U.S. patent application number 13/014231 was filed with the patent office on 2012-07-26 for cooling module for led lamp.
This patent application is currently assigned to CELSIA TECHNOLOGIES TAIWAN, I. Invention is credited to Chieh-Ping Chen, George Anthony Meyer, IV, Chien-Hung Sun.
Application Number | 20120186798 13/014231 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46543292 |
Filed Date | 2012-07-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120186798 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Meyer, IV; George Anthony ;
et al. |
July 26, 2012 |
COOLING MODULE FOR LED LAMP
Abstract
A cooling module for an LED lamp includes a thermostatic plate,
a hollow column, and a plurality of cooling fins. The thermostatic
plate has an evaporating segment and a pair of condensing segments
extending from the evaporating segment. The outer surface of the
hollow column has a pair of grooves corresponding to each other.
The condensing segments of the thermostatic plate are buried in the
grooves. The cooling fins surround and thermally contact the outer
rim of the hollow column and the condensing segments.
Inventors: |
Meyer, IV; George Anthony;
(Morgan Hill, CA) ; Sun; Chien-Hung; (Zhongli
City, TW) ; Chen; Chieh-Ping; (Zhongli City,
TW) |
Assignee: |
CELSIA TECHNOLOGIES TAIWAN,
I
|
Family ID: |
46543292 |
Appl. No.: |
13/014231 |
Filed: |
January 26, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/181 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F21Y 2105/10 20160801;
F21V 29/717 20150115; F21V 29/773 20150115; F21K 9/00 20130101;
F28D 15/0275 20130101; F28F 1/10 20130101; F21V 29/89 20150115;
F28D 15/0233 20130101; F21V 29/81 20150115; F21Y 2115/10 20160801;
F21V 29/77 20150115; F21V 29/83 20150115; F28F 1/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/181 |
International
Class: |
F28F 1/14 20060101
F28F001/14 |
Claims
1. A cooling module for an LED lamp, comprising: a thermostatic
plate, comprising an evaporating segment and a pair of condensing
segments extending from the evaporating segment; a hollow column,
the outer surface of which having a pair of grooves corresponding
to each other, the pair of condensing segments of the thermostatic
plate being buried in the pair of grooves; and a plurality of
cooling fin, surrounding and thermally contacting the outer rim of
the hollow column and the pair of condensing segments.
2. The cooling module of claim 1, further comprising a heat
conducting base, the evaporating segment of the thermostatic plate
thermally contacting the heat conducting base.
3. The cooling module of claim 2, wherein the thermostatic plate
has a U-shape, the evaporating segment is formed on a latitudinal
part of the thermostatic plate, and the pair of condensing segments
are formed on a longitudinal part of the thermostatic plate.
4. The cooling module of claim 3, wherein the latitudinal
cross-section of each of the condensing segments has an arc-shape
with an inner cambered surface and an outer cambered surface, the
inner cambered surfaces are attached to the hollow column, the
outer cambered surfaces are attached to the cooling fins.
5. The cooling module of claim 4, wherein together the outer
cambered surfaces and the outer surface of the hollow column form a
circular rim.
6. The cooling module of claim 2, wherein the heat conducting base
has a container trough, a through opening is formed in the bottom
of the container trough, the evaporating segment is placed inside
the container trough, and on the position corresponding to the
through opening the evaporating segment has a flat surface that is
exposed and at the same level with the bottom surface of the heat
conducting base.
7. The cooling module of claim 6, further comprising a cooling
body, the cooling body having thermal contact with the evaporating
segment.
8. The cooling module of claim 7, wherein the cooling body further
has a bottom plate attached to the evaporating segment and a
plurality of cooling columns extending from the bottom plate.
9. The cooling module of claim 8, wherein the bottom plate has a
pair of protruding plates, two sides of the container trough of the
heat conducting base have two steps corresponding to the protruding
plates, and the protruding plates are embedded in the steps.
10. The cooling module of claim 1, wherein each of the cooling fins
has an L-shape, the shorter sides of the L-shapes are attached to
the hollow column or the pair of the condensing segments, and the
longer sides of the L-shapes are arranged as if they are emanated
from the outer rim of the hollow column and the pair of condensing
segments.
11. The cooling module of claim 10, wherein the free ends of the
cooling fins have a plurality of through troughs.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to cooling modules. More
particularly, the present invention relates to cooling modules for
light emitting diode ("LED") lamps.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Light emitting diodes ("LEDs") have the characteristics of
low power consumption, high energy efficiency, long lifetime, small
volume, and fast response. Because of these characteristics, LEDs
have been replacing traditional light bulbs and been used in
different lighting instruments (i.e. lamps). However, temperature
variation may affect an LED's life and performance. Therefore, an
LED's cooling module must have optimal arrangement.
[0005] A conventional LED lamp cooling module has a hollow column
and a thermostatic plate. The hollow column has a ring-shaped inner
wall. The thermostatic plate has an evaporating segment and two
condensing segments corresponding to each other. The two condensing
segments lie inside and across the hollow column and contact with
the hollow column's inner wall. The evaporating segment is exposed
outside the hollow column so as to be connected and fixed to the
LED lamp. These constitute the basis structure of the conventional
cooling module.
[0006] Although the aforementioned structure is good for cooling,
its cooling efficiency is still not enough for high power/watts
LEDs. Therefore, it is still desirable to have an LED lamp cooling
module with better cooling efficiency.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0007] The present invention provides a cooling module for an LED
lamp. The direct thermal contact between its cooling fins and the
hollow column and the thermostatic plate can dissipate the heat
generated by the LED lamp more efficiently.
[0008] To achieve this and other objectives, the LED lamp cooling
module includes a thermostatic plate, a hollow column, and a
plurality of cooling fins. The thermostatic plate has an
evaporating segment and a pair of condensing segments extending
from the evaporating segment. The outer surface of the hollow
column has a pair of grooves corresponding to each other. The
condensing segments of the thermostatic plate are buried in the
grooves. The cooling fins surround and thermally contact the outer
rim of the hollow column and the condensing segments.
[0009] The present invention allows each of the cooling fins to be
manufactured through thin-sheet stamping and then be connected to
the thermostatic plate and the hollow column. This not only greatly
minimizes the overall weight of the cooling module, but also
increases the cooling area per unit volume. Furthermore, the heat
conducting base has a container trough to connect to and fix the
thermostatic plate. The through opening further allows the
thermostatic plate to directly conduct heat away from the LED heat
source. In addition, each of the cooling fins has some through
troughs. These through troughs will facilitate lateral air
convection between each two adjacent air passages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] These and other features and advantages of the various
embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect
to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers
refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional exploded diagram of a cooling
module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is an outward appearance of the cooling module with
its components combined together;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a cross-section view along the line 3-3 of FIG.
2;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a cross-section view along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;
and
[0015] FIG. 5 is a cross-section view showing how the cooling
module is combined with an LED lamp.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 shows a cooling module for an LED lamp
according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cooling
module of the embodiment primarily includes a heat conducting base
10, a thermostatic plate 20, a hollow column 30, and a plurality of
cooling fins 40.
[0017] The heat conducting base 10 is made of metal such as
aluminum, copper, or their alloy. Generally, the shape of the heat
conducting base 10 is like a circular plate. A middle part of the
plate has a rectangular container trough 11. A through opening 111
is formed on the bottom of the container trough 11. A step 12 is
set on each of the two lateral sides of the container trough
11.
[0018] The thermostatic plate 20 of this embodiment is a vapor
chamber, the vacuum chamber of which contains components such as
capillary structure and working fluid. The gas-liquid phase change
of the working fluid can achieve heat conduction. Furthermore, the
capillary structure can help the working fluid to flow-back and
hence create a continuous circulation. The thermostatic plate 20
roughly has a U-shape. It has a latitudinal evaporating segment 21
and a pair of longitudinal condensing segments 22 and 23, which
extend from the evaporating segment 21. The evaporating segment 21
is placed inside the container trough 11 and has thermal contact
with the heat conducting base 10. In a position corresponding to
the through opening 111, the evaporating segment 21 has an exposed
flat surface 211 that is at the same level with the bottom surface
of the heat conducting base 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the latitudinal
cross-section of each of the condensing segments 22 and 23 forms an
arc-shape. The two cross-sections have an inner cambered surface
221, an inner cambered surface 231, an outer cambered surface 222,
and an outer cambered surface 232.
[0019] The hollow column 30 is made of material with good heat
conductivity, such as aluminum or copper. A pair of grooves 31 and
32, which corresponds to each other, are formed on the outer
surface of the hollow column 30. In this embodiment, the condensing
segments 22 and 23 of the thermostatic plate 20 are buried in the
grooves 31 and 32, respectively. Furthermore, the inner cambered
surfaces 221 and 231 adhere to the hollow column 30 closely so as
to conduct heat efficiently. The outer cambered surfaces 222 and
232 of the condensing segments 22 and 23 are exposed, and form a
circular rim together with the outer surface of the hollow column
30 (as shown in FIG. 4).
[0020] Each of the cooling fins 40 may be formed through thin-sheet
stamping, and be made of metal such as aluminum, copper, or their
alloy. Each of the cooling fins 40 may have an L-shape (as shown in
FIG. 4). The shorter sides of the L-shapes are thermal contacts;
they form a circle along the hollow column 30 and the outer
cambered surfaces 222 and 232 of the condensing segments 22 and 23.
The longer sides of the L-shapes are arranged as if they are
emanated out from the hollow column 30 and the condensing segments
22 and 23. On the free end of each of the cooling fins 40 there are
multiple through troughs 41. These through troughs 41 will
facilitate lateral air convection between each two adjacent air
passages.
[0021] In addition, the embodiment further includes a cooling body
50. The cooling body 50 may be made of metal such as aluminum,
copper, or their alloy. It has a bottom plate 51 and a plurality of
cooling columns 52 extending out from the bottom plate 51.
Furthermore, a pair of protruding plates 53 extend out from the
bottom plate 51 (but are not below the cooling columns 52). With
the bottom plate 51, the cooling body 50 presses on the evaporating
segment 21 of the thermostatic plate 20, so that the protruding
plates 53 will be embedded in and fixed to the steps 12.
[0022] FIG. 5 show how the cooling module is used with an LED lamp
8. This LED lamp 8 has a circuit board 81 and a plurality of LEDs
82 disposed on the circuit board 81. To combine the cooling module
with the LED lamp 8, the circuit board 81 will be attached to the
bottom surface of the heat conducting base 10, so that the back of
the circuit board 81 and/or the backs of the LEDs 82 are facing the
flat surface 211. This arrangement will allow the heat generated by
the LEDs 82 to flow through the flat surface 211 to the
thermostatic plate 20. The gas-liquid heat conducting mechanism of
the thermostatic plate 20 will then conduct the heat to the
condensing segments 22 and 23. A part of the heat will flow to the
hollow column 30 and then dissipate. Another part of the heat will
be directly conducted to the cooling fins 40 for dissipation. As a
result, the heat generated by the LEDs 82 of the LED lamp 8 will be
dissipated efficiently.
[0023] The above description is given by way of example, and not
limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art
could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the
invention disclosed herein, including configurations ways of the
recessed portions and materials and/or designs of the attaching
structures. Further, the various features of the embodiments
disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with
each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific
combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not
to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.
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