Heat-dissipating casing of electronic apparatus

Details Heat-dissipating casing of electronic apparatus Heat-dissipating casing of electronic apparatus

2003-05-09

2004-11-23

McKinnon, Terrell (Department: 3743)

Heat exchange

Heat transmitter

C165S075000, C361S831000, C361S704000, C361S697000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06820686

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus, and more particularly to a heat-dissipating casing of an adapter or a power supply, which has effects of heat-dissipation, temperature-equalization and scald-prevention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The adapter and the power supply are electronic apparatuses used frequently in our daily life. Taking the adapter as an example, it is generally employed for rectifying and converting the external AC power into the DC power, so as to supply the required power to an electric appliance, such as a notebook, or charge the charging battery.
Please refer to
FIG. 1
, which shows the casing of the conventional adapter. The casing of the conventional adapter
1
includes an upper casing
11
and a lower casing
12
, in which the upper casing
11
and the lower casing
12
can be engaged with each other, and a space is provided between the upper casing
11
and the lower casing
12
for receiving a printed circuit board
13
. When the upper casing
11
and the lower casing
12
are engaged with each other, a first opening and a second opening are formed on the opposite surfaces of the assembled casing for fixing a socket
14
and a power cord
15
therein, respectively. The socket
14
and the power cord
15
can be electrically connected with the printed circuit board
13
, respectively, thereby the external power can be provided to the printed circuit board
13
through the socket
14
, and the power converted by the printed circuit board
13
can be provided to the electric appliance for usage through the power cord
15
.
With the integration of the integrated circuit, the volume of the electronic apparatus is also decreased, which results in the difficulty of heat-dissipation. A large amount of heat is usually generated from the electronic elements on the printed circuit board during the operation of the adapter. However, the upper and lower casings of the conventional adapter are made of plastic, and obviously, the heat is hard to dissipate and would accumulate in the interior of the adapter since the plastic has low heat-conductance coefficient. If the heat accumulated within the adapter cannot be dissipated efficiently, the electronic elements in the adapter will be damaged easily, and thus, not only the lifespan but also the power converting efficiency of the adapter will be decreased significantly.
For overcoming the problem of heat-dissipation, an adapter as shown in
FIG. 2
is provided in the market, which has plural heat-dissipating holes
20
formed on the upper and lower casings. However, via the design of the heat-dissipating holes
20
, the heat in the adapter can only be dissipated by convection due to the temperature difference between the interior and the exterior of the adapter, and the heat-dissipating effect thereof is not good enough. In addition, another type of adapter is provided in the market, which has a small heat-dissipating fan and wind exits for driving out the heat accumulated in the interior of the adapter. However, such design limits the miniaturization of the adapter, and the heat in the adapter cannot be evenly dissipated by the heat-dissipating fan, so that the temperature of the adapter cannot be equalized, and thus the heat accumulated in the dead space for heat-dissipation may cause damages to the neighboring electronic elements.
Furthermore, for the user of the portable notebook, since the adapter becomes hot after it is used for a period of time, the user may be scalded when touching the adapter. Therefore, to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art described above, it is needed to provide a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus which has effects of heat-dissipation, temperature-equalization and scald-prevention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus to overcome the heat-dissipation problem of the conventional electronic apparatus, and equalize the temperatures of the casing and the interior of the electronic apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus to prevent a user from being scalded when touching the electronic apparatus which is used for a period of time.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus having an input device, an output device, and a printed circuit board connected with the input device and the output device is disclosed. The heat-dissipating casing includes a metal extruded casing having at least four surfaces to form a space, a first opening and a second opening, wherein the space is used for receiving the printed circuit board, a first side plate fixed to the metal extruded casing to cover the first opening and having a first hole for securing the input device, and a second side plate fixed to the metal extruded casing to cover the second opening and having a second hole for securing the output device, thereby dissipating the heat generated from the electronic apparatus and equalizing the surface temperature of the electronic apparatus.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a heat-dissipating casing of an electronic apparatus having an input device, an output device, and a printed circuit board connected with the input device and the output device is disclosed. The heat-dissipating casing includes a metal extruded casing having at least four surfaces to form a space, a first opening and a second opening, wherein the space is used for receiving the printed circuit board, a first side plate fixed to the metal extruded casing to cover the first opening and having a first hole for securing the input device, a second side plate fixed to the metal extruded casing to cover the second opening and having a second hole for securing the output device, and at least one cover covering a part of the metal extruded casing for preventing a user from directly touching the electronic apparatus and being hurt by the heat generated from the electronic apparatus.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:


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