Patent Application
20090260779
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a heat sink, and more particularly to a heat sink having a plurality of fins to remove heat from an electronic heat-generating component, wherein the fins have an improved structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Heat sinks are usually used to remove heat from electronic heat-generating components, such as central processing units (CPUs) etc., to keep the components in stable operation. A typical heat sink comprises a base for contacting with the heat-generating component to absorb the heat of the heat-generating component and a plurality of parallel planar fins attached to the base by soldering or adhering. The fins are used for dissipating the heat to ambient air. For enhancing heat dissipation efficiency, a fan is usually mounted on a top or a side of the heat sink to impel air to flow between the fins.
To meet a requirement of heat removal from the heat-generating component which generates more and more heat, it is current way to enlarge the total outer area of the fins by increasing the number of the fins or enlarging a dimension of each fin. However, such thermal resolutions have their limitations. Because a space in a computer enclosure is crowded by various components and the space available for the heat sink cannot be readily increased, an increase of the size of the fins is not feasible. Furthermore, the larger number the fins have, the denser the fins are, and further the narrower the channels between the fins are. If the air channels are too narrow, the air cannot smoothly flow through the channels, which impedes the heat dissipation of the heat sink even if the number of the fins is increased.
What is needed is a heat sink in which has a great heat dissipating efficiency by means of improving heat exchange between the fins and air flowing through the heat sink under a condition that the size and number of the fins are not necessary to be increased.
The present invention relates to a heat dissipation device for dissipating heat from a heat-generating electronic element. The heat dissipation device includes a base plate adapted for absorbing heat from the heat-generating component, a fin unit located above the base plate and having a plurality of fins stacked together. Each of the fins has a plurality of parallel and protruding flanges on a top surface thereof. At least a heat pipe has an evaporating section thermally engaging in the base plate and a pair of condensing sections extending through the fins. The protruding flanges of the fins are of equal height and parallel to opposite short sides of the fins. A length of each of the protruding flanges is equal to that of the short sides of the fin. The protruding flanges increase heat dissipation area of the fin unit, thereby increasing heat dissipating effectiveness of the heat dissipation device.
Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiment. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Referring to
The base plate 10 is a flat heat conducting plate, and comprises a bottom surface (not shown) for absorbing heat from a heat-generating component (not shown) and a top surface (not labeled). The base plate 10 defines two parallel receiving grooves 12 at the top surface thereof. The receiving grooves 12 are located at a central portion of the top surface of the base plate 10, parallel to two opposite sides of the base plate 10 and configured to receive corresponding portions of the heat pipes 30 therein.
Also referring to
Each of the heat pipes 30 comprises an evaporating section 32 received in the corresponding receiving groove 12 of the base plate 10 and two condensing sections 34 extending perpendicularly and upwardly from two opposite ends of the evaporating section 32. The two condensing sections 34 are engagingly received in the through holes 220 of the fin unit 20 and perpendicular to the fins 22.
In an assembly of the heat dissipation device, the evaporating section 32 and the condensing sections 34 of the heat pipe 30 are respectively received in the receiving grooves 12 of the base plate 10 and the through holes 220 of the fin unit 20, and secured therein by any known means, such as soldering or adhering.
In use of the heat dissipation device, heat produced by the heat-generating component is absorbed the base plate 10 and then transferred to the fin unit 20 via the heat pipes 30 to dissipate into ambient. The fan (not shown) can be mounted at the front or rear side of the fin unit 20 to generate the forced airflow through the fin unit 20 via the first air passages 26 and the second air passages 28. The protruding flanges 222 protruding upwardly from the top surface of the fins 22 can increase a contact area between the airflow and the fins 22, thereby increasing heat exchange between the fins 22 and the airflow and further enhancing heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation device.
It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention
