Heat Dissipation Device

Abstract

A heat dissipation device adapted for removing heat from a heat-generating electronic device, includes a base, a first fin unit arranged on a top surface of the base. The base includes a base plate, a spreader and a heat pipe group sandwiched between the base plate and the spreader. The base plate defines therein an opening. The heat pipe group has an inserting protrusion and a receiving recession opposing the inserting protrusion. The inserting protrusion protrudes upwardly from a top surface of the heat pipe group and is embedded in the opening of the base plate. The receiving recession recesses upwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group and receives therein the spreader.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to heat dissipation devices, and more particularly to a heat dissipation device for cooling a heat-generating electronic device.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] With advancement of computer technology, electronic devices operate at a high speed. It is well known that the more rapidly the electronic devices operate, the more heat they generate. If the heat is not dissipated duly, the stability of the operation of the electronic devices will be impacted severely. Generally, in order to ensure the electronic device to run normally, a heat dissipation device is used to dissipate the heat generated by the electronic device.

[0005] Typically, the heat dissipation device comprises a base formed from aluminum and contacting with the electronic device, a plurality of fins arranged on the base and a plurality of bent heat pipes embedded in the base. Heat absorbed by a central portion of the base from the electronic device is evenly distributed over the base and then transferred to the fins to be dissipated into ambient air to positively cool down the heat electronic device. However, the heat dissipating efficiency of the heat dissipation device is determined by heat conductivity of the base; as a result, the base made of a material having comparatively low conductivity such as aluminum unduly affects a performance of the dissipating efficiency of the heat dissipation device. To improve the heat dissipating efficiency, the base may be made of a material with a comparatively high conductivity such as copper; however, it would significantly add cost and weight of the heat dissipation device to replace the whole base with a copper base. Furthermore, to embed the heat pipes in the base, the base has to be provided with corresponding receiving grooves, thereby complicating the manufacture and increasing the cost of the base.

[0006] What is needed, therefore, is a heat dissipation device having an outstanding capability of heat dissipation whilst cost and weight thereof do not increase too much.

SUMMARY

[0007] A heat dissipation device adapted for removing heat from a heat-generating electronic device, includes a base, a first fin unit arranged on a top surface of the base. The base includes a base plate, a spreader and a heat pipe group sandwiched between the base plate and the spreader. The base plate defines therein an opening. The heat pipe group has an inserting protrusion which protrudes upwardly from a top surface of the heat pipe group and is embedded in the opening of the base plate, and a receiving recession which recesses upwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group and receives therein the spreader.

[0008] Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment/embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a heat dissipation device in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the heat dissipation device in FIG. 1, with a first fin unit of the heat dissipation device being taken away for clarity.

[0011] FIG. 3 is an inverted, exploded view of FIG. 1.

[0012] FIG. 4 is an assembled view of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a heat dissipation device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The heat dissipation device is adapted for removing heat from a heat-generating electronic device (not shown) and comprises a base 10 contacting with the heat-generating electronic device, a first fin unit 20 arranged on a top of the base 10 and a second fin unit 30 attached to a bottom of the base 10.

[0014] Also referring to FIG. 3, the base 10 comprises a spreader 12, a base plate 14 and a heat pipe group 16 sandwiched between the spreader 12 and the base plate 14. The spreader 12 is made of material with excellent heat conductivity such as copper and directly in contact with the heat-generating electronic device. It is understood that the spreader 12 can be a thin plate with different shapes according to different embodiments. In this embodiment of the present invention, the spreader 12 is rectangular.

[0015] The base plate 14 is rectangular and made of material with outstanding heat conductivity such as aluminum and copper. The base plate 14 defines a rectangular opening 140 in a center thereof and has a protecting flange 142. The protecting flange 142 extends perpendicularly and downwardly from an edge of the base plate 14 and is configured for surrounding and protecting the heat pipe group 16 under the base plate 14. The base plate 14 defines three mounting holes 144 which are located adjacent to the edge of the base plate 14 and spaced from each other, for receiving a downward extension of three fasteners to secure the base 10 on the heat-generating electronic device.

[0016] The heat pipe group 16 consists of a plurality of flexuous heat pipes 160 which have flat top surfaces and bottom surfaces opposite and parallel to the flat top surfaces. The top surfaces of the heat pipes 160 are attached to a bottom surface of the base plate 14. The spreader 12 and the second fin unit 30 are attached to the bottom surfaces of the heat pipes 160. All of the heat pipes 160 have elongated portions, which are arranged closely side by side to each other in a center of bottom surface of the base plate 14 and function as an evaporating part 162 of the heat pipe group 16. The evaporating part 162 has an inserting protrusion 1622 projecting upwardly from a top surface thereof and defines a receiving recession 1624 right under the inserting protrusion 1622. Also referring to FIG. 2, the inserting protrusion 1622 is rectangular and has a flat top surface coplanar with the top surface of the base plate 14 when the inserting protrusion 1622 is fitly embedded into the opening 140 of the base plate 14. The receiving recession 1624 is in complementary with the inserting protrusion 1622 and receives the spreader 12 therein. The heat pipe group 16 comprises four condensing parts 164 which extend outwardly from the evaporating part 162 and respectively extend along corresponding adjacent edges of the base plate 14 to surround the evaporating part 162.

[0017] In assembly of the base 10, the top surface of the heat pipe group 16 is attached to the bottom surface of the base plate 14 by conventional means such as welding or adhering, in which the heat pipe group 16 is surrounded by the protecting flange 142 of the base plate 14; the inserting protrusion 1622 of the evaporating part 162 of the heat pipe group 16 is embedded into the opening 140 of the base plate 14; and an upper part of the spreader 12 is received and welded in the receiving recession 1624 of the evaporating part 162.

[0018] The first fin unit 20 is directly attached on a contacting surface which is cooperatively formed by the top surface of the base plate 14 and the flat top surface of the inserting part 1622 of the heat pipe group 16 by conventional means such as welding or adhering. The first fin unit 20 comprises a plurality of first fins 22 which are perpendicularly arranged on the contacting surface and parallel to the two opposite sides of the base plate 14 and the elongated portion of the heat pipe group 16. Each of the first fins 22 has a flange 220 perpendicularly bent from a lower edge thereof. All of the flanges 220 of the first fin unit 20 are closely juxtaposed to each other, to thereby cooperatively define a continuous flat bottom surface of the first fin unit 20 which is fixed to the contacting surface of the base 10. The first fin unit 20 defines a plurality of cutouts 24 corresponding to the mounting holes 144, respectively, for facilitating the extension of the fasteners.

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 3-4, the second fin unit 30 comprises a plurality of second fins 32 directly attached to the bottom surface of the heat pipe group 16 at the condensing part 164 of the heat pipe group 16 by conventional means such as welding or adhering. The second fin unit 30 can have various shapes in different embodiments and is preferred to be T-shaped in this embodiment. The second fins 32 are perpendicular to the bottom surface of the heat pipe group 16 and parallel to the first fins 22.

[0020] In use of the heat dissipation device, heat generated by the heat-generating electronic device is transferred to the evaporating part 162 of the heat pipe group 16 through the spreader 12, then distributed to everywhere of the base plate 14 and the second fin unit 30 via the condensing parts 164 of the heat pipe group 16, and also directly conducted to the first fin unit 20 via the inserting protrusion 1622 of the evaporating part 162 of the heat pipe group 16. The heat is thus distributed to the first and second fin unit 20, 30 efficiently to dissipate into ambient air timely.

[0021] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A heat dissipation device adapted for removing heat from a heat-generating electronic device, comprising: a base comprising a base plate, a spreader and a heat pipe group sandwiched between the base plate and the spreader, the base plate defining an opening therein, the heat pipe group having an inserting protrusion which protrudes upwardly from a top surface of the heat pipe group and is embedded in the opening of the base plate and having a receiving recession which recesses upwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group, and the spreader being received in the receiving recession; and a first fin unit arranged on a top surface of the base.

2. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inserting protrusion has a top surface which is coplanar with a top surface of the base plate.

3. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving recession is located under the inserting protrusion and in complementary with the inserting protrusion.

4. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat pipe group consists of a plurality of flexuous heat pipes which have elongated portions arranged side by side to each other to define an evaporating part thereof.

5. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inserting protrusion is formed on a top surface of the evaporating part and opposite to the receiving recession which is formed on a bottom surface of the evaporating part.

6. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the heat pipe group further comprises four condensing parts extending outwardly from the evaporating part along corresponding adjacent edges of the base plate to surround the evaporating part.

7. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opening is located in a center of the base plate and has a same rectangular shape as the inserting protrusion, and the base plate has a protecting flange which extends perpendicularly and downwardly from an edge thereof and surrounds the heat pipe group under the base plate.

8. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spreader is received in the receiving recession of the heat pipe group and has a bottom surface projecting downwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group.

9. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fin unit is fixed to a top surface of the base plate and in a directly contact with a top surface of the inserting protrusion of the heat pipe group.

10. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a second fin unit which is attached to a bottom surface of the heat pipe group at a location beside the spreader.

11. A heat dissipation device adapted for removing heat from a heat-generating electronic device, comprising: a base comprising a base plate, a spreader and a heat pipe group sandwiched between the base plate and the spreader, the base plate defining therein an opening, the heat pipe group having an inserting protrusion which protrudes upwardly from a top surface of the heat pipe group and is embedded in the opening of the base plate and having a receiving recession which recesses upwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group, the spreader being received in the receiving recession; and a first fin unit arranged on a top surface of the base; wherein the receiving recession is located under the inserting protrusion and in complementary with the inserting protrusion.

12. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the inserting protrusion has a top surface which is coplanar with a top surface of the base plate.

13. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the heat pipe group consists of a plurality of flexuous heat pipes which have elongated portions arranged side by side to each other to define an evaporating part thereof.

14. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the inserting protrusion is formed on a top surface of the evaporating part and opposite to the receiving recession which is formed on a bottom surface of the evaporating part.

15. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the heat pipe group further comprises four condensing parts extending outwardly from the evaporating part along corresponding adjacent edges of the base plate to surround the evaporating part.

16. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the opening is located in a center of the base plate and a the same rectangular shape as the inserting protrusion, and the base plate has a protecting flange which extends perpendicularly and downwardly from an edge thereof and surrounds the heat pipe group under the base plate.

17. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the spreader is received in the receiving recession of the heat pipe group and has a bottom surface projecting downwardly from a bottom surface of the heat pipe group.

18. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fin unit is fixed to a top surface of the base plate and in a direct contact with a top surface of the inserting protrusion of the heat pipe group.

19. The heat dissipation device as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a second fin unit which is attached to a bottom surface of the heat pipe group at a location beside the spreader.