Patent Application
20220163264
The present invention relates to a water-cooling radiator structure with pump, and more particularly, to a water-cooling radiator structure that has a pump integrated thereinto to solve the problem of failed operation of the pump when the water-cooling radiator is laid horizontally.
The currently available water cooling module includes at least one water block, a pump, a water-cooling radiator, and a plurality of tubes for serially connecting the above-mentioned components. The pump is mainly used to drive the cooling water in the water-cooling module to circulate through the water-cooling module. The water block is in contact with a heat source to absorb the heat produced by the heat source. The cooling water carries the heat away from the water block to the water-cooling radiator for cooling. Then, the cooled water is pumped into the water block by the pump to complete one cycle of the cooling circulation.
Conventionally, the water-cooling radiator must be provided outside a system to facilitate heat dissipation of the circulating cooling water; and the water-cooling radiator is serially connected to the pump via pipes. In the event the pump is located at a relatively far distance from the water-cooling radiator, a pump with higher power must be selected to enable smooth driving of the cooling water into the water-cooling radiator for circulation. Since the high-power pump inevitably produces increased noise and occupies more space, some manufacturers try to mount the pump directly at a water outlet or a water inlet of the water-cooling radiator in an attempt to directly pressurize the cooling water and drive it into the water-cooling radiator for circulating and overcome the problems of the distantly mounted ordinary pump and the large space occupied by the high-power pump. However, there are times the water-cooling radiator has to be laid horizontally to adapt to the available mounting position. In this case, the cooling water in the water-cooling radiator might have a level lower than the water outlet or the water inlet, resulting in a situation that the pump mounted at the water outlet or the water inlet could not draw any cooling water via the water outlet or the water inlet, which would cause failed pump operation and stopped cooling water circulation. In a worse condition, the pump might even become damaged. In the case the pump is integrally mounted at the water outlet or the water inlet of the water-cooling radiator, it is impossible to replace the pump alone if the pump were damaged. This would also stop the cooling water from continuously circulating in the water-cooling module. It is therefore an important target of persons skilled in the art to overcome the drawbacks in the conventional water-cooling module.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a water-cooling radiator structure with pump, which solves the problem of failed operation of the pump when the water-cooling radiator is laid horizontally.
To achieve the above and other objects, the water-cooling radiator structure according to the present invention includes a pump and a water-cooling radiator.
The pump has a water outlet and a water inlet; and the water-cooling radiator includes a first chamber internally having a water-receiving room and a plurality of mutually communicable water passages. The water-receiving room has a working fluid received therein and the working fluid has a level in the water-receiving room. The first chamber is provided with an outlet and an inlet as well as a pump mounting recess for mounting the pump therein. The water outlet and the water inlet are located corresponding to the outlet and the inlet, respectively, to be communicable with the water-receiving room and located at a height lower than or flush with the level of the working fluid in the water-receiving room. And, the pump is detachably integrated into the water-cooling radiator for pumping and circulating the working fluid through the water-cooling radiator.
In the present invention, the pump is detachably integrated into the first chamber of the water-cooling radiator, so that the pump and the water-cooling radiator form an integrated unit. In the event the pump is damaged, it can be quickly replaced with another one. Meanwhile, the water outlet and the water inlet of the pump are located lower than or flush with the level of the working fluid in the water-receiving room. Therefore, the pump can always continue its operation for pumping and circulating the working fluid, no matter the water-cooling radiator is laid vertically or horizontally.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and by referring to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals. And, for the purpose of conciseness and clarity, the present invention is also briefly referred to as the water-cooling radiator structure and generally denoted by reference numeral 1 herein.
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The pump 11 has a water outlet 111 and a water inlet 112.
The water-cooling radiator 12 includes a first chamber 121 internally having a water-receiving room 12a, and a plurality of mutually communicable water passages 13aa. The water-receiving room 12a has a working fluid 2 received therein. The first chamber 121 is provided at an outer side thereof with an outlet 1211 and an inlet 1212, as well as a pump mounting recess 123 for mounting the pump 11 therein, such that the pump 11 is detachably integrated into the water-cooling radiator 12.
The water-cooling radiator 12 further includes a second chamber 122. The first and the second chamber 121, 122 are communicable with each other via a group of communicating members (or tubes) 13, and the communicable water passages 13aa are respectively provided in each of the group of communicating members 13. The first chamber 121, the second chamber 122 and the group of communicating members 13 together define the water-receiving room 12a. The working fluid 2 is pumped into the water-receiving room 12a and the communicable water passages 13aa by the pump 11 for circulating through the water-cooling radiator 12. And, the group of communicating members 13 is externally provided with a plurality of radiating fins 14.
The first chamber 121 is divided into a first, a second, a third and a fourth water-receiving compartment 121a, 121b, 121c and 121d. The first water-receiving compartment 121a is provided with a water inlet port 124, and the fourth water-receiving compartment 121d is provided with a water outlet port 125. The first, second, third and fourth water-receiving compartments 121a-121d are separated from and independent of one another. The second chamber 122 is divided into a fifth and a sixth water-receiving compartment 122a, 122b, which are independent of each other. The group of communicating members 13 includes a plurality of first, second, third and fourth communicating members 13a, 13b, 13c and 13d. The first and the second water-receiving compartment 121a, 121b communicate with the fifth water-receiving compartment 122a via the first and the second communicating members 13a, 13b; and the third and the fourth water-receiving compartment 121c, 121d communicate with the sixth water-receiving compartment 122b via the third and the fourth communicating members 13c, 13d.
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According to the present invention, the pump 11 and the water-cooling radiator 12 are integrated into one unit, and the pump 11 is located between the water inlet port 124 and the water outlet port 125. The purpose of this arrangement is to overcome the problem of the conventional water-cooling radiator that could not draw in water when being laid horizontally. According to the present invention, the group of communicating members 13, i.e. the first, second, third and fourth communicating members 13a-13d, each have two open ends and a hollow intermediate section communicable with the two open ends. When the working fluid 2 enters the first water-receiving compartment 121a of the first chamber 121 via the water inlet port 124, it flows through the first communicating members 13a and is guided from the first water-receiving compartment 121a into the fifth water-receiving compartment 122a of the second chamber 122. Thereafter, the working fluid 2 flows through the second communicating members 13b and is guided from the fifth water-receiving compartment 122a into the second water-receiving compartment 121b. With the connecting flow passage 126 that forms a winding path in the second water-receiving compartment 121b and has a middle portion communicating with the outlet 1211, the second water-receiving compartment 121b is fluidly connected to the pump 11 outside the first chamber 121 via the outlet 1211. Therefore, the working fluid 2 in the second water-receiving compartment 121b is guided into the pump 11 via the water outlet 111 of the pump 11. The working fluid 2 guided into the pump 11 is pressurized and discharged from the pump 11 via the water inlet 112 of the pump 11. The working fluid 2 discharged from the pump 11 enters the third water-receiving compartment 121c via the inlet 1212, which is located corresponding to the third water-receiving compartment 121c and communicable with the water inlet 112. The working fluid 2 flows through the third communicating members 13c and is guided into the sixth water-receiving compartment 122b. Finally, the working fluid 2 flows through the fourth communicating members 13d and is guided from the sixth water-receiving compartment 122b into the fourth water-receiving compartment 121d, from where the working fluid 2 is discharged from the first chamber 121 of the water-cooling radiator 12 via the water outlet port 125 provided at the fourth water-receiving compartment 121d.
The above describes the circulation path for circulating the working fluid 2 through the first and the second chamber 121, 122 of the water-cooling radiator 12. The technical feature of the present invention that improves the conventional water-cooling radiator lies in that the outlet 1211 and the outlet 1212 provided at the second water-receiving compartment 121b and the water outlet 111 and the water inlet 112 of the pump 11 correspondingly integrated into the outer side of the second water-receiving compartment 121b all are located lower than or flush with the level of the working fluid 2. With this design, the pump 11 can always continue its operation for pumping and circulating the working fluid 2 without being affected by the position of the water-cooling radiator 12. In other words, according to the present invention, the pump 11 can always pump and circulate the working fluid 2 no matter the water-receiving radiator 12 is laid vertically or horizontally. Accordingly, the drawback of the conventional water-cooling radiator is eliminated.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
