible plate, and may therefore be configured to deform along with the flexible plate to maintain consistent thermal contact between the plate and housing. In other words, the thermal compound may flow and/or deform in between the plate and housing (e.g., in a designated reservoir) to accommodate the changing profile of the flexible plate. In this way, the thermal compound may thermally couple the plate and housing (and subsequently, the heat sink) regardless of the conformation of the flexible plate.
In order to conform to the deforming profile of the flexible plate and maintain good thermal contact between the plate and housing, the thermal compound may be flowable and thermally conductive. The thermal compound may be sufficiently viscous to avoid undesirable flow (e.g., outflow of thermal compound from the interface when the chip and/or chip interface is loaded on the flexible plate), but may still deform along with the flexible plate in order to maintain contact with the plate during operation. In some embodiments, the thermal compound may be injectable, either by having a sufficiently low viscosity such that it can be pressurized and extruded (e.g., through a syringe), and/or by having shear-thinning properties. In some embodiments, the thermal compound may be inert in air or water (e.g., may not swell or degrade upon exposure to air or water), and may be stable at the operational temperatures of the heat transfer system. In some embodiments, the thermal compound may have sufficient compliance and viscosity to absorb any impact or stress from the flexible plate (e.g., when a chip/chip interface module is installed or removed) without transmitting said loads to the heat sink housing. It should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited by the properties of the thermal compound.
In some embodiments, the thermal compound may be formed of a carrier and a thermally conductive powder. The carrier material may be any suitable fluid, flowable material, injectable material or matrix, which may be conductive or non-conductive, as the present disclosure is not so limited. In some embodiments, the carrier may include silicone grease, polydimethylsiloxane, methyl silicone, liquid-phase rubber, urethanes, acrylates, copolymers thereof, combinations thereof, and/or any other suitable carrier material. In some embodiments, the thermally conductive powder may include aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum nitride, boron nitride, zinc oxide, monocrystalline diamond, graphite, ceramics, metals (including, but not limited to, copper, silver, aluminum, gold, tin, zinc, nickel, iron, and lead), metal alloys (e.g., stainless steel), high thermal conductivity nanomaterials (e.g., carbon nanotubes), combinations thereof, and/or any other suitable conductive material. In some embodiments, the thermal compound may include a mixture of one or more carriers and one or more conductive powders. It should be appreciated that any suitable thermal compound known to one of skill in the art may be employed to reduce the thermal resistance between the flexible plate and the heat sink housing, as the present disclosure is not so limited.
In some embodiments, the thermal compound may be introduced into a pre-assembled heat transfer system through a port or inlet formed in the heat sink housing (or any other suitable component of the heat transfer system). The port may be fluidically connected to a reservoir positioned in between the plate and the heat sink housing, such that introducing (e.g., through injection) the thermal compound into the reservoir may thermally couple the plate and the heat sink housing. In some embodiments, the heat sink housing (or any other suitable component of the heat transfer system) may include more than one port, such that at least one port may be used to introduce the thermal compound into the reservoir, and at least one port may be used as a vent. The vent may allow fluid (e.g., air or other gases within the reservoir, thermal compound, combinations thereof) to flow out of the reservoir to accommodate for the changing spatial volume of the reservoir when the flexible plate is deformed, as will be described in greater detail below. In some embodiments, one or more ports may be closed after introduction of the thermal compound into the reservoir with a closure (e.g., a set screw) to reduce the likelihood of leakage. It should be appreciated that any number of ports, closures, channels connecting ports to the reservoir, and/or any other suitable fluidic infrastructure may be employed, as the present disclosure is not so limited.
In some embodiments, a heat transfer system (including a flexible plate, a thermal compound, a heat sink housing, and a heat sink) may maintain a chip at a particular temperature. For example, in embodiments where the optoelectronic chip includes biological materials (e.g., proteins, enzymes, nucleic acid molecules), the chip may be kept at suitable physiological or biologically-useful temperatures to reduce the likelihood of degradation, denaturation, desorption, and/or any undesirable chemical reaction which may occur at elevated temperatures.
The heat transfer system may include one or more components (e.g., the conductive but flexible plate, the thermal compound, the heat sink housing, etc.) which work to maintain low thermal resistance and at least one heat sink, which may keep the chip at the desired temperature (e.g., below 27° C.) or range of temperatures. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may maintain the chip at least at 15° C., 20° C., 25° C., 27° C., 28° C., 30° C., 32° C., 35° C., 37° C., 40° C., 42° C., 45° C., 50° C., and/or any other suitable temperature. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may maintain the chip at less than equal to 50° C., 45° C., 42° C., 40° C., 37° C., 35° C., 32° C., 30° C., 28° C., 27° C., 25° C., 20° C., 15° C., and/or any other suitable temperature. Combinations of the foregoing ranges are also contemplated, including between 15° C. and 50° C., 20° C. and 40° C., 20° C. and 27° C., 20° C. and 37° C., 25° C. and 37° C., 27° C. and 37° C., and/or any other suitable range of temperatures. It should be appreciated that the properties of any component of the thermal circuit (including the heat transfer system) may be selected to cool a chip to a suitable temperature corresponding to a desired biological assay. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited by the temperature of the chip.
In some embodiments, the temperature of the chip may be directly or indirectly measured using one or more sensors positioned along the thermal circuit. For example, the heat sink housing may employ a sensor (e.g., a thermistor) to measure the temperature of the heat sink. The chip may also include one or more temperature sensors to evaluate the effectiveness of the heat transfer system in cooling the chip. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may include a processor and/or controller capable of receiving temperature data from the one or more sensors of the thermal circuit and adjusting the cooling parameters (e.g., adjusting input current to the heat sink to adjust the heat sink's performance) to control the temperature of the chip.
In order to effectively cool the chip to a desired temperature, the thermal circuit's thermal resistance may be sufficiently low to enable continuous heat flow away from the chip. Each interface between the various components of the thermal circuit (the chip, the chip interface module, the flexible plate, the thermal compound, the heat sink housing, and the heat sink) may have a thermal resistance. Accordingly, the overall thermal resistance of the thermal circuit may be evaluated with the sum of each interface's thermal resistance. In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the thermal circuit may be 1 K/W. In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the thermal circuit may be at least 0.05 K/W, 0.1 K/W, 0.2 K/W, 0.5 K/w, 0.7 K/W, 0.8 K/W, 1 K/W, 1.2 K/W, 1.5 K/W, 2 K/W, 3 K/W, 4 K/W, 5 K/W, and/or any other suitable thermal resistance. In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the thermal circuit may be less than or equal to 5 K/W, 4 K/W, 3 K/W, 2 K/W, 1.5 K/W, 1.2 K/W, 1 K/W, 0.8 K/W, 0.7 K/W, 0.5 K/W, 0.2 K/W, 0.1 K/W, 0.05 K/W, and/or any other suitable thermal resistance. Combinations of the foregoing ranges are also contemplated, including between 0.05 K/W and 5 K/W, between 0.5 K/W and 1.5 K/W, and/or any other suitable range of thermal resistance. It should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited by the thermal resistance of the thermal circuit and/or any specific interface of the thermal circuit.
In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the interface between the chip or chip interface module and the flexible plate may be the largest resistance of the thermal circuit. In some embodiments, elastic deformation of the flexible plate (e.g., to accommodate various chip or chip interface module sizes, pressures exerted by support structures of the instrument, and/or repeated insertion/removal cycles of the chip/chip interface modules) may reduce this resistance, minimizing the volume of insulating air (i.e., the air gap) in between the two components. In other words, improved contact between the chip or chip interface module and the flexible plate may reduce the thermal resistance of said interface. In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the interface between the chip or chip interface module and flexible plate may be 0.5 K/W or any other suitable thermal resistance (e.g., equal to, less than, or greater than the thermal resistances noted above with respect to the thermal resistance of the thermal circuit). In some embodiments, the thermal resistance of the interface between the chip or chip interface module and the flexible plate may be less than the thermal resistance of said interface if a non-flexible plate were used (which may include an air gap in between the chip and the non-flexible plate).
It should be appreciated that the flexible plate may be flat or any other suitable shape, as the present disclosure is not so limited. In some embodiments, the flexible plate may include one or more flat portions and/or one or more non-flat portions. In other words, the term “plate” as used herein is not limited to a two-dimensional and/or planar structure.
In some embodiments, the heat transfer system (including the flexible plate, thermal compound, heat sink housing, and heat sink) may cool the chip by heat dissipation. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may dissipate 10 W of heat to maintain the chip at a desired temperature. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may dissipate at least 1 W, 2 W, 3 W, 5 W, 8 W, 10 W, 12 W, 15 W, 20 W, and/or any other suitable heat load. In some embodiments, the heat transfer system may dissipate less than or equal to 20 W, 15 W, 12 W, 10 W, 8 W, 5 W, 3 W, 2 W, 1 W, and/or any other suitable heat load. Combinations of the foregoing ranges are also contemplated, including, but not limited to, 1 W to 20 W, 5 W to 20 W, 2 W to 20 W, and/or any other range of suitable heat loads. It should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited by the heat loading of the heat transfer system.
In some embodiments, the flexible plate may facilitate heat transfer away from a chip and any associated chip interface modules. Accordingly, the flexible plate may be formed of a thermally conductive material.
In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be elastically deformed over multiple cycles as a user loads or inserts a chip (and/or chip interface module), unloads said chip, and loads another chip. Accordingly, the flexible plate may be resilient, such that it may undergo multiple cycles without significant wear or degradation in elasticity. In some embodiments, the flexible plate may undergo hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and/or any other suitable number of cycles of elastic deformation. It should be appreciated that each elastic deformation cycle may require a different magnitude of elastic deformation. For example, a user may insert a first chip, remove said chip, insert a second chip, which may be slightly larger than the first chip, remove said chip, and insert a third chip, which may be slightly smaller than the first chip. The flexible plate of the present disclosure may withstand variable elastic deformation over any suitable number of cycles without significant wear or degradation, while maintaining desirable conformational contact between the plate and the chip in every cycle. Accordingly, the flexible plate may be formed of any suitable ductile and resilient material capable of undergoing repeated elastic deformation to accommodate repeated insertion/removal cycles of a variety of differently sized chips or associated chip interfaces without significant plastic wear. In addition, the plate may be sufficiently flexible to respond to compressive or flexural forces exerted by supporting structures of the instrument (e.g., a clamping system for accepting/releasing the chips).
In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be formed using one or more manufacturing techniques, including, but not limited to, casting, stamping, forging, drawing, bending, coining, rolling, drilling, turning, grinding, welding, soldering, machining, plating, coating, spraying, work-hardening, polishing, rolling, and/or any other suitable technique. Accordingly, the flexible plate may be formed of any suitable material which may be compatible with the desired manufacturing technique. In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be formed of and/or may include a coating consisting of a corrosion-resistant material to reduce the likelihood of corrosion in case of exposure to fluid (e.g., condensation or accidental leakage) or humidity.
In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be formed of a material with high thermal conductivity, elasticity, resilience, formability, and/or any other desirable material property. In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be formed of aluminum, copper, stainless steel, silver, lead, tin, gold, brass, nickel, titanium, alloys thereof, conductive polymers or copolymers, conductive ceramics, composites, combinations thereof, and/or any other suitable material. It should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited by the material composition of the flexible plate.
In some embodiments, the flexible plate may be formed from sheet metal with a stamping and/or coining process. For example, a portion of a metal sheet may be coined (e.g., may undergo plastic flow as a result of stamping) to yield a smooth and flexibly deformable surface on the plate. In some embodiments, the starting sheet metal may be 2 gauge, 5 gauge, 6 gauge, 7 gauge, 8 gauge, 9 gauge, 10 gauge, 11 gauge, 12 gauge, 13 gauge, 14 gauge, 15 gauge, 16 gauge, 17 gauge, 18 gauge, 19 gauge, 20 gauge, 21 gauge, 22 gauge, 23 gauge, 24 gauge, 25 gauge, 26 gauge, 27 gauge, 28 gauge, 29 gauge, 30 gauge, 31 gauge, and/or any other suitable thickness, as the present disclosure is not limited by the thickness of the sheet metal used to form the flexible plate. In some embodiments, the manufacturing process (e.g., coining) may further reduce the thickness of a portion of the plate. It should be appreciated that the flexibility of the plate may depend on material properties (e.g., elastic modulus) as well as geometric properties (e.g., thickness of the flexible portion). Accordingly, in some embodiments, reducing the thickness of at least a portion of the plate may enhance the bending elasticity of the said portion based on plate bending theory.
In some embodiments, the elastic deformation of the flexible plate (or at least a portion of the flexible plate) may be quantified by strain, measured by the deflection of the plate when receiving a chip/chip interface module. Accordingly, the flexible portion of the plate may undergo any suitable magnitude of strain corresponding to elastic deformation to conform to a variety of differently sized chips/chip interface modules, repeated insertion/removal of chips/chip interface modules, and/or pressures exerted by supporting structures of the instrument. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the flexible plate may undergo at least 0.0005%, 0.002%, 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.07%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and/or any other suitable strain. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the flexible plate may undergo less than or equal to 10%, 5%, 2%, 1%, 0.7%, 0.5%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 0.1%, 0.07%, 0.05%, 0.02%, 0.01%, 0.005%, 0.002%, 0.001%, 0.0005%, and/or any other suitable strain. Combinations of the foregoing ranges are also contemplated, including, but not limited to, between 0.005% and 10%, 0.01% and 0.4%, and/or any other suitable strain ranges. It should be appreciated that the plate may undergo any number of variable strains and over any number of cycles. In some embodiments, the plate may deform to a fraction (e.g., half, one-fourth, one-tenth, one-hundredth, etc.) of its maximal strain capability to accommodate a chip/chip interface module.
In some embodiments, one or more surfaces of the flexible plate (or any other component of the heat transfer systems described herein) may undergo surface finishing to enhance certain surface properties. For example, the flexible plate may be plated with nickel and/or may include a nickel layer (e.g., through an electrolytic or electroless plating process) to improve adhesion with the binder. In some embodiments, nickel plating may also improve ductility and corrosion-resistance of the plate.
Turning to the figures, specific non-limiting embodiments are described in further detail. It should be understood that the various systems, components, features, and methods described relative to these embodiments may be used either individually and/or in any desired combination as the disclosure is not limited to only the specific embodiments described herein. For example, although a heat transfer system for cooling an optoelectronic chip has been described, the heat transfer system described herein may be employed to cool any suitable heat-generating system. Furthermore, the heat transfer system described herein may be employed to maintain any suitable interface at a given temperature (e.g., physiological or biologically-useful temperature).
In some embodiments, the plate 20 may include a top surface 25 configured to contact a chip or related chip module, and a bottom surface 26 configured to contact the housing 30. In some embodiments, the plate 20 may include an alignment marker 24 to facilitate alignment between the plate 20 and the housing 30. Accordingly, the housing 30 may include a surface 34 configured to facilitate alignment with the marker 24. In some embodiments, the marker 24 may be a through hole (as shown in
In some embodiments, the housing 30 may include at least one tab 33, which may support one or more sensors. For example, tab 33 may support a thermistor configured to measure the temperature of the heat sink contained within the housing 30. In some embodiments, the housing may include one or more processors and/or controllers configured to communicate with sensors of the heat transfer system (or more broadly, sensors of the bioanalytic instrument) to better control the cooling of the chip.
In some embodiments, the housing 30 may include an upper surface 37 surrounding a reservoir 31. The reservoir 31 may be in thermal communication with a heat sink (e.g., a cooler) contained within the housing 30 (not shown). In some embodiments, the reservoir 31 may be in fluid communication with ports 35 and 38 through channels 36. For example, a fluid (e.g., a thermal compound) may be introduced into the reservoir 31 through port 35, such that it may flow through at least one channel 36 to reach the reservoir 31. The fluid (or any other substance, e.g., air) may then escape out of the reservoir 31 through at least one channel 36 and port 38. It should be appreciated that although two distinct channels 36 and two ports 35 and 38 are depicted in
As shown in
Turning back to
In operation, once the heat transfer system has been assembled, a chip may be installed on the system to allow a heat sink to thermally regulate the chip (e.g., cool the chip).
As shown in
As shown in
It should be appreciated that at this stage of operation, the chip may not have been installed on the heat transfer system, such that the plate 20 may be in a first configuration, as shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
It should be appreciated that the volume of thermal compound used may be sufficient to allow the heat sink (inside the heat sink housing) to be in thermal communication with the flexible plate, regardless of the configuration of the plate. In other words, regardless of whether or not the plate has been elastically deformed about its axis (e.g., in the configuration shown in
It should be appreciated that the plate may be formed of any suitable material with sufficient thermal conductivity and sized/shaped in any suitable manner to suit the intended purpose, as the present disclosure is not so limited. In an exemplary embodiment, the plate 20 has a substantially rectangular shape, as depicted in
As shown in the cross-sectional view of
Similarly, radii R2 and R3 may be selected to ensure sufficient flexibility of the flexible surface 21 of the plate 20 while maintaining a suitable size of the peripheral regions (e.g., surface 23) to adhere to the heat sink housing. In one non-limiting embodiment, radius R2 is 4.2 mm and radius R3 is 8.5 mm. In some embodiments, the radius R2 may be any suitable value, including but not limited to, between 2 mm and 5 mm, 2 mm and 10 mm, 0.5 mm and 20 mm, 0.2 mm and 40 mm, and/or any other suitable size. In some embodiment, the radius R3 may be any suitable value, including, but not limited to, between 2 mm and 20 mm, 5 mm and 10 mm, 5 mm and 25 mm, 1 mm and 50 mm, and/or any other suitable size. Of course, other radial values for the plate 20 are also contemplated, as the present disclosure is not so limited. It should also be appreciated that differently shaped plates may also be employed, wherein the flexible surface 21 may not be circular or elliptical. Of course, other shapes of the plate are also contemplated, such that the present disclosure is not limited by the geometry or arrangement of any of the features described herein. It should be appreciated that the plate 20 may be any suitable shape, and may achieve flexibility with any suitable geometric arrangement.
As shown in the cross-sectional view of
Having thus described several aspects of several embodiments of a heat transfer system, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. While the present teachings have been described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments or examples. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.
While several embodiments of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present disclosure. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present disclosure is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the disclosure described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present disclosure is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present disclosure.
Further, though some advantages of the present invention may be indicated, it should be appreciated that not every embodiment of the invention will include every described advantage. Some embodiments may not implement any features described as advantageous. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
The section headings used are for organizational purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the subject matter described in any way.
Also, the technology described may be embodied as a method, of which at least one example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
All definitions, as defined and used, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.
The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.
As used in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e., “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.
As used in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.
In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.
The term “substantially” as used herein may be construed to mean within 50% of a target value in some embodiments, within 60% of a target value in some embodiments, within 70% of a target value in some embodiments, within 75% of a target value in some embodiments, within 80% of a target value in some embodiments, within 85% of a target value in some embodiments, within 90% of a target value in some embodiments, within 95% of a target value in some embodiments, within 98% of a target value in some embodiments, within 99% of a target value in some embodiments, and within 99.5% of a target value in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the term “substantially” may equal 100% of the target value. For example, the term “substantially elastic deformation” may refer to deformation wherein at least 75% of the deformation comprises elastic deformation, with the remaining deformation being plastic or an intermediate deformation. In another example, the term “substantially elastic deformation” may refer to deformation wherein at least 99% of the deformation comprises elastic deformation.
Any terms as used herein related to shape, orientation, alignment, and/or geometric relationship of or between, for example, one or more articles, structures, forces, fields, flows, directions/trajectories, and/or subcomponents thereof and/or combinations thereof and/or any other tangible or intangible elements not listed above amenable to characterization by such terms, unless otherwise defined or indicated, shall be understood to not require absolute conformance to a mathematical definition of such term, but, rather, shall be understood to indicate conformance to the mathematical definition of such term to the extent possible for the subject matter so characterized as would be understood by one skilled in the art most closely related to such subject matter.
The claims should not be read as limited to the described order or elements unless stated to that effect. It should be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. All embodiments that come within the spirit and scope of the following claims and equivalents thereto are claimed.
