Optical module heat dissipation device

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an optical module heat dissipation device. The optical module heat dissipation device comprises: an optical module comprising an upper shell and a lower shell, wherein the upper shell comprises a fixedly mounted fixed shell portion and an elastically mounted floating shell portion; and a radiator comprising a first radiator area and a second radiator area, wherein the first radiator area is in contact with the fixed shell portion, and the second radiator area is in contact with the floating shell portion, so as to dissipate heat from the optical module.

Description

Optical module heat dissipation device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This disclosure is based on Chinese patent application CN202311233650.6, filed on September 22, 2023, entitled “Optical Module Heat Dissipation Device,” and claims the priority of the patent application, all of the contents disclosed therein are incorporated into this disclosure by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the technical field of heat dissipation of optical communication equipment, and more particularly, to a heat dissipation device for an optical module. Background Art

[0004] The increasing complexity and diversification of network requirements, coupled with their rapidly expanding scale, have driven explosive growth in the overall bandwidth of optical networks. High-performance coherent optical modules, core components in optical network transmission, are evolving towards high power consumption, compact packaging, and high flexibility. However, as optical modules' power consumption continues to increase, existing modules have a fixed assembly between internal components and heat sinks, with the internal components sharing a common housing for heat dissipation. This creates thermal interconnection issues. Furthermore, due to tolerances in components, circuit boards, and optical module housings, thermally conductive interface materials with a certain thickness are required to compensate for these variations. This results in high thermal resistance and poor heat transfer. This means that the internal components of optical modules cannot dissipate heat in a targeted manner based on their own characteristics, thus affecting their performance. Therefore, heat dissipation in optical modules is a key factor restricting their reliable application. Targeted heat dissipation of components within optical modules is a pressing issue in current optical module technology.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide an optical module heat dissipation device, which solves the problem of how to dissipate heat from components in an optical module in a targeted manner in the related art.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optical module heat dissipation device is provided, comprising: an optical module, comprising an upper shell and a lower shell, wherein the upper shell comprises: a fixed shell part that is fixedly assembled and a floating shell part that is elastically assembled; a heat sink, comprising a first heat sink area and a second heat sink area, wherein the first heat sink area is in contact with the fixed shell part, and the second heat sink area is in contact with the floating shell part, for dissipating heat from the optical module. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG1 is an exploded schematic diagram of a conventional optical module device;

[0009] FIG2 is an exploded schematic diagram of a conventional optical module assembled on a board;

[0010] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the assembly of a traditional optical module on a board;

[0011] FIG4 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG5 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG6 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG7 is an exploded schematic diagram of a heat sink device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG8 is an exploded schematic diagram of a heat sink device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of assembling a heat sink device and an optical module device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with embodiments.

[0018] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present disclosure and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0019] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides an optical module equipped with a fixed shell and a floating shell, and a heat sink device matched therewith. The optical module shell includes a fixed shell part and a floating shell part, and the two parts can be interconnected or separated; the heat sink device matched therewith includes multiple heat sink parts, corresponding to the fixed shell and the floating shell respectively. The fixed shell and the floating shell are respectively connected to the corresponding components that need heat dissipation in the optical module, and each component transfers the heat to the fixed shell part and the floating shell part respectively (the thermal interface material can be filled between the component and the shell to reduce the interface thermal resistance), and then dissipates it into the air through the matching heat sink part; through the zoned targeted heat dissipation design, the heat dissipation problem of the bottleneck component inside the optical module is effectively solved. In order to facilitate the understanding of the technical solution provided by the present disclosure, the following will be elaborated in detail with reference to the embodiments of specific scenarios.

[0020] FIG1 is an exploded schematic diagram of a conventional optical module heat dissipation device. As shown in FIG1 , the optical module heat dissipation device includes: an optical module 1 , a heat sink 2 , and a communication device board 3 .

[0021] The optical module 1 includes an upper shell 11 , a lower shell 12 , a circuit board assembly 13 , and a thermal interface material 14 .

[0022] The circuit board assembly 13 is configured to carry the circuit of the optical module 1 and has functions such as a signal link. It includes a printed circuit board PCB 131, other devices such as devices 132 / 133 (other devices are not shown in the figure), and a connector 134. The circuit board assembly 13 is fastened to the lower shell 12 or hoisted on the upper shell 11 (the embodiment of the present disclosure is described as being fixed on the lower shell 12). Devices 132 and 133 are connected to the upper shell 11 of the optical module 1 through a thermal interface material 14 (whether to be connected to the upper shell 11 or the lower shell 12 is determined based on whether it is placed on the A side or B side of the PCB. The embodiments of the present disclosure are described as being placed on the A side of the PCB). The upper shell 11 is fixed on the lower shell 12 to achieve the encapsulation of the optical module 1.

[0023] The heat sink 2 is fixed on the guide rail 37 of the communication device board 3 by means of spring screws 21 (or fixed on the cage 35 of the communication device board 3 by means of buckles). The heat sink 2 has a floating capability.

[0024] Figure 2 is an exploded schematic diagram of a traditional optical module assembled on a board. As shown in Figure 2, the communication equipment board 3 includes a panel 31, a support plate 32, a board PCB 33, a head frame 34, a cage 35, a board optical connector 36, a guide rail 37, etc.

[0025] The panel 31 is provided with an opening 311 , and the head frame 34 is assembled inside the opening 311 .

[0026] The board optical connector 36 is soldered to the board PCB 33. The tail of the squirrel cage 35 matches the board optical connector 36 and is then inserted into the board PCB 33. The board PCB 33 is fixed to the panel 31 and the support plate 32 by screws, etc. At the same time, during the board installation process, it is necessary to ensure that the head of the squirrel cage 35 matches the head frame 34.

[0027] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the traditional optical module assembly on a board. The assembly and heat dissipation principles of the optical module device include: optical module 1 is inserted into cage 35 through board opening 311, through head frame 34; connector 134 of optical module 1 is plugged into board optical connector 36, establishing a signal path between optical module 1 and communication device board 3. Heat sink 2's baseplate 22 makes physical contact or thermally conductive contact with the upper housing 11 of optical module 1 through hole 351 in cage 35. Components 132 and 133 within optical module 1 transfer heat to upper housing 11, and then to heat sink 2, completing a thermal conduction path from internal components to the external heat sink, where heat is ultimately dissipated into the air. This represents a traditional optical module heat dissipation device.

[0028] In this embodiment, most of the components 132, 133, etc. inside the optical module 1 are fixed on the board PCB33 and share the upper shell 11 for heat transfer. On the one hand, the upper shell 11 is a good heat conductor, resulting in heat interconnection between the components 132, 133, etc.; on the other hand, the components 132, 133, etc. are mostly fixed in form and share the upper shell 11, which needs to be filled with tolerance-type thermal conductive interface materials, resulting in high thermal resistance and difficulty in heat transfer.

[0029] Based on the problem that traditional optical modules cannot dissipate heat in a targeted manner, this embodiment provides an optical module heat dissipation device provided with a solid and floating shell body and a matching heat sink based on the above-mentioned traditional optical module heat dissipation device. The rest of the assembly on the board is similar to that of the traditional optical module. As shown in Figures 4, 6, and 7, the optical module 1' includes an upper shell 11' and a lower shell 12'. The upper shell 11' includes a fixed shell part 11'-1 and a floating shell part 11'-2, wherein the fixed shell part 11'-1 is tightly assembled with the optical module and is relatively immovable, and the floating shell part 11'-2 is elastically assembled with the optical module, floating perpendicular to the direction of the heat dissipation substrate, and also has a certain amount of activity space in the plane direction; the fixed shell part 11'-1 and the floating shell part 11'-2 can be interconnected or separated.

[0030] FIG4 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG4 , the fixed housing portion 11'-1 and the floating housing portion 11'-2 can be separated. The lower housing 12' can be the same as the lower housing 12 of the conventional optical module 1, or can be configured as a fixed or floating solution (not specifically described in the present embodiment); the circuit board assembly 13 is fixed within the lower housing 12'; the fixed housing portion 11'-1 of the upper housing 11' is fixed to the lower housing 12' via limit screws 11'-11, and the floating housing portion 11'-2 is fixed to the lower housing 12' via spring screws 11'-21, thereby achieving a floating assembly of the floating housing portion 11'-2 and the lower housing 12'.

[0031] FIG5 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG6 is an exploded schematic diagram of an optical module device according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG5 or 6, the fixed housing portion 11'-1 leaves an installation space for the floating housing portion 11'-2, wherein the installation space can be an opening opened in the upper housing 11' (as shown in FIG5). In this case, the upper housing 11' with the opening is the fixed housing portion 11'-1, and the floating housing portion 11'-2 is fixed through the opening of the fixed housing portion 11'-1. In the fixed shell part 11'-1; the installation space can also be set as shown in Figure 6, that is, the upper shell 11' is divided into two parts, left and right, and the right part is fixedly connected to the protruding structure of the left part; specifically, the upper floating shell part 11'-2 is fixed to the fixed shell part 11'-1 by spring screws 11'-21, etc., to form an interconnected upper shell 11', and the upper shell 11' is fixed to the lower shell 12' by the limit screws 11'-11 of the fixed shell part 11'-1 to realize the packaging of the optical module 1'.

[0032] Thermal interface material is provided between the components in circuit board assembly 13 and upper shell 11'. Components 132 and others are connected to fixed shell portion 11'-1 via tolerance thermal interface material 14, sharing fixed shell portion 11'-1 to transfer heat from the components to the upper shell. Components 133 and others are connected to floating shell portion 11'-2 via ultra-thin, low-thermal-resistance thermal interface material 14', using floating shell portion 11'-2 to transfer heat from the components to the upper shell. The floating shell portion utilizes ultra-thin, low-thermal-resistance thermal conductive material, which reduces thermal resistance by approximately 60% compared to tolerance thermal conductive material. This significantly reduces the thermal resistance of the material, allowing heat from the components to be transferred more easily to the upper shell.

[0033] The heat sink 2' matched with the solid and floating upper shell 11' includes a first heat sink area 2'-1 and a second heat sink area 2'-2. The present disclosure defines that the first heat sink area 2'-1 matches the fixed shell part 11'-1 for contact heat transfer, and the second heat sink area 2'-2 matches the floating shell part 11'-2 for contact heat transfer.

[0034] Similar to the module upper shell 11', the first heat sink area 2'-1 and the second heat sink area 2'-2 of the heat sink 2' can also be interconnected or separated to achieve coordinated heat dissipation in conjunction with the design of the upper shell 11'. Figure 7 is an exploded schematic diagram of the heat sink device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the first heat sink area 2'-1 and the second heat sink area 2'-2 of the heat sink 2' are separated. The first heat sink area 2'-1 and the second heat sink area 2'-2 are respectively fixed to the guide rail 37 by spring screws 2'-11 and 2'-21 to achieve installation of the optical module heat sink.

[0035] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of an exploded view of a heat sink device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, the first heat sink area 2'-1 and the second heat sink area 2'-2 of the heat sink 2' are interconnected. In addition to the heat dissipation functional area of ​​the main body, the first heat sink area 2'-1 reserves space for the installation of the second heat sink area 2'-2. The second heat sink area 2'-2 is assembled on the first heat sink area 2'-1 by means of spring screws 2'-21, etc., to form an interconnected heat sink 2'; the heat sink 2' is fixed to the guide rail 37 by the spring screws 2'-11 of the first heat sink area 2'-1, thereby realizing the installation of the optical module heat sink. The installation effect of the heat sink is shown in Figure 9.

[0036] The two heat sink devices and the three optical module devices can be matched and applied arbitrarily.

[0037] Through the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, since the optical module is equipped with a floating shell portion, and the floating shell portion is in contact with the second heat sink area, the heat of the components inside the optical module can be transferred to the floating shell portion, and then dissipated into the air through the heat sink in contact with the floating shell portion. At the same time, since the floating shell portion is elastically assembled, "separation from the corresponding shells of other components is achieved, reducing the impact of thermal interconnection; and the elastic contact between the shell and the component can be filled with ultra-thin low thermal resistance thermal conductive interface material," so that the heat in the component is dissipated outward in a timely manner, ensuring the performance of the component. Therefore, the problem of how to dissipate heat from the components in the optical module in a targeted manner in the related art can be solved, achieving the effect of targeted heat dissipation.

[0038] The design of the floating shell and floating heat sink eliminates the need for an additional heat sink for the optical module, and allows for efficient heat dissipation within a standard package size. Compared to other heat sinks with equivalent heat dissipation effects, the heat sink for the optical module in the disclosed embodiment occupies less space.

[0039] In this embodiment, the assembly and heat dissipation principles of the optical module device include: the optical module 1' is installed along the board opening 311 and inserted into the cage 35 through the head frame 34; the fixed housing portion 11'-1 of the optical module 1' mates with the first heat sink 2'-1 of the heat sink 2', and the floating housing portion 11'-2 of the optical module 1' mates with the second heat sink 2'-2 of the heat sink 2'. Heat from components 132 and others is transferred to the fixed housing portion 11'-1, then to the first heat sink 2'-1, and then dissipated into the air; heat from components 133 and others is transferred to the floating housing portion 11'-2, then to the second heat sink 2'-2, and then dissipated into the air.

[0040] In one embodiment, the floating forms of the floating housing part 11 ′- 2 are not limited to the above two forms, and floating can also be achieved through other forms such as spring clamping, flexible connection, etc.

[0041] In one embodiment, in addition to the above-mentioned embodiments, the floating solutions of the housing and the heat sink also include but are not limited to the following:

[0042] (1) The floating part of the optical module housing can be in the form of a card installation, a limit fixation, etc., and a spring, a flexible thermal pad, etc. are set in the connecting area to achieve floating; or a sealing elastic structural member can be used to achieve floating while playing the role of sealing the upper housing.

[0043] (2) A matching heat sink can also be provided with a fixing bracket, and the first heat sink area and the second heat sink area are fixed on the bracket respectively, so as to achieve the purpose of matching the solid and floating shells of the optical module.

[0044] (3) The fixed shell part may not be used for heat transfer of the device, but is mainly used to support the installation of the floating shell part.

[0045] In the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure, through the use of solid and floating housings and their corresponding heat sinks, targeted heat dissipation design is implemented based on the differences in power consumption and thermal sensitivity of the optical module's internal components, eliminating the impact of thermal interconnections between components. A detailed analysis of the optical modules revealed that the heat dissipation efficiency of the optical module devices in the embodiments of the present disclosure is significantly improved, effectively addressing the heat dissipation issues of bottleneck components within high-power optical modules and significantly enhancing the reliability of the optical modules.

[0046] The foregoing description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the principles of the present disclosure shall be included within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An optical module heat dissipation device, comprising: The optical module (1') comprises an upper shell (11') and a lower shell (12'), wherein the upper shell (11') comprises: a fixed shell part (11'-1) which is fixedly assembled and a floating shell part (11'-2) which is elastically assembled; The heat sink (2') comprises a first heat sink area (2'-1) and a second heat sink area (2'-2), wherein the first heat sink area (2'-1) contacts the fixed housing part (11'-1), and the second heat sink area (2'-2) contacts the floating housing part (11'-2), and is configured to dissipate heat for the optical module (1').

2. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The fixed shell part (11'-1) is fixedly assembled on the lower shell (12'), and the floating shell part (11'-2) is elastically assembled on the lower shell (12').

3. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The fixed shell part (11'-1) is fixedly assembled on the lower shell (12'), an installation space is provided on the fixed shell part (11'-1), and the floating shell part (11'-2) is elastically configured on the fixed shell part (11'-1) through the installation space.

4. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The first heat sink area (2'-1) and the second heat sink area (2'-2) are respectively elastically assembled on the card board (3) of the optical module heat dissipation device.

5. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The first heat sink area (2'-1) is elastically mounted on the cardboard (3') of the optical module heat dissipation device, and the second heat sink area (2'-2) is elastically mounted on the first heat sink area (2'-1) through an installation space provided on the first heat sink area (2'-1).

6. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The lower shell (12') is connected to the upper shell (11'), and a circuit board assembly (13) is installed in the space enclosed between the lower shell (12') and the upper shell (11').

7. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 6, wherein: A thermally conductive interface material is provided between the components in the circuit board assembly (13) and the upper shell (11').

8. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 6, wherein: A thermally conductive interface material is provided between a first component in the circuit board assembly (13) corresponding to a position of the fixed housing part (11'-1) and the fixed housing part (11'-1); A heat-conducting interface material is arranged between a second component in the circuit board assembly (13) corresponding to the position of the floating housing part (11'-2) and the floating housing part (11'-2).

9. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The lower shell (12') comprises a floating part and a fixed part, and the floating part and the fixed part are separated or interconnected.

10. The optical module heat dissipation device according to claim 1, wherein: The elastic assembly includes one of the following: spring screw, spring sheet clamping, and flexible connection.

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