U.S. patent application number 12/835405 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-19 for heat sink with staggered heat exchange elements.
This patent application is currently assigned to Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.. Invention is credited to Todd Richard Salamon.
Application Number | 20120012284 12/835405 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45465980 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120012284 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Salamon; Todd Richard |
January 19, 2012 |
HEAT SINK WITH STAGGERED HEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENTS
Abstract
Heat sink comprising a base and a plurality of heat exchange
elements. The elements are connected to and raised above, a surface
of the base. There is a first row of the elements, with each of the
elements having a long dimension that is substantially parallel to
the long dimension of the other elements of the first row and to
the surface. There is a second row of the elements, each of the
elements having a long dimension that is substantially parallel to
the long dimension of the other elements of the second row and to
the surface. The first row and the second row are substantially
opposed to each other such that one set of ends of the elements of
the first row are staggered with respect to one set of ends of the
elements of the second row.
Inventors: |
Salamon; Todd Richard;
(Summit, NJ) |
Assignee: |
Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
Murray Hill
NJ
|
Family ID: |
45465980 |
Appl. No.: |
12/835405 |
Filed: |
July 13, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/109.1 ;
165/185; 29/890.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 29/4935 20150115;
F28F 2275/02 20130101; F28F 3/048 20130101; F28F 2275/06 20130101;
F28F 13/12 20130101; F28F 2275/04 20130101; F28F 5/00 20130101;
F28D 2021/0029 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/109.1 ;
165/185; 29/890.03 |
International
Class: |
F28F 13/12 20060101
F28F013/12; B21D 53/02 20060101 B21D053/02; F28F 7/00 20060101
F28F007/00 |
Claims
1. A heat sink, comprising: a base; and a plurality of heat
exchange elements, connected to and raised above, a surface of said
base, wherein a first row of said heat exchange elements, with each
of said heat exchange elements having a long dimension that is
substantially parallel to said long dimension of said other heat
exchange elements of said first row and to said surface, a second
row of said heat exchange elements, each of said heat exchange
elements having a long dimension that is substantially parallel to
said long dimension of other said heat exchange elements of said
second row and to said surface, and said first row and said second
row are substantially opposed to each other such that one set of
ends of said heat exchange elements of said first row are staggered
with respect to one set of ends of said heat exchange elements of
said second row.
2. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein said set of ends of said heat
exchange elements of said first row are separated from said set of
ends of said heat exchange elements of said second row by a
gap.
3. The heat sink of claim 2, wherein a length of said gap between
said set of ends of said first row and said set of ends of said
second row is up to about five times a channel width between
adjacent ones of said heat exchange elements.
4. The heat sink of claim 2, further including one or more vortex
enhancers located in said gap, said vortex enhancers configured to
create vortices and direct air flow from channels within said first
row of heat exchange elements to channels within said second row of
heat exchange elements.
5. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein one or more of said heat
exchange elements of said first row or of said second row are
configured as vortex enhancers.
6. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein said set of ends of said heat
exchange elements of said first row partially overlap with said set
of ends of said heat exchange elements of said second row.
7. The heat sink of claim 6, wherein a length of said overlap
between said set of ends of said elements of said first row with
said set of ends of said elements of said second row is up to about
five times a channel width between adjacent ones of said heat
exchange elements.
8. The heat sink of claim 1, further including one or more
additional rows of said heat exchange elements wherein a set of
ends of said heat exchange elements of said additional rows are
staggered with respect to a set of ends of an opposing different
additional rows, or, with respect to a second set of ends of said
first row or of said second row.
9. The heat sink of claim 8, wherein channels between said heat
exchange elements of said one or more additional rows of said heat
exchange elements are oriented substantially parallel with channels
between said heat exchange elements of said adjacent different
additional rows and with channels between said heat exchange
elements of said first and said second rows.
10. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein second ends of said heat
exchange elements substantially extend to an outer perimeter of
said base.
11. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein lengths of said long
dimensions of said heat exchange elements of said first row are
substantially equal to each other.
12. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein lengths of said long
dimensions of said heat exchange elements of said second row are
substantially equal to each other and to lengths of said long
dimensions of said heat exchange elements of said first row.
13. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger elements
are continuously connected to said base.
14. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger elements
are coupled to said base.
15. An apparatus, comprising: a heat sink, including: a base; and a
plurality of heat exchange elements, connected to and raised above,
a surface of said base, including: a first row of said heat
exchange elements, with each of said heat exchange elements having
a long dimension that is substantially parallel to said long
dimension of said other heat exchange elements of said first row
and to said surface, a second row of said heat exchange elements,
each of said heat exchange elements having a long dimension that is
substantially parallel to said long dimension of other said heat
exchange elements of said second row and to said surface, and said
first row and said second row are substantially opposed to each
other such that one set of ends of said heat exchange elements of
said first row are staggered with respect to one set of ends of
said heat exchange elements of said second row; and a structure
configured to produce heat, wherein said heat sink is coupled to
said structure.
16. A method of manufacturing a heat sink, comprising: forming a
base; and forming a plurality of heat exchange elements connected
to and raised above, a surface of said base, including: a first row
of said heat exchange elements, with each of said heat exchange
elements having a long dimension that is substantially parallel to
said long dimension of said other heat exchange elements of said
first row and to said surface, a second row of said heat exchange
elements, each of said heat exchange elements having a long
dimension that is substantially parallel to said long dimension of
other said heat exchange elements of said second row and to said
surface, and said first row and said second row are substantially
opposed to each other such that one set of ends of said heat
exchange elements of said first row are staggered with respect to
one set of ends of said heat exchange elements of said second
row.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein forming said base includes
forming flow conduits within said base.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein forming said base includes
forming a heat exchange structure wherein said base is part of an
outer surface of said heat exchange device.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein forming said plurality of heat
exchange elements connected to said base includes coupling said
heat exchange elements to said surface.
20. The method of claim 16, wherein forming said plurality of heat
exchange elements connected to said base includes shaping a same
work piece that said base is formed from.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is related to U.S. patent
application Ser. No. ______ (docket no. 807926) to Salamon,
entitled, "AIR JET ACTIVE HEAT SINK", and which is commonly
assigned with the present application, which is incorporated herein
by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present disclosure is directed, in general, to a heat
sink and methods of manufacture thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to
facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly,
the statements of this section are to be read in this light. The
statements of this section are not to be understood as admissions
about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
[0004] Heat sinks are commonly used to increase the heat transfer
area of an electronic device to decrease the thermal resistance
between the device and cooling medium, e.g., air. There is a
growing trend, however, for electronic devices to dissipate so much
power that traditional heat sink designs are inadequate to
sufficiently cool the device. Improved heat transfer efficiency
from electronic devices would help extend the lifetime of such
devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] One embodiment is a heat sink comprising a base and a
plurality of heat exchange elements. The heat exchange elements are
connected to and raised above, a surface of the base. There is a
first row of the heat exchange elements, with each of the heat
exchange elements having a long dimension that is substantially
parallel to the long dimension of the other heat exchange elements
of the first row and to the surface. There is a second row of the
heat exchange elements, each of the heat exchange elements having a
long dimension that is substantially parallel to the long dimension
of the other heat exchange elements of the second row and to the
surface. The first row and the second row are substantially opposed
to each other such that one set of ends of the heat exchange
elements of the first row are staggered with respect to one set of
ends of the heat exchange elements of the second row.
[0006] Another embodiment is an apparatus. The apparatus comprises
the above-described heat sink and a structure configured to produce
heat, wherein the heat sink is coupled to the structure.
[0007] Another embodiment is a method of manufacturing a heat sink.
The method comprises forming a base and forming a plurality of heat
exchange elements connected to and raised above, a surface of the
base. There is a first row of the heat exchange elements, with each
of the heat exchange elements having a long dimension that is
substantially parallel to the long dimension of the other heat
exchange elements of the first row and to the surface. There is a
second row of the heat exchange elements, each of the heat exchange
element having a long dimension that is substantially parallel to
the long dimension of the other heat exchange elements of the
second row and to the surface. The first row and the second row are
substantially opposed to each other such that one set of ends of
the heat exchange elements of the first row are staggered with
respect to one set of ends of the heat exchange elements of the
second row.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The embodiments of the disclosure are best understood from
the following detailed description, when read with the accompanying
FIGUREs. Some features in the figures may be described as
"vertical" or "horizontal" for convenience in referring to those
features. Such descriptions do not limit the orientation of such
features with respect to the natural horizon or gravity. Various
features may not be drawn to scale and may be arbitrarily increased
or reduced in size for clarity of discussion. Reference is now made
to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 presents a perspective view of an example embodiment
of the heat sink of the disclosure;
[0010] FIG. 2 presents a plan view of the heat sink along view line
2-2 shown in FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 presents a sectional view of the heat sink along view
line 3-3 shown in FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 4 presents a sectional view of the heat sink along view
line 4-4 shown in FIG. 1;
[0013] FIGS. 5A-5E present plan views of alternative embodiments of
the heat sink of the disclosure, analogous to the view presented in
FIG. 2; and
[0014] FIG. 6 presents a flow diagram of selected steps in an
example method of manufacturing a heat sink of the disclosure,
e.g., such as presented in FIGS. 1A-5E.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The description and drawings merely illustrate the
principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those
skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements
that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the
principles of the invention and are included within its scope.
Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended
expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in
understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts
contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be
construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited
examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting
principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as
specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents
thereof. Additionally, the term, "or," as used herein, refers to a
non-exclusive or, unless otherwise indicated. Also, the various
embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually
exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more
other embodiments to form new embodiments.
[0016] Embodiments of the disclosure benefit from the recognition
that thermal boundary layers develop along the surfaces of a heat
sink. Consequently, efficient heat transfer from the heat sink to
the surrounding air can be deterred because the primary means of
heat transfer from the slow air flowing in the boundary layer at
the surface and the faster moving cold air in the space farther
away from the surface is diffusion.
[0017] The embodiments described herein improve heat transfer
efficiency by: i) increasing the turbulence (or mixing) of air
located in the channels between the heat exchange elements of a
heat sink; and ii) placing structures in a staggered fashion so as
to ensure cooler air in the middle of channels contacts heat
exchange elements directly. For instance, increased air turbulence
helps mix the hotter air next to the heat exchange elements with
the cooler air in the middle of channels, and thereby improve heat
transfer. The increased contact of cold air with heat exchange
elements, achieved by staggering the heat exchange elements in
different rows as described herein, are believed in some cases to
be capable of improving the cooling factor of a heat sink by up to
about three times as compared to an analogous heat sink designs but
without the staggered elements.
[0018] One embodiment of the disclosure is a heat sink. FIG. 1
presents a perspective view of one example embodiment of the heat
sink of the disclosure. FIG. 2 presents a plan view of the heat
sink along view line 2-2 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 presents a
sectional view of the heat sink along view line 3-3 shown in FIG.
1. FIG. 4 presents a sectional view of the heat sink along view
line 4-4 shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 5A-5C present plan views of
alternative embodiments of the heat sink of the disclosure
analogous to the view presented in FIG. 2.
[0019] Turning to FIG. 1, the heat sink 100 comprises a base 105
and a plurality of heat exchange elements 110. The heat exchange
elements 110 are connected to and raised above, a surface 120 of
the base 105. There is first row 125 of the heat exchange elements
110 and a second row of the heat exchange elements 110. Each of the
heat exchange elements 110 of the first row 125 have a long
dimension 130 that is substantially parallel to the long dimension
130 of other heat exchange elements 110 of the first row 125, and,
also substantially parallel to the surface 120 of the base 105.
Each of the heat exchange elements 110 of the second row 127 have
the long dimension 130 that is substantially parallel to the long
dimension 130 of other heat exchange elements 110 of the second row
127, and, also substantially parallel to the surface 120 of the
base 105. The first row 125 and the second row 127 are
substantially opposed to each other such that one set of ends 135
of the heat exchange elements 110 of the first row 125 are
staggered with respect to one set of ends 137 of the heat exchange
elements 110 of the second row 127.
[0020] The term staggered as used herein means that the ends 137 of
the heat exchange elements 110 of the second row 127 are
substantially offset from the ends 135 of the heat exchange
elements 110 of the first row 125. For instance, consider two
adjacent the heat exchange elements 110 in either of the rows 125,
127. The adjacent the heat exchange elements 110 define a channel
140, with a channel width 145, in-between the adjacent the two heat
exchange elements 110. The ends 137 of elements 110 in the second
row 127 are considered to be staggered with respect to ends 135 of
elements 110 in the first row 125 when the ends 137 are aligned
with a central space 147 (e.g., a middle 80 percent, more
preferably a middle 40 percent, and even more preferably, a middle
20 percent of the space 147; FIGS. 1-2) of the one of the channels
140 located between the ends 135 of elements 110 in the first row
125.
[0021] In some embodiment, the height 150 of an element 110 might
be longer than the long dimension 130 which, e.g., can correspond
to a horizontal length of the element 110. However, the horizontal
length, which is substantially parallel to the base surface, is
still the long dimension 130 in the plane of the base's surface
120, e.g., because it is at least longer than the thickness 155 of
the element 130 and because the height 150 dimension is
perpendicular to the base's surface 120.
[0022] Heat sink designs featuring heat exchange elements with
parallel long dimensions, such as disclosed herein, can provide
superior heat removal as compared to certain heat sink designs
using a two-dimension array pin- or pillar-shaped heat exchange
elements for configurations where the air flow is predominantly
parallel to the base and the long dimension of the heat exchange
elements described in the invention. In contrast, pin- or
pillar-shaped heat exchange elements can provide superior heat
removal as compared to certain heat sink designs described in this
invention when the flow is predominantly parallel to the heat sink
base and also orthogonal to the long dimension of the heat exchange
elements, and also when the flow is predominantly orthogonal to the
heat sink base. The invention described herein is of interest to
the case where the flow is predominantly parallel to the heat sink
base and the long dimension of the heat exchange elements.
[0023] For many of the example embodiments presented herein, such
as in FIGS. 1-4, the heat exchange elements 110 are depicted as
being rectangular-shaped planar fins. In some embodiments such a
heat exchange element 110 design can be desirable, e.g., because
such structures can be relatively simple and inexpensive to
manufacture, or, because the air flow characteristics around such
structures are relatively easy to simulate via computer modeling.
In other embodiments, however, it may be advantageous for the heat
exchange elements 110 to have other shapes. Examples of other heat
exchange element designs are presented in patent application Ser.
Nos. 12/165,063; 12/165,193; and 12/165,225, all of which are
incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Non-limiting
example designs include: bent or curved fins, fins that include
flow diverters, monolithic structurally complex designs, or active
heat sink designs.
[0024] As illustrated in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the set of
ends 135 of the heat exchange elements 110 of the first row 125 are
separated from the set of ends 137 of the heat exchange elements
110 of the second row 127 by a gap 210. Including such an inter-row
gap 210 can help reduce the overall pressure drop of air passing
around the elements 110, since the airflow field will tend to
rearrange when air goes through the gap 210 from one row 125 to the
other row 127. Additionally, the gap 210 can also help the thermal
boundary layer, which can develop next to the elements 110, to
renormalize.
[0025] To facilitate such advantages, in some embodiments, a length
215 of the gap 210 between the set of ends 135 of elements 110 of
the first row 125 and the set of ends 137 of elements 110 of the
second row 127 can be up to about five times a channel width 125
between adjacent ones of elements 110. In some preferred
embodiments, the gap 210 extends to an outer perimeter 220 of the
base 105. In some preferred embodiments, the gap 220 is
substantially centrally located over the base 105 (e.g., such as
when the elements 110 of the first row 125 and the second row 127
all have the same long dimension 130 length).
[0026] In some embodiments, there are additional structures that
can be located in the gap 210 to facilitate increase air flow
turbulence around the elements 110. For instance, as shown in FIG.
5A. The heat sink 100 can further including one or more vortex
enhancers 510 located in the gap 210. The vortex enhancers 510 can
be configured to direct air flow from channels 140 within the first
row 125 of heat exchange elements 110 to channels 140 within the
second row 127 of heat exchange elements 110. Of course, in still
other embodiments, such as shown in FIG. 5B, one or more of the
elements 100 (e.g., the entire first row 125 of elements 110 can
itself be designed as vortex enhancers. One skilled in the art
would understand that the vortex enhancers can create vortices that
are spatially and temporally varying and which enhance mixing of
the cold air in the channel's middle and the hot air at the heat
sink's surfaces. Example vortex enhancer designs (also known as
vortex generators) are presented in the above-incorporated U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 12/165,225.
[0027] In some embodiments, however there is no gap between the
ends 135, 137 of the elements 110 of the opposing rows 125, 127,
such as discussed above in the context of FIG. 2. For instance, as
illustrated in FIG. 5C, the set of ends 135, 137 of the heat
exchange elements of the first row 125 partially overlap with the
set of ends 137 of the heat exchange elements 110 of the second row
127. In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, a length 520
of the overlap between the set of ends 135 of the elements 110 of
first row 125 with the set of ends 137 of elements 110 of the
second row 127 is up to about five times a channel width 145
between adjacent ones of the heat exchange elements 110.
[0028] In yet other embodiments, such as shown in FIG. 5D there is
neither a gap nor an overlap between the ends 135, 137 of the
elements 110 of the opposing rows 125, 127. For instance, the ends
135, 137 of the elements 110 from the opposing rows 125, 127 can be
substantially aligned with each other.
[0029] Some embodiments of the heat sink can include additional
rows of heat exchange elements. For instance, as shown in FIG. 5E,
the heat sink 100 can further including one or more additional rows
525, 527 of the heat exchange elements 110. Analogous to that
discussed in the context of FIGS. 1 and 2, above, a set of ends 530
of the heat exchange elements 110 of the additional row 525, are
staggered with respect to a set of ends 535 of an opposing
different additional row 527.
[0030] Or, a set of ends 540 of the heat exchange elements 110 of
the additional row 525 are staggered with respect to a second set
of ends 545 of the first row or the second row (e.g., second ends
545 of the elements of the second row 127, as depicted in FIG. 5E).
As also illustrated in FIG. 5E, the set of ends 530, 535 in the
additional rows 525, 527 can be separated by a gap 550 between the
row 525, 527. Or, there can be a gap 555 between one or more of the
additional rows 525 and one of the first and second rows (e.g.,
there is a gap 555, between the set of second ends 540 of the
elements 110 of the additional row 525 and the set of second ends
545 of the elements 110 of the second row 127. In still other
embodiments, however, the set of ends 535, 537 of the elements of
the additional rows 525, 527 can have overlap or be aligned,
similar to that described in the context of in FIGS. 5C and 5D
regarding example embodiments of the first and second rows 125,
127.
[0031] In some preferred embodiments, as also illustrated in FIG.
5E, the channels 140 in the additional rows 525, 527 are oriented
substantially parallel with each other and with the channels 140 of
the first and second rows 125, 127. Such configuration helps avoid
air pressure drops which can decrease the heat sink's cooling
performance. In other embodiments, however non-parallel channel
orientations between rows could be used.
[0032] In some embodiments of the heat sink 100, as illustrated in
FIG. 2, second ends 230, 235 of the heat exchange elements 110 of
the rows 125, 127 can substantially extend to the outer perimeter
220 of the base 105. However, in other embodiments, one or both of
the second ends 230, 235 may not extend to the perimeter 220.
[0033] In some embodiments of the heat sink 100, as illustrated in
FIG. 2, lengths of the long dimensions 130 of the heat exchange
elements 110 of the first row 125 are substantially equal to each
other (e.g., within 10 percent). Similarly, the lengths of the long
dimensions 130 of the heat exchange elements 110 of the second row
127 can be substantially equal to each other, and in some cases, to
lengths of the long dimensions 130 of the elements of the first row
125. However, in other embodiments, the long dimension 130 of the
elements 110 in the first or second row 125, 127 may not be the
same length within a row 125 (or row 127) or between different rows
125, 127.
[0034] As illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in some embodiments of
the heat sink 100, the heat exchanger elements 110 are continuously
connected to the base 105. That is, the elements 110 and the base
105 are formed from the same work piece of starting material (e.g.,
aluminum and copper and their alloys, or steel, brass or silver).
For instance, the starting material can be a piece of metal which
is shaped or machined, as further discussed below, to define the
elements 110 and base 105. In other embodiments, however the
elements 110 can be separately made and then coupled, as further
discussed below, to the base 110.
[0035] One skilled in the art would be familiar with the
appropriate size and spacing of elements 110 to use for particular
cooling applications. For instance, in certain micro-electronic
applications, the elements 110 can have lengths 130 and heights 150
up to about 200 mm and thicknesses up to about 2 mm, with the
height-to-length aspect ratio ranging from about 1:1 to 20:1,
height-to-thickness aspect ratios ranging about from 1:1 to 500:1,
and the channel width 145 ranging from about 1 to 20 mm.
Proportionally greater sizes and spacing could be used in
larger-scale cooling applications.
[0036] As further illustrated in FIG. 4, another embodiment of the
disclosure is an apparatus 400. The apparatus 400 comprises a heat
sink 100, such as any of the embodiments of heat sinks 100
discussed in the context of FIGS. 1-5E. The apparatus 400 also
comprises a structure 410 configured to produce heat. The heat sink
100 is coupled to the device 410. One skilled in the art would be
familiar with the means to couple a heat sink to a structure so as
to achieve efficient heat transfer.
[0037] For instance, in some embodiments the apparatus 400 can be
an electrical device, and the heat generating structure 410
includes an integrated circuit, or, in other cases, a power supply
of the electrical device. In some embodiments, the apparatus 400
can a heat exchanger and the heat generating structure 410 is a
pipe that carries a heated fluid therein (e.g., water, air,
refrigerant). For instance, a plurality of heat sinks 100 can be
thermally coupled to a heat pipe structure 410 that is configured
to circulate fluid from another device that generates heat, e.g., a
motor or electrical power supply (not shown). In other embodiments,
however, heat pipes could be incorporated within the base 105.
Although the base 105 and structure 410 are depicted as having a
planar interface 415, in other cases, the interface 415 could be
non-planar (e.g., such as when the structure 410 is the wall of a
cylindrical pipe).
[0038] Another embodiment of the disclosure is a method of
manufacturing a heat sink. FIG. 6 presents a flow diagram of
selected steps in an example method 600 of manufacturing a heat
sink 100 of the disclosure, such as any of the embodiments of heat
sinks 100 discussed in the context of FIGS. 1-5E.
[0039] With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-5E throughout, the
method comprises a step 605 of forming a base 105, and a step 610
of forming a plurality of heat exchange elements 110, connected to
and raised above, a surface 120 of the base 105. The elements 110
can be configured in any of the manners discussed herein.
[0040] In some embodiments, forming the base 105 in step 605
includes machining a thin sheet of metal to the appropriate
dimensions. E.g., for some electronic cooling applications, the
base's thickness 160 (FIG. 1) may be on the order of about 1 to 10
mm. E.g., for some micro-electronic cooling applications the length
162 and width 164 can be on the order of 10 to 300 mm.
[0041] In some cases, forming the base (step 605) can include a
step 615 of forming fluid flow conduits (e.g., pipes or chambers)
within the base 105. During the heat sink's operation fluid can be
circulated through the conduits to facilitate cooling.
[0042] In some cases, forming the base (step 605) includes a step
620 of forming a heat exchange structure (e.g., a structure 410
such as discussed in the context of FIG. 4) wherein the base 105 is
part of an outer surface of the heat exchange structure.
[0043] In some embodiments, forming the plurality of elements 110,
connected to and raised above, the base's surface 120 in step 610,
includes a step 625 of coupling the heat exchange elements 110 to
the surface 120.
[0044] The coupling step 625 can include coupling individual
elements 110, or preformed rows 125, 127 of the elements 110, to
the surface 120. For instance the preformed rows can comprise a
metal sheet which is folded to form the elements 110, and then the
folded sheet can be coupled to the base 120. Non-limiting examples
of coupling methods include epoxy bond, brazing, soldering, welding
or various combinations thereof.
[0045] In other embodiments, the forming step 610 can include a
step 630 of shaping a same work piece that the base 105 is formed
from. As a non-limiting example, a single metal sheet work piece
can be shaped by skiving, machining, bending or stamping, the sheet
to form the elements 110. As another non-limiting example, a molten
work piece can be shaped by extrusion or die casting, or, extrusion
or die casting followed by post-extrusion machining, to form the
elements 110.
[0046] Although the embodiments have been described in detail,
those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they
could make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein
without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
* * * * *