Interlocking Plate Connection for Thin Dissimilar-Metal Heat Spreaders
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for connecting plates of different materials for heat dissipation, such as copper and cheaper metals, face challenges in maintaining structural integrity and thickness while ensuring effective heat conduction, with current solutions either being prone to release or increasing thickness and affecting electronic layouts.
Innovation Solution
A plate-to-plate connecting structure featuring concave/convex connecting sides with top and bottom edges having specific concave and convex parts, allowing for stable connection in length, width, and height directions through mutual blocking, enabling the use of expensive copper for heat-conductive areas and cheaper metals for larger areas, while maintaining a thin profile.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a mylar sheet is used for connecting the larger plate piece and the smaller plate piece, then the connection is achieved in length and width directions, but the connection is easily bent in height direction and released
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting structure is divided into multiple convex parts and corresponding concave parts distributed across the edges of both plate pieces. This segmentation allows the connection to be distributed across multiple points, preventing bending and release while maintaining ease of manufacturing through standardized repeating elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The convex parts of one plate piece are inserted into the concave parts of the other plate piece, creating a nested interlocking structure. This nesting provides mechanical strength in the height direction while maintaining the simplicity of the mylar sheet connection method in the length and width directions.
2Strength
If one side of the larger plate piece and one side of the smaller plate piece are mutually stacked then fastened, then the structural strength is good and connection in length, width and height directions is achieved, but the thickness after the two plate pieces are stacked is increased and height differentiation is generated
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stacking plate pieces in the height direction (Z-axis), the connection is achieved by forming convex and concave parts along the edges in the length and width directions (X and Y axes). This dimensional shift allows the plates to be connected without increasing overall thickness while still providing strength in all three directions through the interlocking geometry.
3Reliability
If one side of the larger plate piece and one side of the smaller plate piece are mutually stacked then fastened, then connection in length, width and height directions is achieved, but height differentiation is generated affecting electric layout of electronic components
Solution Approach 1:
The connection mechanism is relocated from the face area (affecting flatness) to the edges of the plate pieces. By forming convex and concave parts along the perimeter edges, the connection achieves reliability in all directions without creating height differentiation on the plate surfaces, thereby maintaining flatness for electronic component layout.
4Quantity of substance
If expensive copper is used for the smaller plate piece and another larger plate piece made of cheaper metals, then cost is reduced, but the connection between different materials requires satisfying heat conduction requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting edges are designed with specific local properties - convex and concave parts that maximize contact area between the dissimilar metal plate pieces. This localized quality enhancement at the connection interface ensures adequate heat conduction between the copper smaller plate piece and the cheaper metal larger plate piece, while allowing the bulk materials to maintain their cost-effective composition.
Data Source
AI summary
A plate-to-plate connecting structure includes a first plate piece and a second plate piece. The first plate piece and the second plate piece have a first concave/convex connecting side and a second concave/convex connecting side connected with a corresponding concave/convex means; the first concave/convex connecting side has a first top edge and a second bottom edge, and the second concave/convex connecting side has a second top edge and a second bottom edge; the first top edge and the first bottom edge have top concave parts and bottom concave parts; the second top edge and the second bottom edge have top convex parts and bottom convex parts; the top convex parts are protruded into the corresponding top concave parts for forming a mutual blocking status; and the bottom convex parts are protruded into the corresponding bottom concave parts for forming the mutual blocking status.