Radiation structure for electronic equipment and computer...

Details Radiation structure for electronic equipment and computer... Radiation structure for electronic equipment and computer...

2000-11-08

2002-12-10

Feild, Lynn D. (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S704000, C361S689000, C165S104330, C174S015200

Reexamination Certificate

active

06493226

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment such as a notebook-type personal computer or word processor which is configured to have a display part rotationally supported by a body and relates to a radiation structure for radiating heat from a heating element such as a CPU placed in the body to the outside of the equipment as well as to electronic equipment or a computer apparatus which has such a radiation structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as electronic equipment such as a notebook-type personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “notebook computer”) becomes more advanced and faster, various electronic elements represented by a central processing unit (CPU), which may produce heat, tend to produce more and more heat. In particular, since more power consumption of an electronic element for faster operations facilitates a rise in temperature of the electronic element, some protection may be required against such a temperature rise.
Insufficient protection against radiation from such electronic equipment may cause the electronic element to have an increased error rate due to such a temperature rise or to be made unstable because of increased actuations of a protective circuit and thus, the service life of the equipment may be reduced due to a thermally degraded electronic element. In order to avoid these problems, various types of electronic equipment employ some radiation structure as a heat protection.
FIG. 5
shows a heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism as an example for a conventional radiation structure used for a notebook computer. The notebook computer includes a body
10
and a display part
12
and the display part
12
is rotationally connected to the body
10
through a hinge (not shown) to allow the display part
12
to function as a cover for the body
10
as well. It should be noted that a CPU (not shown) and other components are contained in the body
10
. It should also be noted that the display part
12
has a liquid crystal display part (LCD)
13
and some other components built therein.
The conventional heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
shown in
FIG. 5
transfers heat produced in the body
10
to the display part
12
to suppress any temperature rise within the body
10
and on its outer surface of the body
10
. The heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
includes a heat sink
16
provided within the body
10
. The heat sink
16
takes the form of thick plate and is supported above a CPU (not shown) mounted on a printed circuit board. The heat sink
16
is in contact with the CPU directly or indirectly through a cushioning material with a high thermal conductivity such as silicone rubber to absorb any heat from the CPU or other electronic components.
One end of the heatpipe
18
is connected to the end of the heat sink
16
. The heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
includes a heatpipe hinge
20
for connecting the body
10
and the display part
12
. The heatpipe hinge
20
connects the body
10
to the display part
12
rotationally with respect thereto. However, the body
10
is also connected to the display part
12
by a hinge (not shown) rotationally with respect thereto and any load of the body
10
and the display part
12
is supported by the hinge mechanism to prevent it from directly acting on the heatpipe hinge
20
.
The heatpipe hinge
20
includes a fixed plate
22
fixed to a chassis (not shown) within the body
10
and the other end of the heatpipe
18
is connected to the fixed plate
22
. The fixed plate
22
includes a rotationally annular bearing
24
integrally provided along the upper longitudinal edge and one end of another heatpipe
26
is rotationally inserted into the bearing
24
. Therefore, the fixed plate
22
is connected to the heatpipe
26
rotationally with respect thereto around the axis S of the bearing
24
.
A portion of the heatpipe
26
which projects from the bearing
24
passes through a cylindrical sleeve
27
and then it is inserted into the display part
12
. It should be noted that the fixed plate
22
and the sleeve
27
are made of a metal material with a high thermal conductivity, respectively. This allows the heatpipe
22
to receive any heat directly from the fixed plate
22
and indirectly from the fixed plate
22
through the sleeve
27
.
On the contrary, a thin-plate radiation plate
28
is arranged on the back of the LCD
13
in the display part
12
. The radiation plate
28
is also made of a metal material with a high thermal conductivity and the other end of the heatpipe
26
is connected thereto.
In the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
as configured above, any heat produced by the CPU and other components during the operation of the notebook computer is absorbed by the heat sink
16
and the heat stored in the heat sink
16
is transformed to the radiation plate
28
through the heatpipe
18
, the heatpipe hinge
20
, and the heatpipe
26
. This allows the heat produced in the body
10
to be efficiently transferred to the radiation plate
28
of the display part
12
for heat emission from the radiation plate
28
to the outside of the apparatus and thus, any excessive rise in temperature can be avoided both within the body
10
and on the outer surface of the body
10
.
Although the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
as described above consists of a plurality of parts such as heat sink
16
, the heatpipes
18
and
26
, and the heatpipe hinge
20
, it is supplied in the form of a single finished part to the process for assembling notebook computers. During that process, the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
is first built into a housing
15
which constitutes the outer shell of the display part
12
together with the LCD
13
and other components so as to be integral with the display part
12
. The fixed plate
22
of the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
integral with the display part
12
is fixed to the chassis (not shown) in the body
10
and thus, the display part
12
is rotationally connected to the body
10
.
Therefore, the heatpipe
18
and the heat sink
16
are exposed to the outside until the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
is built into the body
10
together with the display part
12
. The heat sink
16
is connected to the display part
12
through the heatpipe
18
only. Thus, when any load other than the moment rotating around the axis S acts between the heat sink
16
and the display part
12
, that load will act as a bending or torsional load on the heatpipes
18
and
26
.
The heatpipes
18
and
26
are formed of, for example, metal or any other heat conductor such as copper, aluminum, and stainless steel and have a thinner wall to increase heat transfer (endothermic and radiative) speeds near the opposite ends. This will prove that a slight load may easily cause bending, buckling, fracture, or any other breakage, resulting in decreased heat transport capacities or incapacity for heat transport. The display part
12
is handled very carefully during the notebook computer assembly process in order to avoid such breakage of the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism
14
, but the heatpipes
18
and
26
may be damaged by getting the heat sink
16
snagged on something or imposing an inappropriate load on the heatpipes
18
and
26
during the transportation of the display part
12
or its assembly into the body
10
. In addition, when the display part
12
is removed from the body
10
for repair of the notebook computer, the heatpipes
18
and
26
of the display part
12
removed from the body
10
may be easily damaged.
The display part
12
is usually held on a tray or pallet or in a storage container corresponding to its shape until it is incorporated with the body
10
. However, the storage container may be complicated if it is intended to prevent an inappropriate load from being imposed on the heatpipes
18
and
26
, resulting in a large space required to hold the display part
12
together with the storage container and difficulty in efficiently transpor

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