Heat sink

Details Heat sink Heat sink

1999-06-18

2001-03-13

Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3743)

Heat exchange

Heat transmitter

C165S080300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06199627

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a heat sink for removing heat from a heat generating component, and in particular to a heat sink suitable for automated production with reduced costs.
2. The Prior Art
Electronic devices or components, such as a central processing unit of a computer, which generate heat during operation require a heat removing device such as a heat sink in order to maintain a proper operational temperature. Several different types of heat sinks available such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,331 and 5,038,858 and Taiwan Patent Application No. 85212486 which are respectively shown in
FIGS. 1
,
2
and
3
of the attached drawings.
In
FIG. 1
, a heat sink
60
made by aluminum extrusion is shown. The heat sink
60
requires sawing and surface finishing to obtain the final product, which is a tedious and laborious process. Furthermore, the ratio of the height h of the fins to the distance d between adjacent fins is limited to a maximum value of 13:1. Thus, improvement of the heat removal rate of the heat sink is limited.
A heat sink
70
comprising a base
74
defining a plurality of grooves
76
for receiving and retaining fins
72
therein is shown in FIG.
2
. The heat sink
70
overcomes the problems encountered by the heat sink
60
illustrated in
FIG. 1
, but the heat removal rate is adversely affected by gaps
78
inevitably existing between the fins
72
and the base
74
.
FIG. 3
shows a folded-fin heat sink
80
constructed by folding a thin conductive plate to form a number of spaced fin panels joined by connecting sections
82
. The connecting sections
82
are positioned to physically contact a base
84
. Due to manufacturing tolerances, gaps often exist between the connecting sections
82
and the base
84
thereby creating a heat transfer barrier and minimizing the heat removal efficiency of the heat sink
80
.
It is thus desirable to have a heat sink which overcomes the disadvantages associated with the conventional heat sinks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat sink suitable for automated mass production with reduced costs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat sink for efficiently dissipating heat from a heat generating electronic component.
To achieve the above objects, a heat sink in accordance with the present invention comprises a number of primary fin plates and a number of secondary spacing plates alternately arranged and fixed together by fasteners extending therethrough. Bottom edges of the plates are flush with each other to form a surface positionable on a heat generating component. Top edges of the primary plates are positioned above top edges of the secondary plates. Upper portions of the primary plates are formed between the top edges thereof and the top edges of the secondary plates. A number of openings are defined in the upper portion of each primary plate to increase the surface area thereof. The openings may be grooves or slots. Positioning bosses are formed on a first face of each plate for reception in recesses defined in a second face of an adjacent plate thereby properly positioning the plates with respect to each other.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4122508 (1978-10-01), Rumbaugh
patent: 4449578 (1984-05-01), Munekawa
patent: 4777560 (1988-10-01), Herrell et al.
patent: 5020586 (1991-06-01), Mansingh
patent: 5396403 (1995-03-01), Patel
patent: 5654587 (1997-08-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 5701951 (1997-12-01), Jean
patent: 5777259 (1998-07-01), Mennucci et al.
patent: 5947192 (1999-09-01), Kuo
patent: 6062301 (2000-05-01), Lu
patent: 6076594 (2000-06-01), Kuo

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