Heat exchange – With retainer for removable article – Electrical component
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-18
2001-01-16
Flanigan, Allen (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With retainer for removable article
Electrical component
C165S168000, C165S146000, C361S699000, C361S719000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173759
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of heat removal from an electronic device, and more particularly to an improved method of water cooling an integrated circuit board in a semiconductor package.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As integrated circuits become more complex, the circuit density of the chips increases. As this density increases, the thermal properties of a circuit package becomes a more important concern. The ability to remove heat generated from the high-powered and highly dense integrated circuits in a semi-conductor packaging becomes vital to the maintenance of the computer performance. The traditional method for cooling electrical devices has been through the use of air convection, a method operating on the idea of dissipating heat through the outer surfaces of the device and ultimately cooling it through the use of an airflow, usually driven by a fan. However, as the density and integration level of the integrated circuits along with the power requirements and the operating speed of the device all increase, the amount of heat dissipated by the system can no longer be adequately removed through the use of conventional air convection techniques. Even in cases where an adequate heat sink can be designed for removing the amount of dissipated heat, the physical size of this heat sink, which is of particular concern for compact devices such as laptop computers, becomes prohibitive.
The heat removal problem is further compounded by the geometry of the circuit board and its modules. Often an array of electronic modules are mounted on a flat printed circuit board. The modules may be of different shapes and geometry and therefore the height of a particular module can be much higher or lower than that of its neighbors.
Two problems occur with this kind of module configuration. First the module powers may be too high to be cooled by air cooling techniques along with other reasons described earlier. Therefore, the power levels dictate that liquid cooling should be used. Further, the second level packaging dictates a set of geometric constraints on the solution limiting the space available for cooling. In some cases, printed circuit cards plug radially into a horizontally located mother board. Thus, those components near the center of the second level package are afforded less space for cooling hardware than those at the outer radii. Light weight, low cost, material compatibility and no coolant leaks are other application requirements, especially when the preferred coolant is water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of cooling for electronic devices able to accommodate a variety of geometric constraints.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of uniform cooling for electronic modules accommodating the cooling of all components regardless of their location on an integrated circuit board.
Yet another object of the present invention is provide for a light weight, low cost solution to the problem of cooling electronic devices.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for a method of cooling for electronic devices that takes into account the problem of module's material compatibility.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a leak free method of cooling electronic devices using liquids for such cooling.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of cooling electronic devices that can cool the electronic device independent of the orientation or the position of the device.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, a method for cooling electronic devices in an electronic assembly is proposed where the said assembly has at least one board that houses electronic modules. The methodology comprises shaping a light weight plate as to compliment the geometric shape of the modules mounted on the printed circuit card to be cooled; shaping the plate further so that there is a shape transformation from top surfaces of the modules to said coolant passage tubes (also hereinafter referred to as coolant passages for simplicity), making holes or apertures in the plate in selective cooling locations as to provide better cooling to sensitive electronic areas; and finally cooling the electronic assembly through by bringing the assembly in thermal contact with the plate and passage tubes after a coolant is provided in the passages. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the coolant passage tubes and the plate are made out of different materials, with the coolant passage tubes being generally better heat dissipators than the plate.
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Galyon George Tipton
Kemink Randall Gail
Schmidt Roger Ray
Flanigan Allen
International Business Machines - Corporation
Neff Lily
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