Cooling module

Abstract

A cooling module for cooling the components of a computer are provided. The cooling module includes a substrate, a central processing unit, and a heat sink. The central processing unit is disposed on the substrate. The heat sink is disposed on the substrate close to the central processing unit to assist in heat dissipation of the central processing unit. A partially hollow space in the heat sink defines a cold channel, and the cold channel penetrates the heat sink in the same direction as a direction of discharging hot air already arranged in the computer. In this way, the cooling module can effectively cool the component of the computer without affecting product specifications.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a cooling module, and more particularly to a cooling module for cooling components of electronic computers. [Previous Technology]

[0002] With the development of information technology, people’s demand for information services is increasing, the requirements for information transmission are constantly improving, and the design of electronic products must become more compact. How to effectively dissipate the heat generated by components in a limited space to meet heat resistance specifications is one of the most important keys in product development.

[0003] For example, please refer to Figures 1A to 1C, which are preliminary configuration diagrams of the applicant's Smart NIC Card development process. In order to facilitate end-user use, the "Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable" (QSFP) 2 needs to be placed at the downstream I / O. Since the airflow F flowing through the QSFP comes entirely from the upstream central processing unit (CPU) and the CPU heat sink 4, when analyzing the flow field of the entire smart NIC, it was found that the airflow temperature discharged by the CPU reached a maximum of 74.1°C, which exceeded the QSFP's heat resistance specification of 70°C. However, using the method of lowering the product specifications to solve the problem of excessive temperature will affect market acceptance.

[0004] As can be seen from the above, other solutions are urgently needed to resolve the aforementioned predicament. It should also be noted that the above technical content represents the setup adopted by the applicant during the research and development process, provided to aid in understanding the problem to be solved by this invention, and should not be construed as anything already disclosed or known in the art. [Summary of the Invention]

[0005] One object of the present invention is to provide a cooling module that can effectively cool down computer components without affecting product specifications (e.g., downgrading specifications), and preferably is a lower cost solution than other cooling methods, which is an improvement option expected in the art.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a cooling module for cooling components of an electronic computer, comprising a substrate, a central processing unit (CPU), and a heat sink. The CPU is disposed on the substrate. The heat sink is disposed on the substrate abutting the CPU to assist in heat dissipation of the CPU. A portion of the hollowed-out space in the heat sink defines a cold channel, which passes through the heat sink in the same direction as a row of hot airflows already installed in the electronic computer.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides another cooling module for cooling components of an electronic computer, comprising a substrate, a central processing unit, a heat sink, and an independent cold channel. The central processing unit is disposed on the substrate. The heat sink is disposed on the substrate abutting the central processing unit to assist in heat dissipation of the central processing unit. The independent cold channel may be manufactured separately or may be partially or completely disposed on the substrate, and the independent cold channel is adjacent to the heat sink in the same direction as a row of hot airflows already disposed in the electronic computer.

[0008] As described above, the cooling module provided by the present invention modifies the existing methods of heat dissipation for CPUs in electronic computers. For example, by utilizing the area of ​​the heat sink fins and the direction of airflow for CPU cooling, the temperature of the airflow flowing towards a component to be cooled is reduced, thereby enhancing the cooling capacity of the component. In this way, the component to be cooled can meet heat resistance specifications without changing the specifications, and it is preferably a lower-cost solution than modifying the heat sink material, airflow intensity, or other methods, effectively improving the product's competitiveness.

[0009] In one embodiment, the cooling module provided by the present invention may further include a fan disposed on the substrate or on a portion of the heat dissipation fins, located upstream of one of the heat dissipation airflow directions, and the fan is at least a centrifugal fan or an axial fan.

[0010] In one embodiment, the cooling module provided by the present invention further includes a cooling element, which is partially disposed on the substrate and located downstream of one of the heat dissipation airflow directions and also downstream of one of the heat dissipation fins.

[0011] In one embodiment, the extension axis of one of the cold channels of the cooling module provided by the present invention is substantially coaxial or nearly coaxial with the extension axis of one of the elements to be cooled, so that the airflow through the cold channel flows directly to the elements to be cooled.

[0012] In one embodiment, the cooling module provided by the present invention further includes a flow channel disposed on the substrate. The flow channel defines a first opening and a second opening that are spaced apart from each other. The first opening corresponds to the cooling channel, and the second opening corresponds to the element to be cooled.

[0013] In one embodiment, the cooling module provided by the present invention has the hollow space located in the lower half of one of the heat dissipation fins, close to or near one of the substrates, or located in the upper half of one of the heat dissipation fins, at a distance from the substrate, or extending from the lower half to the upper half, close to or beyond the top of one of the heat dissipation fins.

[0014] In one embodiment, when the cold channel defined by the hollow space is set close to the substrate, the substrate located below the cold channel is further provided with a groove to increase the cross-sectional area through which airflow can pass.

[0015] In one embodiment, the hollow space of the cooling module provided by the present invention is disposed on the entire side portion of one of the heat dissipation fins, thereby reducing the width of one of the heat dissipation fins, or the hollow space partially cuts off the heat dissipation fins so that the heat dissipation fins are divided into two blocks.

[0016] In one embodiment, the heat dissipation fins of the cooling module provided by the present invention include heat insulation material, which completely or partially surrounds the cold channel.

Implementation Method

[0017] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below; however, the present invention may be practiced in many different forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention should not be construed as limited to those stated in the specification.

[0018] The terms "first," "second," etc., used herein are for describing and distinguishing various elements or components, and do not imply that these elements or components have a necessary order or priority. Furthermore, the directions (such as front, back, up, down, left, right, etc.) are relative directions and can be defined according to the placement of the cooling module in the computer, and do not indicate or imply that the cooling module needs to be constructed or operated in a specific direction, nor should they be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0019] The relative dimensions, sizes, and shapes in each drawing are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting.

[0020] Please refer to Figure 2A, which is a schematic diagram of a cooling module 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The cooling module 10 may include a substrate 100, a central processing unit 200 and a heat dissipation fin 300, and the technical details of each structure will be described in sequence below.

[0021] The substrate 100 is a board used in electronic computers to set up circuits and fix various components and parts. It includes a heat dissipation module base plate 110 to further assist in fixing the heat dissipation module. The central processing unit 200 is disposed on the substrate 100. In order to reduce the temperature rise of the central processing unit 200 during operation, heat dissipation fins 300 are attached to the central processing unit 200 and detachably fixed to the substrate 100 or the heat dissipation module base plate 110 of the substrate 100. Figures 1A to 1C show a test state in which the heat dissipation airflow F in the electronic computer first passes through the heat dissipation fins 4 of the CPU before flowing through other components 2 (e.g., QSFP). As can be seen in Figure 1C, the temperature of the airflow discharged from the CPU reaches a maximum of 74.1°C, which exceeds the heat resistance specification of 70°C of QSFP, posing a risk of QSFP malfunction, damage, or other safety issues.

[0022] Therefore, as shown in Figures 2A to 2D, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the heat dissipation fin 300 is provided with a portion of hollow space 310 defining a cold channel 311. The heat dissipation fin used in this embodiment can be an extruded block fin composed of multiple sheet-like fins arranged and combined. The portion of hollow space 310 refers to shortening the length of some sheet-like fins, or completely removing some areas of sheet-like fins, so that the heat dissipation fin 300 produces hollow space when viewed from a block angle. The partially hollowed-out space 310 shown in the figure is located on the left side of the lower half of one of the heat dissipation fins 300, close to one of the substrates 100. However, this is not a limitation. The partially hollowed-out space 310 can also be located in the middle or right side of the lower half of one of the heat dissipation fins 300, close to or near one of the substrates 100. Alternatively, the partially hollowed-out space 310 can also be located anywhere on the upper half of the heat dissipation fins 300, at a distance from the substrate 100. The arrangement can vary depending on the configuration of the electronic computer known to those skilled in the art. In the embodiment shown in the figure, when the exhaust airflow F flows from the upper part to the lower part in the figure, the airflow passing through the partially hollowed-out space 310 can be reduced to 50.7°C. Compared to the configuration without the cold channel 311, this obviously provides a significant margin to further remove the heat emitted by other components in the lower part.

[0023] In one embodiment, the partial hollow space 310 may only have section 311a to have a sufficiently low exhaust temperature. In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 2D, a section 311b may be further provided on the substrate 100 supporting the heat dissipation fins 300 (e.g., on the heat dissipation module base plate 110) according to the heat dissipation requirements or when the heat dissipation fins 300 have sufficient temperature margin. This section 311b is connected to the partial hollow space 310 of the heat dissipation fins 300 that is originally adjacent to the substrate 100, thereby increasing the horizontal section area through which the heat dissipation airflow can pass and enhancing the cooling effect.

[0024] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 2E, a segment 311a of a portion of the cutout space 310 may extend from the substrate 100 to near or beyond the top 301 of one of the heat dissipation fins 300. In other words, a portion of the heat dissipation fins 300 may be completely removed, so that the substrate 100 or its heat dissipation module base plate 110 is directly exposed (but may still be covered by an external cover after assembly), thereby reducing the width of one of the heat dissipation fins 300, or dividing the heat dissipation fins 300 into left and right sections, but this is not a limitation.

[0025] The form of the heat dissipation fins 300 is not limited to the above description or illustrations. The heat dissipation fins 300 can have different fin spacings, and the feasible fin spacing can be between 0.8 mm and 10 mm. When the fin spacing is 1.0 mm, the static pressure (P) of the exhaust airflow F is 4.52 mmH 2O (0.178 inH 2O), and the flow rate (Q) of the exhaust airflow F is 55.76 CFM; when the fin spacing is 4.5 mm, the static pressure (P) of the exhaust airflow F is 0.95 mmH 2O, and the flow rate (Q) of the exhaust airflow F is 18.36 CFM. In addition, the material of the heat dissipation fins 300 can be composed of aluminum, aluminum alloy, aluminum-magnesium alloy, copper, and copper alloy. The heat dissipation fins 300 can also be forged heat sinks, and can also form partially hollowed-out spaces 310.

[0026] As shown in Figure 2A, in one embodiment, a fan 400 may be disposed in the same module as the cooling module 10, directly providing the exhaust airflow F through the CPU 200. The fan 400 may be a single centrifugal fan, a single or two axial fans, or other types or numbers of fans. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 3, in one embodiment, the cooling module 10 may not have a fan, but may be disposed in the area through which the exhaust airflow F is pre-set in the computer. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 4A, in one embodiment, when an axial fan 400' is disposed, the heat dissipation fins 300' may extend further below the axial fan 400', and the heat dissipation fins 300' below the axial fan 400' may also have a partial hollow space 310, forming a cold channel 311 that connects to the downstream of the CPU 200.

[0027] In the embodiment shown in this invention, a cooling element 500 may be disposed on the substrate 100 or the heat dissipation module base plate 110 of the substrate 100, and may be the same module as the cooling module 10, or may be disposed as a different module from the cooling module 10, but this is not a limitation. Regardless of whether it is part of the cooling module 10, in the embodiment shown in this invention, the cooling element 500 is located downstream of the flow direction of the exhaust airflow F, more specifically below the CPU 200 (although the downstream shown in the figure presents the cooling element 500 as being below the CPU 200 and the heat dissipation fins 300, this is not a limitation, and the downstream may also be located above the CPU 200 and the heat dissipation fins 300 depending on different placement directions or the flow field direction of the preset exhaust airflow F in the computer). When the element to be cooled 500 is a QSFP, according to the measurement results, the temperature of the QSFP may rise to 77.4°C without a cold aisle. When the setting in Figure 2A is used, as shown in Figure 2C, the temperature of the QSFP can be reduced to 66.5°C.

[0028] Corresponding to the arrangement of the element to be cooled 500, the extension axis A1 of one of the cold channels 311 defined by the partial hollow space 310 can be substantially coaxial or almost coaxial with the extension axis A2 of one of the elements to be cooled 500 (not shown in the figure). That is, the airflow flowing out of the cold channel 311 can directly correspond to and flow towards the element to be cooled 500. For example, when the element to be cooled 500 is located on the left side (as shown on the left side in Figure 3), the cold channel 311 is located on the left side of the heat dissipation fins 300 (on the left side in the same figure), but this is not a limitation. The extension axis A1 of one of the cold channels 311 defined by the partial hollow space 310 can also be separated from the extension axis A2 of one of the elements to be cooled 500, and the airflow can still bring about a cooling effect.

[0029] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 4A, a guide channel 600 may be provided between the cold channel 311 and the element 500 to be cooled. The guide channel 600 is disposed on the substrate 100 or the heat dissipation module base plate 110 of the substrate 100. In one embodiment, it may be composed of two non-linear baffles, defining a first opening 610 and a second opening 620 spaced apart from the first opening 610. The first opening 610 may be configured to directly connect to the cold channel 311, or be adjacent to or close to the cold channel 311. Depending on the shape of the element 500 to be cooled, the second opening 620 may be configured to be as close as possible to or close to the element 500 to be cooled. In this way, when the exhaust gas flow F leaves the cold channel 311, it will flow directly and concentratedly to the element 500 to be cooled along the guide channel 600 without being lost in the process, thus enhancing the cooling effect.

[0030] Please refer to Figure 4B. In one embodiment, the heat dissipation fins 300 may be further provided with heat insulation material 302, such as heat insulation coating or heat insulation sheet. The heat insulation material 302 completely or partially surrounds the cold channel 311. In this way, the heat absorbed by the exhaust airflow F through the heat dissipation fins 300 when passing through the cold channel 311 can be further reduced, and the heat is maintained at a lower temperature.

[0031] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of a cooling module 10' according to one embodiment of the present invention. The cooling module 10' may include a substrate 100, a central processing unit 200 and a heat dissipation fin 300''. The difference between the cooling module 10 and the cooling module 10 is that the cooling module 10' includes an independent cold channel 700. The independent cold channel 700 can be manufactured independently and can be partially or completely disposed on the substrate 100 or the heat dissipation module base plate 110 of the substrate 100, located downstream of the exhaust airflow F. In one embodiment, the independent cold channel 700 is disposed adjacent to the heat dissipation fin 300''. Its advantage is that the heat dissipation fin 300'' can be manufactured in the same way as the heat dissipation fin 4 (possibly only with a smaller width), and there is no need to provide a partial hollow space 310 on the heat dissipation fin 300''. In addition, the independent cold channel 700 can be made of, for example, heat insulation material 302, so that the exhaust airflow F flowing through the independent cold channel 700 is hardly affected by the heat dissipation fin 300''. In this way, the expected cooling effect can be achieved without significantly affecting the cost.

[0032] By means of the above-mentioned configuration, the cooling module of the present invention utilizes the heat dissipation margin of the CPU heat sink to make the component to be cooled meet the heat resistance specifications without significantly changing the specifications. This is a lower cost and simpler implementation solution compared to other methods such as modifying the heat sink material, fine arrangement of the heat sink, and fan airflow intensity, which effectively enhances the competitiveness of the product.

[0033] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the implementation of the present invention and to explain the technical features of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any changes or equivalent arrangements that can be made by those skilled in the art are within the scope of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the patent application. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0034] Figure 1A is a perspective view of the applicant's preliminary configuration during the research and development process; Figure 1B is a cross-sectional view along section line A-A' of Figure 1A; Figure 1C is a diagram showing the airflow temperature detection result of Figure 1B; Figure 2A is a perspective view of a cooling module according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2B is a cross-sectional view along section line B-B' of Figure 2A; Figure 2C is a diagram showing the airflow temperature detection result of Figure 2B; Figure 2D is a perspective view along section line B-B' of Figure 2A; Figure 2E is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention along section line B-B' of Figure 2A; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cooling module according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4A is a perspective view of a cooling module according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4B is a perspective view along section line C-C' of Figure 4A; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a cooling module according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cooling module for cooling components of an electronic computer, comprising: a substrate; a central processing unit (CPU) disposed on the substrate; a heat sink fin disposed on the substrate abutting the CPU to assist in heat dissipation of the CPU; and a component to be cooled, partially disposed on the substrate, located downstream of the exhaust airflow direction and also downstream of the heat sink fin; wherein... A portion of the heat sink fins has a hollowed-out space that defines a cold channel, which runs through the heat sink fins in the same direction as a row of hot airflows already installed in the computer.

2. The cooling module as described in claim 1 further includes a fan disposed on the substrate or on a portion of the heat dissipation fins, located upstream of one of the directions of the heat dissipation airflow, the fan being at least one centrifugal fan or an axial fan.

3. The cooling module as described in claim 2, wherein, One of the cold channels extends along a substantially coaxial or nearly coaxial axis with one of the elements to be cooled, so that the airflow through the cold channel flows directly to the element to be cooled.

4. The cooling module as described in claim 2, wherein, The extension axis of one of the cold channels is spaced apart from the extension axis of one of the elements to be cooled.

5. The cooling module as described in claim 4 further includes a flow channel disposed on the substrate, the flow channel defining a first opening and a second opening spaced apart from each other, the first opening corresponding to the cooling channel and the second opening corresponding to the element to be cooled.

6. The cooling module as described in claim 1, wherein, The cutout space is located in the lower half of one of the heat dissipation fins, close to one of the substrates, or in the upper half of one of the heat dissipation fins, at a distance from the substrate, or extends from the lower half to the upper half, approaching or exceeding the top of one of the heat dissipation fins.

7. The cooling module as described in claim 6, wherein, When the cold channel defined by the hollow space is set close to the substrate, the substrate located below the cold channel is provided with a corresponding groove to increase the cross-sectional area through which airflow can pass.

8. The cooling module as described in claim 1, wherein the cutout space is provided on the entire side portion of one of the heat dissipation fins, thereby reducing the width of one of the heat dissipation fins, or the cutout space partially cuts off the heat dissipation fins so that the heat dissipation fins are divided into two blocks.

9. The cooling module as described in claim 1, wherein, The heat dissipation fins contain insulating material that completely or partially surrounds the cold channel.

10. A cooling module for cooling components of an electronic computer, comprising: a substrate; a central processing unit disposed on the substrate; a heat sink fin disposed abutting or adjacent to the central processing unit to assist in heat dissipation of the central processing unit; an independent cold channel disposed adjacent to the heat sink fin, such that a stream of hot air in the electronic computer flows simultaneously through the independent cold channel and the heat sink fin; and a component to be cooled, partially disposed on the substrate, located downstream of one direction of the hot air stream and also downstream of one direction of the heat sink fin.

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