Kinetic heat sink having controllable thermal gap

Abstract

An apparatus and method for cooling a heat-generating component includes a stationary base structure and a rotating structure. The stationary base structure is mountable at the first heat-conducting surface to or near the heat-generating component. The stationary base structure has a first and second heat-conducting surface to conduct heat therebetween. The rotating structure is rotatably coupled to the stationary base structure. The rotating structure has a heat-extraction surface facing the second heat-conducting surface across a spatial gap. As a result of the rotating structure rotatably moving, the rotating structure substantially transfers the heat from the second heat-conducting surface to a thermal reservoir communicating with the rotating structure. In addition, as a result of the rotating structure rotatably moving, at least two surfaces of the rotating structure and / or the stationary base structure generate a thrust and an opposing thrust to vary and / or maintain the spatial gap.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This patent application claims priority from Provisional Application No. 61 / 656,868, filed Jun. 7, 2012, titled “Kinetic Heat Sink Having Controllable Thermal Gap.” The application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to heat-extraction and dissipation devices and methods and, more particularly, kinetic heat sinks for use with electronic components.BACKGROUND ART[0003]During operation, electric circuits and devices generate waste heat. To operate properly, the temperature of the electric circuits and devices has to be within a certain limit. The temperature of an electric device often is regulated using a heat sink physically mounted near or to the electric device. FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C show several examples of conventional heat sink assemblies 100. The heat sink assemblies 100 generally extract heat 102 (see FIG. 1C) from the thermal source 104 (i.e., the electric circuit or device) to a heat ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a kinetic heat sink apparatus that uses a rotating structure to transfer heat from a heat-generating component to a thermal reservoir. The apparatus includes a stationary member with a first heat-conducting surface and a rotating structure with a second heat-conducting surface. The two surfaces form a spatial gap therebetween. The rotating structure has a movable heat-extraction surface facing the second heat-conducting surface. The rotating structure also has a plurality of flow-directing members to channel cooling fluid through the apparatus. The apparatus may also include a sensor to provide feedback to a controller and an active pump regulator or an active spatial gap regulator. The invention provides a low-friction heat sink that can efficiently transfer heat from the heat-generating component to the thermal reservoir.

Problems solved by technology

During operation, electric circuits and devices generate waste heat.

These designs undesirably often have problems relating to sealing, risk of leaks, or high frictional energy losses.

Although air is generally considered a thermal insulator (i.e., not an efficient thermal transfer medium), when the fluid gap is made sufficiently small (i.e., in the order of tens of micrometers), the thermal resistance over the fluid gap may become negligible.

Current designs of this type of kinetic heat sink known to the inventors, however, do not adequately control the noted small fluid gap.

For example, the gap may not be properly regulated over a wide-range of rotational speeds or at arbitrary orientations.

Moreover, kinetic heat sinks may have significant start-up resistances that impede effectiveness.

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