Heat dissipation structure with high thermal impedance material as shell and electronic device with same
By incorporating a metal layer and heat conduction path within a high thermal resistance housing, the problem of insufficient heat dissipation in waterproof electronic devices made of high thermal resistance materials is solved, achieving better heat conduction.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- ALPHA NETWORKS INC
- Filing Date
- 2021-07-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-26
AI Technical Summary
In the existing technology, electronic devices that use high thermal resistance materials as the outer shell have insufficient heat dissipation capacity and cannot effectively dissipate internal heat when waterproofing is required.
By setting columnar spaces in a high thermal resistance shell, covering the outside with a metal layer, and fixing the metal mounting bracket with fasteners, a heat exchange path is formed. Combined with thermal pads and heat-conducting plates to enhance heat conduction, the internal heat can be effectively dissipated.
While maintaining waterproof performance, it significantly improves the heat dissipation capacity of electronic devices, ensuring that internal heat can be effectively conducted to the outside, thereby improving overall heat dissipation efficiency.
Smart Images
Figure CN115529716B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to a heat dissipation structure and an electronic device having the same, and more particularly to a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the housing and an electronic device having the same. Background Technology
[0002] Electronic devices are devices that use the flow of electric charge to drive electronic components to perform various operations. Since each electronic component generates heat to some extent during operation, and excessively high temperatures may cause unpredictable problems in the operation of the electronic components, electronic devices must have adequate heat dissipation capabilities to ensure normal operation.
[0003] To provide heat dissipation, some electronic devices use metal casings to utilize the high heat dissipation properties of metal. However, due to regulations on casing temperature, some electronic devices must use high thermal resistance materials such as plastic for their casings. For electronic devices with plastic casings, heat dissipation can generally be aided by creating ventilation openings in the casing. However, when waterproofing is a consideration, ventilation openings cannot be created in the casing. Therefore, how to ensure proper heat dissipation for electronic devices using high thermal resistance materials while also ensuring waterproofing becomes a crucial issue. Summary of the Invention
[0004] Based on the above description, the present invention provides a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and an electronic device having the same, which provides better heat dissipation capabilities than the prior art when using a high thermal resistance material as the shell and also needing to be waterproof.
[0005] From one perspective, the present invention provides a heat dissipation structure using a high thermal resistance material as the shell, including a high thermal resistance shell, a thermally conductive pad, and a metal mounting bracket. The high thermal resistance shell forms a space to house a heat source. A cylindrical space is formed within the high thermal resistance shell, with one end exposed outside the shell and the second end enclosed within it. A metal layer is disposed on the outer side of the cylindrical space, and the thermal transfer coefficient of the high thermal resistance shell is not greater than 1. The thermally conductive pad is disposed between the metal layer and the heat source, exchanging heat with both. The metal mounting bracket and the heat source are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the high thermal resistance shell. The metal mounting bracket contacts the metal layer by a fastener passing through it and into the first end of the cylindrical space.
[0006] In one embodiment, the aforementioned metal layer surrounds the outside of the columnar space and is separated from the columnar space by a portion of a high thermal resistance shell.
[0007] In one embodiment, a portion of the metal layer is disposed between the second end of the columnar space and the thermal pad.
[0008] In one embodiment, the aforementioned fastener is a screw, and the cylindrical space is the space required to lock this screw into the high thermal resistance housing.
[0009] In one embodiment, the heat dissipation structure further includes a heat-conducting plate, a first side of which contacts a heat-conducting pad and a second side of which contacts the heat source, the heat source exchanging heat with the heat-conducting pad via the heat-conducting plate.
[0010] From another perspective, the present invention provides an electronic device with a heat dissipation structure, comprising a printed circuit board, a high thermal resistance housing, a thermally conductive pad, and a metal mounting bracket. Electronic components are disposed on the printed circuit board. The high thermal resistance housing forms a receiving space to house the printed circuit board, wherein a cylindrical space is formed within the high thermal resistance housing such that a first end of the cylindrical space is exposed outside the high thermal resistance housing and a second end is closed within the high thermal resistance housing. A metal layer is disposed on the outer side of the cylindrical space, and the thermal conductivity of the high thermal resistance housing is not greater than 1. The thermally conductive pad is disposed between the metal layer and the printed circuit board and exchanges heat with both the metal layer and the electronic components. The metal mounting bracket and the printed circuit board are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the high thermal resistance housing, wherein the metal mounting bracket contacts the metal layer by means of a fastener passing through the metal mounting bracket and into the first end of the cylindrical space.
[0011] In one embodiment, the aforementioned metal layer surrounds the outside of the columnar space and is separated from the columnar space by a portion of a high thermal resistance shell.
[0012] In one embodiment, a portion of the metal layer is disposed between the second end of the columnar space and the thermal pad.
[0013] In one embodiment, the aforementioned fastener is a screw, and the cylindrical space is the space required to lock this screw into the high thermal resistance housing.
[0014] In one embodiment, the thermal pad contacts the electronic component to exchange heat directly with it.
[0015] In one embodiment, the thermal pad contacts the brush circuit board to exchange heat with electronic components via the printed circuit board.
[0016] In one embodiment, the electronic device further includes a heat-conducting plate, a first side of which contacts a heat-conducting pad and a second side of which contacts an electronic component, the electronic component exchanging heat with the heat-conducting pad via the heat-conducting plate.
[0017] According to the above-described technology, the heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and the electronic device having the same provided in the description of the present invention enhance the effect of conducting heat from the inside of the shell to the outside of the shell by providing a metal layer outside the columnar space for mounting fasteners. Therefore, under the condition of using a high thermal resistance material as the shell and also taking into account waterproofing, it can have better heat dissipation capabilities than the prior art of making a sealed shell with a high thermal resistance material. Attached Figure Description
[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external assembly of a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] Figure 2A This is a cross-sectional view of a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and an internal heat source according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] Figure 2B This is a cross-sectional view of a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and an internal heat source according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] Figure 2C This is a cross-sectional view of a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and an internal heat source according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] Figure 2D This is a cross-sectional view of a heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and an internal heat source according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] The attached figures are labeled as follows:
[0024] 10: Heat dissipation structure
[0025] 100: Metal mounting bracket
[0026] 102, 104: Openings
[0027] 106, 108: Fasteners
[0028] 106a, 108a: Head
[0029] 106b, 108b: columnar portion
[0030] 110: Bottom
[0031] 120: Shell
[0032] 122: Cylindrical space
[0033] 122a, 126a: Open
[0034] 122b: End face
[0035] 124a: Metal layer
[0036] 200: Circuit board
[0037] 206: Screw
[0038] 206a: Screw head
[0039] 206b: Stud
[0040] 210: Integrated circuit chip
[0041] 220: Thermal pad
[0042] 230: Accommodation space
[0043] 240: Pillar
[0044] 260: Heat Dissipation Plate Detailed Implementation
[0045] Please refer to Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external assembly of a heat dissipation structure using a high thermal resistance material (defined here as a material with a thermal conductivity coefficient not greater than 1, such as plastic) as the shell, according to an embodiment of the present invention. From the outside, the heat dissipation structure 10 generally includes a metal mounting bracket 100 and a shell 120. In this embodiment, the shell 120 is a completely sealed and dustproof / waterproof box, with an internal space for accommodating objects (hereinafter referred to as the accommodating space); the metal mounting bracket 100 is connected to the shell 120 using fasteners (such as screws or bolts), ultimately fixing the metal mounting bracket 100 in a suitable location (such as a wall or ceiling), thereby installing the shell 120 and the objects contained therein in a selected location.
[0046] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the metal mounting bracket 100 has two openings 102 and 104 (the number of openings is merely illustrative and not a limitation of the invention). The housing 120 has corresponding openings 122a and 126a, and metal layers 124a and 128a are respectively provided on the outer sides of the openings 122a and 126a. The fastener 106 passes through the opening 102 on the metal mounting bracket 100 and enters the corresponding opening 122a on the housing 120, and the fastener 108 passes through the opening 104 on the metal mounting bracket 100 and enters the corresponding opening 126a on the housing 120. The fasteners 106 and 108 can be screws, rivets, or other objects with larger cross-sectional areas (heads 106a and 108a and smaller cross-sectional areas (pillars 106b and 108b)). The following description uses screws as fasteners, but it should be noted that this does not mean that the fasteners used in this invention must be screws; moreover, they can also be used in other designs. Figure 1Other methods (such as clamps) can be used to secure the metal mounting bracket 100 and the housing 120. Such substitutions do not affect the feasibility of implementing the present invention. Furthermore, to achieve better sealing, an insert molding technique can be used to fabricate the housing 120, including the metal layers 124a and 128a. However, it should be noted that those skilled in the art will understand that other molding techniques can also be used to fabricate the housing 120, and insert molding is not a necessary condition for the present invention.
[0047] Please refer to the following at the same time Figure 2A This is a cross-sectional view of a heat dissipation structure and internal heat source of a shell made of a high thermal resistance material according to an embodiment of the present invention. The screw 206 is one embodiment of the aforementioned fastener 106. As shown, the screw 206 passes through the opening 102 and enters the cylindrical space 122. The opening 102 can fully or partially accommodate the screw head 206a of the screw 206, and its shape is designed such that the cross-sectional area of the end away from the shell 120 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the end close to the shell 120. On the other hand, the cylindrical space 122 is used to accommodate the stud 206b of the screw 206, wherein one end of the cylindrical space 122 is exposed outside the shell 120 and is drawn on... Figure 1 The opening 122a is closed at one end of the housing 120, forming an end face 122b to prevent moisture or dust from entering the receiving space 230 through the opening 122a. Furthermore, the shell wall of the housing 120 forming the cylindrical space 122 should have threads to engage with the threads of the stud 206b of the screw 206, allowing the screw 206 to be locked onto the housing 120. When the screw 206 is locked onto the housing 120, the screw head 206a applies pressure to the opening 102, causing the bottom surface 110 of the metal mounting bracket 100 to approach or even directly contact the surface of the housing 120.
[0048] To provide adequate heat dissipation, firstly, one side of the metal layer 124a disposed within the housing 120 is exposed outside the housing 120 so that it can directly contact the metal mounting bracket 100 when it approaches the housing 120, resulting in heat exchange between the metal layer 124a and the metal mounting bracket 100. Secondly, the other side of the metal layer 124a is also exposed within the receiving space 230 of the housing 120 to exchange heat with the internal heat source. In this way, the metal layer 124a can absorb heat from the heat source in the receiving space 230 and transfer the absorbed heat to the metal mounting bracket 100, which then dissipates the received heat to the outside. Furthermore, heat sink fins can be mounted on the metal mounting bracket 100 in a manner provided by the prior art to enhance the heat dissipation effect of the metal mounting bracket 100, thereby strengthening the overall heat dissipation effect of the heat dissipation structure.
[0049] The aforementioned heat dissipation structure is applicable to various devices. In particular, given the high dust and water resistance requirements of circuit boards, integrated circuit chips, and various electronic components in electronic devices, using the heat dissipation structure provided in the above embodiments as the casing of electronic products is clearly quite suitable. Please continue to refer to... Figure 2A When the aforementioned heat dissipation structure is used in an electronic device, the heat source is the integrated circuit chip 210 shown in the figure. As shown, the circuit board 200 on which the integrated circuit chip 210 is disposed and the metal mounting bracket 100 are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the housing 120, that is, the circuit board 200 should be installed in the receiving space 230 inside the housing 120. Furthermore, a slightly elastic thermal pad 220 is disposed between the integrated circuit chip 210 and the metal layer 124a; or, from another perspective, a portion of the metal layer 124a is disposed between the end face 122b and the thermal pad 220. With this arrangement, the heat generated by the integrated circuit chip 210 can be conducted to the metal layer 124a via the thermal pad 220 and further dissipated to the external environment via the metal mounting bracket 100. Moreover, the thermal pad 220 not only performs the function of conducting heat energy, but also, as a buffer between the metal layer 124a and the integrated circuit chip 210, made of a slightly elastic material, reduces the pressure that may be applied to the integrated circuit chip 210 or the circuit board 200 when the housing 120 is closed.
[0050] For cost-effectiveness reasons, the thermal pad 220 can be placed only on the integrated circuit chip 210 where heat dissipation is required, and the metal layer 124a can be placed only at the position corresponding to the thermal pad 220 in the housing 120. Furthermore, if experiments or calculations show that the thermal conductivity meets the pre-designed requirements, then it can be done as follows... Figure 2B As shown, the area covered by the metal layer 124a is slightly reduced, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing the metal layer 124a.
[0051] In addition to the embodiments described above, to reduce excessive stress on the integrated circuit chips in electronic devices, the orientation of the integrated circuit chips can be changed during implementation. For example... Figure 2CAs shown, the thermal pad 220 and the integrated circuit chip 210 are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the circuit board 200. The thermal pad 220 directly contacts the position on the circuit board 200 corresponding to the integrated circuit chip 210 for heat dissipation. In this design, the heat generated by the integrated circuit chip 210 is first conducted through the circuit board 200 to the thermal pad 220 and then dissipated to the external environment by the metal mounting bracket 100. In addition, since the integrated circuit chip 210 will face the bottom of the housing space 230 in this design, in order to prevent the integrated circuit chip 210 from being squeezed by the bottom of the housing space 230, a support pillar 240 is further designed on the bottom of the housing space 230 in this embodiment. One end of the support pillar 240 is connected to the bottom of the housing space 230, and the other end supports the circuit board 200, thereby ensuring that there is enough space between the circuit board 200 and the bottom of the housing space 230 so that the integrated circuit chip 210 is not squeezed by the housing 120.
[0052] It should be noted that, to achieve better heat dissipation, in the above embodiments, the metal layer 124a and the thermal pad 220 are recommended to be placed at the corresponding location of the heat source (e.g., the aforementioned integrated circuit chip 210). However, different design methods are possible in other embodiments. For example, the positions of the metal layer 124a and the thermal pad 220 may not correspond to the position of the object to be cooled (in this case, the integrated circuit chip 210). Although such a design may result in lower heat dissipation efficiency, it provides greater flexibility in the design of the housing structure. To achieve both design flexibility and heat dissipation efficiency, a heat-conducting plate can be mounted on the circuit board 200. Please refer to... Figure 2D In this embodiment, a heat-conducting plate 260 is added. As shown in the figure, one side of the heat-conducting plate 260 contacts the heat-conducting pad 220 and the opposite side contacts the electronic component that needs to be cooled (such as the aforementioned integrated circuit chip 210). Thus, the electronic component can exchange heat with the heat-conducting pad 220 through the heat-conducting plate 260. Moreover, because of the presence of the heat-conducting plate 260, the heat-conducting pad 220 and the metal layer 124a do not necessarily have to be designed in the position corresponding to the electronic component that needs to be cooled, so the design of the housing 120 can be more flexible.
[0053] Based on the above, the heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell and the electronic device thereon provided in the above description enhance the ability to conduct heat from the inside of the shell to the outside of the shell by setting a metal layer. Therefore, when using a high thermal resistance material as the shell and waterproofing must also be taken into account, the technology described above can have better heat dissipation capabilities than the existing technology that simply uses a high thermal resistance material to make a sealed shell.
Claims
1. An electronic device with a heat dissipation structure, characterized in that, include: A printed circuit board containing an electronic component; A high thermal resistance housing forms a receiving space for housing the printed circuit board. A columnar space is formed in the high thermal resistance housing such that a first end of the columnar space is exposed outside the high thermal resistance housing and a second end is closed inside the high thermal resistance housing. A metal layer is disposed on the outside of the columnar space, and the metal layer is separated from the columnar space by a portion of the high thermal resistance housing. The thermal conductivity of the high thermal resistance housing is not greater than 1. A thermal pad is disposed between the metal layer and the printed circuit board and exchanges heat with both the metal layer and the electronic component; and A metal mounting bracket is disposed on opposite sides of the high thermal resistance housing, and the metal mounting bracket is brought into contact with the metal layer by a fastener passing through the metal mounting bracket and into the first end of the columnar space.
2. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal layer surrounds the outside of the columnar space.
3. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a portion of the metal layer is disposed between the second end of the columnar space and the thermal pad.
4. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing member is a screw, and the cylindrical space is the space required to lock the screw into the high thermal resistance housing.
5. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal pad contacts the electronic component to directly exchange heat with the electronic component.
6. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal pad contacts the printed circuit board to exchange heat with the electronic component via the printed circuit board.
7. The electronic device with a heat dissipation structure as claimed in claim 1 further includes a heat-conducting plate, a first side of which contacts the heat-conducting pad and a second side of which contacts the electronic component, wherein the electronic component exchanges heat with the heat-conducting pad via the heat-conducting plate.
8. A heat dissipation structure using a high thermal resistance material as the shell, characterized in that, include: A high thermal resistance shell forms a containment space for housing a heat source. A columnar space is formed in the high thermal resistance shell such that a first end of the columnar space is exposed outside the high thermal resistance shell and a second end is closed inside the high thermal resistance shell. A metal layer is disposed on the outside of the columnar space, and the metal layer is separated from the columnar space by a portion of the high thermal resistance shell. The heat transfer coefficient of the high thermal resistance shell is not greater than 1. A thermal pad is disposed between the metal layer and the heat source and exchanges heat with both the metal layer and the heat source; and A metal mounting bracket is disposed on opposite sides of the heat source, wherein the metal mounting bracket is brought into contact with the metal layer by means of a fastener passing through the metal mounting bracket and into the first end of the columnar space.
9. The heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell as described in claim 8, wherein the metal layer surrounds the outside of the columnar space.
10. The heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell as described in claim 8, wherein a portion of the metal layer is disposed between the second end of the columnar space and the thermal pad.
11. The heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell as described in claim 8, wherein the fixing member is a screw, and the columnar space is the space required to lock the screw into the high thermal resistance shell.
12. The heat dissipation structure with a high thermal resistance material as the shell as described in claim 8 further includes a heat-conducting plate, a first side of which contacts the heat-conducting pad and a second side of which contacts the heat source, wherein the heat source exchanges heat with the heat-conducting pad via the heat-conducting plate.