U.S. patent application number 10/698635 was filed with the patent office on 2005-05-05 for heat sink and antenna.
Invention is credited to Montoya, Tom S..
Application Number | 20050094376 10/698635 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34550703 |
Filed Date | 2005-05-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050094376 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Montoya, Tom S. |
May 5, 2005 |
HEAT SINK AND ANTENNA
Abstract
Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a
heat sink may have an antenna disposed thereon. The antenna may be
rotated away from the heat sink in an upper position to adjust the
reception of radio-frequency signals when the heat sink is in an
extended position. The heat sink may be extended out of the housing
in which it is disposed to increase heat dissipation into the
ambient environment. The antenna may be rotated into a lower
position so that the heat sink and antenna may be retracted into
the housing.
Inventors: |
Montoya, Tom S.; (Portland,
OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
INTEL CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 5326
SANTA CLARA
CA
95056-5326
US
|
Family ID: |
34550703 |
Appl. No.: |
10/698635 |
Filed: |
October 30, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/704 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01Q 1/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/704 |
International
Class: |
H05K 007/20 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a heat sink; and an antenna connected
to said heat sink.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said antenna may be
moved relative to said heat sink.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said antenna may be
disposed against said heat sink in a first position, and away from
said heat sink in a second position.
4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat sink and
said antenna may be disposed within a housing when said heat sink
is in a first position, and said heat sink and said antenna may
extend at least partially from the housing with said heat sink is
in a second position,
5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said antenna to electrically
couple to a circuit disposed on an integrated circuit, and said
heat sink to dissipate heat from said integrated circuit.
6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an end
cap, wherein a user may push on said end cap to place said heat
sink into at least a retracted position within a housing.
7. An apparatus, comprising: a housing; a heat sink to dissipate
heat generated within said housing; and an antenna; wherein said
heat sink and said antenna may be at least partially retracted
within said housing in a first position, and wherein said heat sink
and said antenna may be at last partially extended from said
housing in a second position.
8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said heat sink is
thermally coupled to a first integrated circuit, and said antenna
is electrically coupled to a second integrated circuit.
9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, said heat sink to thermally
couple to an integrated circuit, and said antenna to electrically
couple to the integrated circuit.
10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, said heat sink to thermally
couple to a processor disposed within the housing, and said antenna
to electrically couple to a radio-frequency circuit within said
housing.
11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said antenna may be
moved relative to said heat sink when said heat sink is disposed in
an extended position.
12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a spring
to force said heat sink into an extended position at least
partially extending from said housing.
13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a heat
conductor to conduct heat from an integrated circuit within said
housing to said heat sink.
14. A network interface card, comprising: a housing; a baseband
processor; a radio-frequency transceiver; and a heat sink and
antenna; wherein said heat sink is thermally coupled to at least
one of said radio-frequency transceiver and said baseband
processor, said antenna to couple to said radio-frequency
transceiver, and said heat sink and said antenna to be at least
partially retracted within said housing in a first position and at
least partially extended from said housing in a second
position.
15. A network interface card as claimed in claim 14, wherein said
antenna is movable with respect to said heat sink.
16. A network interface card as claimed in claim 14, wherein said
baseband processor and said radio-frequency transceiver are
disposed on a single integrated circuit.
17. A network interface card as claimed in claim 14, at least one
function of said baseband processor to be executed by a host
processor disposed in a host computing platform.
18. A computing platform, comprising: a housing; an input device
disposed on said housing; an integrated circuit disposed within
said housing; a heat sink to dissipate heat generated by said
integrated circuit; and an antenna; wherein said heat sink and said
antenna may be at least partially retracted within said housing in
a first position, and wherein said heat sink and said antenna may
be at last partially extended from said housing in a second
position.
19. A computing platform as claimed in claim 18, wherein said input
device is at least one of a touch pad, a keyboard, and a touch
screen.
20. A computing platform as claimed in claim 18, further comprising
an end cap disposed on an end of said heat sink.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0001] The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly
pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the
specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and
method of operation, together with objects, features, and
advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the
following detailed description when read with the accompanying
drawings in which:
[0002] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a network interface card
having a heat sink and antenna showing the heat sink and antenna in
an extended position in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0003] FIG. 2 is another isometric view of a network interface card
having a heat sink and antenna showing the heat sink and antenna in
a retracted position in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0004] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not
necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of
some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for
clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals
have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or
analogous elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0005] In the following detailed description, numerous specific
details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding
of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled
in the art that the present invention may be practiced without
these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,
procedures, components and circuits have not been described in
detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
[0006] In the following description and claims, the terms coupled
and connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In
particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two
or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with
each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in
direct physical or electrical contact. However, coupled may also
mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with
each other, but yet may still cooperate or interact with each
other.
[0007] It should be understood that embodiments of the present
invention may be used in a variety of applications. Although the
present invention is not limited in this respect, the circuits
disclosed herein may be used in many apparatuses such as in the
transmitters and receivers of a radio system. Radio systems
intended to be included within the scope of the present invention
include, by way of example only, wireless local area networks
(WLAN) devices and wireless wide area network (WWAN) devices
including wireless network interface devices and network interface
cards (NICs), base stations, access points (APs), gateways,
bridges, hubs, cellular radiotelephone communication systems,
satellite communication systems, two-way radio communication
systems, one-way pagers, two-way pagers, personal communication
systems (PCS), personal computers (PCs), personal digital
assistants (PDAs), and the like, although the scope of the
invention is not limited in this respect.
[0008] Types of wireless communication systems intended to be
within the scope of the present invention include, although not
limited to, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Wide Area
Network (WWAN), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular
radiotelephone communication systems, Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) cellular radiotelephone systems, North
American Digital Cellular (NADC) cellular radiotelephone systems,
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Extended-TDMA
(E-TDMA) cellular radiotelephone systems, third generation (3G)
systems like Wide-band CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA-2000, and the like,
although the scope of the invention is not limited in this
respect.
[0009] Referring now to FIG. 1, a network interface card having a
heat sink and an antenna showing the heat sink and antenna in an
extended position in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention will be discussed. Network interface card (NIC) 100 may
comprise a housing 110 that contains a printed circuit board 112
where printed circuit board 112 may contain circuitry to allow a
host device (not shown) in which network interface card 100 may be
utilized to couple the host device to a network. In one particular
embodiment of the invention, network interface card 100 is a
wireless network interface card to allow the host device to connect
to a wireless network such as a wireless local area network (WLAN)
or a wireless wide area network (WWAN) although the scope of the
invention is not limited in this respect.
[0010] In one embodiment, network interface card 100 may be
compliant with a PC Card standard or a Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association (PCMCIA) specification, and thus may
be a self contained module, although the scope of the invention is
not limited in this respect. In an alternative embodiment of the
invention, network interface card may be integrally disposed within
a housing of the host device rather than being a self contained
module, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this
respect. In yet another alternative embodiment, network interface
card may be tangibly embodied within a Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) card or the like, such as a MiniPCI card or a
PCI extended (PCI-X) card, although the scope of the invention is
not limited in this respect. In a still further embodiment of the
invention, rather than being implemented within a host device,
network interface card module 100 may itself be tangibly embodied
as the host device, for example where host processor 146 is
disposed internally within housing 110 and optionally disposed on
printed circuit board 112, although the scope of the invention is
not limited in this respect.
[0011] Network interface card 100 may include a heat sink 148 to
which an antenna 114 may be attached. Heat sink 148 may include a
heat dissipation block 116 that may be included heat dissipation
ribs for providing heat dissipation surface area. One or more heat
conductors 118 may couple heat dissipation block 116 of heat sink
140 to at least one integrated circuit 136 or more integrated
circuits of network interface card 100 where integrated circuit 136
may be disposed on printed circuit board 112, although the scope of
the invention is not limited in this respect. In one embodiment,
where network interface card 100 is a wireless network interface
card, integrated circuit 136 may include a radio-frequency circuit,
an intermediate-frequency (IF) circuit, a base band processor such
as shown by baseband processor block 144, and associated circuits
such as oscillators and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and
digital-to-analog converters (DACs), filters, memory, and so on, in
any combination, although the scope of the invention is not limited
in this respect. In one embodiment, a radio circuit may be disposed
on one integrated circuit and baseband processor 144 may be
disposed on another integrated circuit where one or the other or
both integrated circuits may couple to heat dissipation block 116
of heat sink 148 via heat conductor 118. In an alternative
embodiment a the radio circuit and baseband processor 144 may be
disposed together on a single integrated circuit where the
integrated circuit 136 may couple to heat dissipation block 116 of
heat sink 148 via heat conductor 118 although the scope of the
invention is not limited in this respect.
[0012] In one embodiment of the invention, any one or more of the
elements of heat sink 148 including heat dissipation block 116,
heat sink fins 120, and heat conductor 118 may be constructed from
VAN-THERM, a heat conducting elastomer available from Vanguard
Products Corporation, although the scope of the invention is not
limited in this respect. In another embodiment of the invention,
any one or more of the elements of heat sink 148 including heat
dissipation block 116, heat sink fins 120, and heat conductor 118
may be constructed from a thermally conductive metal such as zinc,
although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.
Embodiments of the invention also may include utilizing zinc and
VAN-THERM in combination.
[0013] In one embodiment of the invention, heat sink 148 including
heat dissipation block 116 and antenna 114 may be retractable from
and into housing 110 of network interface card 100. A spring block
122 may provide a fixed structure against which a spring 124 may be
compressed to cause heat sink 148 to extend from the interior of
the housing 110 of network interface card 100. A conductor cap 126
may be disposed concentrically with a shaft 130 to which antenna
114 may be mounted. Antenna 114 may be affixed to shaft 130 so that
antenna 114 may be free to rotate about a central axis of shaft 130
so that antenna 114 may be disposed in a lower position against
heat dissipation block 116 in a first position, for example so that
heat sink 148 may be retracted within housing 110 of network
interface card for storage. Antenna 114 may also be rotated away
from heat dissipation block 116 when heat sink 148 is in an
extended position, for example to alter or maximize the reception
of radio-frequency (RF) signals via antenna 114 as shown in FIG.
1.
[0014] Conductor cap 126 may maintain contact with spring contact
132 which may be biased against conductor cap 126 to maintain
physical and electrical contact therewith. Likewise, a connector
body 128 may maintain contact with spring contact 134 which may be
biased against connector body 128 to maintain physical and
electrical contact therewith. Connector body 126 may be at a ground
potential and connector cap may at the potential generated by an RF
signal received via antenna 114. Electrical traces 138 and 140 may
electrically couple antenna 114 with integrated circuit 136 via
conductor cap 126 and connector body 128, and via spring contacts
132 and 134.
[0015] In one embodiment of the invention, heat sink 148 may be in
an extended position during operation of network interface card 100
where operation of integrated circuit 136 may generate heat that is
conducted to heat dissipation block 116 via heat conductors 118 and
where heat may be transferred to the ambient environment via heat
fins 120. During such operation, the temperature of heat
dissipation block 116 may rise. An end cap 142 may be disposed on
heat sink 148 at an end of heat dissipation block 116. End cap 142
may be an insulating material so that a user may retract heat sink
148 and antenna 114 into housing 110 of network interface card 100
without directly touching heat dissipation block 116 or heat fins
120. In one embodiment of the invention, end cap 142 may be an over
molded plastic material such as ULTEM, a heat resistant amorphous
thermoplastic polyetherimide available from the General Electric
Company, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this
respect. Optionally, end cap may be colored to match housing 100 of
network interface card 100 or to match a housing of the host device
in which network interface card may be disposed, although the scope
of the invention is not limited in this respect.
[0016] Referring now to FIG. 2, a network interface card having a
heat sink and antenna in a retracted position in accordance with
one embodiment of the invention will be discussed. As shown in FIG.
2, antenna 114 may be positioned in a lowered position against heat
dissipation block 116 of heat sink 148 so that heat sink 148
including antenna 114 may be retracted into housing 110 of network
interface card 100. When a user pushes heat sink 148 and antenna
114 into housing of network interface card 100, spring 124 may
compress to provide a force opposing the force causing heat sink
148 and antenna 114 to be retracted into housing 100. A latch 210
on heat sink 148 may catch with a latch 212 on housing 100 of
network interface card to secure heat sink 148 and antenna 114 into
a retracted position as shown in FIG. 2. When latches 210 and 212
couple, spring 124 remains in a compressed state so that when a
user releases latch 210 from latch 212 by actuating latch 210, the
force generated by the compression of spring 124 will cause heat
sink 148 and antenna 114 to be extended out of housing 110 from a
retracted position to an extended position as shown in FIG. 1. When
in an extended position, antenna 114 may be rotated into an upper
position for adjustable reception of RF signals, and heat sink 148
may dissipate heat into the ambient environment via increased
exposure to the air and increased airflow across heat sink fins
120, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this
respect. It should be noted that network interface card 100 may
operate with heat sink 148 and antenna 114 disposed in either a
retracted position or in an extended position, and the scope of the
invention is not limited in this respect.
[0017] Although the invention has been described with a certain
degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements
thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is
believed that the heat sink and antenna of the present invention
and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the
forgoing description, and 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, and further without providing
substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to
encompass and include such changes.
* * * * *