Composite Conductive Gasket for Heat Transfer and Grounding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrically conductive foams and fabric-over-foam gaskets exhibit poor thermal transfer performance, necessitating the development of a solution that combines good thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity while being compressible and resilient.
Innovation Solution
A copper layer is wrapped around a graphite-over-foam gasket, providing mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, and electrical conductivity, forming a copper-over-graphite-over-foam (COGOF) gasket that replaces the need for separate thermal interface materials and fabric-over-foam gaskets, enabling both electrical grounding and thermal transfer in a single product.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional electrically conductive foams and fabric-over-foam gaskets are used, then electrical conductivity is achieved, but thermal transfer performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite structure consisting of a foam core member, a graphite layer disposed around the foam core, and a metal layer disposed around the graphite layer. This multi-layer composite design combines the electrical conductivity of the foam and metal layers with the high thermal conductivity of the graphite layer, thereby achieving both good electrical conductivity and superior thermal transfer performance simultaneously.
2Reliability
If a multi-layer composite structure is used to improve thermal and electrical conductivity, then performance is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into a single integrated gasket structure. The foam core provides compressibility and resilience, the graphite layer provides thermal conductivity, and the metal layer provides electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. By combining these layers into one composite gasket, the patent eliminates the need for separate thermal interface materials and fabric-over-foam gaskets, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining enhanced thermal and electrical performance.
3Ease of operation
If the gasket is made compressible and resilient, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thin film layers of graphite and metal that are disposed around the foam core member. These thin films are flexible enough to conform to the compressible foam core while maintaining precise layer alignment through controlled bonding processes. The flexible nature of the thin films allows the gasket to remain compressible and resilient while achieving the necessary manufacturing precision for layer integration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The COGOF gasket achieves enhanced electrical and thermal characteristics, including low Z-axis electrical resistance, high shielding effectiveness, and superior thermal conductivity, making it suitable for use in devices with limited space where both heat and electrical paths are required.
Implementation Method 1
A copper layer is wrapped around a graphite-over-foam gasket, providing mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, and electrical conductivity
Implementation Method 2
The COGOF gasket achieves enhanced electrical and thermal characteristics, including low Z-axis electrical resistance, high shielding effectiveness, and superior thermal conductivity
Implementation Method 3
A copper layer is wrapped around a graphite-over-foam gasket
Implementation Method 4
The gasket is positionable and/or compressible between first and second surfaces to thereby define an electrically conductive path and a thermally conductive path
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
An electrically and thermally conductive gasket includes a resilient core including a plurality of sides, a heat spreader disposed along at least two sides of the plurality of sides of the resilient core, and an electrically conductive layer disposed along and/or covering at least a portion of the heat spreader, such that the portion of the heat spreader is between the resilient core and the electrically conductive layer. The gasket is positionable and/or compressible between first and second surfaces to thereby define an electrically conductive path and a thermally conductive path between the first and second surfaces.