HEAT DISSIPATION APPARATUS

Abstract

A heat dissipation apparatus (10) for dissipating heat from a heat-generating electronic component includes a fin assembly (12) and a centrifugal blower (14). The fin assembly includes a plurality of laminar fins (121) thermally connecting with the heat-generating electronic component to absorb heat therefrom. The centrifugal blower provides an airflow flowing through the fin assembly to take heat away therefrom. The centrifugal blower includes a housing (141), a cover (142) disposed on the housing, and a rotor (143) rotatably received in a space formed between the housing and the cover. The fins of the fin assembly are disposed in the housing of the centrifugal blower and stacked together along a direction substantially parallel to a rotation axis (A) of the rotor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric view of a heat dissipation apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the heat dissipation apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of a heat dissipation apparatus in accordance with related art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a heat dissipation apparatus 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. The heat dissipation apparatus 10 includes a fin assembly 12 and a centrifugal blower 14. The fin assembly 12 includes a plurality of stacked laminar fins 121 thermally connected with a heat generating electronic component (not shown) to absorb heat therefrom. Although it is not shown in the drawings, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the fins 121 of the fin assembly 12 can connect with the heat-generating electronic component via a plurality of heat pipes (not shown), each of which has an evaporator section contacting with the heat-generating electronic component, and a condenser section extending through the fins 121 of the fin assembly 12. The centrifugal blower 14 enables to provide airflow with a high air pressure so as to take away heat from the fin assembly 12.

The centrifugal blower 14 includes a housing 141, a cover 142 attached to the housing 141 with an inner space formed therebetween, a stator (not shown) accommodated in the inner space, and a rotor 143 including a plurality of blades 144 rotatably disposed around the stator. The cover 142 defines a through hole therein functioning as an air inlet 145 of the centrifugal blower 14. The housing 141 includes a flat bottom wall 146 perpendicular to a rotation axis A of the rotor 143, and an arc-shaped sidewall 147 perpendicular to the bottom wall 146. The sidewall 147 of the housing 141 defines an arcuate opening therein functioning as an air outlet 148 of the centrifugal blower 14. The cover 142 and the bottom wall 146 of the housing 141 respectively form an arcuate edge 142a, 146a at upper and bottom sides of the air outlet 148. An air channel 149 is formed between the blades 144 and an inner surface of the sidewall 147.

The fin assembly 12 is disposed surrounding the rotor 143, with a portion of the fin assembly 12 being in the air channel 149 of the centrifugal blower 14. The topmost fin 121 intimately contacts with a flat bottom surface of the cover 142 and the bottommost fin 121 contacts a top surface of the bottom wall 146 of the housing 141. The fins 121 are stacked along a direction parallel to the rotation axis A of the rotor 143. A plurality of laminar air passages 122 are formed between two adjacent fins 121 and perpendicular to the rotation axis A of the rotor 143. Each of the fins 121 includes an arc-shaped first outer edge 123 mated with the inner surface of the sidewall 147 of the housing 141, an arc-shaped second outer edge 124 matched with the air outlet 148 of the housing 141, and a round inner edge 125 disposed around the rotation axis A of the rotor 143. The inner edges 125 of the fins 121 are disposed adjacent to free ends of the blades 144 and surround the rotor 143. In the operation of the centrifugal blower 14, the airflow is divided into several smaller airflows, which evenly and smoothly arrive at the air passages 122 of the fins 121. The smaller airflows in the air passages 122 are driven towards the air outlet 148 of the centrifugal blower 14 via the rotation of the blades 144 to take away heat from the fins 121.

In the present invention, the laminar air passages 122 of the fin assembly 12 are perpendicular to the rotation axis A of the rotor 143. A flow direction of the airflow is substantially parallel to the air passages 122 of the fin assembly 12. The airflow is thereby evenly and smoothly flowing through the fin assembly 12, which prevents the kinetic energy loss of the airflow when flowing through the fin assembly 12. The heat dissipating efficiency of the heat dissipation apparatus 10 is therefore increased. The fins 121 are disposed in the inner space the housing 141, which increases contacting areas between the fins 121 and the airflow without increasing the size of the heat dissipation apparatus 10. The heat dissipating efficiency of the heat dissipation apparatus 10 is further increased. The fins 121 are disposed around the blades 144 of the centrifugal blower 14. The airflow is therefore directly arrived at the air passages 122 of the fins 121 and takes more heat from the fins 121. The heat dissipating efficiency of the heat dissipation apparatus 10 is thus further improved.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A heat dissipation apparatus configured for dissipating heat from a heat-generating electronic component comprising: a fin assembly comprising a plurality of laminar fins stacked on each other, the fin assembly being configured for thermally connecting with the heat-generating electronic component to absorb heat therefrom; anda centrifugal blower for providing an airflow flowing through the fin assembly to take heat away therefrom, the centrifugal blower comprising a housing, a cover disposed on the housing, and a rotor rotatably received in a space formed between the housing and the cover;wherein the fins of the fin assembly are disposed in the housing of the centrifugal blower and stacked together along a direction substantially parallel to a rotation axis of the rotor.

2. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the blower has an air channel between the rotor and a sidewall of the blower, the fins each having a portion positioned in the air channel.

3. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein each of the fins comprises an inner edge surrounding the rotor, said inner edge defining a hole therein.

4. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein each of the fins comprises an arcuate edge matched with an arcuate air outlet of the centrifugal blower.

5. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein each of the fins comprises an arc-shaped fringe mated with an arc-shaped sidewall of the housing.

6. A heat dissipation apparatus comprising: a centrifugal blower comprising a housing, a cover disposed on the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed in a space formed between the housing and the cover; anda fin assembly comprising a plurality of fins each surrounding the rotor of the centrifugal blower.

7. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein each of the fins surrounds a rotational axis of the rotor of the centrifugal blower.

8. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein each of the fins comprises a round inner edge surrounding the rotational axis of the rotor.

9. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein the housing comprises an arc-shaped sidewall, whilst each of the fins comprises an arc-shaped first outer edge mated with the arc-shaped sidewall of the housing.

10. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein the housing comprises an arcuate air outlet, whilst each of the fins comprises an arcuate second outer edge matched with the air outlet of the housing.

11. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein the fins are stacked together along a direction non-perpendicular to a rotational axis of the rotor of the centrifugal blower.

12. The heat dissipation apparatus as described in claim 11, wherein the fins are stacked together along a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the rotor.

13. A heat dissipation apparatus comprising: a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet oriented perpendicularly to that of the air inlet;a rotor with blades thereon rotatably mounted in the housing, wherein when the rotor rotates, an airflow is formed by the blades to flow from the air inlet to the air outlet; anda fin assembly mounted in the housing and defining a hole receiving the rotor therein, the fin assembly having a plurality of fins horizontally stacked on each other wherein an air passage is defined between two neighboring upper and lower fins, the airflow flowing from the inlet to the outlet via the air passages.

14. The heat dissipation device of claim 13, wherein the air outlet is arc-shaped and each fin of the fin assembly has a first arc-shaped outer edge mating with the air outlet.

15. The heat dissipation device of claim 14, wherein the housing has an arc-shaped sidewall opposite the air outlet and each fin of the fin assembly has a second arc-shaped outer edge mating with the sidewall.