Patent Application
20130152854
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a thermal grease smearing apparatus, and particularly relates to a thermal grease smearing apparatus for applying thermal grease to a bottom surface of a heat sink.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic components, such as central processing units (CPUs) in computers may generate a lot of heat during normal operation. Excess heat may deteriorate operational stability of the electronic components and may damage the electronic components. Thus, excess heat must be removed quickly to maintain an acceptable operating temperature of the electronic components in the computers. One known method for removing heat from an electronic component is by mounting a heat sink on the electronic component. A layer of thermal grease is usually spread on a bottom surface of the heat sink to improve heat conductivity between the heat sink and the electronic component. However, it may not be easy to apply a layer of thermal grease uniformly on the bottom surface of the heat sink.
Therefore, a need may be desired to provide a thermal grease smearing apparatus which can conveniently and uniformly smear a layer of thermal grease on a bottom surface of a heat sink.
Many aspects of the 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 embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
The heat sink 70 can be placed upside down on the platform 10 so that the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70 faces up, as shown in
The supporting post 20 projects upwardly from the platform 10 and is substantially perpendicular to the platform 10. In one embodiment, the supporting post 20 may be a cylinder with a circular cross-section. The supporting post 20 is secured to the platform by welding or other means. If desired, however, the supporting post 20 could be die-cast integrally with the platform 10.
The bracket 30 includes a top plate 31, a bottom plate 40, and two opposite sidewalls 32. The top plate 31 defines a first through hole 312 and a second through hole 314. The first through hole 312 is adjacent to the second through hole 314. The bottom plate 40 defines at least one smearing hole 41. The at least one smearing hole 41 may be defined in a variety shapes, such as a rectangle and a circle. An appropriate shape of the at least one smearing hole 41 can be selected up to the shape of the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70.
The bottom plate 40 is slidably coupled to the two opposite sidewalls 32. Each of the two opposite sidewalls 32 defines a sliding groove 321 on an exterior side thereof. The bottom plate 40 comprises two sliding rails 42. The two sliding rails 42 may be received respectively in each of the sliding grooves 321 and engaged with each of the sliding grooves 321 such that the bottom plate 40 is mounted to the two opposite sidewalls 32 and is able to move slidably relative to the two opposite sidewalls 32. An appropriate shape of the at least one smearing hole 41 can be selected and aligned with the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70 by sliding the bottom plate 40 relative to the two opposite sidewalls 32.
The shifting mechanism 80 extends laterally from one of the two sidewalls 32.
The shifting mechanism 80 includes a receiving hole (not labeled). The receiving hole receives and surrounds the supporting post 20 thereby mounting the bracket 30 to the supporting post 20 and enabling variable positioning of the bracket 30 relative to the platform 10. The shifting mechanism 80 may be actuated to lift up or down the bracket 30 along the supporting post 20 and fix the bracket 30 in a desired position.
The thermal grease pipe 50 includes a pipe body 51, a smearing portion 52, and a driven gear 53. The pipe body 51 is a hollow pipe formed with an upper opening 55 and a lower opening 56. The thermal grease can be input into the upper opening 55 and guided by the pipe body 51 and then applied onto the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70. The pipe body 51 is received in the first through hole 312 and mounted to the top plate 31 of the bracket 30. The upper opening 55 is defined in the outside of the bracket 30 and the lower opening 56 is defined in the inside of the bracket 30. In some embodiments, the pipe body 51 may be made from transparent material, for example glass or plastic. A scale 54 may be marked on an exterior surface of the pipe body 51 to indicate a volume of the thermal grease that has been introduced into the pipe body 51 of the thermal grease pipe 50. The driven gear 62 surrounds the pipe body and is arranged outside of the bracket 30.
The smearing portion 52 is arranged at the lower end of the pipe body 51 and adjacent to the lower opening 56. The smearing portion 52 includes two opposite propeller blades 521. Each of the two propeller blades 521 has an edge inclined to and close to the bottom plate 40 of the bracket 30.
The driving member 60 comprises a cylindrical body 61, a driving gear 62, and an operating handle 63. The cylindrical body 61 is received in the second through hole 314 thereby mounting the driving member 60 to the top plate 31. The driving gear 62 surrounds the cylindrical body 61 and is arranged outside of the bracket 30. The operating handle 63 extends laterally from the cylindrical body 61 and is operable to drive the cylindrical body 61 to rotate about its own central axis thereby rotating the driving gear 62 to drive the driven gear 53 to rotate about a central axis of the thermal grease pipe 50.
Referring to
The shifting mechanism 80 is actuated to lift the bracket 30 along the supporting post 20 and fix the bracket 30 in a working position such that the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70 abuts the lower surface of the bottom plate 40 and exposes its central portion accessible to the selected one of the at least one smearing hole 41. A certain volume of thermal grease is input into the pipe body 51 of the thermal grease pipe 50 from the upper opening and guided by the pipe body 51 and then applied to the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70 from the lower opening. The smearing portion 52 is in contact with the thermal grease applied onto the bottom surface 71.
The operating handle 63 is actuated to drive the driving gear 62 to rotate about the central axis of the cylindrical body 61 thereby rotating the driven gear 53 to drive the smearing portion 52 to rotate about the central axis of the thermal grease pipe 50. The thermal grease is uniformly spread on the bottom surface 71 of the heat sink 70 as a result of the rotation of the smearing portion 52 performed on the bottom surface 71.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages have been set forth in the foregoing description of embodiments, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201110429463.6 | Dec 2011 | CN | national |
