Electronic devices

Abstract

To provide an electronic device that does not increase in size and ensures heat dissipation of electronic components. [Solution] An electronic device 1 comprising a first electronic component 31, a second electronic component 32, and a heat sink 10 for cooling the first electronic component 31, wherein the heat sink 10 faces the first electronic component 31 and has a base portion 11 into which heat from the first electronic component 31 flows, and a heat dissipation portion 12, and at least a part of the second electronic component 32 is exposed to the heat dissipation portion 12 through a through hole 11A provided in the base portion 11 of the heat sink 10.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an electronic device.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a heat sink cooling structure that enables effective cooling of electronic components by effectively using limited space.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, as electronic devices have become smaller, improvements have been demanded for the arrangement of electronic components inside the electronic devices.

[0005] An object of this disclosure is to provide an electronic device that does not cause an increase in size and ensures heat dissipation of electronic components. [[ID=四十一]]

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An electronic device according to an embodiment of this disclosure includes a first electronic component, a second electronic component, and a heat sink that cools the first electronic component. The heat sink includes a base portion facing the first electronic component and through which heat of the first electronic component conducts, and a heat dissipation portion. At least a part of the second electronic component is exposed to the heat dissipation portion through a through hole provided in the base portion of the heat sink. [[ID=六十一]]

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide an electronic device that does not increase in size and ensures heat dissipation of electronic components. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic device according to an embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a top view showing an example of an electronic device according to the present disclosure. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the section along line III-III in Figure 2. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Figure 2. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a top view showing an example of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Figure 5. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] [Details of the embodiments of this disclosure] Specific examples of the electronic device 1 according to the embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. This disclosure is not limited to these examples, but is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims as indicated by the claims. For the sake of clarity, the description of components having the same reference numeral as components already described in the description of embodiments will be omitted. Also, for the sake of clarity, the dimensions of the components shown in these drawings may differ from the actual dimensions of the components. In Figure 1, etc., U, D, R, L, F, and B indicate directions in the electronic device 1, where U is up, D is down, R is to the right, L is to the left, F is forward, and B is to the rear.

[0010] The electronic device 1 according to this disclosure will be described using Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the electronic device 1 according to this disclosure. The electronic device 1 according to this disclosure has heat-generating electronic components mounted on a substrate, such as a servo amplifier.

[0011] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the electronic device 1 comprises a casing 2, a heat sink 10, a substrate 20, a first electronic component 31, and a second electronic component 32. The casing 2 is a box-shaped member capable of housing the heat sink 10, the substrate 20, the first electronic component 31, and the second electronic component 32, and is the housing of the electronic device 1. The substrate 20 is mounted with the first electronic component 31, the second electronic component 32, and the heat sink 10. In the following description, the first electronic component 31 and the second electronic component 32 may be collectively referred to as "electronic component 30".

[0012] Figure 2 is a top view showing an example of an electronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Components that are not visible in the top view shown in Figure 2 are indicated by dashed lines. The substrate 20 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a flexible plate-shaped member made of resin or the like. Electronic components 30 can be attached to one side of the substrate 20. A first electronic component 31 and a second electronic component 32 are attached to the side of the substrate 20 facing the heat sink 10 (see Figure 2).

[0013] The first electronic component 31 is an electronic component 30 provided on the substrate 20 that requires active heat dissipation. Examples of the first electronic component 31 include switching elements such as IGBTs, resistors, capacitors, transformers, and diodes. The second electronic component 32 is an electronic component 30 provided on the substrate 20 that generates less heat and has a lower priority for heat dissipation compared to the first electronic component 31. Examples of the second electronic component 32 include relays, resistors, and electrolytic capacitors. Multiple first electronic components 31 and second electronic components 32 may be provided on the substrate 20.

[0014] The heat sink 10 is composed of a metal with high thermal conductivity and can dissipate the heat generated by the electronic component 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat sink 10 has a base portion 11, a heat radiating portion 12, and a support portion 13.

[0015] The base portion 11 is a plate-like member provided such that one surface (the lower surface in this example) faces the substrate 20. The base portion 11 is provided at a position facing the first electronic component 31 provided on the substrate 20. The base portion 11 can transmit the heat generated by the first electronic component 31 to the heat radiating portion 12 described later.

[0016] The heat radiating portion 12 is a plate-like member extending upward in the U direction from the base portion 11. A plurality of heat radiating portions 12 are provided on the base portion 11 at intervals from each other. The heat radiating portion 12 can release the heat transmitted from the base portion 11 into the air. Note that the heat radiating portion 12 may be integrally formed with the base portion 11.

[0017] The support portion 13 is a columnar member extending downward in the D direction from the base portion 11. The support portion 13 extends from the surface of the base portion 11 where the heat radiating portion 12 is not provided. The support portion 13 passes through a through hole (not shown) provided in the substrate 20 and can position the heat sink 10 with respect to the substrate 20. The support portion 13 and the substrate 20 may be fixed to each other by an adhesive or the like. The support portion 13 is provided at each of the four corners of the heat sink 10 when the electronic device 1 is viewed transparently from above.

[0018] Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the attachment mode of the heat sink 10 to the substrate 20 and the electronic component 30 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cross-section taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional arrow view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the base portion 11 is provided so as to contact the first electronic component 31. The first electronic component 31 is provided so as to be sandwiched between the substrate 20 and the base portion 11. By providing the base portion 11 so as to contact the first electronic component 31, the heat generated by the first electronic component 31 can be efficiently transmitted to the heat sink 10.

[0019] When the heat sink 10 is provided so as to contact the first electronic component 31, in the region of the substrate 20 that overlaps the heat sink 10 in a top view, components having a height in the vertical direction higher than that of the first electronic component 31 cannot be arranged. Therefore, in the electronic device 1 according to the present disclosure, in order to arrange an electronic component having a height higher than that of the first electronic component 31 in this region, a space R (see FIG. 3) for accommodating the electronic component having a high height is formed in the heat sink 10.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, a through hole 11A having a rectangular shape in a top view is opened in the base portion 11 in the vertical direction. Further, in a portion of the heat radiating portion 12 that overlaps the through hole 11A in the top view shown in FIG. 2, an opening portion 12A that continuously extends upward U from the through hole 11A by a predetermined length is provided (see FIGS. 3 and 4). In the example shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of heat radiating portions 12 are provided in the region where the through hole 11A is provided in a top view, and the opening portions 12A are provided in all of the plurality of heat radiating portions 12, respectively. In this way, the space R is formed in the heat sink 10 by the through hole 11A provided in the base portion 11 and the opening portion 12A provided in the heat radiating portion 12.

[0021] As shown in Figure 3, space R is positioned to accommodate at least a portion (the upper part in this example) of the second electronic component. The second electronic component 32 is exposed to the heat dissipation section 12 by being provided through the through-hole 11A of the base portion 11 such that at least a portion of it is located in space R. It is sufficient that at least a portion of the second electronic component 32 is housed in space R; for example, the upper surface of the second electronic component 32 may be located slightly higher than the lower surface of the base portion 11. Note that the second electronic component 32 does not need to be in contact with the heat sink 10 because it has a low priority for heat dissipation.

[0022] In electronic devices, heat sinks are sometimes provided on the circuit board to dissipate the heat generated by electronic components mounted on the board. Generally, to improve heat dissipation efficiency, the circuit board and electronic component layout are designed so that high-heat-generating electronic components are placed in contact with the heat sink, while other electronic components are placed away from the heat sink to avoid interference. However, the proportion of high-heat-generating electronic components among the mounted electronic components is often not high. Therefore, with this design philosophy, it becomes necessary to place a large number of electronic components away from the heat sink, which leads to a larger circuit board and ultimately to a larger electronic device.

[0023] According to this disclosure, a through-hole 11A is provided in the base portion 11 of the heat sink 10, and a second electronic component 32 that generates less heat is placed through the through-hole 11A. This allows the second electronic component 32 to be placed in a position that overlaps with the heat sink 10. As a result, the substrate 20 can be made smaller, and thus the size of the electronic device 1 can be suppressed.

[0024] Furthermore, even if the second electronic component 32 is a component that generates heat, since the second electronic component 32 is exposed to the heat dissipation section 12, the heat generated from the second electronic component 32 can be dissipated from the heat dissipation section 12.

[0025] Thus, this disclosure provides an electronic device equipped with multiple electronic components that does not increase the size of the electronic device and ensures heat dissipation for the electronic components.

[0026] If, contrary to this disclosure, the heatsink 10 is not provided with a through-hole 11A and the first electronic component 31 and the second electronic component 32 are to be placed on a common substrate 20 below the heatsink 10, it will be necessary to consider the placement of the electronic components 30 according to the height of each electronic component 30. However, according to this disclosure, the second electronic component 32 is provided so as to be exposed to the through-hole 11A provided in the heatsink 10, so even if the first electronic component 31 and the second electronic component 32 are provided on a common substrate 20, there are fewer constraints on placement.

[0027] In the electronic device 1 according to this disclosure, it is preferable that the second electronic component generates less heat than the first electronic component. With this configuration, the second electronic component can be placed without hindering the heat dissipation of the first electronic component.

[0028] In the electronic device 1 according to this disclosure, a significant effect is achieved when the height of the second electronic component 32 from the substrate 20 is greater than the height of the first electronic component 31 from the substrate. According to the configuration of this disclosure, the constraints on the placement of the second electronic component 32, which is taller than the first electronic component 31 from the substrate 20, can be reduced.

[0029] In the embodiments described above, an example was described in which the first electronic component 31 and the second electronic component 32 are provided on a common substrate 20, but this disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the first electronic component 31 and the second electronic component 32 may be provided on separate substrates. In the above configuration as well, the size of the electronic device 1 can be suppressed by housing the second electronic component 32 in a space R provided in the heat sink 10.

[0030] Furthermore, although the embodiments described above describe an example in which the second electronic component 32 is not in contact with the heat sink 10, this disclosure is not limited to this. For example, if heat dissipation of the second electronic component 32 is required, the heat sink 10 may be positioned so that the second electronic component 32 is in contact with the heat sink 10. By bringing the second electronic component 32 into contact with the heat sink 10, the heat generated by the second electronic component 32 can be efficiently dissipated.

[0031] Furthermore, in the electronic device 1 according to this disclosure, the heat dissipation priority of the second electronic component 32 may be higher than that of the first electronic component 31. Even when the electronic component 30, which has a high heat dissipation priority, is provided in the space R provided in the heat sink 10, it is possible to provide an electronic device 1 that does not increase in size and ensures the heat dissipation performance of the electronic component 30.

[0032] Up to this point, an electronic device 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described, but the configuration of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Another embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device 1A, is shown in Figures 5 and 6. The electronic device 1A shown in Figures 5 and 6 has a fan 50 that promotes heat dissipation from the heat sink 10.

[0033] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the fan 50 is fixed to one end of the heat sink 10. The fan 50 is located at the front-to-back end of the heat dissipation section 12, on the side where the first electronic component 31 is located (the front end F in Figures 5 and 6).

[0034] The fan 50 is provided at the front end F of the electronic device 1A and can generate an airflow W that flows from the front F toward the rear B. More specifically, the fan 50 can generate an airflow W along the longitudinal direction of the heat dissipation section 12 by using the gaps between the multiple heat dissipation sections 12, which are spaced apart from each other, as a flow path.

[0035] As shown in Figure 6, at least a portion of the space R formed by the through-hole 11A and the opening 12A is positioned within the airflow W created by the fan 50. With this configuration, the second electronic component 32 among the electronic components 30 mounted on the substrate 20 is positioned to be exposed to the airflow path from the fan 50. With this configuration, since the second electronic component 32 is located in the airflow path from the fan 50, even if the second electronic component 32 is a component that generates a lot of heat, it can be efficiently dissipated.

[0036] Furthermore, of the multiple electronic components 30, the first electronic component 31 is mounted on the substrate 20 such that it is located upstream of the second electronic component 32 in the direction of the airflow W. For this reason, the space R in which a part of the second electronic component 32 is located is located downstream of the contact portion 11B (see Figure 6) where the first electronic component 31 contacts the base portion 11 in the direction of the airflow W.

[0037] In the configuration of this disclosure, the fan 50 generates an airflow W for cooling the heat sink 10. Also, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, in this embodiment, the base portion 11 has a contact portion 11B that contacts the first electronic component 31, and the through hole 11A is provided downstream of the contact portion 11B in the airflow W path. The downstream side of the airflow W path is heated by the heat dissipated by the heat sink 10, so the cooling efficiency is reduced. Here, since the second electronic component 32 generates little heat, there is no problem from a cooling standpoint even if it is located downstream of the airflow W path passing through the heat sink 10. According to the configuration of this disclosure, by placing the second electronic component 32, which has a low heat dissipation priority, on the downstream side of the airflow W path generated by the fan 50, the first electronic component 31, which has a high heat dissipation priority, can be efficiently dissipated.

[0038] While embodiments of this disclosure have been described above, it goes without saying that the technical scope of this disclosure should not be interpreted restrictively by the description of these embodiments. These embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications to the embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of this disclosure should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and the scope of its equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0039] 1,1A electronic equipment 2 Casing 10 Heatsinks 11 Base section 11A through hole 11B Contact part 12 Heat dissipation part 12A opening 13 Support part 20 circuit boards 30 Electronic Components 31 Daiichi Electronic Components 32 Second electronic component 50 Fans

Claims

1. First Electronic Components and Second electronic component and, The first electronic component has a heat sink for cooling, The aforementioned heatsink is A base portion facing the first electronic component and through which heat from the first electronic component is conducted, It has a heat dissipation section, An electronic device in which at least a portion of the second electronic component is exposed to the heat dissipation portion through a through hole provided in the base portion of the heat sink.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic component and the second electronic component are mounted on a common substrate.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second electronic component generates less heat than the first electronic component.

4. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the height of the second electronic component from the common substrate is greater than the height of the first electronic component from the common substrate.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second electronic component does not come into contact with the heat sink.

6. The heat dissipation section has a fan for dissipating heat, The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second electronic component is exposed in a channel through which the airflow from the fan passes.

7. The base portion has a contact portion that contacts the first electronic component, The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the through hole is provided downstream of the contact portion in the flow path.

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