LIQUID COOLING DEVICE

Abstract

A liquid cooling device has a main liquid block, a pump, a heat sink, and at least one auxiliary liquid block that are in fluid communications. The auxiliary liquid block has a body and a partition that separates the body into a reservoir and a heat-absorbing chamber. The reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber communicate with and other via a through hole on the partition. Since the heat-absorbing chamber is mounted to be adjacent to an electronic component that generates heat, the fluid in the heat-absorbing chamber absorbs the heat. When the fluid in the heat-absorbing chamber vaporizes and decreases the fluid in the reservoir has a higher level and thus flows to the heat-absorbing chamber via the through hole. Therefore, the heat-dissipating ability of the liquid cooling device is increased.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a liquid cooling device and, in particular, to a liquid cooling device with a longer heat-dissipating ability.

2. Description of Related Art

In usual computer operations, the central processing unit (CPU) often has the highest working temperature. To efficiently reduce its temperature, a modern approach is to dispose a liquid cooling device on the CPU. The heat-dissipating device absorbs heat generated by the CPU and dissipates it.

The above-mentioned liquid cooling device mainly includes a liquid block, a pump, and a heat sink. The liquid block is filled with a coolant and mounted on the CPU to directly absorb heat generated by the CPU. The liquid block is further in fluid communications with the pump and the heat sink via tubing. Therefore, the coolant is driven by the pump to circulate between the heat sink and the liquid block. The coolant exchanges heat with the liquid block when the coolant flows through the liquid block. After the coolant dissipates the heat when it flows through the heat sink, the coolant circulates back to the liquid block for heat exchange again.

However, the coolant absorbing the heat may vaporize and reduce the circulating amount. This will reduce the overall heat-dissipating efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a liquid cooling device that has more coolant in order to elongate the heat-dissipating time.

To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the disclosed liquid cooling device includes: a main liquid block, a pump, a heat sink, and at least one auxiliary liquid block. The main liquid block is filled with a coolant and disposed on a heat-generating electronic device for absorbing its heat. The pump is disposed on the main liquid block and in fluid communications with the main liquid block. The heat sink is in fluid communications with the pump via a tubing. Each auxiliary liquid block is filled with the coolant therein and includes a body and a partition. One side surface of the body is in contact with a heat-generating electronic device for absorbing its heat. The body has a reservoir and a heat-absorbing chamber. The heat-absorbing chamber is adjacent to the heat-generating electronic device. The partition is disposed inside the body between the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber and formed with at least one through hole connecting the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber. The outer wall of the body is formed with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet that are respectively in fluid communications with the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber, and the main liquid block and the heat sink via tubing.

Using the above-mentioned technical features, the reservoir can hold more coolant. When the coolant inside the heat-absorbing chamber of the auxiliary liquid block absorbs heat and vaporizes, the coolant in the reservoir will replenish it via the through hole between the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber. This can effectively elongate the heat-dissipating effect of the liquid cooling device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an operational perspective view of a first embodiment of a liquid cooling device in accordance with the invention disposed on a mother board having two groups of power transistors;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the liquid block in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the liquid block filled with the coolant in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the liquid block in accordance with the present invention when some of the coolant vaporizes;

FIG. 6 is an operational perspective view of a second embodiment of the liquid cooling device in accordance with the present invention mounted on a mother board having one group of power transistors;

FIG. 7 is a front plan view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the second embodiment of the liquid cooling device disposed on another mother board having a group of power transistors;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heat sink in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the heat sink of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first embodiment of the liquid cooling device is used to dissipate heat generated by electronic components, such as power transistors 2 and chipsets 3, on a vertical mother board 1. In this embodiment, the mother board 1 has two groups of power transistors 2 and a chipset 3.

The liquid cooling device includes a main liquid block 60, a pump 30, a heat sink 40, a first auxiliary liquid block 10, and a second auxiliary liquid block 20.

The main liquid block 60 is mounted on the chipset 3 to absorb heat generated by the chipset 3. The main liquid block 60 has a chamber (not shown) for holding a coolant.

The pump 30 is mounted on the main liquid block 60 and in fluid communications with the liquid block 60. The pump 30 imposes a pressure on the coolant for the coolant to flow.

The heat sink 40 is connected with the pump 30 via a tubing 50. With further reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, in this embodiment, the sink 40 includes a heat-dissipating assembly 41 and two containers 42, 43. The heat-dissipating assembly 41 has several heat-dissipating blades 411 and multiple fluid passages 412 that communicate between the two containers 42, 43 for the coolant to flow therein as indicated by arrow symbols, and the heat-dissipating blade 411 can abut between two adjacent fluid passages 412.

The two containers 42, 43 are mounted on both sides of the heat-dissipating assembly 41, respectively. The fluid passages 412 communicates with the two containers 42, 43. One of the containers 43 is connected with the pump 30 via a tubing 50. The other container 42 can be connected to the auxiliary liquid block 10 via a tubing.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the above-mentioned first auxiliary liquid block 10 includes a body 11 and a partition 12.

The body 11 is mounted on one group of the power transistors 2. The body 11 is hollow and is separated into a reservoir 111 and a heat-absorbing chamber 112 by the partition 12. The bottom surface of the body 11 is defined with a fluid outlet 113 and a fluid inlet 114 that respectively communicate the reservoir 111 and the heat-absorbing chamber 112. The heat-absorbing chamber 112 is adjacent to the power transistor 2 when the first auxiliary liquid block 10 is mounted on the mother board 1. In the heat-absorbing chamber 112, multiple fins 115 are formed. Preferably, the fins 115 can protrude one side surface of the heat-absorbing chamber 112 that is adjacent to the power transistors 2 to absorb heat generated by the power transistors 2. The coolant exchanges heat with the fins 115. The heat exchange effect is enhanced because the coolant has a wider contact surface with the fins 115. The fluid outlet 113 is in fluid communications with one of the containers 42 via the tubing 50. The fluid inlet 114 is in fluid communications with the heat-absorbing chamber 112.

The partition 12 is disposed in the body 11 at the boundary between the reservoir 111 and the heat-absorbing chamber 112. The partition 12 is formed with two through holes 121 so that the reservoir 111 and the heat-absorbing chamber 112 are in fluid communications. The two through holes 121 are adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the body 11.

The structure of the second auxiliary liquid block 20 is basically the same as the first auxiliary liquid block 10. The second auxiliary liquid block 20 with one side surface contacts the other group of the power transistors 2. The fluid outlet 213 is in fluid communications with the fluid inlet 114 of the first auxiliary liquid block 10 via a tubing. The fluid outlet 214 is in fluid communications with the main liquid block 60 via a tubing 50. Therefore, when the pump 30 operates, the coolant circulates among the pump 30, the heat sink 40, the first and second auxiliary liquid blocks 10, 20, and the main liquid block 60. The coolant flowing through the first and second auxiliary liquid blocks 10, 20 exchanges heat with the fins 115, and absorbs heat generated by the chipset 3 when it flows through the main liquid block 60. After the coolant dissipates the absorbed heat to the heat sink 40, the coolant flows back into the first and second auxiliary liquid blocks 10, 20 and the main liquid block 60 for further heat exchange.

With further reference to FIG. 4, when the coolant circulates normally in the first auxiliary liquid block 10, the coolant fills up the entire reservoir 111 and the heat-absorbing chamber 112. With further reference to FIG. 5, when the coolant vaporizes as it absorbs heat, the coolant level in the heat-absorbing chamber 112 drops. Since the reservoir 111 and the heat-absorbing chamber 112 are in fluid communications via the through holes 121 on the partition 12 and the coolant surface in the reservoir 111 is higher, the coolant flows to the heat-absorbing chamber 112 via the through holes. Thus, the reservoir 111 can increase the overall storage capacity of the coolant of the whole liquid block 10 and timely replenish the heat-dissipating chamber 112 when some of the coolant in the heat-dissipating chamber 112 vaporizes, thus elongating the heat-dissipating ability of the first auxiliary liquid block 10. The same principle applies to the second auxiliary liquid block 20 as well.

Please refer to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. The second embodiment of the invention is similar to the first embodiment. The difference is in that there is only one auxiliary liquid block 20′ and one main liquid block 60 in the second embodiment because there is only one group of the power transistors 2 and one chipset 3. The fluid outlet 213′ of the auxiliary liquid block 20′ is in fluid communications with one of the containers 42 of the heat sink 40 via a tubing 50, it's the fluid inlet 214′ is in fluid communications with the main liquid block 60 via the tubing 50.

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 features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, 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 liquid cooling device comprising: a main liquid block being filled with a coolant;a pump being mounted on the main liquid block and in fluid communications with the main liquid block;a heat sink connected with the pump via a tubing;at least one auxiliary liquid block filled with a coolant, each of the at least one auxiliary liquid block comprising: a body having a side surface for contacting an electronic component that generates heat;a partition formed in the body and separating the body into a reservoir and a heat-absorbing chamber being adjacent to the side surface of the body;at least one through hole formed on the partition to communicate the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber;a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet being respectively in fluid communications with the reservoir and the heat-absorbing chamber and connected via tubing with the main liquid block and the heat sink.

2. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, the at least one auxiliary liquid block comprising: a first auxiliary liquid block having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet fluid being in fluid communications with the heat sink via the tubing; anda second auxiliary liquid block having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet are in fluid communications with the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet of the first auxiliary liquid block and in fluid communications with the main liquid block via tubing.

3. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises: two containers being in fluid communications with the pump and the auxiliary liquid block respectively; anda heat-dissipating assembly composed of multiple heat-dissipating blades and multiple fluid passages, each of the fluid passage communicating the two containers and each heat-dissipating blade being mounted between two adjacent fluid passage.

4. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the heat sink comprises: two containers being in fluid communications with the pump and the auxiliary liquid block respectively; anda heat-dissipating assembly composed of multiple heat-dissipating blades and multiple fluid passages, each of the fluid passage communicating the two containers and each heat-dissipating blade being mounted between two adjacent fluid passage.

5. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the partition in the body of each auxiliary liquid block is formed with two through holes adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the body.

6. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the partition in the body of each auxiliary liquid block is formed with two through holes adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the body.

7. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the partition in the body of each auxiliary liquid block is formed with two through holes adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the body.

8. The liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the partition in the body of each auxiliary liquid block is formed with two through holes adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the body.