Heat sink assembly and connector comprising the same

Abstract

The application discloses a heat sink assembly which can be installed on a connector housing, and comprises a heat sink and a mounting rack fixed to an end of the housing; wherein the heat sink comprises a first heat sink part installed on the housing and a second heat sink part extending beyond the housing from the end of the housing and installed on the mounting rack through a fixing member. The second heat sink part of the heat sink is directly installed on the mounting rack through the fixing member instead of being installed on a circuit board, so that deformation and damage of the heat sink due to vibration of the circuit board in a vibration test are avoided, and extra space for installing the heat sink on the circuit board is not needed, thereby saving the space of the circuit board.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of connectors, and more particularly to a heat sink assembly and a connector including the heat sink assembly. Background Technology

[0002] Connectors used for electrical connections typically consist of a circuit board, a housing (or cage) mounted on the circuit board, and a heat sink. In the prior art, to meet current high-performance heat dissipation requirements, most existing heat sinks employ long finned designs; furthermore, a portion of the heat sink is mounted on the housing, while the longer remaining portion extends from the rear end of the housing and is secured to the circuit board using fasteners such as bolts or screws. This arrangement of the heat sink on the circuit board easily leads to significant deformation and even damage during customer applications and vibration testing; moreover, the limited space on the circuit board makes installing these fasteners difficult. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to solve at least one aspect of the aforementioned problems and defects existing in the prior art.

[0004] According to one aspect of the present invention, a heat sink assembly is provided for mounting on a connector housing. The heat sink assembly includes a heat sink and a mounting bracket fixed to an end of the housing. The heat sink includes a first heat sink portion mounted on the housing; and a second heat sink portion extending beyond the end of the housing and mounted on the mounting bracket by a fastener.

[0005] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the second heat sink portion is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket via the fastener.

[0006] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a groove is provided in the second radiator portion; the fastener includes: a bolt, the shank of which passes through the second radiator portion from the bottom of the groove to the mounting bracket and is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket; and a compression spring, the compression spring being located in the groove and axially fitted on the shank of the bolt, and being compressed between the head of the bolt and the bottom of the groove.

[0007] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a threaded hole is formed in the mounting bracket, and an internal thread for threaded connection with the bolt is formed in the threaded hole.

[0008] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mounting bracket includes a mounting plate with a protruding boss, and the threaded hole is formed by tapping an internal thread through the mounting plate and the boss.

[0009] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a first side of the mounting plate is fixed to the wall of the end of the housing, and the mounting bracket is bent at a second side of the mounting plate opposite to the first side to form a bent plate.

[0010] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first side of the mounting plate is welded or riveted to the wall of the end of the housing.

[0011] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a wall hole is provided in the wall of the end of the housing, and a claw is formed on the first side of the mounting plate and is fixed to the wall of the end of the housing by inserting the claw into the wall hole.

[0012] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the radiator is a finned radiator.

[0013] According to another aspect of the invention, a connector is provided that includes the heat sink assembly described above.

[0014] In the aforementioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the second heat sink portion of the heat sink is directly mounted on the mounting bracket by a fastener, rather than on the circuit board, thereby avoiding deformation and damage of the heat sink due to vibration of the circuit board during vibration testing, and eliminating the need to reserve additional space on the circuit board for installing the heat sink, thus saving space on the circuit board.

[0015] Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, and will help to provide a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0016] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It should be understood that the drawings described below only relate to some embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention, wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a heat sink assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view showing a heat sink assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3This is a schematic diagram showing the mounting bracket on the end of the housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the mounting bracket according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure label:

[0022] 1. Heat sink; 11. First heat sink section; 12. Second heat sink section; 121. Groove; 1211. Bottom of the groove; 2. Circuit board; 3. Mounting bracket; 31. Threaded hole; 32. Mounting plate; 321. First side of the mounting plate; 322. Second side of the mounting plate; 323. Claw; 33. Boss; 34. Bending plate; 341. First plate; 342. Second plate; 4. Connector housing; 5. End of housing; 6. Fixing element; 61. Bolt; 62. Compression spring. Detailed Implementation

[0023] To more clearly illustrate the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following description of the embodiments is intended to explain and illustrate the overall concept of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In the specification and drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar parts or components. For clarity, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some well-known parts and structures may be omitted from the drawings.

[0024] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this invention shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terms “first,” “second,” and similar terms used in this invention do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. The word “a” or “an” does not exclude multiple components. Terms such as “comprising” or “including” mean that the element or object preceding the word encompasses the elements or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Terms such as “connected” or “linked” are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. Terms such as “upper,” “lower,” “left,” “right,” “top,” or “bottom,” etc., are used only to indicate relative positional relationships, and these relative positional relationships may change accordingly when the absolute position of the described object changes. When an element is said to be located “upper” or “lower” than another element, the element may be located “directly” above or below the other element, or there may be intermediate elements present.

[0025] like Figures 1 to 4As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a heat sink assembly that can be mounted on the housing of a connector. The connector further includes a circuit board 2, and the housing of the connector is mounted on the circuit board 2. The heat sink assembly includes a heat sink 1 and a mounting bracket 3. The heat sink in the embodiment can be a finned heat sink; the housing 4 of the connector is mounted on the circuit board 2; the mounting bracket 3 is fixed to the end 5 of the housing. The heat sink 1 includes a first heat sink portion 11 and a second heat sink portion 12.

[0026] The specific structure of the heat sink assembly is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the first heat sink portion 11 is mounted on the housing 4; the second heat sink portion 12 extends beyond the housing 4 from the end 5 of the housing and is mounted on the mounting bracket 3 by means of a fastener 6. In this embodiment, the end 5 of the housing refers to the rear end of the housing.

[0028] In this embodiment, the second heat sink portion 12 is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket 3 via a fastener 6. Specifically, as... Figure 2 As shown, a groove 121 is provided in the second radiator section 12; the fastener 6 includes a bolt 61 (e.g., a wing bolt) and a compression spring 62. The bolt 61 passes through the bottom 1211 of the groove from the second radiator section 12 to the mounting bracket 3 and is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket 3; the compression spring 62 is located in the groove 121 and is axially fitted on the bolt 61, and is squeezed between the head of the bolt 61 and the bottom 1211 of the groove.

[0029] The mounting bracket 3 of the embodiment has a threaded hole 31, in which an internal thread for threaded connection with the bolt 61 is formed. Specifically, the mounting bracket 3 includes a mounting plate 32 with a protruding boss 33. The threaded hole 31 is formed by tapping the internal thread by passing a tap through the mounting plate 32 and the boss 33.

[0030] Regarding the structure and fixing method of mounting bracket 3, such as Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the first side 321 of the mounting plate is fixed to the wall of the end 5 (i.e., the rear end) of the housing, and the mounting bracket 3 bends the mounting plate 32 at the second side 322 opposite to the first side 321 to form a bent plate 34, thereby saving space. In this embodiment, the bent plate 34 and the mounting plate 32 can be integrally formed, and as shown... Figure 4 As shown, the bending plate 34 may include a first plate 341 perpendicular to the mounting plate 32 and a second plate 342 parallel to the mounting plate 32, wherein the first plate 341 and the second plate 342 are integrally formed. The first side 321 of the mounting plate may be welded or riveted to the wall of the end 5 of the housing, or it may be fixed to the wall of the end 5 of the housing by other locking structures.

[0031] Figure 4 This illustrates one mounting method of the mounting plate 32 on the wall of the end 5 of the housing. For example... Figure 4 As shown, a wall hole is provided in the wall of the end 5 of the housing, and a claw 323 is formed on the first side 321 of the mounting plate and is fixed to the wall of the end 5 of the housing by inserting the claw 323 into the wall hole.

[0032] Embodiments of the present invention may also provide a connector that includes the heat sink assembly described above.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, the second heat sink portion 12 of the heat sink 1 is directly mounted on the mounting bracket 3 via the fastener 6, instead of being mounted on the circuit board 2. This avoids deformation and damage to the heat sink 1 due to vibration of the circuit board 2 during vibration testing, and eliminates the need to reserve additional space on the circuit board 2 for mounting the heat sink 1. For example, it eliminates the need to reserve additional space on the circuit board 2 for mounting the bolts 61 of the fastener 6, thus saving space on the circuit board 2. Furthermore, the elastic tension of the compression spring 62 can be adjusted by adjusting the bolts 61, thereby ensuring that the heat sink 1 is supported and mounted on the housing 4 with a balanced force while maintaining good contact between the heat sink 1 and the housing 4.

[0034] Those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiments described above are exemplary and can be improved upon. The structures described in the various embodiments can be freely combined without causing any conflict in structure or principle.

[0035] Although the invention has been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the drawings are intended to illustrate examples of the invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention. The dimensions and proportions in the drawings are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

[0036] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and structure of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that any changes and modifications made to the present invention without departing from the overall concept are within the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope defined in the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A heat sink assembly for mounting on a connector housing, the heat sink assembly comprising: Radiator (1); as well as Mounting bracket (3), which is fixed to the end (5) of the housing (4); The radiator (1) includes: The first radiator portion (11) is mounted on the housing (4); and The second radiator portion (12) extends beyond the end (5) of the housing (4), and the portion of the second radiator portion (12) extending beyond the housing (4) is mounted on the mounting bracket (3) by means of a fastener (6). The fastener (6) includes a bolt (61), the second radiator part (12) is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket (3) by the bolt (61), and the fastener (6) also includes a compression spring (62) axially fitted on the screw of the bolt, the compression spring (62) being squeezed between the head of the bolt (61) and the second radiator part (12).

2. The heat sink assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second heat sink part (12) has a groove (121). The bolt (61) extends from the bottom (1211) of the groove (121) through the second radiator portion (12) to the mounting bracket (3) and is threadedly connected to the mounting bracket (3); and The compression spring (62) is located in the groove (121) and is pressed between the head of the bolt (61) and the bottom of the groove (1211).

3. The heat sink assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that, The mounting bracket (3) has a threaded hole (31) formed therein, and the threaded hole (31) has an internal thread for threaded connection with the screw thread of the bolt (61).

4. The heat sink assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mounting bracket (3) includes a mounting plate (32) with a protruding boss (33) on the mounting plate (32) and the threaded hole (31) is formed by tapping the internal thread by passing a tap through the mounting plate (32) and the boss (33).

5. The heat sink assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first side (321) of the mounting plate (32) is fixed to the wall of the end (5) of the housing (4), and the mounting bracket (3) is bent at the second side (322) of the mounting plate (32) opposite to the first side (321) to form a bent plate (34).

6. The heat sink assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first side (321) of the mounting plate (32) is welded or riveted to the wall of the end (5) of the housing (4).

7. The heat sink assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that, A wall hole is provided in the wall of the end (5) of the housing (4), and a claw (323) is formed on the first side (321) of the mounting plate (32) and is fixed to the wall of the end (5) of the housing (4) by inserting the claw (323) into the wall hole.

8. The heat sink assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The radiator (1) is a finned radiator.

9. A connector comprising a heat sink assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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