Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-15
2001-08-28
Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S825000, C361S689000, C361S688000, C361S694000, C361S695000, C361S696000, C361S697000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282090
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to personal computers, and more specifically, an embodiment of the present invention relates to cooling single-edge-contact central processing units in personal computers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Personal computers (PCs) are used extensively in many scientific, business, government, entertainment and other types of applications. The computing power of PCs, whether coupled to a network or operating as a stand-alone device, continually increases as faster, more powerful central processing units (CPUs) are produced. Additionally, the capacity and speed of memory devices, disk drives, compact disk read-only memories and other components have also increased. As CPUs become faster and more powerful, they also produce more heat than earlier generations of slower processors. Therefore, more powerful PCs with Pentium® or Pentium II® processors generally have active cooling systems to dissipate heat from the CPUs.
Conventional active cooling systems in computers are typically fans or thermoelectric heat pumps that draw heat away from the CPUs.
FIG. 1A
, for example, is a schematic top plan view of an interior portion of an existing desk-top computer
10
a
with a housing
12
a
having a plurality of panels. The housing
12
a
typically has a front panel
14
a
, a rear panel
15
a
, side panels
16
a
and a bottom panel
18
. The computer
10
a
also has a motherboard
20
a
proximate to the rear panel
15
a
, a plurality of drive bays
30
proximate to the front panel
14
a
, and a power supply unit
40
mounted to the rear panel
15
a
. The motherboard
20
a
is a printed circuit assembly for operatively interconnecting arrays of plug-in electronic modules and other components. The motherboard
20
a
typically carries a flat-mounted CPU
22
proximate to an aperture
19
in the rear panel
15
a
, a plurality of memory modules
24
near the CPU
22
, a plurality of card slots
26
near the memory modules
24
and several other components. Typical flat-mounted CPUs are the Pentium® or “86” series processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of Calif. To dissipate heat from the CPU
22
, a fan
50
may be attached to the rear panel
15
a
at the aperture
19
to blow an air-stream across a heat exchanger
23
of the CPU
22
. Alternatively, the fan
50
may be attached directly to the CPU
22
(not shown).
FIG. 1B
is a schematic side elevational view of an existing tower computer
10
b
with a tower housing
12
b
. In this embodiment, a motherboard
20
b
is attached to the housing
12
b
at a rear panel
15
b
, the drive bays
30
are attached to the housing
12
b
at a top panel
17
, and the power supply unit
40
is attached to the rear panel
15
b
proximate to the CPU
22
. Again, the CPU
22
is a Pentium® processor or other type of flat-mounted unit. In this embodiment, the fan
50
is attached to the power supply unit
40
adjacent to the heat exchanger
23
to drive an air-stream across the heat exchanger
23
.
Because computer designs continually change, one manufacturing concern in assembling computers is the cost to implement a new device. Several prominent computer manufacturers are custom order manufacturers that individually assemble each computer to a specific order. Custom order manufacturers accordingly maintain large inventories of CPUs, motherboards, memory modules, drives, power supply units and other individual components to quickly assemble the individual computers. However, when a new or upgraded version of a component is implemented, it may not be physically compatible with the other components in the inventory. As such, if a new, incompatible component is critical to being competitive, custom computer manufacturers may need to replace many existing components in their inventory to accommodate the new component.
One particularly important new component in the computer industry is the Pentium II® CPU manufactured by Intel Corporation. Referring again to
FIG. 1B
, a Pentium II CPU
122
is shown in phantom where it would be located in the tower housing
12
b
. The Pentium II CPU
122
is a single-edge-contact processor that projects away from the motherboard, and the Pentium II CPU
122
has a heat exchanger
123
(also shown in phantom) facing the center of the housing
12
b
. The Pentium II CPU
122
accordingly obstructs the heat exchanger
123
from the aperture
19
in the rear panel
15
b
. Moreover, to accommodate the Pentium II CPU
122
, the power supply unit
40
is mounted apart from the motherboard
120
toward the top panel
17
. As a result, a fan positioned on the power supply unit
40
or in the aperture
19
through the rear panel
15
b
may not adequately cool the Pentium II CPU
122
in the housing
12
b
. Computer manufacturers, therefore, typically need to redesign the component lay-out in the computers and/or provide new housings to implement the new Pentium II CPUs.
The cost of making new housings and/or redesigning the lay-out of components to accommodate the single-edge-contact Pentium II CPUs, however, may significantly impact the profitability of assembling computers with Pentium II processors. Moreover, it is equally difficult and expensive to upgrade an existing computer to accommodate a Pentium II processor. Therefore, implementing Pentium II CPUs in existing housings creates several challenges in custom computer manufacturing and other applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention is a cooling unit for use in a computer having a housing with a first panel including an aperture, a central processing unit coupled to a circuit board, a heat exchanger coupled to the central processing unit, and a power supply positioned apart from the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is positioned internally in the housing, and it is obstructed from the aperture in the first panel. In one particular embodiment, the cooling unit has a separate support element segregated from the power supply and an airflow director attached to the support element. The support element may have a first section attached to either the housing, the motherboard or another component of the computer. The support element may also have a second section extending from the first section to an airflow site proximate to the heat exchanger. The airflow director may accordingly have an air-stream output at the airflow site to direct an air-stream across the heat exchanger for cooling the CPU.
In one particular embodiment, the support element comprises a bracket having a first flange defining the first section and a second flange defining the second section. The first flange may have an opening, and the first flange may be attached to the first panel to align the opening with the aperture in the first panel. The airflow director may be a blower attached to the second flange at the airflow site, and the blower may have a moving blade defining the air-stream output. As such, the blower is positioned proximate to the heat exchanger to drive an air-stream across the heat exchanger.
In another embodiment, the airflow director may be a conduit attached to the flange. The conduit may have an inlet proximate to the aperture in the first panel and an outlet at the airflow site defining the air-stream output. The conduit accordingly may direct external air through the housing and across the heat exchanger.
In still another embodiment, the support element is a bracket having a first flange at an opening over the aperture in the first panel and a second flange extending from the first flange. In this embodiment, the second flange has a hole at the airflow site directed towards the heat exchanger, and the airflow director is a blower attached to the second flange at the airflow site to drive air through the hole in the second flange and across the heat exchanger. This embodiment of the cooling unit is particularly useful for adapting an existing tower housing for a flat-mounted CPU to accommodate a single-edge-contact CPU.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4728160 (1988-03-01), Mondor et al.
patent: 5051868 (1991-09-01), Levera
Johnson Greg
Schaff Travis
Chang Yean-Hsi
Micron Electronics Inc.
Perkins Coie LLP
Picard Leo P.
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