Cooling device with fan equiped at side surface

Abstract

A side flow cooling device (10) includes a heat mass (20) with arms (19) extending therefrom and a mounting surface (13) for connecting the heat mass (20) with a component (50) to be cooled. The heat mass (20) and the arms (19) include a plurality of fins (30) extending outwardly therefrom and aligned with a vertical axis (V) of the heat mass (20). The fins (30) have cooling surfaces (30s) and a slot (S) between adjacent fins (30) that are aligned with a longitudinal axis (L) of the heat mass (20). A fan (70) of the like can be connected with a side face (2, 4) of the cooling device (10) to generate an air flow (F) that is substantially along the longitudinal axis (L). The air flow (F) wets over the cooling surfaces (30s) of the fins (30), on exposed portions of the heat mass (20), and on exposed portions (19a, 19b) of the arms (19) to dissipate heat from the heat ass (20). The heat mass (20) is not covered by the fan (70) and therefore the fins (30) can populate a substantial portion of a surface area of the heat mass (20) thereby increasing the surface area available for cooling.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention generally relates to a side stream cooling device for removing heat from components to which the side stream cooling device is connected. In particular, the present invention relates to a side flow cooling device comprising a fin stack and a plurality of vertically oriented fins around the fin stack. Heat is dissipated vertically from the heat sink stack into the fins. The cooling surfaces of the fins and the slots between the fins are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the fin stack such that an air flow for dissipating heat from the fins is generated by an air flow source positioned at the side of the side flow cooling device. Background technique [0002] In electronics, it is known to place a heat sink in contact with an electronic device so that waste heat generated by the operation of the electronic device is thermally transferred into the heat sink, thereby cooling the electronic device. With the development of electr...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0006] There are downsides to increasing the size of the fan and heatsink

First, if the size of the heatsink increases vertically (i.e., in a direction transverse to the PC board), then the heatsink will be taller and will not fit in the vertical space of the system carrying the heatsink, For example in a desktop computer case

[0007] Second, if the PC board has a vertical orientation, then a heavy and tall heat sink can create mechanical stress on the PC board and / or electronics, leading to failure of the device or PC board

[0009] Fourth, when the heat sink has a cylindrical shape formed by fins, it is generally not possible to mount a plurality of such heat sinks close to each other, because air entering and exiting the fins is blocked by adjacent heat sinks, resulting in reduced cooling efficiency

In each case, the fan fails

[0015] Finally, glue is usually used to mount the fan on the heatsink, and the glue can get into the fan, causing it to fail

Any of the above fan failure modes can lead to the failure of the electronic device cooled by this heat sink, because the air circulation generated by the fan is very important to effectively dissipate the waste heat generated by the electronic device

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