Refrigeration – Structural installation – With electrical component cooling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-27
2001-10-30
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Structural installation
With electrical component cooling
C165S104210, C165S104330
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308524
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooler for an electronic device, for cooling an exothermic member arranged in the case of the electronic device by releasing the heat of the exothermic member through a heat pipe.
2. Related Art
In the field of computers, the outputs of electronic elements such as a CPU are increased in the prior art in accordance with an increase in the number of functions and a rise in the processing rate. As an example of the device for cooling the electronic elements, there is known a cooling device which is constructed by mounting a micro fan in the case of a personal use computer (as will be called the “personal computer”), to release the heat of the electronic elements to the outside of the case by the air flow established by the micro fan.
In the prior art, there is also known a cooling device which is constructed by connecting one end portion of a heat pipe in a heat transferable manner to the electronic elements and holding the other end portion in contact with an electromagnetic shield plate of an aluminum plate mounted on the back face (i,e., the face at the computer case) of the computer, to provide a radiation face.
On the other hand, the reductions in the size and weight of the computer are earnestly desired in recent years. This has extremely restricted the space for the cooling device to occupy the inside of the computer case.
However, the cooling device using the micro fan is constructed to circulate the air in the case space in which the numerous parts are densely mounted. These numerous parts raise serious resistances to the air flow so that the air flow is blocked to confine the heat in the case. On the other hand, the air heated by the hot parts comes into contact with the remaining parts, located downstream, so that these downstream parts are inevitably heated.
These disadvantages can be eliminated if the fan for establishing the cooling air flow is given a high capacity. As this capacity increases, however, the size of the fan is enlarged so much as to fail to match the personal computer which is desired to reduce its size and weight.
In the cooling device adopting the heat pipe, on the contrary, the heat, as generated by the electronic elements, is transferred by the heat pipe to the electromagnetic shield plate in the case until it is released to the outside from the shield plate. As a result, the heat to be released from the shield plate is partially returned to and confined inside the case. This raises a problem that the existing parts other than the electronic elements are inevitably heated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the invention is to efficiently cool an exothermic member arranged in a casing.
Another object of the invention is to prevent other members from being heated by the exothermic member.
Therefore, the cooler of the invention is constructed to comprise: an air compressor for adiabatically compressing the air in a case; a heat pipe for releasing the heat of the compressed air to the outside of the case; and an expansion turbine for adiabatically expanding the heat-released but pressurized air to cool it.
According to the invention, the high temperature air, as heated the exothermic member, in the case is sucked by the air compressor to cool the exothermic member primarily. The sucked air is adiabatically compressed so that its temperature is elevated. The heat of the pressurized air is then released by the heat pipe to the outside of the case. The pressurized air thus derived of the heat is adiabatically expanded by the expansion turbine so that its temperature is lowered. As a result, the exothermic member is secondarily cooled.
In the invention, the heat in the case can be transferred to the outside by the heat pump using air as a heat transfer medium. Moreover, the heat of the temperature-elevated air is released by the heat pipe to the outside of the case so that the cooling efficiency is improved.
In the invention, moreover, a plurality of exothermic members arranged in the case and a radiation unit having an air-cooling fan are connected through heat pipes. The cooling fan is arranged in the periphery of the case to discharge the air from the inside to the outside of the case. As a result, the heat of the individual exothermic members is transferred by the heat pipes to the radiation unit, from which the heat is entrained by the air flow to the outside of the case.
As a result, the heat of the plural exothermic members is not released to the inside of the case. This improves the efficiency for cooling the plural exothermic members. Moreover, the remaining members in the case are left unheated. The radiation unit may be exemplified by such a heat sink as is cooled by the air flow of a cooling fan.
Here, the cooler of the invention may be used for cooling such electronic parts of the CPU of a computer as will generate heat.
The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
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Goto Kazuhiko
Mashiko Koichi
Mochizuki Masataka
Saito Yuji
Doerrler William
Fujikura Ltd.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Shulman Mark
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