Patent Application
20250133701
The present application claims priority from Singapore patent application 10202302950T dated Oct. 19, 2023 and United Kingdom patent application 2401267.6 dated Jan. 31, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a thermal connector for conducting heat from a device generating heat located in a housing to a cooling module. Also, the present invention relates to a cooling apparatus comprising said thermal connector and a cooling module and to a system comprising said thermal connector or said cooling apparatus. In addition, the present invention relates to a method for transferring heat outside a housing of a device generating heat using said thermal connector or said cooling apparatus.
In the last decades, the use of computing devices is constantly increased, these being basically employed in any fields of technology, such as urban farms and video analytics applications. The performance of these devices and the amount of data to be processed increase despite a continuous request in reducing the dimensions.
The computing devices can be for example data center, edge Al, high performance computing, motor drive, edge Al computing comprising micro controller units (MCUs), graphic process units (GPUs) and Neural Process Units (NPUs).
One issue related to these devices is the production of heat. As a matter of fact, MCUs, GPUs, and NPUs generate a large amount of heat while computing a large amount of data. Existing heat management strategies comprise the dissipation of heat over a larger surface area. This heat dissipation usually occurs within the device enclosure and using heat pipes or vapor chambers to accelerate heat conduction so that heat is distributed faster to the rest of the device. Other forms of cooling systems employ heat sinks and fans to cool the chipset. However, heat sinks and cooling fans occupy space and increase the size of the product. Also, ventilation holes and gaps are necessary to cool the device through ventilation. Therefore, the housing of the device cannot be completely sealed, and dust and/or water particles can enter the housing thereby damaging the device.
Other types of cooling configurations are known from prior art. WO 2020/005175 A1 discloses for example a thermal connector for coupling a printed circuit board to a cooling structure such as a cold plate or a heat sink. This document refers to a permanent coupling, fasten by screw, to attach a thermal body used for absorbing heat from the device. However, the coupling arrangement is a bulky solution that is not flexible from the structural point of view in case of a replacement of components due to malfunctioning or damages.
Examples of the present disclosure seek to address or at least alleviate the above problems.
In a first aspect, there is provided a thermal connector for conducting heat from a device generating heat located in a housing to a cooling module, the thermal connector comprising:
In a second aspect, there is provided a cooling apparatus for transferring heat outside a housing of a device generating heat, the cooling apparatus comprising:
In a third aspect, there is provided a system comprising:
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method for transferring heat outside a housing of a device generating heat using the thermal connector according to the first aspect or the cooling apparatus according to the second aspect or the system according to the third aspect, the method comprising coupling the main body to the housing, in particular to the receiving part of thermal connector.
Other aspects and features are defined in the appended claims.
Examples of the disclosure may provide a connector to transfer heat from a device generating heat to a cooling element that is efficient and simple to realize. In particular, examples of the disclosure may provide a thermal connector between a heat generating device and a cooling system that can be easily installed and uninstalled in the field. Also, examples of the disclosure may provide a thermal connector for transferring heat outside the housing of a device, thereby maintaining said housing dust-free and waterproof.
Examples of the disclosure will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like references refer to like parts, and in which:
Some of the figures contain simplified, schematic representations. In some cases, identical reference signs are used for the same, but possibly not identical, elements. Different views of the same elements might be scaled differently. Directions such as “left”, “right”, “up” and “down” are to be understood in relation to the respective figure and may vary in the individual representations compared to the object depicted.
A thermal connector, a cooling apparatus, a system and a method for transferring heat outside a housing of a device generating heat are disclosed. In the following description, a number of specific details are presented in order to provide a thorough understanding of the examples of the disclosure. It will be apparent however to a person skilled in the art that these specific details need not be employed in order to practice the examples of the disclosure. Conversely, specific details known to the person skilled in the art are omitted for the purposes of clarity in presenting the examples.
Advantageously, the thermal connector 1 can be attached to, and detached from, the housing 8 without big efforts. For example, the coupling interface 17 can be configured such that the coupling mechanism between the thermal connector 1 (or a component of the thermal connector 1) and the housing 8 occurs through an insertion/extraction mechanism, without the necessity of permanently fixing the thermal connector 1 to the housing 8, for example using screws or other fastening means. The thermal connector 1 (or a component of the thermal connector 1) can be a plug element that is insertable into the housing 8 for extracting heat from a device 2 located inside the housing 8. Therefore, the coupling interface 17 can comprise a plug-in junction, a snap-fit junction or another type of junction allowing a easy attachment to, and detachment from, the housing 8, without the need of fixing elements, like screws. For this purpose, the coupling interface 17 comprises coupling elements (not shown in the figure). In a simple configuration, the coupling interface comprises at least a protrusion that is insertable in the housing 8. Coupling elements can comprise pins, clips, clamps, or the like.
It is noted that the main body 4 of the thermal connector 1 can directly be coupled to the housing 8. Alternatively, as will be described later, the main body 4 can be indirectly coupled to the housing 8, i.e. using an interposed element that is fixable to the housing 8.
In one example, the coupling interface 17 is at least an external wall of the main body 4. The main body 4 can have a first wall 18, at one side of the main body 4, configured to be coupled to the cooling module 3 and a second wall 19, i.e. the outermost wall at the other side, that corresponds to the coupling interface 17. As shown in
The heat transfer element 6 serves to conduct heat through the main body 4 of the thermal connector 1, for example from the second wall 19 at the coupling interface 17 to the first wall 18 connectable to the cooling module 3. For this purpose, the heat transfer element 6 can be made of a material having high heat conductivity. For example, the heat transfer element 6 can comprise copper or aluminum. The heat transfer element 6 advantageously extends along the main body 4. The heat transfer element 6 can be entirely contained in the main body 1 of the thermal connector 1 or can extend outside the main body 4.
To favor the heat transfer, the heat transfer element 6 can comprise at least a heat pipe and/or a vapor chamber. For example, a heat pipe can extend along the main body 4 and be supported by the support portion 5. The heat transfer element 6 can also be configured as a cold or cooling plate with channels or pipes that meander or at least extend through the said plate.
In examples, the main body 4 comprises a recess region 11 extending along the heat transfer element 6. As shown in
As already mentioned, the main body 4 can be indirectly coupled to the housing 8, i.e. using an interposed element that is fixable to the housing 8. This is shown in
According to this example, the thermal connector 1 further comprises a receiving part 7 fixable to, or fixed to, the housing 8 of the device 2, the receiving part 7 being physically separable from the main body 4 and comprising a case 10 having a heat transfer region 9.
In examples, the main body 4 can form a protrusion and the receiving part 7 can form a recess, the main body 4 being insertable into the receiving part 7.
In a configuration wherein the thermal connector 1 is coupled to the housing 8 of the device 2 using a receiving part 7 as shown in
In examples, the heat transfer region 9 of the receiving part 7 is configured to receive a heat collecting element 12 for collecting heat generated by the device 2, wherein the heat transfer element 6 of the main body 4 comes into contact with said heat collecting element 12, once the main body 4 is coupled to the housing 8, in particular to receiving part 7. For this purpose, the heat transfer region 9 can comprise a rear opening 20, through which a heat collecting element 12, for example a heat pipe, is inserted. Since the heat transfer region 9 overlaps the recess region 11 of the main body 4 once the main body 4 is coupled to receiving part 7, any element inserted into the rear opening 20, such as the heat collecting element 12, would touch the heat transfer element 6 of the thermal connector 1 in the coupling configuration.
This is clearly shown in
It is noted that the system 16 is designed such that the heat transfer element 6 and heat collecting element 12 can be mechanically disconnected in such a way that externally exerted pressure or movement on cooling module 3 or body 4 does not cause misalignment or delamination of heat collecting element 12 from the device 2 (i.e. heat source). In other words, external forces exerted on the cooling module 3 or on the main body 4 do not affect the connection between the heat collecting element 12 and the device 2. This is to avoid the cantilever effect causing poor connection between the heat collecting element 12 and the device 2.
In alternative, the system 16 can comprise a thermal connector 1 as shown in
In examples, the device generating heat 2 is at least one of:
It is noted that the receiving part 7 of the thermal connector 1 can be insertable into the housing 8 of the device 2, meaning that the housing 8 is provided with a recess portion, inside which the receiving part 7 can be inserted, for example in a removable way. In alternative, the receiving part 7 is integrated into the housing 8 of the device 2, i.e. the receiving part 7 is an integral part of the housing.
In examples, the cooling module 3 comprises a passive cooling unit, in particular a heat sink with a heat pipe or a radiative cooling element. In alternative or in addition, the cooling module 3 is an active cooling unit, in particular a heat sink with a fan, a liquid cooling element, or a Peltier module.
As shown in
Advantageously, the cooling apparatus 15 can be attached to, and detached from, the housing 8 of the device 2 in a easy way, for example by simply plugging the cooling module 3, i.e. the main body 4 of the thermal connector 1, directly into the housing 8 or into the receiving part 7 that is fixable to the housing 8. This can be extremely useful in case the cooling module 15 needs to be replaced, due for example to a malfunctioning or a damage of the cooling module 3. In fact, the thermal connector 1 (or a part of the thermal connector 1) connected to the cooling module 3 can be detached from the housing 8, or from the receiving part 7, at the coupling interface 17 and another cooling apparatus 15, with a different o a repaired cooling module 3, can be attached to the housing 8, or to the receiving part 7.
In an additional advantage, the cooling apparatus 15 is designed to minimize and prevent external forces or pressures on the cooling module 3 or on main body 4 from dislodging the connection between the heat collecting element 12 and the device 2 (i.e. heat source).
The device 2 is located inside a housing 8 and positioned on a print circuit board 14. The device 2 generates heat and is in contact with a heat collecting element 12 to collect and transport heat away from the device 2. The heat collecting element 12 is an elongated element, for example a heat pipe, extending from the device 2 to the edge of the housing 8 passing through the case 10 of the receiving part 7 of the thermal connector 1. In a uncoupled configuration (
Such type of thermal connector 1 is configured to cool the device 2 by transferring heat from the device 2 and PCB 14 to outside the housing 8. Heat can then be dissipated outside the housing 8 with a cooling module 3 such as heat sink, radiative cooling, heat convection, and other means.
The parts of the heat collecting element 12 and/or the heat transfer element 6 that engage and form the contact surface may be configured in any other shape, such as square, round, elliptical or a combination thereof, although they have been illustrated in a rectangular shape. This may apply to any other embodiment disclosed herein. In addition, and as mentioned before, the heat transfer element 6 can be configured as a cold plate. However, it is preferred to configure the heat transfer element 6 with a heat pipe or a vapor chamber.
By using the present thermal connector 1 and cooling apparatus 15 it is possible to dissipate heat outside the device's enclosure. This leads to a more effective cooling with external cooling solution, a simpler device's design (housing) since can be made smaller, an increased waterproofing of device due to a complete sealing, a more energy efficient cooling system that leverage cooler external ambient temperature outside the housing than the recirculating hot air inside the housing, a more dynamic cooling option when power is connected, and a longer electronics longevity with less thermal aging.
The present thermal connector 1, cooling apparatus 15 or system 16 can advantageously be used at least for data center servers, edge Al devices, industrial PC, high performance computing, and heat generating motors.
Although a variety of techniques and examples of such techniques have been described herein, these are provided by way of example only and many variations and modifications on such examples will be apparent to the skilled person and fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10202302950T | Oct 2023 | SG | national |
| 2401267.6 | Jan 2024 | GB | national |
