Foam metal heat sink

Details Foam metal heat sink Foam metal heat sink

2000-08-16

2002-06-25

Thompson, Gregory (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C165S080200, C165S080300, C165S185000, C165S907000, C361S704000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06411508

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foam metal heat sink, and in particular to a light foam metal heat sink which is capable of significantly enhancing the performance of a heat sink.
2. Description of the Background Art
In an electronic equipment such as a computer, medical equipment or a compact sized military radar system, a laser system, a communication equipment, etc. which each generate a high heat flux and have a high density and are highly integrated, an over heating problem of the equipment and a cooling method of the over heated equipment are important factors for designing the electronic equipment and operation of the same. Therefore, various kinds of heat sinks are being used in the industry for an inherent purpose of the equipment.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, as one of the conventional heat sinks, an aluminum heat sink of a pin fin type or a rectangular fin type is known. However, there are many problems for fabricating the above-described heat sink because the fabrication process is very complicated, and the conventional heat sink does not have a larger heat transferring area.
In addition, in the conventional heat sink, the weight based on the unit volume is heavy, the entire weight of the conventional heat sink is increased, and it is impossible to obtain a good heat sink performance.
In particular, in the advanced electronic equipment which becomes highly integrated and compact sized, the above-described conventional heat sink is not proper. Therefore, the need for more reliable and compact sized heat sink having a high efficiency is being increased in the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat sink which overcomes the problems encountered in the conventional heat sink and is capable of significantly enhancing a heat sink performance compared to the conventional heat sink and implementing a simple construction and an easier fabrication.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lighter heat sink fabricated by decreasing the entire weight and required volume of the equipment for thereby implementing a highly integrated and compact sized equipment.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a heat sink which is easily and quickly installed at an existing equipment.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided a foam metal heat sink installed at an outer portion of a heat generating unit of an equipment, which heat sink includes a metal plate installed at an outer portion of the heat generating unit of the equipment, and a foam metal attached to the metal plate and having a plurality of foams.
It is also possible to use a foam metal heat sink installed directly on an outer portion of a heat generating unit of an equipment, although in that case heat sink performance is a little low than the case of combination with a metal plate.
The metal plate and foam metal can be bonded by a brazing method.
The metal plate and foam metal can be bonded by an ultrasonic spot welding method.
The metal plate and foam metal can be bonded using a metallic adhesive.
The foam metal and metal plate are formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.
The foam metal and metal plate can also be formed of copper.
The metal plate may operate as an outer casing of a heat generating unit.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a fan is further provided for generating a certain flow flux of a surrounding air.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4602314 (1986-07-01), Broadbent
patent: 5402004 (1995-03-01), Ozmat
patent: 5459352 (1995-10-01), Layton et al.
patent: 5986885 (1999-11-01), Wyland
patent: 6196307 (2001-03-01), Ozmat
KSME 99 TE121, Heat Transfer Characteristics of Aluminum Foam Heat Sink, pp. 739-744, Sep. 11, 1999.
HTD-vol. 319/EEP-vol. 15, Cooling and Thermal Design of Electronic Systems, pp. 67-75, ASME 1995.
Heat Mass Transfer, No. 4, vol. 36, Air Jet Impingement Heat Transfer From Modified Surfaces, 1993.
Heat Transfer 1998, Optimization of Vertical Pin-Fin Heat Sinks in Natural Convective Heat Transfer, (pp. 50-506) Proceedings of 11thIHTC, vol. 3.

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