U.S. patent application number 11/440942 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-07 for electronic package whereby an electronic assembly is packaged within an enclosure that is designed to act as a heat pipe.
Invention is credited to Robert J. Rapp.
Application Number | 20060274502 11/440942 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37493893 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060274502 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rapp; Robert J. |
December 7, 2006 |
Electronic package whereby an electronic assembly is packaged
within an enclosure that is designed to act as a heat pipe
Abstract
An electronic component or assembly that is assembled within a
case that is designed to operate as a liquid phase to gas phase
heat pipe where said electronic component or assembly is introduced
into a liquid or partially liquid partially gaseous environment;
whereby said liquid evaporates into a gas absorbing heat energy and
transferring it to and through the component's or assembly's case.
The case will be engineered out of materials that do not
contaminate the liquid and electronics with ions and will be
engineered to operate in any physical orientation.
Inventors: |
Rapp; Robert J.; (Lake
Forest, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROBERT JAMES RAPP
23333 RIDGE ROUTE DRIVE #126
LAKE FOREST
CA
92630
US
|
Family ID: |
37493893 |
Appl. No.: |
11/440942 |
Filed: |
May 25, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60686289 |
Jun 1, 2005 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/696 ;
257/E23.088; 257/E23.095; 361/718 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 23/44 20130101;
H01L 2924/00014 20130101; H01L 2224/48091 20130101; H01L 23/427
20130101; H01L 2224/48091 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/696 ;
361/718 |
International
Class: |
H05K 7/20 20060101
H05K007/20 |
Claims
1. An enclosure that contains an electronic assembly and a liquid
that is designed to operate as a heat pipe for cooling electronics
contained within.
2. Claim 1 where said enclosure contains some portion of liquid and
some portion of gas such that said enclosure operates as a liquid
phase to a vapor phase heat pipe where said liquid evaporates into
a gas vapor into a gas vapor transfers heat and condenses back into
a liquid.
3. Claim 2 where said enclosure maintains some potion of said
liquid in contact with said electronic assembly despite the
physical orientation of said electronic assembly.
4. Claim 3 where said enclosure includes a plurality of chambers
where said gas vapor can move, where said chambers are designed to
maximize the surface area of said enclosure such that thermal
energy is moved from said gas vapor through said enclosure more
efficiently.
5. Claim 4 where said chambers are comprised of cylinders that form
cooling towers and said enclosure is comprise of a material that
does not freely emit ions.
6. Claim 3 where said electronic assembly consists of at least one
integrated circuit.
7. Claim 6 where said integrated circuits are wire bonded.
8. Claim 6 where said integrated circuits are soldered.
9. Claim 6 where said integrated circuits are attached by
conductive epoxy.
10. Claim 6 where said integrated circuits are attached by other
means.
11. Claim 6 where said integrated circuits form an electronic
sub-assembly.
12. Claim 3 where said electronic assembly and case are contained
within the form factor of an electronic device that is packaged by
means that do not use said liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat
pipe.
13. Claim 4 where said electronic assembly and case are contained
within the form factor of an electronic device that is packaged by
means that do not use said liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat
pipe.
14. Claim 5 where said electronic assembly and case are contained
within the form factor of an electronic device that is packaged by
means that do not use said liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat
pipe.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Application No. 60/686,289 Filing Date: Jun. 1, 2005
Confirmation # 7771, is a Provisional Patent application for which
this application is a non-provisional Utility Patent follow up by
the same inventor, Robert J. Rapp customer #41400.
FEDERAL RESEARCH STATEMENT
[0002] Not Applicable, this invention was developed without
government assistance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Heat pipes have been used to cool electronics for some time,
yet heat pipes that use heat to evaporate a liquid into a gas are
not contained within the same physical case such that the liquid
that performs the cooling function is in direct contact with
conducive surfaces of an electronic component or electronic
assembly contained within said enclosure or case. Typically heat
pipes are added to electronic devices after they have been
manufactured into a component or electronic sub-assembly and are
not designed into the components case from the very beginning.
[0004] Evaporative heat pipes are available for purchase as
separate devices that can be added to electronic assemblies to cool
them, yet these devices do not encase or enclose the electronic
components that they cool. These types of heat pipes typically use
materials are not well suited to enclosing electronic components
with exposed conductive surfaces as they use materials that give up
ions easily, as they use materials such as copper and water. If
these materials were used to encase and cool electronics with
exposed metallic interconnects the electronics would be
contaminated by ions that would short and/or corrode metallic
contacts contained within. Furthermore since in these designs the
liquid is not in direct contact with the electronic components
themselves, a fact that limits their performance as heat must first
transfer through the components case before they reach heat pipes
of this sort.
[0005] Other forms of liquid cooling are not small and self
contained, as they rely on circulating a liquid with a pump, or
condensing a liquid by compressing a gas.
[0006] Since electronic device densities are increasing rapidly and
operating at ever higher frequencies a new method for cooling
electronics that can be contained within a small package would
enable higher power electronics to be packaged in highly portable
electronic devices that operate in configurations of high heat
density. Such high heat transfer capabilities are intended to
enable electronic devices to operate within current component form
factors while minimizing or eliminating the need for external heat
transfer mechanisms that are usually required to cool electronic
components that are typically attached to conventional high heat
power electronic devices.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Higher power devices generate vast amount of heat require
rapid heat transfer capabilities to keep them functioning
optimally. Evaporating liquids carry a large amount of heat energy
away from a point of evaporation; this type of cooling mechanism is
known as a liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat pipe. The invention
describe within is a case or enclosure that surrounds an electronic
component, sub-assembly, or assembly that is deigned to operate as
a liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat pipe; where the case of the
electronic assembly itself is designed to perform the function said
liquid phase to gas vapor phase heat pipe. Here electronic
components are in direct contact with a liquid, heat from the
electronic components evaporates the liquid forming a gas vapor,
and the vapor raises carrying heat energy to the case where this
heat energy is conducted into the surrounding environment. Once the
gas vapor dissipates thermal energy into the case, it condenses
back into a liquid where it rains down or is wicked back down onto
the electronic components. The case itself may contain a plurality
of chambers where the gas vapors can rise into. A plurality of
chambers would operate like a group of cooling towers, increasing
the surface area in configurations where heat can be transferred
more efficiently: from the gas vapor through the chamber walls and
into the external environment.
[0008] Furthermore the liquid and the case would be made of
materials that will not contaminate the encased electronic assembly
with ions. This is an important non-obvious benefit of the design.
Furthermore the case is designed to operate as a heat pipe that
encloses the electronic component or assembly is small, self
contained, and is designed to perform its function in any
orientation. If the electronic component, sub-assembly, or assembly
is inverted or turned in any physical orientation the electronics
contained within will remain in contact with the liquid such that
the electronic circuits are optimally cooled. The case is designed
such that the gas vapor can carry the maximum amount of thermal
energy to the external environment through the case given any
physical orientation of the case. Furthermore the overall package
may be designed such that an electronic component packaged within
will fit within the same form factor as a similar component
designed with conventional means, yet provide superior cooling to
electronic component packaged within.
[0009] Another non-obvious benefit of this design is that such an
electronic component, sub-assembly, or assembly could be soldered
in place onto a circuit board in an oven, even if the electronic
components inside were originally soldered with similar materials
& temperatures. In this case the electronic assembly contained
within the heat pipe would be protected from the external heat of
the oven. The solder holding electronic components in place on the
inside of the heat pipe would be cooled by the fluid contained
within the heat pipe long enough for the component to be soldered
to an external circuit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 shows an electronic assembly whereby a case/enclosure
1A contains a conventional electronic assembly/sub-assembly 3A, a
liquid 2A, and a gas vapor that forms a liquid phase to gas phase
heat pipe. Also shown are pads 5A by which the overall electronic
assembly may be soldered to a printed circuit board by standard
assembly processes.
[0011] FIG. 2 shows an electronic assembly whereby a case/enclosure
1B contains a conventional electronic assembly/sub-assembly 3B, a
liquid 2B, and a gas vapor that forms a liquid phase to gas phase
heat pipe. Also shown are pads 5B by which the overall electronic
assembly may be soldered to a printed circuit board by standard
assembly processes. Furthermore contains a plurality of
chambers/towers 6 that are designed to optimize the cooling of the
electronic assembly contained within in any physical
orientation.
[0012] FIG. 3 shows an electronic assembly whereby a case/enclosure
1B contains a conventional electronic assembly/sub-assembly 3C, a
liquid 2C, and a gas vapor that forms a liquid phase to gas phase
heat pipe. Also shown are pins 5C by which the overall electronic
assembly may be soldered to a printed circuit board by standard
assembly processes. Furthermore contains a plurality of
chambers/towers 7 that are designed to optimize the cooling of the
electronic assembly contained within in any physical
orientation.
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