WO2002037917A1

WO2002037917A1 - Parts cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments

Info

Publication number: WO2002037917A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/001843
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eun-Te Kim; Kwang-Soon Lee
Original assignee: THERMOSYS CO Ltd
Current assignee: THERMOSYS CO Ltd
Priority date: 2000-11-02
Filing date: 2001-10-31
Publication date: 2002-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 2003-05-02
Also published as: AU2002214352A1; KR20020034613A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments, in particular, which can efficiently cool heat-generating parts for generating heat in a great amount of various parts constituting those equipments such as a personal computer communication equipment, communication relay and power supply. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments comprising: heat-absorbing means provided to one side of heat-generating parts of the electric/electronic equipments for absorbing heat energy generated from the heat-generating parts to vaporize a heat medium or refrigerant; and heat-radiating means having a first pipeline for receiving the heat medium which absorbed heat energy from the heat-absorbing means so that the heat medium exchanges heat with the atmosphere to have phase change from a gaseous phase to a liquid phase, and a second pipeline for providing the liquid heat medium to the heat-absorbing means, wherein each of the heat-absorbing means and the heat-radiating means has a module-type for facilitating installation, and wherein each of the first and second pipelines is composed of a flexible polymer for facilitating installation and maintenance.

Description

PARTS COOLING APPARATUS FOR ELECTRIC/ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments, in particular, which can efficiently cool heat-generating parts for generating heat in a great amount of various parts constituting those equipments such as a personal computer, communication equipment, communication relay and power supply.

Background Art In general, the electric and electronic equipments are so constituted that the various parts having independent unique functions are electrically connected via electrical wires or cables or organically connected via a printed circuit board, in which the operation of these part elements allows the equipments to be actuated or controlled.

The part elements constituting these equipments are going more intensified in function, more accelerated in operation and processing speed, and smaller sized due to development of the electronic technology.

However, proportional to development of such technology, the part elements with the same area have electrons which move more rapidly proportional to procession speed so that the part elements generate larger amount of heat energy from their own bodies. For example, the part elements such as a central processing unit (CPU), hard disk drive, power supply and graphic chip generate heat energy in a great amount in a computer. Such heat generated from those part elements reduces lifetime of each element or deteriorates the function thereof, occasionally having a bad effect to neighboring part elements. In some cases, such heat may cause malfunction or inability of data processing. Therefore, those part elements for generating heat in operation of the parts applied to the electric/electronic equipments are manufactured to have structures which are adequately designed considering heat radiation. In general, each of the heat-generating parts has a radiator with a number of radiator fins installed at the outside thereof and a cooling fan which is installed outside the radiator to cool the radiator so that the each heat-generating part is not overheated.

When power is on, the cooling fan is supplied with electricity from the power supply to run blowing air to the radiator fins and the radiator to radiate heat energy generated from the heat-generating part element.

Then, heat radiated from the radiator fins and the radiator is discharged out of a housing via a fan installed in the housing so as to prevent temperature rise of the air in the housing.

However, those heat-generating elements installed in the foregoing electric/electronic equipments are cooled in a fashion that the air is forcibly blown in a mechanical manner thereby creating a number of problems.

In other words, as the air in the housing is externally discharged out of the housing via the fan, moisture and dust are introduced into the housing entrained in the air. When the air is blown to the heat-generating part elements by the cooling fan, moisture and dust lie on the heat-generating part elements as well as the neighboring parts so as to create problems that cooling efficiency is lowered, an electronic circuit malfunctions and the parts are short lived.

Further, the cooling fan for blowing the air to the heat-generating parts has a problem that inevitably accompanying mechanical noise due to the operation thereof, and in case of a high-frequency communication equipment, the operation of the fan generates electronic noise to cause malfunction of the equipment. Further, in case of an unmanned communication relay or a power supply thereof, the equipment is necessarily installed in a completely sealed enclosure to prevent the equipment from malfunctioning due to the incoming of dust, moisture, insects and the like, however, a conventional cooling system for cooling the equipment such as a fan or heat pipe has a number of restrictions in performance.

Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention has been devised to solve the foregoing problems and it is an object of the invention to provide a sealed part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments without introducing foreign materials such as moisture, dust and insects having a bad effect to a main board or electronic circuits.

It is another object of the invention to provide a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments, which requires no mechanical operation so as to generate no operational noise, accordingly generate no power consumption necessary for mechanical operation as well as induce no electromagnetic noise. It is further another object of the invention to provide a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments, which is composed of a flexible material without having a rigid shape such as a conventional heat pipe so as to have no restrictions in installation as well as no influence in performance even if the installation state is arbitrarily changed. According to an embodiment of the invention to obtain the foregoing objects, it is provided a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments comprising: heat-absorbing means provided to one side of heat-generating parts of the electric/electronic equipments, such as a personal computer (PC), communication equipment, communication relay and power supply, for absorbing heat energy generated from the heat-generating parts to vaporize a heat medium or refrigerant; and heat-radiating means having a first pipeline (gas pipeline) for receiving the heat medium which absorbed heat energy from the heat-absorbing means so that the heat medium exchanges heat with the atmosphere to have phase change from a gaseous phase to a liquid phase, and a second pipeline (liquid pipeline) for providing the liquid heat medium to the heat-absorbing means, wherein each of the heat-absorbing means and the heat-radiating means has a module-type for facilitating installation, and wherein each of the first and second pipelines is composed of a flexible polymer for facilitating installation and maintenance.

In the part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the foregoing configuration, heat energy of the heat-generating parts generated in use of the equipments is flown to the heat medium via heat conduction through the heat-absorbing means, in which the heat medium is heated and vaporizes to have phase change, and the phase-changed heat medium moves to the heat-radiating means along the first pipeline.

The liquid heat medium which moved to the heat-radiating means is converted into liquid from heat exchange with the air due to temperature difference, and the phase-changed heat medium flows to the heat-absorbing means along the second pipeline due to the height difference and the self-specific gravity (gravity due to the height difference) or the capillary phenomenon.

In such a circulating process, the heat medium repeats phase change due to the heat flow to cool the heat-generating parts, and this process continuously proceeds while the equipment is running. Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of Fig. 2; Figs. 3 A and 3B are partially magnified sectional views for showing a check valve;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view for schematically showing a cooling apparatus of the invention installed in a computer body as an instance;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation view for magnifying the cooling apparatus shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a front elevation view for showing installation of a number of cooling apparatuses; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation view of Fig. 6.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

The following will present more detailed description about a preferred embodiment of the invention in reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the invention, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation view for showing a portion of Fig. 2.

The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the invention includes a heat-absorbing means 2 for performing a role of absorbing heat energy generated from a heat-generating part, a heat-radiating means 4 for radiating heat energy absorbed in the heat-absorbing means 2 and the first pipeline 6 and the second pipeline 8 connecting the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 for circulating a refrigerant.

The heat-absorbing means 2 is constituted by a thin sheet-shaped plate 10 and a tube 12 fixedly installed to the plate 10. The plate 10 and the tube 12 are composed of Cu or Al excellent in heat conductivity, and the plate 10 is perforated with a number of holes 14 so as to be fixed to a body such as a printed circuit board with the heat-generating part assembled thereto using a fixing member such as a screw.

The tube 12 is constructed to have a large heat-absorbing area by bending a hollow tube at a certain interval, and fixed to the plate 10 via brazing or soldering in which a low melting point alloy is molten for junction. Therefore, the plate 10 and the tube 12 for constituting the heat-absorbing means 2 have a unitary structure.

The heat-radiating means 4 connected to the heat-absorbing means 2 has the same structure as the heat-absorbing means 2. In other words, the heat-radiating means 4 is constituted by a plate 16 made of Cu or

Al excellent in heat conductivity and a tube 18 fixedly installed to the plate 16, in which the tube 18 is fixed to the plate 16 via brazing or soldering to have a unitary structure.

Further, the plate 16 is perforated with a number of holes 20 so that the plate 16 can be fixed to a body for accepting the plate 16 using a fixing member such as a screw. Also, the plate 16 and the tube 18 constituting the heat-radiating means 4 has an area larger compared to the plate and tube 12 of the heat-absorbing means 2 so as to rapidly radiate heat absorbed in the heat-absorbing means 2.

While it is disclosed in the embodiment that the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 are made of Cu or Al excellent in heat conductivity, the means 2 and 4 are not restricted thereto but can be made of any material excellent in heat conductivity.

Further, the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4 can be directly fixed to a side of a housing of an electric/electronic equipment via brazing or soldering.

Such a heat-absorbing means 2 or heat-radiating means 4 is charged with a certain amount of refrigerant, in which the ends the tube 12 of the heat-absorbing means 2 are connected to the ends of the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4 via the first pipe line 6 and the second pipe line 8, and the heat-radiating means 4 are installed higher than the heat-absorbing means 2 for enabling the refrigerant to be circulated smoothly.

Connecting portions of the first and second pipelines 6 and 8 should be connected while maintaining a complete sealing force. The first and second pipe lines 6 and 8 are made of a flexible material, and configured to be easily installed without the distance or orientation between the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 in installation.

Each of the first and second pipelines 6 and 8 is made by using a hose manufactured through double-, triple- or multi-layered extrusion of several kinds of polymers, and occasionally using a metal pipe such as a bellows which can be flexed freely so as to ensure an excellent shielding ability against refrigerant, air and moisture, an excellent pressure resistance, stability in high temperature and free flexing without variation of inside diameter.

Gravity or a capillary phenomenon can be used in the reflow of liquid for circulating the refrigerant. In case of the reflow using gravity, the heat-radiating means 4 is necessarily installed higher than the heat-absorbing means 2. The second pipeline 8 is provided with a check valve 22 for preventing reverse flow of the refrigerant to flow only in one direction.

The check valve 22, as shown in Fig. 3, is constituted by a valve body 24 vertically penetrated to be fixedly inserted into the second pipeline 8 and a ball 26 movably placed within the valve body 24. The valve body 24 has a simple tubular structure having no inclined angle with the upper part defining an inward flange 28, and into the lower part thereof is screwed a fitting part 30 for preventing the ball 26 from releasing out of the valve body 24, in which the ball 26 is made of a material having a specific gravity lower than the refrigerant.

In such a check valve 22, when the refrigerant in the heat-absorbing means 2 is vaporized to rise, the ball 26 is pushed upward shutting the inward flange 28 to shut off flow of the gaseous refrigerant as shown in Fig. 3 A. On the contrary, when a certain amount of refrigerant is liquidized in the heat-radiating means 4 positioned over the check valve 22 to form a constant pressure so that the ball shutting off the inward flange 28 moves downward allowing the refrigerant to flow as shown in Fig. 3B. Therefore, due to the operation of the check valve 22, the refrigerant vaporized in the heat-absorbing means 2 moves to the heat-radiating means 4 via the first pipeline 6 while the refrigerant in the heat-radiating means 4 moves to the heat-absorbing means 2 via the second pipeline 8 so that the refrigerant is circulated along only a certain direction.

As described before, the check valve 22 functions for preventing the gaseous refrigerant generated from heat-absorbing means from moving to the heat-radiating means 4 along the second pipeline 8, and thus can be replaced by a structure with a narrowed passage or a small amount of capillary material, which is inserted into the position of the check valve for obstructing the gas flow but having substantially no influence to the liquid flow.

Describing circulation of the refrigerant in more detail, the liquid refrigerant is heated due to heat energy absorbed from the heat-absorbing means to vaporize and move to the heat-radiating means 4 along the first pipe line 6, where the refrigerant is converted into the liquid refrigerant via heat exchange due to the temperature difference with the ambient air, and the phase-changed liquid refrigerant flows to the heat-absorbing means 2 via the second pipeline 8 to complete circulation thereof due to the height-difference between the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 and a gravity effect. While the above description discloses that the refrigerant is circulated due to the height difference between the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4, when a material such as a fiber which can create a capillary phenomenon is inserted into the second pipeline 8, the liquid refrigerant can move from the heat-radiating means 4 to the heat-absorbing means 2 via the capillary phenomenon due to surface tension rather than gravity. Then, the refrigerant can be circulated even if the heat-radiating means 4 is located lower than that of the heat-absorbing means 2.

Further, the foregoing scheme does not require the check valve since the gaseous refrigerant with expanded volume can hardly pass through a capillary passage while enabling the refrigerant to be circulated naturally in a normal direction. Such a structure can be usefully applied to an apparatus such as a notebook computer which has a small amount of heat radiation.

When the capillary phenomenon is utilized, the material such as the fiber which is chemically or mechanically treated is inserted so as to induce a strong capillary force to the refrigerant in use up to an adequate position in the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 or into the second pipeline 8.

According to such a scheme, the liquid refrigerant can move from the heat-radiating means 4 to the heat-absorbing means 2 due to the capillary phenomenon rather than gravity, and when the capillary material is adequately inserted into the tubes 12 and 18 of the heat-radiating means 4 and the heat-absorbing means 4, the refrigerant can be circulated even if the heat-radiating means 4 is located lower than the heat-absorbing means 2.

Also, such a scheme does not require the check valve since it is difficult for the gaseous refrigerant expanded in volume to pass through the capillary passage, and accordingly the refrigerant is naturally circulated in a normal direction.

Such a part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments can be installed in an easy and rapid fashion since the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 are constituted into a module formed as one unitary body, and can be easily installed regardless of positions or orientations of the heat-generating parts even if each of the heat-generating parts has a position different from one another since the first and the second pipelines 6 and 8 have flexibility. Further, even after the apparatus is installed, the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means can have relative displacement freely. Fig. 4 schematically shows an example of the part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the invention having the foregoing configuration which is installed in a computer body.

Referring to Fig. 4, while the part cooling apparatus can be separately installed in a power supply 110 mounted within a computer body housing 100, a hard disk drive 120 and a central processing unit (CPU) 140 assembled to a board 130, this embodiment discloses that the part cooling apparatus is installed in the CPU 140.

The part cooling apparatus is installed in such a manner that the heat-absorbing means 2 is installed by the side of the CPU 140 and the heat-radiating means 4 is fixedly installed into the computer body housing 100. Describing this in more detail, the plate 10 of the heat-absorbing means 2 having the tube 12 fixed thereto is placed as face-contacted over the CPU 140 installed in the board 130 as shown in Fig. 5, and screws 150 are inserted into the holes of the plate 10 to fix the plate 10 to the board 130.

The heat-radiating means 4 is installed in such a manner that screws 160 are inserted into the holes of the plate 16 to fix the plate 16 to the housing 100 while the plate 16 of the heat-radiating means 4 having the tube 18 fixed thereto is closely contacting inside the computer body housing 100.

The part cooling apparatus can be separately installed in other heat-generating parts according to such a process, in which a plurality of heat-radiating means 4, 4a, 4b and 4n are respectively fixed inside the housing 100 at a certain interval and a plurality of heat-absorbing means (not shown) which are connected to the heat-radiating means 4, 4a, 4b and 4n via flexible pipelines are respectively installed in the heat-generating parts.

Further, a structure can be provided also in which a number of vent 170 are formed in portions of the upper and lower sides of the housing 100 in order to enhance a cooling effect, a cover 180 is installed at a slight interval from the heat radiating means 4 inside the housing 100, and a fan 190 is fixed to the cover 180 for blowing the air toward the heat-radiating means 4. In this structure, heat of the heat-radiating means 4 is discharged to the atmosphere via the vents 170 at a rapid speed so that the cooling efficiency can be maximized.

The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments configured as above carries out a cooling reaction as the refrigerant repeats phase change from liquid to gas and from gas to liquid due to heat flow via the heat absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 and is circulated due to change of the specific gravity of the refrigerant itself, the height difference between the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 or the capillary phenomenon.

In other words, when the CPU 140 generates heat energy, such heat energy is thermally conducted to the tube 12 via the plate 10 of the heat absorbing means 2, and then the liquid refrigerant therein is heated and heat exchanged to vaporize creating phase change into a gaseous state.

Then, the gaseous refrigerant moves to the heat-radiating means 4 along the first pipeline 6, and as the gaseous refrigerant passes through the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4, heat energy is primarily discharged to the atmosphere via the tube 18 surface and then secondly discharged to the atmosphere via the plate 16 where the tube 18 is installed and the housing 100 to carry out a cooling reaction.

According to such a reaction, the refrigerant of the heat-radiating means 4 is liquidized and gathers in the lower part of the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4, in which the amount of the refrigerant is preferably restricted to have the quantity of flow under half of the volume of the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4 so that the gaseous refrigerant can ensure a sufficient area of heat conversion in the heat-radiating means 4 in a circulation process of the refrigerant as described above.

The liquid refrigerant in the tube 18 of the heat-radiating means 4 moves to the tube 12 of the heat-absorbing means 2 via the second pipeline 8 having the check valve 22 due to the position difference and the self-specific gravity to complete one circulation of the refrigerant. Such a process is continuously repeated to cool the heat-generating parts.

In this case, the check valve can be replaced by a structure with a narrowed passage or a small amount of capillary material, which is inserted into the position of the check valve for obstructing the gas flow but having substantially no influence to the liquid flow.

While the foregoing discloses that the refrigerant is circulated due to the height difference of the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4, when the material such as the fiber which can create the capillary phenomenon is inserted up to adequate positions in the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4 or into the second pipeline 8, the check valve is unnecessary as well as the refrigerant can be circulated without maintaining the position difference between the heat-absorbing means 2 and the heat-radiating means 4.

While the foregoing description disclosed that the cooling apparatus of the invention is applied to the computer, the invention is not restricted thereto but applicable to all kinds of electric/electronic products. Further, while the preferred embodiment of the invention is described for the sake of illustration, the invention is not restricted thereto but it is apparent that various modification and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims, the specifications and the accompanying drawings.

Industrial Applicability

As described hereinbefore, the part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments of the invention can locally cool the heat-generating parts using a cooling scheme due to the refrigerant or the vaporization heat of the refrigerant, and enhance the size of the heat-radiating area and the cooling effect due to using the fan in the heat-radiating area as desired, so that the cooling effect can be obtained more excellent over the cooling method using the conventional fan.

Further, the heat-absorbing means for absorbing heat energy and the heat-radiating means for radiating absorbed heat energy to the atmosphere are provided as one module and connected with the flexible pipelines so as to easily installed in the equipment while the configuration thereof excluding the mechanical operation creates no mechanical noise or mechanical failure due to long-running so that cost consumed in maintenance of the equipments can be reduced by a large margin.

Moreover, the cooling apparatus does not require additional power in operation accordingly reducing electric energy and generating no electromagnetic noise, and thus can be used in electric/electronic equipments which are sensitive to electromagnetic noise.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments comprising: heat-absorbing means provided to one side of heat-generating parts of the electric/electronic equipments for absorbing heat energy generated from the heat-generating parts to vaporize a heat medium; and heat-radiating means having a first pipeline for receiving the heat medium which absorbed heat energy from said heat-absorbing means so that the heat medium exchanges heat with the atmosphere to have phase change from a gaseous phase to a liquid phase, and a second pipeline for providing the liquid heat medium to said heat-absorbing means, wherein each of said heat-absorbing means and said heat-radiating means has a module-type for simplifying installation.

2. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein said heat-radiating means is provided higher than said heat-absorbing means to cause the reflow of the liquid heat medium via gravity.

3. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein said second pipeline is provided with a check valve for preventing the reflow of the liquid heat medium and causing the heat medium to flow in one direction.

4. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 3, wherein said check valve comprises: a valve body having a fixed inside diameter penetrated in length and fixedly inserted into said second valve line, and a ball located movable within said valve body, wherein said ball is composed of a material having a specific gravity smaller than that of the heat medium.

5. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein said second pipe line has a structure with a narrowed passage or a small amount of capillary material, which is inserted therein for preventing the reflow of the gaseous heat medium and allowing the heat medium in one direction.

6. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein each said heat-absorbing means and said heat radiating means can be provided at a height free from that of the other.

7. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, further comprising a material such as a fiber which can create a capillary phenomenon in said second pipeline, said material being inserted into said heat-absorbing means, said heat-radiating means and said second pipeline for enabling the liquid heat medium to move from said heat-radiating means to said heat-absorbing means via the capillary phenomenon due to surface tension rather than gravity.

8. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein each of said first and second pipeline is composed of a material obtained through extruding a multi-layered polymer for shielding the inflow of the air and the outflow of the heat medium through the wall surface of said pipeline, restricting variation of physical properties due to moisture and having mechanical flexibility.

9. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1 or 8, wherein each of said first and second pipelines is composed of a polymer pipeline which is extruded in multiple for shielding the penetration of heat medium, air and moisture.

10. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 8, wherein each of said first and second pipelines is composed of metal bellows.

11. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, wherein each of said heat-absorbing and heat-radiating means comprises a thin sheet-shaped plate and a tube fixed to said plate.

12. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 11, wherein said plate and said tube are composed of Cu or Al excellent in heat conductivity.

13. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 11, wherein said tube is continuously bent in opposite directions at an interval for raising heat-absorbing efficiency and heat-radiating efficiency.

14. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 11, wherein said plate and said tube constituting said heat-radiating means have a larger area than said plate and said tube of said heat-absorbing means for rapidly radiating heat absorbed in said heat-absorbing means.

15. The part cooling apparatus for electric/electronic equipments according to claim 1, further comprising a cover at one side of said heat-radiating means maintaining an interval from said heat-radiating means, said cover having a fan for blowing the air toward said heat-radiating means.