TWI873833B - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device includes a casing, a heat conductive chassis disposed in the casing, a first heat generating member disposed on the heat conductive chassis, a second heat generating member and a first heat dissipating block. The second heat generating member has a first mounting area relative to the heat conductive chassis. A heating temperature of the second heat generating member is less than a heating temperature of the first heat generating member. The first heat dissipating block is attached to the second heat generating member and is connected to the heat conductive chassis via soldering or screws. The first heat dissipating block has a second mounting area less than the first mounting area to prevent heat energy generated by the first heat generating member from flowing back to the second heat generating member via the heat conductive chassis and the first heat dissipating block.

Description

Electronic devices

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having at least two heat generating elements and using a heat sink to dissipate heat from the heat generating elements.

As large-scale integrated circuits in electronic devices become more and more highly integrated, the operating frequency of components such as the central processing unit (CPU) and hard disk is getting higher and higher, which increases the heat energy of the entire device. In this case, if the heat energy in the electronic device cannot be transferred out in time, the accumulated heat energy will cause the components in the device to continue to heat up and fail to work properly, and even cause the components to malfunction or be damaged. In order to ensure the normal operation of electronic devices, heat exchange must be used, that is, using heat dissipation devices (such as heat sinks, heat dissipation fans, etc.) to transfer heat energy to the outside of the electronic device as quickly as possible.

However, the heat dissipation design of many electronic devices today is challenged. The reason is that when electronic devices integrate multiple electronic functions and their performance continues to improve, the number and temperature of heat-generating components will increase. In particular, when there are multiple heat sources in an electronic device, heat energy will be transferred to each other (for example, the heat energy generated by an electronic component with a higher heating temperature will flow back to the electronic component with a lower heating temperature), causing the components to overheat, crash, or even be damaged.

Therefore, one of the purposes of the present invention is to provide an electronic device having at least two heat generating elements and using a heat sink to dissipate heat from the heat generating elements, so as to solve the above-mentioned problem.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device of the present invention comprises a housing, a heat-conducting middle frame, a first heat-generating element, a second heat-generating element, and a first heat sink. The heat-conducting middle frame is disposed in the housing. The first heat-generating element is disposed on the heat-conducting middle frame. The second heat-generating element has a first disposing area relative to the heat-conducting middle frame, and the heat-generating temperature of the second heat-generating element is lower than the heat-generating temperature of the first heat-generating element. The first heat sink is attached to the second heat generating element and is connected to the heat conductive middle frame by welding or screw locking. The first heat sink has a second setting area relative to the heat conductive middle frame. The second setting area is smaller than the first setting area to prevent the heat energy generated by the first heat generating element from flowing back to the second heat generating element through the heat conductive middle frame and the first heat sink.

In summary, by installing the second heating element on the heat-conducting middle frame via the first heat sink with a smaller installation area instead of directly installing the second heating element with a larger installation area on the heat-conducting middle frame, the present invention can appropriately increase the thermal impedance between the second heating element and the heat-conducting middle frame, thereby preventing the heat energy generated by the first heating element with a higher heating temperature from flowing back to the second heating element via the heat-conducting middle frame and the first heat sink, thereby effectively solving the problem mentioned in the prior art that when there are multiple heat sources in the electronic device, the heat energy will be transmitted to each other, causing the component to overheat and even be damaged, thereby optimizing the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device and increasing the service life of the internal components of the electronic device.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed description of the invention and the attached drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional simplified diagram of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic diagram of the internal components of the electronic device 10 in FIG. 1 at another viewing angle. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the electronic device 10 includes a housing 12, a heat-conducting middle frame 14, a first heat generating element 16, a second heat generating element 18, and a first heat generating element 19. A heat sink 20 and a heat-conducting middle frame 14 are disposed in the housing 12 for mounting electronic components inside the electronic device 10. In order to clearly show the component configuration relationship of the electronic device 10, in FIG. 1, the housing 12 is only indicated by a dotted line (its related structural design is common in the prior art and will not be described again here) and the first heating element 16 and the second heating element 18 are only shown by simple device blocks.

The following is a detailed description of the heat dissipation design of the electronic device 10, assuming that the electronic device 10 is an image capture analyzer, the first heat generating element 16 is a radar module or an infrared module having a higher heat temperature during operation, and the second heat generating element 18 is a camera having a lower heat temperature during operation (but not limited to this, meaning that the heat dissipation design of the present invention is applicable to electronic devices having at least two heat generating elements mounted on a heat-conducting middle frame, such as laptop computers, smart phones, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first heat sink 20 is attached to the second heat sink 18 and connected to the heat sink 14 by screwing (such as using the screw 21 shown in FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 2, the second heat sink 18 has a first setting area A1 relative to the heat sink 14, and the first heat sink 20 is Relative to the heat-conductive middle frame 14, it has a second setting area A2 and is preferably made of copper, aluminum, iron or plastic material (but not limited to this, as to which material to choose, it depends on the actual thermal impedance requirement of the electronic device 10). The second setting area A2 is smaller than the first setting area A1, and the heating temperature of the second heating element 18 during actual operation is lower than the heating temperature of the first heating element 16.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 may further include a heat dissipation paste 22, which may be applied between the first heat dissipation block 20 and the heat conductive middle frame 14 to reduce the thermal impedance between the first heat dissipation block 20 and the heat conductive middle frame 14. In addition, as can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in actual application, the electronic device 10 may further include a heating plate device 24, which is adjacent to the second heating element 18, whereby the electronic device 10 may control the heating plate device 24 to heat the second heating element 18 to the working temperature when in a low temperature environment (such as -40°C), so that the second heating element 18 can operate normally. As for the relevant description of the heating control design of the heating plate device 24, it is common in the prior art and will not be repeated here.

In this way, by installing the second heating element 18 on the heat-conducting middle frame 14 via the first heat sink 20 with a smaller setting area instead of directly installing the second heating element 18 with a larger setting area on the heat-conducting middle frame 14, the present invention can appropriately increase the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, so as to prevent the heat energy generated by the first heating element 16 with a higher heating temperature from flowing back to the second heating element 18 via the heat-conducting middle frame 14 and the first heat sink 20, thereby effectively solving the problem mentioned in the previous technology that when there are multiple heat sources in the electronic device, the heat energy will be transmitted to each other, causing the component to overheat and crash or even be damaged, so as to achieve the effect of optimizing the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device and increasing the service life of the internal components of the electronic device.

In addition, according to the actual heat conduction conditions of the first heat element 16 and the second heat element 18, the present invention can further adopt a design of changing the contact method between the heat sink and the thermally conductive middle frame to adjust the thermal impedance between the second heat element 18 and the thermally conductive middle frame 14, thereby producing a variable thermal impedance effect. For example, if the heat energy generated by the first heating element 16 still flows back to the second heating element 18 after the first heat sink 20 is connected to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 by screw locking and applying heat dissipation paste (as shown in FIG. 2), the present invention can omit the configuration of the heat dissipation paste 22 so that the first heat sink 20 is only locked to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 by screws 21, thereby achieving the effect of increasing the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, thereby effectively preventing the above-mentioned heat energy backflow problem. On the contrary, if the above-mentioned heat backflow problem can still be prevented after lowering the thermal impedance between the second heat generating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, the first heat sink 20 can be connected to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 by welding (such as soldering, but not limited to this), so as to produce the effect of reducing the thermal impedance, thereby further improving the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device 10 with respect to the second heat generating element 18.

It is worth mentioning that, according to the actual heat conduction conditions of the first heat generating element 16 and the second heat generating element 18, the present invention can also adopt a method of changing the heat sink setting area to produce a variable thermal impedance effect. For example, please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a partial exploded schematic diagram of the second heat generating element 18 of FIG. 2 being set on the heat conductive middle frame 14 via a second heat sink 26. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the electronic device 10 can further include a second heat sink 26, and the second heat sink 26 has a third setting area A3 relative to the heat conductive middle frame 14, and the third setting area A3 is smaller than the first setting area A1 and larger than the second setting area A2 of the first heat sink 20. In addition, in this embodiment, a first groove 28 and a second groove 30 are preferably formed on the heat conductive middle frame 14 to respectively position and accommodate the first heat sink 20 and the second heat sink 26 so that the user can quickly install and replace the first heat sink 20 and the second heat sink 26.

Through the above design, if the above heat backflow problem can still be prevented after lowering the thermal impedance between the second heat sink 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, the present invention can use the second heat sink 26 to replace the first heat sink 20 to produce the effect of reducing the thermal impedance. That is, after the first heat sink 20 is removed from between the second heat sink 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, the second heat sink 26 can be used to fit the second heat sink 18. And it is connected to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 by screw locking (such as using the screw 27 shown in Figure 3). In this way, the electronic device 10 can use the configuration method of installing the second heating element 18 on the heat-conducting middle frame 14 through the second heat sink 26 with a larger installation area to reduce the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, thereby further improving the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device 10 for the second heating element 18.

On the contrary, if after adopting the connection method of connecting the first heat sink 20 to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 (as shown in FIG. 2), the heat energy generated by the first heating element 16 still flows back to the second heating element 18, the present invention can adopt a second heat sink configuration whose setting area is smaller than the first setting area A1 of the first heat sink 20 (the relevant description can be referred to FIG. 3 and will not be repeated here), so as to achieve the effect of increasing the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, thereby effectively preventing the above-mentioned heat energy backflow problem.

In practical applications, since the larger the heat sink, the better the heat storage capacity and the better the heat conduction capacity, the present invention can also adopt a design in which the second heat sink and the first heat sink have different volumes to produce a variable thermal impedance effect. In short, if the above-mentioned heat backflow problem can still be prevented after reducing the thermal impedance between the second heat generating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, the present invention can use a larger second heat sink to replace the first heat sink 20. This has the effect of reducing thermal impedance. On the contrary, if the heat energy generated by the first heating element 16 still flows back to the second heating element 18 after the first heat sink 20 is connected to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 (as shown in FIG. 2), the present invention can use a smaller second heat sink to replace the first heat sink 20 to increase the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, thereby effectively preventing the above-mentioned heat energy backflow problem.

In addition, the present invention can also adopt a design in which the second heat sink and the first heat sink have different thermal conductivity materials to produce a variable thermal impedance effect. For example, if the thermal impedance between the second heat generating element 18 and the heat conductive middle frame 14 is reduced and the above-mentioned heat backflow problem can still be prevented and the first heat sink 20 is composed of iron (but not limited to this), then the present invention can use a second heat sink composed of a material with relatively good thermal conductivity (such as copper, aluminum) to replace the first heat sink 20 to produce a variable thermal impedance effect. The effect of reducing thermal impedance. On the contrary, if the heat energy generated by the first heating element 16 still flows back to the second heating element 18 after the first heat sink 20 is connected to the heat-conducting middle frame 14 (as shown in Figure 2), the present invention can use a second heat sink made of a material with relatively poor thermal conductivity (such as plastic) to replace the first heat sink 20 to increase the thermal impedance between the second heating element 18 and the heat-conducting middle frame 14, thereby effectively preventing the above-mentioned heat backflow problem.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned design of changing the contact method between the heat sink and the heat conductive middle frame and changing the setting area, volume and material thermal conductivity of the heat sink can be selectively applied interactively according to the actual thermal impedance modulation requirements of the electronic device to enhance the thermal impedance adjustment flexibility of the electronic device, thereby achieving the effect of optimizing the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device and improving the service life of the electronic device. The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equal changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

10: electronic device 12: housing 14: heat-conducting middle frame 16: first heat-generating element 18: second heat-generating element 20: first heat sink 21, 27: screws 22: heat-dissipating paste 24: heating element device 26: second heat sink 28: first groove 30: second groove A1: first setting area A2: second setting area A3: third setting area

FIG. 1 is a simplified three-dimensional diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially exploded schematic diagram of the internal components of the electronic device of FIG. 1 from another viewing angle. FIG. 3 is a partially exploded schematic diagram of the second heat generating element of FIG. 2 being arranged on the heat-conducting middle frame via the second heat sink.

10: Electronic devices

14: Heat-conducting middle frame

16: First heating element

18: Second heating element

20: First heat sink

21, 27: Screws

22: Thermal paste

24: Heating plate device

28: First groove

30: Second groove

A1: First setting area

A2: Second setting area

Claims (9)

An electronic device, comprising: a housing; a heat-conducting middle frame disposed in the housing; a first heat-generating element disposed on the heat-conducting middle frame; a second heat-generating element having a first setting area relative to the heat-conducting middle frame, the heating temperature of the second heat-generating element being lower than the heating temperature of the first heat-generating element; a first heat sink, which is attached to the second heat-generating element and connected to the heat-conducting middle frame by welding or screwing, the first heat sink having a second setting area relative to the heat-conducting middle frame, the second setting area being lower than the first setting area, so as to prevent the heat energy generated by the first heat-generating element from flowing back to the second heat-generating element through the heat-conducting middle frame and the first heat sink; and A second heat sink, which is attached to the second heat sink and connected to the heat-conducting middle frame by welding or screwing after the first heat sink is removed from between the second heat sink and the heat-conducting middle frame; Wherein, the installation area of the second heat sink relative to the heat-conducting middle frame is smaller than the first installation area and different from the second installation area. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the second heat sink and the first heat sink have different volumes. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the second heat sink and the first heat sink have different material thermal conductivities. An electronic device as described in claim 3, wherein the first heat sink is made of copper, aluminum, iron or plastic material. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein a first groove and a second groove are formed on the heat-conductive middle frame to respectively position and accommodate the first heat sink and the second heat sink. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the first heat sink is connected to the thermally conductive middle frame by soldering to reduce the thermal impedance between the first heat sink and the thermally conductive middle frame. The electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the first heat sink is connected to the heat conductive middle frame by screw locking, and the electronic device further comprises: A heat dissipation paste applied between the first heat sink and the heat conductive middle frame to reduce the thermal impedance between the first heat sink and the heat conductive middle frame. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the first heating element is an infrared module or a radar module, and the second heating element is a camera. The electronic device as described in claim 1 further comprises: A heating plate device, which is adjacent to the second heating element and is used to heat the second heating element to a working temperature.

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