Hollow Heat Sink for Wall-Mounted Processor Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
High processing demand devices often require significant cooling components, making it difficult to integrate them into confined spaces like walls due to space constraints and inadequate passive cooling capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A heat dissipation apparatus with a hollow housing made of heat-conductive material, designed to be mounted within a surface cavity, where the processor is in thermal communication with the rear surface of the housing, inducing accelerated airflow for enhanced cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If larger cooling components (fans, heat sinks) are installed to cool high processing demand devices, then cooling capability is improved, but space required increases making wall integration difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes the device's own heat generation to drive the cooling process. The heat generated by the processor creates natural convection currents that draw cool air from the front of the device, pass it over the heat sink, and exhaust it from the rear, eliminating the need for external fans or power-consuming cooling mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The housing depth is specifically designed to create an optimized airflow channel length that induces accelerated flow of air between the rear surface and the interior cavity surface. This parameter optimization enhances convective heat transfer efficiency, allowing effective cooling in a compact form factor suitable for wall integration
2Device complexity
If passive cooling components (fins, heat sinks) are used without active cooling, then device complexity is reduced, but space required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the processor's waste heat into a useful resource by using it to drive natural convection currents through the housing. This self-powered mechanism eliminates the need for large passive heat sinks while maintaining effective cooling, achieving both reduced complexity and compact dimensions
Solution Approach 2:
The design employs natural convection (a pneumatic principle) where heated air rises and creates a continuous flow through the housing cavity. This fluid dynamic approach enables efficient heat removal without mechanical components, reducing both complexity and space requirements
3Volume of moving object
If high processing demand devices are integrated into walls, then space utilization is improved, but cooling capability becomes inadequate due to confined space
Solution Approach 1:
The housing depth is optimized to create an accelerated airflow path between the rear surface and the interior cavity surface. This parameter optimization ensures that even in the confined space of a wall cavity, sufficient air flow velocity is achieved to maintain effective convective heat transfer, preserving cooling capability while enabling compact 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 solution effectively enhances cooling capabilities in confined spaces by utilizing accelerated airflow, reducing the need for large cooling components and allowing for more compact integration of high processing demand devices.
Implementation Method 1
the processor is disposed within the housing in thermal communication with the rear surface of the housing
Implementation Method 2
the housing has a depth sufficient to dispose the rear surface of the housing, when mounted on the surface, at a distance from a rear interior surface of the interior cavity sufficient to induce accelerated flow of air between the rear surface of the housing and the rear interior surface of the interior cavity when the processor generates heat
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments described herein relate to a digital controller and related method including one or more of the following: a processor; a memory; and a hollow housing configured to be mounted to a surface such that at least a portion of the housing is disposed within an interior cavity of the surface, wherein a rear surface of the housing is made of a heat-conductive material, wherein: the processor is disposed within the housing in thermal communication with the rear surface of the housing, and the housing has a depth sufficient to dispose the rear surface of the housing, when mounted on the surface, at a distance from a rear interior surface of the interior cavity sufficient to induce accelerated flow of air between the rear surface of the housing and the rear interior surface of the interior cavity when the processor generates heat.