Floating liquid cooling unit

Abstract

A floating liquid cooling device includes a base plate and at least one floating liquid cooling unit. The base plate has at least one mounting groove and at least one liquid cooling channel, which communicates with the mounting groove. The floating liquid cooling unit is buoyantly disposed in the mounting groove and has a floating channel that communicates with the liquid cooling channel, allowing coolant to flow between the liquid cooling channel and the floating channel. By utilizing this floating liquid cooling unit, the contact position with the heat source can be automatically adjusted according to the height of the heat source, providing uniform contact pressure. This avoids the problems caused by poor mechanical compatibility of traditional rigid installations, such as uneven contact pressure distribution leading to chip damage or the formation of high thermal resistance interfaces. It also solves the problems of time-consuming, labor-intensive maintenance and thermal stress caused by rigid installations.

Claims

1. A floating liquid cooling device, comprising: a base plate having at least one mounting groove and at least one liquid cooling channel communicating with the mounting groove; and at least one floating liquid cooling unit buoyantly disposed in the mounting groove of the base plate, the floating liquid cooling unit having a floating channel communicating with the liquid cooling channel, so that a coolant can flow between the liquid cooling channel and the floating channel.

2. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1 further includes a sealing element adjacent to the junction between the floating channel and the liquid cooling channel to prevent leakage of the coolant.

3. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the floating liquid cooling unit comprises: a body having the floating flow channel and a contact surface for floating contact with a heat source; an elastic element disposed between the body and the base plate for providing an elastic force of the contact surface of the body toward the heat source; and a limiting structure disposed between the body and the base plate for limiting a maximum floating stroke of the contact surface of the body relative to the base plate.

4. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the body has a fixing hole and an annular groove surrounding the fixing hole on the other side of the contact surface, the elastic element is provided in the annular groove, and the limiting structure is connected to the fixing hole.

5. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the limiting structure is a limiting screw, the limiting screw comprising: a limiting stop for stopping the base plate to limit the maximum floating stroke of the body; and a fixing screw connected to the limiting stop for passing through the base plate and threadedly connected to the fixing hole of the body.

6. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the base plate is provided with a groove, the limiting stop is located in the groove, and a floating gap is left between the limiting stop and the base plate, the limiting stop being able to float within the floating gap.

7. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein a thermally conductive interface material is disposed on the contact surface of the body, and the elastic pressure provided by the elastic element is used to keep the thermally conductive interface material in a compressed state when in contact with the heat source.

8. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the liquid cooling channel of the base plate forms an inlet and an outlet at the mounting groove, the floating channel includes an inlet and an outlet disposed on both sides of the body and an internal channel connecting the inlet and the outlet, the inlet being connected to the inlet and the outlet being connected to the outlet.

9. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one annular seal is provided on both sides of the main body surrounding the liquid inlet and the liquid outlet, the annular seal forming a radial seal with the inner wall of the mounting groove to prevent the coolant from leaking out when the floating liquid cooling unit floats.

10. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 9, wherein a sealing groove is provided on both sides of the body, the annular seal is installed in the sealing groove, and the depth of the sealing groove gradually increases from the middle of the body to the corner to balance the compressive stress of the annular seal at the corner.

11. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cross-section of the body is non-circular to prevent the body from rotating in the mounting slot.

12. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the non-circular cross-section is square, rectangular, or any geometric shape.

13. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 12, wherein each corner of the cross-section of the square or the rectangle is provided with a rounded transition section.

14. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3 further includes a plurality of the floating liquid cooling units, wherein the elastic element of each floating liquid cooling unit may have different stiffness to accommodate uneven heat load distribution.

15. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the elastic element comprises a helical spring, a wave spring, a disc spring, or an elastomer washer.

16. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base plate is a U-shaped structure and has a U-shaped liquid cooling channel running along the direction of the U-shaped structure inside.

17. The floating liquid cooling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base plate is provided with a plurality of mounting slots, the plurality of floating liquid cooling units are respectively floatingly disposed in the plurality of mounting slots, and each of the floating liquid cooling units is configured to float independently to adapt to a plurality of heat sources at different heights.

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