Patent Application
20120097371
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating member, in particular to a serially-connected heat-dissipating fin assembly.
2. Description of Prior Art
In order to facilitate the heat exchange performed by a thermal-conducting element (such as a heat pipe or a vapor chamber), heat-dissipating fins are usually mounted on the condensing end of the thermal-conducting element. Conventionally, the heat-dissipating fins are directly combined with the heat pipe or the vapor chamber by soldering. Alternatively, the heat pipe or vapor chamber is disposed through the heat-dissipating fins to serially connecting the heat-dissipating fins together. However, the conventional solution for serially connecting the heat-dissipating fins to the heat pipe or the vapor chamber involves the steps of providing through-holes on the respective heat-dissipating fins with their diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the heat pipe or the external profile of the vapor chamber and serially connecting the heat-dissipating fins to the heat pipe or the vapor chamber by tight interference fit. However, a great friction force is generated between the heat-dissipating fins and the heat pipe or vapor chamber, so that it is not easy to assemble the heat-dissipating fins with the heat pipe or vapor chamber together. Thus, in practice, a common way is to form the through-holes with a larger diameter for admitting the heat pipe or the vapor chamber to be disposed through easily, and then to fill solders in the gaps between the heat-dissipating fins and the heat pipe or the vapor chamber.
Although the filling of solders in the gaps between the heat-dissipating fins and the heat pipe or the vapor chamber can increase the stability of connection therebetween, using more solders inevitably raises the manufacturing cost and affects the external appearance of the connecting portions between the heat-dissipating fins and the heat pipe or the vapor chamber. As a result, some solders are wasted, and it takes more time to assemble these elements together.
In view of the above, the present Inventor proposes a reasonable and novel structure based on his research and expert knowledge.
The present invention is to provide a serially-connected heat-dissipating fins assembly, in which a plurality of abutting portions is provided for generating an interference fit, so that the heat-dissipating fins can be assembled with a thermal-conducting element, such as a heat pipe or a vapor chamber, without using solders, thereby reducing material cost and manufacturing cost.
The present invention provides a serially-connected heat-dissipating fin assembly including a plurality of heat-dissipating fins and a thermal-conducting element. Each of the heat-dissipating fins is provided with a hollow connecting portion for allowing the thermal-conducting element to be disposed through. The inner edge of the connecting portion of the respective heat-dissipating fins is provided with a protruding wall. The protruding wall is provided with a plurality of abutting portions slightly protruding toward the connecting portions. The surface of the thermal-conducting element is brought into frictional contact with the abutting portions to thereby tightly fit into the connecting portions of the respective heat-dissipating fins.
The characteristics and technical contents of the present invention will be further understood with reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. It is noteworthy to point out that the drawings is provided for the illustration purpose only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the present invention.
The external profile of the respective heat-dissipating fins 1 can be varied according to practical demands. Each of the heat-dissipating fins 1 is provided with a hollow connecting portion 10 for allowing the thermal-conducting element 2 to be disposed through. The connecting portion 10 further extends to one side of the heat-dissipating fin 1 to form an opening 100 as shown in
The thermal-conducting element 2 may be a heat pipe or a vapor chamber for serially connecting the heat-dissipating fins 1 to form a stacked structure. The thermal-conducting element 2 is disposed through the connecting portions 10 of the respective heat-dissipating fins 1. Alternatively, the thermal-conducting element 2 is transversely disposed into the connecting portions 10 of the respective heat-dissipating fins 1 via the opening 100. In this way, the respective heat-dissipating fins 2 can be serially connected to the thermal-conducting element 2 to form one body.
The primary technical characteristic of the present invention lies in that the inner edge of the connecting portion 10 of each heat-dissipating fin 1 is formed with a continuous protruding wall 11, and the protruding wall 11 is provided with a plurality of abutting portions 12 slightly protruding toward the connecting portions 10. Each of the abutting portions 12 only protrudes from the surface of the protruding wall 11 by 3 to 5 μm. In the first embodiment of the present invention, each of the abutting portions 12 is a boss. By this structure, when the thermal-conducting element 2 is disposed through the connecting portions 10 of the respective heat-dissipating fins 1 or disposed into the connecting portions 10 via the opening 100, the surface of the thermal-conducting element 2 is brought into frictional contact with the abutting portions 12 to thereby tightly fit into the connecting portions 10 of the respective heat-dissipating fins 1. In this way, it is unnecessary to use solders to assemble the thermal-conducting element 2 with the heat-dissipating fins 1, which accelerates the assembly and reduces the material cost and manufacturing cost.
With the above constitution, the serially-connected heat-dissipating fin assembly of the present invention can be obtained.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
