U.S. patent application number 10/139936 was filed with the patent office on 2002-12-12 for angle mounted fan-sink.
This patent application is currently assigned to Gateway, Inc.. Invention is credited to Park, Jeekyoung.
Application Number | 20020185259 10/139936 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23120653 |
Filed Date | 2002-12-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020185259 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Park, Jeekyoung |
December 12, 2002 |
Angle mounted fan-sink
Abstract
An angle-mounted fan sink for an electronic device, such as the
processor of a computer system, or the like includes a heat sink
coupled to a surface of the electronic device for conducting heat
away from the electronic device. A fan assembly is mounted in an
oblique orientation to the base of the heat sink. The fan assembly
circulates a cooling medium such as air over the heat sink at an
angle that is generally oblique to the surface of the electronic
device for dissipating heat from the heat sink.
Inventors: |
Park, Jeekyoung; (Tustin,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GATEWAY, INC.
ATTENTION: IP LAW GROUP (MAIL STOP SD-21)
14303 GATEWAY PLACE
POWAY
CA
92064
US
|
Assignee: |
Gateway, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
23120653 |
Appl. No.: |
10/139936 |
Filed: |
May 7, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60291525 |
May 15, 2001 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/80.3 ;
165/121; 257/E23.099 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 2924/0002 20130101;
H01L 2924/00 20130101; H01L 23/467 20130101; H01L 2924/0002
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/80.3 ;
165/121 |
International
Class: |
F28F 001/00; F24H
003/02 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A fan sink for an electronic device, comprising: a heat sink
suitable for being coupled to a surface of the electronic device
for conducting heat away from the electronic device; and a fan
assembly for circulating a cooling medium over the heat sink,
wherein the fan assembly circulates the cooling medium through the
heat sink at an angle that is generally oblique to the surface of
the electronic device.
2. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan assembly is
mounted to the heat sink at an oblique angle to the surface of the
electronic device.
3. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat sink
includes a base suitable for being mounted to the surface of the
electronic device and at least one fin extending outwardly from the
base, the cooling medium being circulated over the at least one fin
for dissipating heat therefrom.
4. The fan sink as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one fin
comprises an edge obliquely angled to the base, the fan assembly
being abutted to the edge so that it is mounted at an oblique angle
to the surface of the electronic device.
5. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan assembly
comprises a radial fan.
6. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic
device comprises a processor.
7. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling medium
comprises air.
8. A fan sink for an electronic device, comprising: a heat sink
suitable for being coupled to a surface of the electronic device
for conducting heat away from the electronic device; and a fan
assembly mounted to the heat sink at an oblique angle to the
surface of the electronic device, the fan assembly for circulating
a cooling medium over the heat sink, wherein the fan assembly
circulates the cooling medium through the heat sink at an angle
that is generally oblique to the surface of the electronic
device.
9. The fan sink as claimed in claim 8, wherein the heat sink
includes a base suitable for being mounted to the surface of the
electronic device and a plurality of fins extending outwardly from
the base, the cooling medium being circulated over the plurality of
fins for dissipating heat therefrom.
10. The fan sink as claimed in claim 9, wherein the plurality of
fins comprise edges obliquely angled to the base, the fan assembly
being abutted to the edges.
11. The fan sink as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fan assembly
comprises a radial fan.
12. The fan sink as claimed in claim 8, wherein the electronic
device comprises a processor.
13. The fan sink as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cooling medium
comprises air.
14. A fan sink for an electronic device, comprising: means suitable
for being coupled to a surface of the electronic device for
conducting heat away from the electronic device; and means for
circulating a cooling medium over conducting means, wherein the
circulating means circulates the cooling medium through the
conducting means at an angle that is generally oblique to the
surface of the electronic device.
15. The fan sink as claimed in claim 14, wherein the circulating
means is mounted to the conducting means at an oblique angle to the
surface of the electronic device.
16. The fan sink as claimed in claim 14, wherein the conducting
means includes a base mounted to the surface of the electronic
device and at least one fin extending outwardly from the base, the
cooling medium being circulated over the at least one fin for
dissipating heat therefrom.
17. The fan sink as claimed in claim 16, wherein the at least one
fin comprises an edge obliquely angled to the base, the fan
assembly being abutted to the edge so that it is mounted at an
oblique angle to the surface of the electronic device.
18. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circulating
means comprises a radial fan.
19. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic
device comprises a processor.
20. The fan sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling medium
comprises air.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/291,525, filed
May 15, 2001. Said U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/291,525 is
herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to the field of
cooling devices suitable for cooling electronic devices, and
particularly to fan-sinks (i.e., active heat sinks) for cooling
electronic devices such as processors mounted to the motherboard of
a computer system, or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A heat sink is a component designed to lower the temperature
of or cool an electronic device, such as a computer processor, by
dissipating heat into the surrounding air. One type of heat sink is
a fan sink, also referred to as an active heat sink. The fan sink
includes a heat sink with a fan attached to it. The fan circulates
a cooling medium, typically air, over the heat sink in order to
remove heat from the heat sink via forced air convection.
Typically, the fan sink is mounted on top of the electronic device.
The area in the center base of the fan sink, located immediately
over the electronic device, usually heats up (i.e., the hot area or
spot).
[0004] The fan of the fan sink is mounted either on the top of or
to the side of the heat sink depending on the requirements of the
specific application. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate an example of a
conventional top-mounted fan sink 100. The fan sink 100 includes a
fan assembly 102 mounted on top of a heat sink 104. As shown in
FIG. 3, the fan assembly 102 blows air downward into the heat sink
104. However, no air is blown under the hub of the fan 106.
Therefore, airflow over the hot area 108 of the heat sink 104 is
very poor (i.e., the airflow has low velocity), causing less heat
to be dissipated from the electronic device 110. Moreover, the
downward airflow increases air pressure within the heat sink 104.
This increased air pressure causes additional noise to be produced
by the fan 102.
[0005] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show an example of a conventional
side-mounted fan sink 200. The fan sink 200 includes a fan 202
mounted on the side of a heat sink 204. Unlike the top-mounted fan
sink 100 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3, the
side-mounted fan sink 200 does not substantially increase air
pressure within the heat sink 202, permitting the fan 204 to
produce lower levels of noise. However, airflow over the hot area
206 of the heat sink 202 is still poor, as most of the airflow does
not contribute to dissipation of heat from the hot area 206.
Consequently, the thermal efficiency of the fan sink 200 is
reduced. Further, the side-mounted fan sink restricts the height of
other components mounted on the computer's motherboard.
[0006] Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a fan sink
furnishing increased airflow over the hot area of the electronic
device, resulting in increased thermal efficiency. It would also be
desirable that such a fan sink would reduce noise caused by air
pressure within the heat sink and would not restrict the height of
other components mounted on the computer's motherboard.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an
angle-mounted fan sink for an electronic device, such as a
processor mounted to the motherboard of a computer system, or the
like. The fan sink includes a heat sink coupled to a surface of the
electronic device for conducting heat away from the electronic
device. A fan assembly is mounted in an oblique orientation to the
base of the heat sink. The fan assembly circulates a cooling medium
such as air over the heat sink at an angle that is generally
oblique to the surface of the electronic device for dissipating
heat from the heat sink. The angled mount of the fan assembly over
the heat sink produces increased airflow over the hot area of the
electronic device, resulting in increased thermal efficiency. The
angled mount also reduces noise due to air pressure and does not
restrict the height of other components mounted on the computer's
motherboard.
[0008] It is to be understood that both the forgoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as
claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of
the invention and together with the general description, serve to
explain the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The numerous advantages of the present invention may be
better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the
accompanying figures in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is an isometric view illustrating a conventional
top-mounted fan sink;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a side elevational view illustrating the
top-mounted fan sink shown in FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating operation of the
top-mounted fan sink shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0013] FIG. 4 is an isometric view illustrating a conventional
side-mounted fan sink;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a side elevational view illustrating the
side-mounted fan sink shown in FIG. 4;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating operation of the
side-mounted fan sink shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
[0016] FIG. 7 is an isometric view illustrating an angle-mounted
fan sink in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 8 is a side elevational view illustrating the
angle-mounted fan sink shown in FIG. 7.
[0018] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating operation of the
angle-mounted fan sink shown in FIGS. 7and 8, and
[0019] FIG. 10 is a graph comparing the temperature measured within
the heat sink of the angle-mounted fan sink and a conventional
horizontal mounted fan-sink.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] Reference will now be made in detail to the presently
preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
[0021] Referring generally now to FIGS. 7 through 9, an
angle-mounted fan sink in accordance with an exemplary embodiment
of the present invention is described. The angle-mounted fan sink
300 is suitable for cooling an electronic device 302, in
particular, an integrated circuit (IC) device such as a computer
processor, co-processor, memory, or the like, mounted to the mother
board of a computer system, by dissipating heat into the
surrounding air. The fan sink 300 includes a heat sink 304 coupled
to a surface 306 of the electronic device 302 for transferring heat
away from the electronic device 302 utilizing conduction as the
primary heat transfer mechanism. In exemplary embodiments of the
invention, heat sink 304 includes a base 308 thermally coupled to
the surface 306 of the electronic device 302. At least one fin 310
(a heat sink 304 having a plurality of fins 310 is shown) extends
outwardly from base 308 for dissipating heat transferred from the
electronic device 302 to base 308 to the surrounding environment,
primarily via convection and radiation.
[0022] In FIGS. 7 and 8, a heat sink 304 having a plurality of thin
plate-like fins 310 extending outwardly from base 308 is
illustrated. However, it will be appreciated by those of skill in
the art that heat sinks suitable for use by the present invention
may comprise fins having other shapes (e.g., rod shaped, curved,
angled, etc.) depending on the particular heat transfer
requirements of the application in which the fan sink is used.
Consequently, substitution of such heat sinks for the heat sink 304
illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 would not depart from the scope and
spirit of the present invention.
[0023] A fan assembly 312 is mounted in an oblique orientation to
the base 308 of heat sink 304. The fan assembly 312 circulates a
cooling medium over heat sink 304 at an angle that is generally
oblique to base 308 and thus oblique to surface 306 of the
electronic device 302 to which the base 308 is attached. The flow
of the cooling medium over the heat sink 304 promotes dissipation
of heat from the heat sink 304 thereby increasing the amount of
cooling available for the electronic device 302. In exemplary
embodiments, the cooling medium comprises ambient air surrounding
the fan-sink 300 and electronic device 302. However, it will be
appreciated that the fan-sink 300 of the present invention may be
used with other gaseous or liquid cooling mediums without departing
from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
[0024] In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7
and 8, fins 310 of heat sink 304 may be formed to include edges 314
that are obliquely angled to the base 308. Fan assembly 312 is
abutted against edge 314 so that it is mounted at an angle that is
generally oblique to base 308 and thus oblique to surface 306 of
the electronic device 302 to which the base 308 is attached. In
exemplary embodiments, fan assembly 312 comprises a housing 316
mounted to heat sink 304. A radial fan 318 powered by a small
electric motor 320 is disposed within the housing 316 so that the
vanes 322 of the radial fan 318 are substantially contained therein
to prevent incidental contact between the vanes 320 and external
objects such as cabling, circuit cards, or the like. The radial fan
318 circulates the cooling medium (e.g., air) through the fins 310
of heat sink 304 at an oblique angle to the base 310 of the heat
sink 304.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 9, the oblique angle at which fan
assembly 312 is mounted with respect to heat sink 304 produces
greater airflow over the hot area (illustrated by area 324) of heat
sink 304 caused by heat generated by electronic device 302. This
increased airflow improves the thermal efficiency of the fan sink
compared to typical top-mounted or side mounted fan sinks (e.g.,
fan sinks 100 & 200 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). For example, for
an exemplary top mounted fan sink 100 shown in FIGS. 1 through 3
using a 6 Watt (12V.times.0.5A) fan assembly, the air flow measured
at 0.5 inches above hot area 108 has been measured to be
approximately 300 to 400 feet per minute. However, for the angle
mounted fan sink 300 (FIGS. 7 through 9) of the present invention,
the air flow measured at 0.5 inches above the hot area 326 is
increased to approximately 1500 to 1800 feet per minute using a 6
Watt (12V.times.0.5A) fan assembly 312. The angle mounted fan sink
300 also produces less audible noise than comparable top mounted
fan sinks (such as fan sink 100 shown in FIG. 1). The oblique angle
at which fan assembly 312 is mounted with respect to heat sink 304
results in air flowing through the heat sink at a generally oblique
angle to base 308 instead of directly downward toward the base.
This airflow pattern reduces the air pressure within the heat sink
304 in comparison to top mounted fan sinks such as fan sink 100
shown in FIG. 1 resulting in less fan noise. Moreover, unlike
conventional side mounted fan sinks, the angle mounted fan assembly
312 does not restrict the height of other components adjacent to
the electronic device 302. (e.g., mounted on the circuit board or
motherboard to which the electronic device 302 is mounted).
[0026] Turning now to FIG. 10, the operation of an exemplary
angle-mounted fan sink 300 (FIGS. 7, 8 and 9) in accordance with
the present invention and a conventional top-mounted fan sink 100
(FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) are compared. For the comparison illustrated by
FIG. 10, exemplary fan sinks 100 & 300 each employ a 6 Watt
(12V.times.0.5A) fan assembly 110 & 312.
1TABLE 1 ANGLE MOUNTED TOP MOUNTED Time FAN SINK FAN SINK (min)
Measure 1 Measure 2 Average Measure 1 Measure 2 Average 0 24.7 24.8
24.8 25.0 25.5 25.3 1 55.8 56.0 55.9 59.6 59.7 59.7 2 59.9 59.9
59.9 63.2 63.5 63.4 3 61.2 61.4 61.3 64.4 64.6 64.5 4 61.6 61.7
61.7 64.8 65.0 64.9 5 61.8 61.8 61.8 65.0 65.3 65.2 6 61.9 61.8
61.9 65.0 65.5 65.3 7 62.0 61.9 62.0 65.1 65.5 65.3 8 62.0 62.0
62.0 65.2 65.5 65.4 9 62.0 62.1 62.1 65.2 65.5 65.4
[0027] As shown in FIG. 10 and summarized in Table 1, when the fan
assemblies of both fan sinks 100 & 300 are run at maximum
speed, the angle mounted fan sink 300 cools the electronic device
302 by more than 3.degree. C. relative to the amount of cooling
provided to electronic device 110 by top-mounted fan sink 100
(wherein electronic devices 302 & 110 are thermally identical).
This improvement in cooling capacity is possible even though heat
sink 304 has a smaller surface area than the fins of heat sink 100
due the formation of edges 314 that are obliquely angled to the
base 308.
[0028] Alternately, instead of providing increased cooling
capacity, it may be possible to reduce the speed of fan assembly
312 without degrading the cooling capacity of the fan sink 300 in
comparison to top or side mounted fan sinks 100 & 200. For
example, for the fan sinks 100 & 300 described in the
discussion of FIG. 10 (which use a 6 Watt (12V.times.0.5A) fan
assembly 102 & 312), the speed of fan assembly 312 may be
reduced by approximately 30% while allowing the angle mounted fan
sink 300 to maintain approximately the same thermal efficiency as
the top-mounted fan sink 100 (i.e., cool the electronic device to
approximately 65.5.degree. C.). In this manner, the fan assembly
312 may be run at 9 volts, saving energy and extending the life of
the fan motor 320.
[0029] Thus, there has been described an angle-mounted fan sink 300
for an electronic device 302, in particular an integrated circuit
(IC) device such as a computer processor, co-processor, memory, or
the like, wherein the fan assembly 312 is mounted in an oblique
orientation (i.e., at an angle) to the base 308 of the heat sink
304. The angled mount of the fan 312 over the heat sink 304
produces higher air flow over the hot area 326 of the electronic
device 302 (i.e., high velocity, such as 1500 to 1800 feet per
minute), thus resulting in increased thermal efficiency. The
angle-mounted fan sink 300 also reduces noise due to air pressure
within the heat sink and does not restrict the height of other
components mounted on the computer's motherboard.
[0030] It is believed that the angle-mounted fan sink of the
present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be
understood by the forgoing description. It is also believed that it
will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,
construction and arrangement of the components thereof without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without
sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before
described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the
intention of the following claims to encompass and include such
changes.
* * * * *