Heat sink assembly structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6789609
  • Patent Number
    6,789,609
  • Date Filed
    Friday, December 13, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 14, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
The present invention relates to a heat sink assembly structure having at least a heat sink fastening member combined with at least a heat sink. Each heat sink fastening member has a V-shaped protrusion, a slot, and an elastic lock member. The elastic lock member has a V-shaped cross sectional structure. The V-shaped protrusion of a first heat sink is combined tightly in the slot of a second heat sink for assembling the heat sink and for forming a V-shaped slot. The assembled heat sink is fixed in a base by adding a solder into the V-shaped slot.
Description




REFERENCE CITED




Pub. No. U.S. 2002/0112846 A1




FIELD OF INVENTION




The present invention relates to a CPU heat sink assembly structure, and more particularly, to a fastening member structure of fixed heat sinks and a method for combining a heat sink assembly with a base.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A central processing unit (CPU) is a very important component for a computer and computer technology is improving all the time, which is resulting in a higher clock speed and efficiency. Because of these improvements the heat dissipated is greater than before. The present invention is a heat sink assembly structure. By combining at least a heat sink fastening member, a lower temperature and heat dissipation are achieved.




In general, there are two types of heat sink assemblies for CPUs. One is a packed aluminum heat sink, which is processed so that the heat sink and the base from a single piece (referring to FIG.


1


A): The other one is an assembled heat sink, which uses several heat sink fastening members to assemble several heat sinks together (FIG.


1


B).




In

FIG. 1A

, the packed aluminum type of the conventional heat sink is a processed single piece packed aluminum, combining a heat sink


1




a


and a base


1




b


as a single piece. However, due to the limitation of one-piece technology, each heat sink


1




a


is a slightly thicker, and intervals d within the heat sink assembly are wider. Thereby reducing the number of the heat sinks


1




a


, and lessening the heat dissipation effect.




Referring to

FIG. 1B

, the conventional assembled type heat sink uses several heat sink fastening members


10


to combine several heat sinks


1


. The heat sink fastening member


10


uses a hook


11


and a hole


12


to hook the heat sinks


1


together. However, this fastening manner only operates when positioned horizontally. The heat sinks


1


easily separate if positioned vertically, which causes assembly problems.




Since the heat sink assembly needs to be soldered to the base after assembled, its compactness is very important since resistance of heat dissipation will increase, resulting in decrease of heat dissipation efficiency of the overall heat dissipation devices.




Without the above shortcomings, the present invention provides a heat sink assembly for heat dissipation that is easy to assemble, and has a low heat resistance and high efficiency. Especially, the fastening member for fastening the heat sink is improved and the structure of a V-shaped slot is added.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The main objective of the present invention is to develop a heat sink assembly structure, which is good for heat dissipation and assembles easily and securely.




Another objective of the present invention is to provide an elastic lock member, supplying certain flexibility in the slot to prevent separation when positioned horizontally or vertically during assembling.




Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a V-shaped slot in the heat sink assembly and to fix the heat sink in a base by adding solder at the V-shaped slot.




Specifically, the present invention provides a type of heat sink assembly structure refinement, using at least a heat sink fastening member combined with at least a heat sink, wherein the heat sink fastening member has a V-shaped protrusion, a slot, and an elastic lock member. The elastic lock member has a V-shaped cross sectional structure. The V-shaped protrusion is combined tightly in the slot for assembling the heat sink and for forming a V-shaped slot. The assembled heat sink is fixed in a base by adding a solder into the V-shaped slot.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The preset invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:





FIG. 1A

shows a perspective diagram of the conventional heat sink assembly;





FIG. 1B

shows a perspective diagram and a partial magnification diagram of a fastening configuration of the conventional heat sink assembly;





FIG. 1C

shows a enlarged view of area


10


of

FIG. 1B

;





FIG. 2A

shows a perspective diagram of the heat sink assembly of the present invention;





FIG. 2B

shows an enlarged view of area A of

FIG. 2A

;





FIG. 2C

shows an enlarged view of area B of

FIG. 2A

;





FIG. 3A

shows a perspective diagram in a fastening configuration of the heat sink assembly before assembled of the present invention;





FIG. 3B

shows a perspective diagram in a fastening configuration of the heat sink assembly after assembled of the present invention;





FIG. 4A

shows a perspective partial diagram in a side view in a fastening configuration of the heat sink assembly of the present invention;





FIG. 4B

shows an enlarged view of area C of

FIG. 4

; and





FIG. 5

shows a perspective diagram of a combination of a heat sink assembly and a base of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




To achieve the above-described objectives of the present invention, techniques, methods, specific characteristics and configuration of the present invention will be fully explained as discussed below and with the accompanying drawings.




Referring to

FIG. 2

, a heat sink assembly structure is shown having at least a heat sink fastening member


20


combined with at least a heat sink


2


, to provide heat dissipation (referring to

FIG. 3B

for a combination configuration). The heat sink fastening member


20


has a V-shaped protrusion


21


, a slot


22


, and an elastic lock member


23


. The elastic lock member


23


has a V-shaped cross sectional structure. The V-shaped protrusion


21


of a first heat sink is combined tightly in the slot


22


of a second heat sink to connect the adjacent heat sinks


2


and to form a V-shaped slot


24


. The assembled heat sink is fixed in a base


25


by adding a solder into the V-shaped slot


24


. In a preferred embodiment, a width of a side of the heat sink of the present invention is substantially about 57.5 mm. During assembly of the heat sink


2


, as shown in the

FIG. 3A

, the elastic lock member


23


has a V-shaped cross sectional area with elastic structure. The elasticity coefficient (k) of the material can be calculated by using the equation below, which corresponds with the elastic lock member displacement angle Δθ to generate a required elastic force F.








F=k


Δθ






From the above equation, it is determined that when the material with a constant material elastic coefficient k, is chosen, the required displacement angle Δθ can be set according to the required elastic force, to form the heat sink


2


. Thus, after assembled, the heat sink will not come off horizontally and vertically and will be completely fastened, as shown in FIG.


3


B.




The heat sink fastening member


20


of the present invention is located on top and bottom side ends of the heat sink


2


(that is, four corners of the heat sink


2


). Accordingly, the heat sink


2


can be held tightly, and will come off easily, as in FIG.


3


B. In the present invention, though four heat sink fastening members are used in the preferred embodiment, those persons skilled in the art may re-combine, add, or delete the fastening members with reference to the present invention to achieve similar effects.




Further referring to

FIG. 4B

, the combination of the elastic lock member


23


and the slot


22


forms at least an interval D between two adjacent heat sinks


2


. Moreover, the width of the interval is substantially less than 2 mm. Hence, more heat sinks


2


can be combined together for increasing the heat dissipating surface area.




Further referring to

FIG. 5

, a perspective diagram in a combination configuration with the heat sink assembly


26


and the base


25


is shown. The heat sink assembly


26


with the elastic lock member


23


and the slot


22


combine with each other to form a V-shaped slot


24


. The heat sink assembly


26


and the base


25


are combined together by adding solder into the V-shaped slot


24


so as to lower the resistance of the overall heat dissipation and increase the heat dissipation efficiency.




The present invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it is not a limitation in the invention. Various changes, modifications, and enhancements could be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A heat sink assembly structure comprising:a plurality of heat sinks, each heat sink having a plurality of heat sink fastening members, each heat sink fastening member having: a) a V-shaped protrusion; b) a slot; and c) an elastic lock member having a V-shaped cross-sectional configuration; wherein each V-shaped protrusion of a first heat sink is inserted into one slot of a second heat sink to attach the first and second heat sinks together.
  • 2. The heat sink assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of heat sink fastening members are located on top and bottom side ends of each of the plurality of heat sinks.
  • 3. The heat sink assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein the combination of said elastic lock member and said slot of two adjacent heat sinks of the plurality of heat sinks forms an interval between said heat sinks.
  • 4. The heat sink assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein said elastic lock member and said slot are combined to connect two adjacent heat sinks of the plurality of heat sinks.
  • 5. The heat sink assembly structure according to claim 3, wherein a width in a side of said heat sink is 57.5 mm.
  • 6. The heat sink assembly structure according to claim 3, wherein said interval is less than 2 mm.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
91213373 Aug 2002 TW
US Referenced Citations (10)
Number Name Date Kind
2434676 Spender Jan 1948 A
5558155 Ito Sep 1996 A
6104609 Chen Aug 2000 A
6336498 Wei Jan 2002 B1
6449160 Tsai Sep 2002 B1
6474407 Chang et al. Nov 2002 B1
6607023 Ho et al. Aug 2003 B2
6607028 Wang et al. Aug 2003 B1
6619381 Lee Sep 2003 B1
20020112846 Noda et al. Aug 2002 A1