Heat sink assembly

Details Heat sink assembly Heat sink assembly

2000-08-03

2001-11-06

Flanigan, Allen (Department: 3743)

Heat exchange

With retainer for removable article

Electrical component

C361S704000, C257S719000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06311765

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat sink assembly, and particularly to a heat sink assembly having a fastener eliminating relative movement between a clip and a heat sink. The copending application Ser. No. 09/611,875 filed Jul. 7, 2000 is related hereto.
2. The Related Art
Many electronic devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), operate in a limited temperature range and usually become unstable when their temperature is outside that range. On the other hand, the electronic devices generate a great amount of heat during operation. To maintain operation temperature within the proper range, a heat sink is often used to remove heat from the electronic devices.
A conventional heat sink
1
, as shown in
FIG. 3
of the attached drawings, is attached to a CPU
3
by a clip
2
. A spring portion
5
of the clip
2
presses the heat sink
1
onto the CPU
3
, with a pair of legs
6
engaging with a socket
4
on which the CPU
3
is mounted. However, the clip
2
is readily detached from the heat sink
1
due to undesired disengagement between the clip
2
and the heat sink
5
when a force is exerted on the clip
2
or the heat sink
1
.
To meet the trend toward miniaturization in the computer industry, a flip chip package is broadly used. Referring to
FIG. 4
, a flip chip package comprises a substrate
6
and a flip chip
3
formed in the substrate
6
. A conventional clip
2
is used to attach the heat sink
1
to the flip chip
3
. However, the heat sink
1
is readily rotated about a die edge of the flip chip
3
. Thus, the heat sink
1
cannot be fully in contact with the flip chip
3
, which lessens the efficiency of removing heat from the flip chip
3
.
It is strongly desired to provide a heat sink assembly which overcomes the above problems encountered in the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat sink assembly comprising a fastener for securely attaching a heat sink to an electronic device.
To achieve the mentioned object, a heat sink assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a heat sink, a clip and a fastener. The heat sink comprises a base and a plurality of fins extending upwardly from the base. A slot is defined between the fins. Grooves are defined on opposite sides of a particular row of fins. The clip comprises a spring portion for extending along the slot of the heat sink and a pair of legs extending from opposite ends of the spring portion. The curved fastener comprises a pair of projections extending inwardly from both ends thereof with a gap defined between the projections for engaging the corresponding grooves of the heat sink to retain the clip in the heat sink. A tab is defined on one side of the fastener for engagement with an edge of one of the fins.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings, in which:


REFERENCES:
patent: 5570271 (1996-10-01), Lavochkin
patent: 5889653 (1999-03-01), Clemens et al.
patent: 5943210 (1998-08-01), Lee et al.
patent: 6025994 (2000-02-01), Chiou

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