U.S. patent application number 09/740964 was filed with the patent office on 2001-06-28 for cooling structure and display apparatus containing the cooling structure.
This patent application is currently assigned to PIONEER CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Kaneko, Koichi, Oishi, Toshiharu, Takao, Daisuke, Yokoi, Sadao.
Application Number | 20010005308 09/740964 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18496723 |
Filed Date | 2001-06-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010005308 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oishi, Toshiharu ; et
al. |
June 28, 2001 |
Cooling structure and display apparatus containing the cooling
structure
Abstract
A cooling structure for cooling an exothermic panel such as a
plasma display panel by releasing heat therefrom, comprising: a
chassis structure for holding the exothermic panel; a plurality of
circuit board connecting portions, a plurality of heat radiating
fins and a plurality of side frames, which are all integrally
formed with the chassis structure on one side thereof.
Specifically, at least one sort of the circuit board connecting
portions, the heat radiating fins and the side frames are formed in
a hollow structure.
Inventors: |
Oishi, Toshiharu;
(Shizuoka-ken, JP) ; Kaneko, Koichi;
(Shizuoka-ken, JP) ; Takao, Daisuke;
(Shizuoka-ken, JP) ; Yokoi, Sadao; (Shizuoka-ken,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ARENT FOX KINTNER PLOTKIN
& KAHN, PLLC
Suite 600
1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington
DC
20036-5339
US
|
Assignee: |
PIONEER CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
18496723 |
Appl. No.: |
09/740964 |
Filed: |
December 21, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/679.48 ;
361/695 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/20963
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/687 ;
361/681 |
International
Class: |
G06F 001/16; H05K
005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 27, 1999 |
JP |
11-370363 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cooling structure for cooling an exothermic panel such as a
plasma display panel by releasing heat therefrom, comprising: a
chassis structure for holding the exothermic panel; a plurality of
circuit board connecting portions, a plurality of heat radiating
fins and a plurality of side frames, which are all integrally
formed with the chassis structure on one side thereof; wherein at
least one sort of the circuit board connecting portions, the heat
radiating fins and the side frames are formed in a hollow
structure.
2. A cooling structure according to claim 1, wherein the circuit
board connecting portions, the heat radiating fins and the side
frames are formed as protruding in one direction perpendicular to
the chassis structure.
3. A display apparatus comprising: a plasma display panel; a
circuit board mounting a driving circuit for driving the plasma
display panel; and a chassis structure for combining with the
plasma display panel on one side thereof and for mounting the
circuit board on the other; wherein the chassis structure includes
on said other side thereof a plurality of circuit board connecting
portions, a plurality of heat radiating fins and a plurality of
side frames; wherein the circuit board connecting portions, the
heat radiating fins and the side frames are integrally formed with
the chassis structure and at least one sort of them are formed in a
hollow structure.
4. A display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said one side
of the chassis structure is flat over the entire surface thereof,
so as to be easily combinable with the plasma display panel.
5. A display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the
circuit board connecting portions includes an elongated air
passage.
6. A display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat
radiating fins are connected with elongated air passages.
7. A display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the
side frames includes an elongated air passage.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling structure and a
display apparatus containing the cooling structure. In particular,
this invention relates to a heat radiating structure for use with a
plasma display apparatus to prevent a temperature rise therein.
[0002] A plasma display apparatus comprises a pair of substrate
plates (disposed on front and rear sides) which are arranged to
face each other with an electric discharge space formed
therebetween, a plurality of row electrodes and a plurality of
column electrodes which are provided on the inner surface of these
substrate plates. The row electrodes are arranged orthogonal to the
column electrodes so that a plurality of intersections are formed,
thereby forming a plurality of discharge cells.
[0003] Since a plasma display apparatus will generate a
considerable amount of heat from its surface during its light
emission, it is required to be equipped with a cooling structure
having a sufficient heat radiating effect.
[0004] Usually, the considerable amount of heat is generated from
the surface of the rear side substrate plate mounting a power
source circuit and a display driving circuit. The heat is then
discharged outwardly by means of a cooling fan. However, since the
cooling fan requires a relatively large space when it is to be
installed within the plasma display, it is difficult to manufacture
a plasma display with a small thickness.
[0005] In order to solve the above problem, there has been
suggested an improved cooling structure shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4,
which is compact in size but has an increased cooling effect.
[0006] As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a plasma display apparatus
comprises a plasma display panel 1 (hereinafter referred to as PDP)
including two glass substrate plates, one of which forms a front
substrate plate 1A and the other forms a rear substrate plate 1B.
An electrically discharge space is formed between the front and
rear substrate plates 1A and 1B. A circuit board 2 mounting a
driving circuit is provided on the PDP 1 through a chassis
structure 3.
[0007] The chassis structure 3 comprises a plurality of
longitudinal elongate members 3A and a plurality of lateral
elongate members 3B, all of which are made of a metal having a good
thermal conductivity, such as an aluminium. The longitudinal
elongate members 3A and the lateral elongate members 3B are so
arranged that a grillwork structure is formed in a manner as shown
in the drawing. Here, the PDP 1 and the circuit board 2 are
electrically connected with each other through a flexible cable 4,
while the chassis structure 3 and PDP 1 are firmly fixed with each
other through a plurality of pressure sensitive adhesive double
coated tapes 5.
[0008] Here, the chassis structure 3 is formed to provide the PDP 1
with a sufficient strength, and such a strength can be increased by
increasing the thickness of the longitudinal and lateral elongate
members 3A, 3B. This, however, will undesirably increase the weight
of the PDP 1 and also make difficult the assembling operation for
producing the grillwork structure.
[0009] However, even if the desired strength (for the PDP 1) can be
increased by increasing the thickness of the longitudinal and
lateral elongated members 3A, 3B, it is difficult to ensure a
sufficiently large space for heat radiation.
[0010] As a result, the structure shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 not
only has a problem of incurring a high cost in the assembling
operation for producing the grillwork structure, but also a problem
of not being able to obtain a sufficient cooling effect.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
improved cooling structure and a plasma display containing the
improved cooling structure which can provide sufficient strength
for supporting the plasma display, reduce the production cost, and
obtain a sufficient heat radiating effect, thereby solving the
above-mentioned problems peculiar to the above-discussed prior
art.
[0012] According to the present invention, there is provided a
cooling structure for cooling an exothermic panel such as a plasma
display panel by releasing heat therefrom, comprising: a chassis
structure for holding the exothermic panel; a plurality of circuit
board connecting portions, a plurality of heat radiating fins and a
plurality of side frames, which are all integrally formed with the
chassis structure on one side thereof. Specifically, at least one
sort of the circuit board connecting portions, the heat radiating
fins and the side frames are formed in a hollow structure.
[0013] In one aspect of the present invention, the circuit board
connecting portions, the heat radiating fins and the side frames
are formed as protruding in one direction perpendicular to the
chassis structure.
[0014] In another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a display apparatus comprising: a plasma display panel; a
circuit board mounting a driving circuit for driving the plasma
display panel; and a chassis structure for combining with the
plasma display panel on one side thereof and for mounting the
circuit board on the other. Specifically, the chassis structure
includes on said other side thereof a plurality of circuit board
connecting portions, a plurality of heat radiating fins and a
plurality of side frames. In particular, the circuit board
connecting portions, the heat radiating fins and the side frames
are integrally formed with the chassis structure and at least one
sort of them are formed in a hollow structure.
[0015] In a further aspect of the present invention, the one side
of the chassis structure is flat over the entire surface thereof,
so as to be easily combinable with the plasma display panel.
[0016] In a still further aspect of the present invention, each of
the circuit board connecting portions includes an elongated air
passage, the heat radiating fins are connected with elongated air
passages, each of the side frames includes an elongated air
passage.
[0017] The above objects and features of the present invention will
become better understood from the following description with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a plasma display
apparatus containing a cooling structure formed according to the
present invention.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the plasma display
apparatus of FIG. 1.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one example of a
conventional plasma display apparatus.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a side view showing the conventional plasma
display apparatus of FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in
the following with reference to the accompanying drawing.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, a plasma display apparatus 10 formed
according to the present invention comprises a plasma display panel
(hereinafter simply referred to as PDP) 11, a circuit board 12
mounting a power source circuit and a driving circuit for driving
the the PDP 11, a chassis structure 13 for holding the PDP 11 and
the circuit board 12.
[0024] Here, the PDP 11 comprises a front glass plate 11A and a
rear glass plate 11B, which are bonded together with a small
electric discharge space formed therebetween.
[0025] In practice, the chassis 13 is a sash structure formed by
extrusion-molding a metal material such as aluminium having a high
coefficient of thermal conductivity. One side of the chassis 13 is
formed into a flat surface, the other side thereof is provided with
circuit board attaching portions 13A, heat radiating fins 13B, and
side frames 13C for attaching the chassis 13 to a rear case (not
shown) of a video equipment (not shown).
[0026] Here, the circuit board attaching portions 13A, the heat
radiating fins 13B and the side frames 13C are integrally formed on
one side of the chassis 13.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit board attaching portions
13A, the heat radiating fins 13B and the side frames 13C are all
formed in a hollow structure.
[0028] In particular, the circuit board attaching portions 13A are
rectangular projections protruding in a direction perpendicular to
the main surface of the chassis 13. Each of the circuit board
attaching portions 13A has an elongated air passage 13A1. The heat
radiating fins 13B are provided between the circuit board attaching
portions 13A and the side frames 13C, by virtue of several beam
members formed between the portions 13A and the frames 13C.
Specifically, the heat radiating fins 13B are located at a level
higher than the bottoms of the circuit board attaching portions
13A. Further, under the bottoms of the heat radiating fins 13B
there are formed a plurality of elongated air passages 13B1,
thereby forming the desired hollow structure.
[0029] Each side frame 13C has a rectangular parallelepiped portion
13C2 including an elongate air passage 13C1, in a manner such that
the rectangular parallelepiped portion 13C2 is integrally formed
with an outermost heat radiating fin 13B. Further, each side frame
13C has an engaging edge 13C3.
[0030] In the present embodiment, the PDP 11 is completely bonded
onto one side of the chassis 13 by means of a pressure sensitive
adhesive double coated tape 14.
[0031] The circuit board 12 is then combined to the circuit board
attaching portions 13A by means of solderring, using a copper foil
15 having a good thermal conductivity which also serves as ground
terminal.
[0032] On the other hand, it is also possible for the chassis 13 to
be bonded to the PDP 11, also using the pressure sensitive adhesive
double coated tape 14.
[0033] In this manner, since the chassis 13 has been formed with
the elongated air passages 13A1, 13B1 and 13C1 which are effective
for providing increased areas for contacting the outside air, the
outside air is allowed to easily pass therethrough, thereby
effecting a desired heat radiation.
[0034] In this way, when heat is transferred from both the PDP 11
and the circuit board 12, such heat is allowed to contact the
outside air which are flowing through the elongated air passages
13A1, 13B1 and 13C1, thereby effectively removing the heat
therefrom. At this time, the elongated air passages 13A1, 13B1 and
13C1 are preferred to be arranged along the heat rising direction,
thereby ensuring a high efficiency for heat radiation.
[0035] Therefore, since the circuit board attaching portions 13A,
the heat radiating fins 13B and the side frames 13C are all
directly connected with the chassis 13, an efficient heat transfer
structure is thus formed between the circuit board attaching
portions 13A, the heat radiating fins 13B, and the side frames 13C
on one side and the chassis 13 on the other. Further, since the
side frames 13C are connected with a rear case (not shown) of a
video equipment (not shown), the heat transferred from the PDP 11
to the chassis 13 is allowed to further transfer to the rear case,
thereby forming a further heat radiation structure in addition to
the heat radiation through the elongated air passages 13A1, 13B1
and 13C1.
[0036] Referring again to FIG. 1, since one side of the chassis 13
is flat and combined with the PDP 11 through the pressure sensitive
adhesive double coated tape 14, the non-display areas
(non-luminescent area, including the edge portions thereof) located
on the outside of the display area (luminescent area) of the PDP 11
can all become heat transfer areas. Further, since the chassis 13
and the PDP 11 are combined together by the pressure sensitive
adhesive double coated tape 14, there are not any adherence
irregularities, thus ensuring a uniform heat transfer. In this way,
the heat from almost the entire area of the PDP 11 can be
efficiently transferred to the chassis 13 through the pressure
sensitive adhesive double coated tape 14, ensuring a uniform
temperature distribution over the PDP 11. As a result, it is
possible to alleviate a thermal stress on the PDP 11.
[0037] In the above embodiment, although it has been described that
the circuit board attaching portions 13A, the heat radiating fins
13B and the side frames 13C are integrally formed together, it is
also possible that they may be at first formed individually and
then connected together by means of screws or posts.
[0038] In addition, if air supplying fans are provided adjacent to
inlets and/or outlets of the elongated air passages 13A1, it is
allowed to obtain a further improved heat radiation.
[0039] As may be understood from the above description, with the
use of the present invention, it is allowed to obtain at least the
following effects.
[0040] Firstly, since at least one sort of the circuit board
connecting portions, the heat radiating fins and the side frames
are formed in a hollow structure, the heat transmitted from the
exothermic panel such as plasma display panel is allowed to more
easily contact the outside air, thereby enhancing a desired heat
radiation and thus achieving an efficient cooling of the exothermic
panel. In addition, the hollow structure makes it possible to
reduce the total weight of the plasma display apparatus.
[0041] Secondly, since a plurality of circuit board connecting
portions, a plurality of heat radiating fins and a plurality of
side frames are all integrally formed with the chassis structure on
one side thereof, it is possible to make easier an operation for
assembling the plasma display apparatus.
[0042] Thirdly, since one side of the chassis structure is made
flat over the entire surface thereof, the chassis structure is more
easily combinable with the plasma display panel, thereby avoiding
any adhesion irregularities and thus maximizing an effective heat
transfer area.
[0043] While the presently preferred embodiments of the this
invention have been shown and described above, it is to be
understood that these disclosures are for the purpose of
illustration and that various changes and modifications may be made
without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in
the appended claims.
* * * * *