U.S. patent application number 13/084557 was filed with the patent office on 2012-08-30 for thermal module and method of manufacturing same.
This patent application is currently assigned to ASIA VITAL COMPONENTS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Sheng-Huang Lin.
Application Number | 20120216996 13/084557 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46718209 |
Filed Date | 2012-08-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120216996 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Sheng-Huang |
August 30, 2012 |
THERMAL MODULE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME
Abstract
A thermal module and a method of manufacturing same are
disclosed. The thermal module includes a radiating fin assembly and
a base. The base has a bottom and a plurality of slot vertically
extending through the base in a thickness direction thereof. The
radiating fin assembly includes a plurality of radiating fins, each
of which has a heat-dissipation end and a heat-absorption end. The
heat-absorption ends are correspondingly extended through the slots
and bent to bear on the bottom for contacting with a heat-producing
element. Heat produced by the heat-producing element is absorbed by
the heat-absorption ends and directly transferred from the
heat-absorption ends to the heat-dissipation ends without the
problem of thermal resistance. Therefore, upgraded heat transfer
efficiency and excellent heat dissipation effect can be achieved
with the thermal module.
Inventors: |
Lin; Sheng-Huang; (New
Taipei City, TW) |
Assignee: |
ASIA VITAL COMPONENTS CO.,
LTD.
New Taipei City
TW
|
Family ID: |
46718209 |
Appl. No.: |
13/084557 |
Filed: |
April 12, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/185 ;
29/890.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 21/4878 20130101;
H01L 2924/0002 20130101; F28D 15/0275 20130101; H01L 23/427
20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 23/3672 20130101; B21D
53/04 20130101; Y10T 29/4935 20150115; B21D 39/038 20130101; H01L
2924/00 20130101; H01L 23/467 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/185 ;
29/890.03 |
International
Class: |
F28F 7/00 20060101
F28F007/00; B21D 53/02 20060101 B21D053/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 25, 2011 |
TW |
100106354 |
Claims
1. A thermal module, comprising: a base having a plurality of slots
and a bottom, the slots vertically extending through the base in a
thickness direction thereof; and a radiating fin assembly having a
plurality of radiating fins, each of the radiating fins having a
heat-dissipation end and a heat-absorption end; the heat-absorption
ends of the radiating fins being respectively extended through the
slots to downward project from the base, and the downward projected
heat-absorption ends being bent to bear on the bottom of the
base.
2. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
heat-absorption ends after bending are oriented perpendicular to
the heat-dissipation ends of the radiating fins.
3. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
heat-absorption ends of the radiating fins together define a
heat-absorption section.
4. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
heat-dissipation ends of the radiating fins together define a
heat-dissipation section.
5. The thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
heat-absorption section bears on a heat-producing element for
absorbing heat produced by the heat-producing element.
6. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slots are
parallelly arranged on the base to equally space from one
another.
7. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slots are
parallelly arranged on the base to non-equally space from one
another.
8. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base is
further provided at locations between the slots and outer sides of
the base with a plurality of coupling slots, and at the bottom with
at least one downward opened recess; the recess being communicable
with the slots, and the heat-absorption ends downward projected
from the base being bent to bear on an inner wall surface of the at
least one recess.
9. The thermal module as claimed in claim 8, further comprising at
least one heat pipe having a vaporizing end and a condensing end;
the vaporizing end being correspondingly fitted in the recess, and
having a first side tightly bearing on the heat-absorption ends of
the radiating fins and a second side contacting with a
heat-producing element; and the condensing end being extended
through the heat-dissipation ends of the radiating fins.
10. A method of manufacturing thermal module, comprising the
following steps: providing a base having a plurality of slots, and
a plurality of radiating fins; and the slots vertically extending
through the base in a thickness direction thereof; correspondingly
extending the radiating fins through the slots, so that the
radiating fins respectively have one end downward projected from
the base; and bending the downward projected ends of the radiating
fins for them to bear on a bottom of the base.
11. The thermal module manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the downward projected ends of the radiating fins are
mechanically bent to bear on the bottom of the base.
12. The thermal module manufacturing method as claimed in claim 11,
wherein the downward projected ends of the radiating fins are
mechanically bent in a manner selected from the group consisting of
rolling and stamping.
13. The thermal module manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the slots are parallelly formed on the base to equally
space from one another.
14. The thermal module manufacturing method as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the slots are parallelly formed on the base to non-equally
space from one another.
Description
[0001] This application clams the priority benefit of Taiwan patent
application number 100106354 filed on Feb. 25, 2011.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a thermal module and more
particularly to a thermal module capable of reducing thermal
resistance to effectively upgrade heat transfer efficiency thereof.
The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the
above thermal module.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In the present computer-related industrial fields, a
passive-type heat sink is usually tightly attached to a
heat-producing surface of an electronic element, such as a central
processing unit (CPU), a south and north chip set, etc., so that
the produced heat can be effectively carried away from the
electronic element to dissipate into ambient air, ensuring the
heat-producing electronic element to operate at a proper working
temperature.
[0004] Conventionally available heat sinks can be generally divided
into two types, namely an integral heat sink and an assembled heat
sink. The integral heat sink mainly has a base, one side of which
is in direct contact with a heat source and the other side of which
is formed into a plurality of outward extended radiating fins for
radiating heat absorbed by the base into ambient air. The assembled
heat sink 1, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, includes a base 10 and a
plurality of radiating fins 12 assembled to the base 10. The base
10 is formed with a plurality of slots 101 sunken into an upper
side of the base 10 for the radiating fins 12 to correspondingly
insert therein. A lower side of the base 10 is in contact with a
heat-producing element 14, such as a CPU or a south and north
bridge chipset, for absorbing the heat produced by the
heat-producing element 14.
[0005] Each of the radiating fins 12 has a heat-absorption end 121
and a heat-dissipation end 122 extended from the heat-absorption
end 121. The heat-absorption ends 121 of the radiating fins 12 are
correspondingly held in the slots 101, so that the base 10 and the
radiating fins 12 together form the heat sink 1. When the
heat-producing element 14 produces heat, the base 10 absorbs the
produced heat and guides the absorbed heat to the heat-absorption
ends 121 correspondingly held in the slots 101, and then the
heat-absorption ends 121 further transfer the received heat to the
heat-dissipation ends 122, from where the heat is radiated into
ambient air and diffused.
[0006] While the two types of conventional heat sinks all can
achieve the purpose of carrying heat away from the heat-producing
element 14, they do not provide good heat dissipation effect. This
is because the heat produced by the heat-producing element 14 is
first transferred to the base 10 and then indirectly transferred to
the radiating fins 12 via the base 10. Thermal resistance tends to
occur during the process of transferring the heat from the base 10
to the radiating fins 12 to thereby result in lowered heat transfer
efficiency and accordingly poor heat dissipation effect.
[0007] In conclusion, the conventional heat sinks have the
following disadvantages: (1) having low heat transfer efficiency;
(2) indirect heat transfer from the heat source via the base to the
radiating fins causing the problem of thermal resistance; and (3)
providing poor heat dissipation effect.
[0008] It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an improved
thermal module that eliminates the drawbacks in the conventional
heat sinks to provide upgraded heat transfer efficiency and
excellent heat dissipation effect.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
thermal module capable of reducing thermal resistance to enable
upgraded heat transfer efficiency thereof.
[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
thermal module providing excellent heat dissipation effect.
[0011] A further object of the present invention is to provide a
method of manufacturing a thermal module capable of reducing
thermal resistance to enable upgraded heat transfer efficiency
thereof.
[0012] A still further object of the present invention is to
provide a method of manufacturing a thermal module capable of
providing excellent heat dissipation effect.
[0013] To achieve the above and other objects, the thermal module
according to the present invention includes a base having a
plurality of slots and a bottom, the slots vertically extending
through the base in a thickness direction thereof; and a radiating
fin assembly having a plurality of radiating fins, each of the
radiating fins having a heat-dissipation end and a heat-absorption
end extended from the heat-dissipation end. The heat-absorption
ends of the radiating fins are respectively extended through the
slots to downward project from the base, and the downward projected
heat-absorption ends are bent to bear on the bottom of the base, so
that the base and the radiating fin assembly are associated with
one another to form an integral unit to complete the thermal
module. With the above arrangements, the heat-absorption ends are
in direct contact with a heat-producing element to absorb the heat
produced by the latter, and the absorbed heat is directly guided
from the heat-absorption ends of the radiating fins to the
heat-dissipation ends for dissipation. In this manner, it is able
to effectively reduce the thermal resistance and increase an
overall heat transfer efficiency of the thermal module for the same
to provide excellent heat dissipation effect.
[0014] To achieve the above and other objects, the method of
manufacturing thermal module according to the present invention
includes the following steps: providing a base having a plurality
of slots vertically extending through the base in a thickness
direction thereof, and a plurality of radiating fins;
correspondingly extending the radiating fins through the slots, so
that the radiating fins respectively have one end downward
projected from the base; and bending the downward projected ends of
the radiating fins for them to bear on a bottom of the base to
complete the thermal module. With this method, the manufactured
thermal module can have effectively reduced thermal resistance and
upgraded heat transfer efficiency to achieve excellent heat
dissipation effect.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
[0016] FIG. 1A is a schematic assembled perspective view of a
conventional heat sink;
[0017] FIG. 1B is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1A;
[0018] FIG. 2A is a schematic assembled perspective view of a
thermal module according to a first preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2B is a schematic assembled perspective view of a
variant of the thermal module according to the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 2A;
[0021] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the thermal module
according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0022] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the steps included in a method
of manufacturing the thermal module according to the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 6 is an assembled perspective view of a thermal module
according to a second preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0024] FIG. 7 is a vertically sectioned perspective view of the
thermal module of FIG. 6; and
[0025] FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the thermal module
according to the second preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] The present invention will now be described with some
preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the
accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand,
elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted
by the same reference numerals.
[0027] Please refer to FIGS. 2A, 3 and 4, in which a thermal module
2 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present
invention is shown. As shown, the thermal module 2 includes a base
21 and a radiating fin assembly 22. The base 21 has a plurality of
slots 211 and a bottom 213. The slots 211 are formed on the base 21
to respectively vertically extend through the base 21 in a
thickness direction thereof. In FIG. 2A, the slots 211 are
parallelly and equally spaced on the base 21. Alternatively,
according to a variant of the first preferred embodiment as shown
in FIG. 2B, the slots 211 can also be parallelly but non-equally
spaced on the base 21.
[0028] The radiating fin assembly 22 includes a plurality of
radiating fins 221, each of which has a heat-dissipation end 223
and a heat-absorption end 224. The heat-dissipation ends 223 of all
the radiating fins 221 together define a heat-dissipation section
226, at where heat absorbed by the radiating fins 221 is dissipated
into ambient air through heat exchange between the radiating fin
assembly 22 and the ambient air. The heat-absorption ends 224 of
the radiating fins 221 are correspondingly extended through the
slots 211 to downward project from the base 21, and the downward
projected heat-absorption ends 224 are mechanically bent by way of,
for example, rolling or stamping to thereby tightly bear on the
bottom 213 of the base 21, so that the radiating fins 221 are
firmly associated with the base 21 to form an integral unit to
complete the thermal module 2.
[0029] Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 3. As can be seen from FIG. 3,
the heat-absorption ends 224 downward projected from the slots 211
after bending are oriented perpendicular to the heat-dissipation
ends 223 of the radiating fins 221; and the bent heat-absorption
ends 224 of the radiating fins 221 together define a
heat-absorption section 227 for bearing on a heat-producing element
3, such as a CPU, a south and north bridge chipset, a graphics chip
or other heat source, to absorb heat produced by the heat-producing
element 3, so that the absorbed heat is directly transferred from
the heat-absorption section 227 to the heat-dissipation section 226
for diffusing and dissipating into ambient air.
[0030] With the design of the present invention, the absorbed heat
is directly guided from the heat-absorption section 227 of the
radiating fins 221 to the heat-dissipation section 226 for
dissipation. In this manner, it is able to effectively reduce the
thermal resistance and increase an overall heat transfer efficiency
of the thermal module for the same to provide excellent heat
dissipation effect.
[0031] Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 5 at the same time. FIG. 5 is a
flowchart showing the steps included in a method of manufacturing
the thermal module 2 according to the first preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
[0032] In a first step 200, the manufacturing process starts.
[0033] In a second step 201, a base having a plurality of slots,
and a plurality of radiating fins are provided.
[0034] More specifically, a base 21 having a plurality of slots 211
as well as a plurality of radiating fins 221 are provided. The
slots 211 vertically extend through the base 21 in a thickness
direction thereof, and can be parallelly arranged on the base 21 to
equally space from one another, as shown in FIG. 2A, or to
non-equally space from one another, as shown in FIG. 2B.
[0035] In a third step 202, the radiating fins are correspondingly
extended through the slots to downward project their respective one
end from the base.
[0036] More specifically, the radiating fins 221 are
correspondingly extended through the slots 211 for their respective
one end, i.e. the heat-absorption end 224, to downward project from
the bottom 213 of the base 21.
[0037] And, in a fourth step 203, the ends of the radiating fins
downward projected from the base are bent to bear on the bottom of
the base.
[0038] More specifically, the heat-absorption ends 224 of the
radiating fins 221 downward projected from the base 21 are
mechanically bent by rolling or stamping for them to tightly bear
on the bottom 213 of the base 21, so that the base 21 and the
radiating fins 221 are associated with one another to form an
integral unit to complete the thermal module 2.
[0039] When the thermal module 2 manufactured in the
above-described method is used to carry heat from the
heat-producing element 3, the occurrence of thermal resistance can
be effectively avoided to enable a largely upgraded overall heat
transfer efficiency and accordingly, excellent heat dissipation
effect.
[0040] FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate a thermal module 2 according to
a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. The thermal
module 2 in the second preferred embodiment includes a base 21, a
radiating fin assembly 22 having a plurality of radiating fins 221,
and at least one heat pipe 26. Since the connection manner of the
radiating fins 221 to the base and the structure of the radiating
fin assembly 22 are generally similar to that in the first
preferred embodiment, they are not repeatedly described herein. In
the second preferred embodiment, the base 21 further has a
plurality of coupling slots 24 and at least one downward opened
recess 25. The coupling slots 24 are formed on the base 21 at
locations between the slots 211 and outer sides of the base 21 for
corresponding heat-absorption ends 224 to insert therein and
accordingly be held thereto to assist in holding the radiating fins
221 in place. The recess 25 is formed on the bottom 213 and
communicates with the slots 211, and the heat-absorption ends 224
are bent to bear on an inner wall surface of the recess 25.
[0041] While the illustrated second preferred embodiment are shown
with four recesses and four heat pipes 26, it is understood the
number of the heat pipes 26 and of the recesses 25 is not
necessarily limited to four. In practical implementing of the
present invention, a user may determine the number of the recesses
25 and of the heat pipes 26 according to the actually available
heat dissipation space and the required heat dissipation
effect.
[0042] Please refer to FIG. 7 along with FIG. 8. Each of the heat
pipes 26 includes a vaporizing end 261 and a condensing end 262.
The condensing ends 262 are extended through the heat-dissipation
section 226 of the radiating fin assembly 22. More specifically,
the condensing ends 262 are parallelly extended at respective one
end through the heat-dissipation ends 223. The vaporizing ends 261
are correspondingly fixed in the recesses 25. Each of the
vaporizing ends 261 has a first side 2611 tightly bearing on the
heat-absorption ends 224, i.e. the heat-absorption section 227, and
a second side 2612 opposite to the first side 1611 for contacting
with the heat-producing element 3.
[0043] When the heat-producing element 3 produces heat, the
vaporizing ends 261 of the heat pipes 26 absorb the heat and
transfer the absorbed heat to the condensing ends 262, and the
condensing ends 262 in turn transfer the received heat to the
heat-dissipation section 226 being extended through by the
condensing ends 262, so that the heat transferred to the
heat-dissipation section 226 is radiated from the heat-dissipation
ends 223 of the radiating fins 221 into ambient air. Meanwhile, the
heat-absorption section 227 would also absorb part of the heat
produced by the heat-producing element 3, and the heat absorbed by
the heat-absorption section 227 is directly transferred to the
heat-dissipation section 226 for dissipating into ambient air
through heat exchange between the air and the radiating fins 221.
Therefore, the thermal module 2 according to the second preferred
embodiment of the present invention provides double heat-absorption
effect and avoids the problem of thermal resistance to thereby
enable upgraded overall heat transfer efficiency and excellent heat
dissipation effect.
[0044] In brief, compared to the conventional thermal modules, the
present invention has the following advantages: (1) enabling
upgraded heat transfer efficiency; (2) avoiding the occurrence of
thermal resistance; and (3) providing excellent heat-dissipation
effect.
[0045] The present invention has been described with some preferred
embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and
modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out
without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention
that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
* * * * *