Claims
- 1. A method of dissipating heat from an electronic device having an enclosure and at least one heat-generating source received within the enclosure, the enclosure having one or more parts, and at least one of the parts having an exterior surface and an opposing interior surface, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) covering at least a portion of the interior surface of said one of the enclosure parts with a conformal metallic layer; and (b) disposing the conformal metallic layer covered on said one of the enclosure parts and the source in beat transfer adjacency with each other.
- 2. The method of claim 2 wherein the metallic layer comprises tin, nickel, copper, zinc, aluminum, silver, or an alloy thereof.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the interior surface of said one of the enclosure parts is covered in step (a) by the steps of:
(i) providing a feed material comprising a metal or metal alloy; (ii) heating said feed material of step (i) into a molten state; (iii) atomizing said feed material of step (ii) while in said molten state; (iv) spraying the atomized feed material of step (ii) while in said molten state on said portion of the interior surface of said one of the enclosure part to form a self-adherent coating of said metal thereon; and (v) solidifying said coating of step (iii) to form said conformal metallic layer.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the conformal metallic layer covering said one of the enclosure parts and the source are disposed in step (b) to define a gap therebetween, said method further comprising the additional step before or after step (b) of interposing a thermal interface material between the conformal metallic layer covered on said one the enclosure parts and the source, said thermal interface material at least partially filling said gap.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the thermal interface material comprises an admixture of a resin and a filler.
- 6. The method of claim 1 where the heat-generating source is an electronic component.
- 7. The method of claim 6 where the electronic component is mounted on a circuit board.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said housing part is formed of a plastic.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said plastic is polycarbonate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polysulfone, acrylic, polyvinyl chloride, polyphenylene ether, polystyrene, polyamide, nylon, polyolefin, poly(ether ether ketone), polyimide, polyetherimide, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, fluoropolymer, polyester, acetal, liquid crystal polymer, polymethylacrylate, polyurethane, polyphenylene oxide, polystyrene, epoxy, phenolic, or a copolymer or blend thereof.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the metallic layer has a thermal conductivity of at least about 5 W/m-K.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the metallic layer exhibits an EMI shielding effectiveness of at least about 60 dB substantially over a frequency range of between about 10 MHz and about 2 GHz.
- 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the metallic layer has an electrical surface resistance of not greater than about 0.10 Ω/sq.
- 13. The method of claim 1 wherein said shielding layer of step (e) has a thickness of between about 0.5-100 mils (0.0125-2.5 mm).
- 14. The method of claim 3 wherein said feed material is heated in step (a)(ii) by generating an electric arc within an arc zone, and passing said feed material through said arc zone.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein:
said feed material is atomized in step (a)(iii) by a gas stream passed with said feed material through said arc zone; and said feed material is sprayed in step (a)(iv) by entrainment within said gas stream.
- 16. The method of claim 14 wherein:
said feed material is provided as a first wire and a second wire, each said wire being passed with the other said wire through said arc zone; and wherein said arc is generated by applying an electrical potential difference between said first and said second wire.
- 17. A thermal management assembly for an electronic device having an enclosure and at least one heat-generating source received within the enclosure, the enclosure having one or more parts, and at least one of the parts having an exterior surface and an opposing interior surface, the assembly comprising a conformal metallic layer covering at least a portion of the interior surface of said one of the enclosure parts, and being disposed in heat transfer adjacency with the source received within the enclosure.
- 18. The assembly of claim 17 wherein the metallic layer comprises a self-adherent coating of a metal or metal alloy.
- 19. The assembly of claim 18 wherein the metallic layer comprises tin, nickel, copper, zinc, aluminum, silver, or an alloy thereof.
- 20. The assembly of claim 17 wherein the conformal metallic layer covering said one of the enclosure parts is disposed in said heat transfer adjacency with the source received within the enclosure to define a gap therebetween, said assembly further comprising a thermal interface material interposed between the conformal metallic layer and the source, said thermal interface material at least partially filling said gap.
- 21. The assembly of claim 20 which consists for the source essentially of the conformal metallic layer and the thermal interface material.
- 22. The assembly of claim 20 wherein the thermal interface material comprises an admixture of a resin and a filler.
- 23. The assembly of claim 17 where the heat-generating source is an electronic component.
- 24. The assembly of claim 23 where the electronic component is mounted on a circuit board.
- 25. The assembly of claim 17 wherein said housing part is formed of a plastic.
- 26. The assembly of claim 25 wherein said plastic is polycarbonate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polysulfone, acrylic, polyvinyl chloride, polyphenylene ether, polystyrene, polyamide, nylon, polyolefin, poly(ether ether ketone), polyimide, polyetherimide, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, fluoropolymer, polyester, acetal, liquid crystal polymer, polymethylacrylate, polyurethane, polyphenylene oxide, polystyrene, epoxy, phenolic, or a copolymer or blend thereof.
- 27. The assembly of claim 17 wherein the metallic layer has a thermal conductivity of at least about 5 W/m-K.
- 28. The assembly of claim 17 wherein the metallic layer exhibits an EMI shielding effectiveness of at least about 60 dB substantially over a frequency range of between about 10 MHz and about 2 GHz.
- 29. The assembly of claim 17 wherein the metallic layer has an electrical surface resistance of not greater than about 0.10 Ω/sq.
- 30. The assembly of claim 17 wherein said shielding layer of step (e) has a thickness of between about 0.5-100 mils (0.0125-2.5 mm).
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/137,229, filed May 1, 2002, entitled “Manufacture of Electronics Enclosure Having a Conformal Corrosion-Resistant Metallized Shielding Layer,” which application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/289,920, filed May 10, 2001, the disclosure of each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60289920 |
May 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10137229 |
May 2002 |
US |
Child |
10287490 |
Nov 2002 |
US |