Head Mountable Display Ventilation via Segmented Airflow Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current head-mountable display systems face challenges in effectively cooling high heat-generating components like processors and displays, leading to potential thermal throttling and reduced performance in augmented and virtual reality applications.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a cooling assembly with a fan system that creates an airflow path through the device, using a housing with distinct inlet and outlet sections to direct air flow, and thermally isolating internal components from the external frame to enhance heat dissipation, while also using insulating members to manage thermal contact points.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If high heat-generating components (processor, display) are integrated into head-mountable display systems, then computing performance and display quality are improved, but thermal management becomes difficult and component temperature increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into distinct thermal zones with separate inlet and outlet ports positioned at different locations. The airflow path is segmented into multiple stages through internal structures, allowing differentiated thermal management for different heat-generating components (processor vs. display) while maintaining overall system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a three-dimensional airflow path that moves air through multiple spatial zones within the housing. Air enters through inlet ports, passes through internal structures that direct flow over heat-generating components, and exits through outlet ports, creating a volumetric cooling approach rather than surface-level heat dissipation.
2Temperature
If components are thermally isolated from the external frame, then heat dissipation is improved, but structural integrity and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Thermal isolation structures serve as intermediary elements between the heat-generating components and the external frame. These structures selectively block thermal pathways while maintaining mechanical support functions, achieving thermal management without compromising structural integrity or requiring complex assembly procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal isolation features are integrated into existing housing structures rather than being separate add-on components. By combining structural support and thermal isolation functions into unified elements, the patent reduces overall assembly complexity while maintaining effective heat dissipation.
3Temperature
If a fan system with housing is added for cooling, then thermal management is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical protection for internal components, defines the airflow path through integrated inlet and outlet ports, and incorporates thermal isolation features. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate cooling components, simplifying manufacturing while achieving effective thermal management.
Solution Approach 2:
The fan assembly is integrated directly into the housing structure, merging the cooling mechanism with the structural enclosure. This integration eliminates separate mounting brackets, fasteners, and assembly steps, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining effective airflow and thermal management.
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
This solution effectively convectively cools the display assembly and conductively cools the processor, improving the thermal management of head-mountable display systems and maintaining performance in augmented and virtual reality applications.
Implementation Method 1
a fan configured to draw air into the internal volume through the inlet port and push air out from the internal volume through the exhaust port... the fan configured to convectively cool the display assembly
Implementation Method 2
the second housing shell is in direct thermal contact with the processor... the fan is disposed between the internal frame and the processor... conductively cool the processor
Implementation Method 3
the internal frame can be thermally isolated from the external frame via a first set of insulating members disposed between the internal frame and the external frame
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes an external frame defining an internal volume, an air inlet port, and an air exhaust port. The electronic device also includes a fan configured to draw air into the internal volume through the inlet port and push air out from the internal volume through the exhaust port, the fan including a housing. The housing defines a fan inlet and a fan outlet and the air inlet port, the fan inlet, the fan outlet, and the air exhaust port define an airflow path with the air inlet port upstream from the fan inlet, the fan inlet upstream from the fan outlet, and the fan outlet upstream from the air exhaust port. The electronic device also includes a display assembly disposed in the internal volume, the airflow path defined between the display assembly and the fan inlet and an internal frame coupled to the external frame, the internal frame disposed between the display assembly and the fan and defining an opening aligned with the fan inlet.