U.S. patent application number 10/424076 was filed with the patent office on 2003-11-13 for cooler assembly.
Invention is credited to Hsin, Lu Chun, Lung, Lin Pao.
Application Number | 20030209342 10/424076 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 28038276 |
Filed Date | 2003-11-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030209342 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsin, Lu Chun ; et
al. |
November 13, 2003 |
Cooler assembly
Abstract
A cooler assembly having cross-directional ventilation effect
and increased heat conducting surface area is disclosed. The cooler
assembly has a heat sink and a plurality of fins. The heat sink has
an air circulating channel open therethrough, and each of the fins
has a slot allowing the fin mounted across the heat sink, and a
contact pair that separate the neighboring fins with spaces.
Inventors: |
Hsin, Lu Chun; (Taipei,
TW) ; Lung, Lin Pao; (Taipei, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TSENG, YI WEN
509 ROOSEVELT BLVD. #D306
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22044
US
|
Family ID: |
28038276 |
Appl. No.: |
10/424076 |
Filed: |
April 28, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/80.3 ;
165/185; 165/76; 165/80.2; 257/E23.086; 257/E23.099;
257/E23.103 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 2924/00 20130101;
H01L 23/3672 20130101; H01L 23/4093 20130101; H01L 2924/0002
20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 23/467 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/80.3 ;
165/80.2; 165/76; 165/185 |
International
Class: |
F28F 007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 7, 2002 |
TW |
91206424 |
Claims
What is claimed:
1. A cooler assembly, comprising: a heat sink, having an air
circulating channel formed therethrough; and a plurality of fins,
each having a slot recessed from a bottom edge thereof and at least
one contact part protruding therefrom, wherein the fins are stacked
together and mounted across the heat sink via the slot, and the
neighboring fins are separated from each other by the contact
parts.
2. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the air circulating
channel is recessed from a top surface of the heat sink and
penetrating through the heat sink along an elongate direction of
the heat sink.
3. The cooler assembly of claim 2, wherein each fin is mounted
across two side surfaces of the heat sink.
4. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein each slot opens
downwardly.
5. The cooler assembly of claim 4, wherein two side surfaces of
each slot comprise a pair of flanges for soldering or adhering the
fins to the heat sink.
6. The cooler assembly of claim 1, further comprising a fastening
device in the air circulating channel.
7. The cooler assembly of claim 6, wherein two ends of the
fastening device are latched with a device socket in which a heat
generating device is plugged, and the heat generating device is
disposed between the heat sink and the device socket.
8. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the heat sink has a
substantially trapezoid cross sectional profile, and each of the
fins has a substantially inverse trapezoid profile.
9. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the air circulating
channel opens upwardly and penetrate through the heat sink, and the
fins are mounted across the side surfaces of the heat sink, and the
slot of each fin opens downward and has a geometry mating the cross
sectional profile of the heat sink.
10. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the slot is
corresponsive with the air circulating channel.
11. A cooler assembly, including a plurality of stacked fins
mounted across a heat sink, each of the fins having a slot opening
downwardly, and the heat sink comprising a through air circulating
channel open upwardly.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates in general to a cooler
assembly and, more particularly, to a cooler assembly which does
not provide the enhanced heat dissipation, but also provide the
fastening function.
[0002] Various kinds of cooler structures for electronic products
have been developed. Among the currently available types of
coolers, the fin-type cooler provides better heat dissipation
effect.
[0003] Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective exploded view of a prior
art fin-type cooler is illustrated. The fin-type cooler includes a
plurality of fins 11 fastened together to form a set of fins 1
which is then installed on the heat sink 2. Each of the fins 11
includes a pair of symmetric opposing side walls 111. Each of the
side walls 111 includes two fastening slots 113 and two protrusions
112, such that the neighboring fins 11 can be connected together by
engaging the protrusions 112 with the slots 113; and thereby, the
set of fins 1 is assembled, and the side walls 111 are joined
together to form a pair of opposing planar side walls, and one of
which is attached to the surface of the heat sink 2.
[0004] However, the heat conduction of this type of cooler is not
fast enough. The heat dissipation area is not sufficient since
though the spaces 12 provide lateral air circulation, the joined
side walls 111 block longitudinal air circulation. Therefore, the
heat efficiency has to be improved. Further, while applying the
prior art to a heat generating device, an additional metal shield
is required to cover the cooler 2 when the bottom surface thereof
is adhered to the heat generating device. The metal shield is then
soldered on the printed circuit board to cause additional
inconvenience and drawbacks. Therefore, this kind of cooler is less
convenient and effective compared to those using fastening device
such as snap-on latch (for example, using a latch spring to mount a
cooler on a CPU socket).
[0005] Accordingly, the Applicant has developed a reasonably
designed structure that has resolved the problems occurring to the
prior art structure as mentioned above.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention provides a cooler assembly to enhance
the heat dissipation efficiency.
[0007] The present invention further provides a cooler that can be
directly installed on a device slot such as a CPU slot by a latch
spring.
[0008] The cooler assembly provided by the present invention
comprises a heat sink and a plurality of fins. An air circulating
channel is formed through the heat sink. Each fin includes a slot
allowing the fin mounted across the heat sink, and at least one
contact part protruding therefrom, such that the neighboring fins
are separated from each other by a space.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] These as well as other features of the present invention
will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings
wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 shows the perspective exploded view of a prior art
cooler;
[0011] FIG. 2 shows the perspective exploded view of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 3 shows the perspective assembly of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 4 shows a side view of FIG. 3;
[0014] FIG. 5 shows a top view of FIG. 3; and
[0015] FIG. 6 shows a local cross sectional view of a cooler.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention provides a
cooler assembly including a three-dimensional structure of heat
sink 4 and a plurality of fins 31 stacked together to form a set of
fins 3.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 4, the heat sink 4 has a substantially
trapezoid cross sectional profile and an air circulating channel 41
recessed from a top surface of the heat sink 4 and extending from a
front surface through a rear surface thereof. Each of the fins 31
has a substantially inverse trapezoid profile and a slot 312
recessed from a bottom edge thereof. The shape of the slot 312
corresponds with the substantially trapezoid profile of the heat
sink 4. Two sides of the slot 312 each has a flange 3121 protruding
substantially perpendicular to the fin 31, and two top edges of
each fin 31 further comprise contact parts 311 protruding
substantially perpendicularly and preferably backwardly from the
fin 31.
[0018] Each of the fins 31 is mounted across the heat sink 4 via
the slot 312. The flanges 3121 protruding from two sides of each
fin 31 provide the means for soldering the fin 31 on two side
surfaces of the heat sink 4. When the fins 31 are stacked together
to form the set of fins 3, spaces 32 are formed between the fins 31
due to protrusions of the contact parts 311 (as shown in FIGS. 2
and 5). Therefore, the side surfaces of the heat sink 4 are
enlarged to consequently increase the overall heat conducting
surface of the cooler assembly. Further, the air circulating
channel 41 formed in the heat sink 4 further enhances the heat
dissipation efficiency.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, a latch spring 5 can be installed in the
air circulating channel 41 and assembled with the cooler as shown
in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 6, the cooler is mounted to a
device socket 6 via the latch spring 5. As shown, the device socket
6 is a CPU socket in which a heat generating device 7 such as a CPU
is plugged, and the cooler provided by the present invention is
placed over the heat generating device 7 and mounted to the device
socket 6 via the latch spring 5. The heat generating device 7 is
placed between the heat sink 4 and the device socket 6, such that
the heat generated by the heat generating device 7 can be easily
conducted to the heat sink 4, and then dissipated via the fins 31,
the spaces 32 and the air circulating channel 41. In addition, a
fan (not shown) may also be placed over the set of fins 3 to
reinforce heat circulation.
[0020] The profiles and shapes of the heat sink 4, the fins 31 and
the slot 312 are not limited to trapezoid or inverse trapezoid. It
is appreciated that other shapes such as rectangle or polygonal can
also be applied to achieve the same effect without exceeding the
spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0021] The heat sink 4 provided by the present invention, instead
of being a two-dimensional plate, includes a three-dimensional
structure of which the surface area is greatly increased. Further,
the formation of an air circulating channel 41 provides an elongate
path of air circulation. Therefore, the cooler provided by the
present invention provides a cross-directional ventilation effect
and a latch spring 5 that directly mount the cooler to the heat
generating device 7. In this embodiment, the cross-directional
ventilation includes the longitudinal air circulation through the
spaces 12 and the lateral air circulation along an elongate
direction of the heat sink 4. This disclosure provides exemplary
embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present
invention is not limited by these exemplary embodiments. Numerous
variations, whether explicitly provided for by the specification or
implied by the specification, such as variations in structure,
dimension, type of material and manufacturing process may be
implemented by one of skill in the art in view of this
disclosure.
* * * * *