Nut for heatsink and a heatsink assembly containing it

Abstract

Nut for a heat sink, comprising: a hollow plastic body having an inner surface on which an internal thread is arranged, one end of the hollow plastic body comprising: at least one bulge feature disposed on an outer surface of the hollow plastic body for engagement with the heat sink; and a head located at the other end of the plastic hollow body, wherein an outer diameter of the head is larger than an outer diameter of the plastic hollow body.

Description

BACKGROUNDArea of ​​the utility model

[0001] The present application relates generally to a nut and, more particularly, to a nut for a heat sink and a heat sink assembly incorporating the same. Description of the state of the art

[0002] Fig. 1A-1C illustrate flow diagrams of mounting a CPU 16 and a heat sink 18 on a motherboard 10. Fig. 1A shows a top view of the mainboard 10 on which no CPU 16 and no heat sink 18 are yet installed. Fig. 1B shows a top view of the main board with the CPU 16 installed on it, on which no heat sink 18 is yet installed. Fig. Figure 1C shows a top view of the motherboard with the CPU 16 and the heat sink 18 both mounted thereon. Referring to Fig. 1A, the currently available motherboard 10 has a CPU slot 12 provided on the motherboard 10 and a back plate 50 (see Fig. 7A), which is provided on the back of the motherboard 10, which is secured to the back of the motherboard 10 by fasteners 14. If a user intends to install the CPU 16 into the CPU slot 12 after purchasing the motherboard 10, the fasteners 14 of the back plate 50 must first be removed from the motherboard 10, and then the CPU 16 can be installed into the CPU slot (see Fig. 1B). Next, with reference to Fig. 1C, the user must engage the heat sink 18 by loosening screws 20 (see Fig. 2) through the main board 10 with nuts 52 (see Fig. 7A) on the back plate 50, thereby completing the assembly.

[0003] Fig. 2 shows a side view of the conventional heat sink arrangement. In Fig. 1C, when installing the heat sink 18 on the main board 10, the screws 20 must pass through the loading springs 22, the upper seals 24, the holders 26 and the lower seals 24 in the order shown before they can pass further through the main board 10 to engage with the nuts 52 (see Fig. 7A) on the back plate 50. This is not only cumbersome in assembly, but also requires more elements to accommodate the installation of the heat sink 18. In addition, the conventional screws 20 and nuts 52 (see Fig. 7A) are both made of metal, which, after repeated assembly, could cause metal debris to form between the two parts due to material fatigue during assembly. The detached metal debris inevitably comes into contact with various electronic devices and / or metal contacts on the motherboard 10, resulting in a short circuit and ultimately the burning of the entire motherboard.

[0004] There is therefore a need in the art for a nut used for a heat sink and a heat sink assembly that facilitates assembly, saves material, and avoids damage to the motherboard. SUMMARY

[0005] According to one aspect of the present application, a nut for a heat sink is provided, comprising: a plastic hollow body having an inner surface on which an internal thread is disposed, one end of the plastic hollow body having: at least one bulge feature disposed on an outer surface of the plastic hollow body for engaging the heat sink; and a head located at the other end of the plastic hollow body and having an outer diameter that is larger than an outer diameter of the plastic hollow body.

[0006] According to another aspect of the present application, a heat sink assembly is provided, comprising: a heat sink having at least two retainers symmetrically disposed about a periphery thereof; at least two nuts, as described above, each passing through at least two retainers, wherein at least one bulge feature of each of the at least two nuts is bulged against the lower surface of each of the at least two retainers upon passing through each of the at least two retainers; at least two loading springs, each disposed between the head of one of the at least two nuts and an upper surface of one of the at least two retainers, wherein two ends of each of the at least two loading springs respectively abut the head of one of the at least two nuts and the upper surface of one of the at least two retainers;and a backplate having at least two screws arranged on the backplate at positions corresponding to the at least two brackets, wherein each of the at least two screws has an external thread that mates with an internal thread of each of the at least two nuts, and wherein the heat sink is connected to the at least two nuts and the backplate by the internal threads of the at least two nuts and the external threads of the at least two screws of the backplate.;

[0007] In one embodiment, the nut further comprises: at least one open slot arranged at the end of the plastic hollow body, which slot passes from the outer surface of the plastic hollow body to the inner surface of the plastic hollow body.

[0008] In one embodiment, the at least one open slot is two open slots spaced apart from each other by a distance.

[0009] In one embodiment, the distance does not exceed half of a circumference of the hollow plastic body.

[0010] In one embodiment, the at least one curvature feature is a protrusion.

[0011] In one embodiment, the projection has a gradually increasing area and a radially extending area, wherein the gradually increasing area gradually increases from the end to the other end of the plastic hollow body and intersects with the radially extending surface extending radially from the outer surface of the plastic hollow body.

[0012] In one embodiment, the at least one curvature feature is at least three curvature features.

[0013] In one embodiment, the at least one bulge feature is arranged between the two open slots.

[0014] In one embodiment, the at least two holders are four holders arranged symmetrically around a circumference of the heat sink, the at least two nuts are four nuts, and the at least two screws are four screws.

[0015] In one embodiment, each of the at least two holders is C-shaped. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order that the aforementioned features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, reference may be made for a more specific description to embodiments of the present disclosure briefly summarized above, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and therefore should not be construed as limiting its scope, as the present disclosure may admit to other equivalent embodiments. Fig. 1A-1C show flowcharts of mounting a CPU and a heatsink on a motherboard, where Fig. Figure 1A shows a top view of the motherboard without a CPU and heatsink installed. Fig. 1B shows a top view of the motherboard with the CPU installed on it, on which no heatsink is yet installed, and Fig. Figure 1C shows a top view of the motherboard with the CPU and heatsink both installed on it. Fig. Figure 2 shows a side view of the conventional heat sink arrangement. Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a nut according to some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 4 illustrates a side view of the nut according to some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the nut installed on the heat sink according to some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 6 illustrates a side view of the nut with a liner on its inner surface according to some embodiments of the present application. Fig. Figure 7A is a schematic diagram of a conventional heat sink assembly. Fig. 7B illustrates a schematic diagram of a heat sink assembly according to some embodiments of the present application.

[0017] For clarity, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same elements in the drawings wherever possible. It is conceivable that elements and features of one embodiment may be advantageously incorporated into other embodiments without further reference. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The present application provides a nut for a heat sink, comprising: a plastic hollow body having an inner surface on which an internal thread is disposed, one end of the plastic hollow body having: at least one bulge feature disposed on an outer surface of the plastic hollow body for engaging the heat sink; and a head located at the other end of the plastic hollow body and having an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the plastic hollow body.

[0019] Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a nut according to some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 4 illustrates a side view of the nut according to some embodiments of the present application. Technical features of a nut 100 of the present application are described below with reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The nut 100 of the present application can be used with the commercially available heat sink 18 (see Fig. 1C) without further modification of the structure of the commercially available heat sink 18, thereby expanding its range of applications. The nut 100 comprises a hollow plastic body 110 and a head 150. An inner surface 120 of the hollow plastic body 110 may be provided with an internal thread 122 to engage with an external thread of a screw 202 on a backplate 200 of the present application (see Fig. 7B), thereby connecting the heat sink 18 to the main board 10.

[0020] The plastic hollow body 110 has two ends 112 and 114. At one end 112 of the plastic hollow body 110, at least one bulge feature 118 may be located. The bulge feature 118 may be arranged on an outer surface 124 of the plastic hollow body 110 for bulging along with the heat sink 18. The bulge feature 118 may be either a continuous bulge feature 118 surrounding the entire end 112 or a plurality of spaced-apart bulge features 118. Thus, the number of bulge features 118 may be one, two, three, or more. If the number of bulge features 118 is multiple, the plurality of bulge features 118 may be either symmetrically arranged or asymmetrically arranged. In some embodiments of the present application, the bulge feature 118 is a protrusion. In some embodiments of the present application, the protrusion may have a gradually increasing surface 118a and a radially extending surface 118b.The gradually increasing surface 118a gradually increases from the end 112 to the other end 114 of the plastic hollow body 110 and intersects with the radially extending surface 118b extending radially from the outer surface 124 of the plastic hollow body 110, thereby forming the projection disposed on the outer surface 124 of the plastic hollow body 110.

[0021] The head 150 is located at the other end 114 of the plastic hollow body 110 and has an outer diameter which is larger than that of the plastic hollow body 110, so that the head 150 can rest against the loading spring 22 after the plastic hollow body 110 of the nut 100 has passed through the loading spring 22, whereby the loading spring 22 is held in place (see Fig. 5).

[0022] Fig. Figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the nut installed on the heat sink according to some embodiments of the present application. The heat sink 18 is typically provided with symmetrical holders 26 on its periphery to install the heat sink 18 on the motherboard 10. Although the embodiment in Fig. 5 illustrates four retainers 26, the number of retainers 26 is not limited thereto as long as the heat sink 18 is properly installed and secured. To assemble the nut 100 and the heat sink 18, the nut 100 passes through the loading spring 22 and then through the retainer 26. The loading spring 22 is located between the head 150 of the nut 100 and an upper surface 28 of the retainer 26, with both ends of the loading spring 22 abutting the head 150 of the nut 100 and the upper surface 28 of the retainer 26. A first position is illustrated for the left nut 100, with the nut 100 passing through the retainer 26. In the first position, due to the elasticity of the hollow plastic body 110, the bulge feature 118 at the end 112 can be pressed inward to pass through an opening in the retainer 26. A second position is shown for the right nut 100, wherein the nut 100 passes through the holder 26.In the second position, after the end 112 of the nut 100 has passed through the opening of the holder 26, the end 112 restores its original radius due to an elastic restoring force, and the elastic force of the loading spring 22 causes the bulge feature 118 of the nut 100 to bulge against a lower surface 30 of the holder 26, thereby securing the nut 100 within the holder 26 and completing the assembly of the nut 100 and the heat sink 18.

[0023] With further reference to Fig. 3, in some embodiments of the present application, the end 112 of the nut 100 may further include at least one open slot 116. The open slot 116 extends through the outer surface 124 of the plastic hollow body 110 to the inner surface 120 of the plastic hollow body 110. The open slot 116 allows for easier inward compression of the plastic hollow body 110, which facilitates the passage of the bulge feature 118 disposed on the end 112 through the opening of the retainer 26 when the nut 100 is installed through the retainer 26 of the heat sink 18. As shown in Fig. 3, in some embodiments of the present application, the open slot 116 may be two open slots 116 spaced apart from each other by a distance. In some embodiments of the present application, the distance does not exceed half a circumference of the hollow plastic body 110. In some embodiments of the present application, the bulge feature 118 may be disposed between the two open slots 116.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present application, the head 150 may be made of plastic in addition to the hollow plastic body 110. If both the hollow body 110 and the head 150 are made of plastic, the nut 100 may be formed as a single piece.

[0025] Fig. Figure 6 illustrates a side view of the nut with a lining on its inner surface according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments of the present application, only a portion of the nut 100 that engages the metal screw 202 (see Fig. 7B), made of plastic. Therefore, in some embodiments of the present application, the nut 100 may be made of metal, with a plastic lining 126 within the hollow body 110. The lining 126 may have the internal thread 122 for engagement with the screw 202 of the back plate 200. Since in this embodiment the lining 126 on the inner surface 120 of the nut 100 is made of plastic, after repeated assembly, only plastic abrasion is generated when the screw 202 is screwed into the nut 100 (see Fig. 7B) without causing a short circuit in electronic devices and / or metal contacts on the main board 10.

[0026] Fig. 7A illustrates a schematic diagram of a conventional heat sink assembly. After installing the screw 20 onto the heat sink holder 18, the nut 52 riveted to the backplate 50 is further engaged with the screw 20 to complete the assembly of the heat sink assembly and the motherboard 10. As previously mentioned, metal debris may be generated when screwing the metal screw 20 into the metal nut 52, which may cause short circuits in the electronic devices and / or metal contacts on the motherboard 10.

[0027] Fig. 7B illustrates a schematic representation of a heat sink assembly according to some embodiments of the present application. According to some embodiments of the present application, the heat sink assembly may include the heat sink 18, the nut 100, the loading spring 22 (see Fig. 5) and the back plate 200. The screw 202 is riveted onto the back plate 200, and the screw 202 is arranged on the back plate 200 in a position corresponding to the holder 26. The screw 202 has an external thread that engages the internal thread 122 of the nut 100. After assembling the nut 100 and the heat sink 18, as shown in Fig. 5, the heat sink 18 is connected to the back plate 200 via the internal thread 122 of the nut 100 and the external thread of the screw 202, thereby completing the assembly of the heat sink. Fig. In the embodiment shown in Figure 7B, four holders 26 of the heat sink 18, four nuts 100 and four screws 202 are illustrated without limitation as long as they correspond to one another in quantity.

[0028] With further reference to Fig.5, in some embodiments of the present application, the retainer 26 may be C-shaped, but is not limited thereto. In the event that the retainer 26 is C-shaped, it is particularly suitable for embodiments of the nut 100 whose hollow body 110 does not have an open slot 116. When the hollow body 110 passes through the retainer 26 without an open slot 116, the C-shaped retainer 26 may expand outward to facilitate the passage of the bulge feature 118 of the nut 100, restore its original opening after the bulge feature 118 has passed through the retainer 26, and . In addition, the elastic force of the loading spring 22 causes the bulge feature 118 of the nut 100 to bulge against the bottom surface 30 of the holder 26, thereby securing the nut 100 within the holder 26 and completing the assembly of the nut 100 and the heat sink 18.

[0029] The heatsink nut and heatsink assembly of the present application are easier to install because they utilize bulging features for retention instead of a gasket. Furthermore, since no additional gasket is required to secure the two ends of the heatsink holder, material costs can be reduced. Furthermore, abrasion generated by the hollow plastic body does not cause short circuits in electronic devices and / or metal contacts on the motherboard, thus preventing damage to the motherboard.

[0030] The embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the present application. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications and changes to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present application is determined by the following claims.

Claims

[1] Nut for a heat sink, comprising: a hollow plastic body having an inner surface on which an internal thread is arranged, one end of the hollow plastic body comprising: at least one bulge feature disposed on an outer surface of the hollow plastic body for engagement with the heat sink; and a head located at the other end of the plastic hollow body, wherein an outer diameter of the head is larger than an outer diameter of the plastic hollow body. [2] Nut according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one open slot arranged at the end of the plastic hollow body and passing from the outer surface of the plastic hollow body to the inner surface of the plastic hollow body. [3] The nut of claim 2, wherein the at least one open slot is two open slots spaced apart from each other by a distance. [4] Nut according to claim 3, wherein the distance does not exceed half a circumference of the plastic hollow body. [5] A nut according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the at least one bulge feature is a projection. [6] A nut according to claim 5, wherein the projection has a gradually increasing area and a radially extending area, and the gradually increasing area gradually increases from the end to the other end of the plastic hollow body and intersects with the radially extending surface extending radially from the outer surface of the plastic hollow body. [7] A nut according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one bulge feature is at least three bulge features. [8] A nut according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the at least one bulge feature is disposed between the two open slots. [9] Heat sink assembly, comprising: a heat sink having at least two holders arranged symmetrically on a circumference thereof; at least two nuts according to any one of claims 1 to 8, each passing through the at least two holders, wherein the at least one bulge feature of each of the at least two nuts bulges against a lower surface of each of the at least two holders as it passes through each of the at least two holders; at least two loading springs, each arranged between the head of each of the at least two nuts and an upper surface of each of the at least two holders, two ends of each of the at least two loading springs respectively abutting the head of each of the at least two nuts and the upper surface of each of the at least two holders; and a backplate having at least two screws arranged at positions on the backplate corresponding to the at least two brackets, wherein each of the at least two screws has an external thread that mates with the internal thread of each of the at least two nuts, and wherein the heat sink is connected to the at least two nuts and the backplate by the internal threads of the at least two nuts and the external threads of the at least two screws of the backplate. [10] The heat sink assembly of claim 9, wherein the at least two holders are four holders arranged symmetrically around the circumference of the heat sink, the at least two nuts are four nuts, and the at least two screws are four screws. [11] A heat sink assembly according to claim 9 or 10, wherein each of the at least two holders is C-shaped.

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