Liquid Cooling Fins With Spring Return for Hot-Swappable Pluggables
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional water cooling radiators struggle to maintain tight attachment to small form-factor pluggables due to fixed heat dissipating surfaces, leading to inadequate heat dissipation in networking switches, especially during hot swap operations.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-cooling heat dissipation device with adaptable cooling fins that can be pushed up and return to their original position, utilizing a case, seal rings, and elastic assemblies to ensure tight attachment to heat sources, facilitating efficient heat transfer through a liquid cooling mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional water cooling radiator with a fixed heat dissipating surface is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but it cannot adapt to fluctuations when plugging or unplugging small form-factor pluggables, resulting in poor heat dissipation performance
Solution Approach 1:
The heat dissipating surface is designed with elastic assemblies (springs) that enable the cooling fin to dynamically adjust its position. When a small form-factor pluggable is inserted, the cooling fin is pushed upward and the elastic assembly compresses; when removed, the spring restores the cooling fin to its original position, allowing continuous adaptation to different plugging states without complex control systems
Solution Approach 2:
The heat dissipating surface is divided into multiple independent cooling fins rather than a single fixed structure. Each cooling fin can independently move and adapt to the presence or absence of small form-factor pluggables, providing localized adaptation while keeping the overall structure relatively simple
2Reliability
If the heat dissipating surface is made fixed to simplify the structure, then manufacturing is easier, but tight attachment to heat sources cannot be maintained during hot swap operations
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fin is designed as a movable component with elastic assemblies providing restoring force. This dynamic structure automatically maintains tight attachment to heat sources during hot swap operations by adjusting to the presence or absence of small form-factor pluggables, ensuring reliable heat dissipation without complex control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic assemblies automatically adjust the cooling fin position based on the presence of small form-factor pluggables. When a pluggable is inserted, it pushes the cooling fin upward; when removed, the spring automatically restores it, creating a self-adjusting system that maintains reliable heat dissipation without external control
3Productivity
If cooling fins are made movable to adapt to different pluggables, then heat dissipation effectiveness is improved, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fin incorporates elastic assemblies that provide automatic movement capability. The spring-based mechanism allows the cooling fin to move upward when needed and return automatically, achieving high heat dissipation efficiency through simple elastic restoration rather than complex motorized or mechanically-controlled systems
Solution Approach 2:
The movable cooling fin structure concentrates the complexity only where needed - at the heat dissipation interface - while the rest of the water cooling radiator remains simple. The elastic assemblies are localized to each cooling fin, providing adaptability precisely where it is needed without complicating the overall system
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 device provides effective heat dissipation by maintaining tight contact with small form-factor pluggables, ensuring stable heat transfer and preventing leakage, thereby preventing overheating and communication instability in networking switches.
Implementation Method 1
when the thermal bump of the at least one cooling fin is pushed and the at least one cooling fin is correspondingly moved towards the chamber to deform the at least one elastic assembly, the at least one elastic assembly generates a restoring force that correspondingly returns the at least one cooling fin to an original position
Implementation Method 2
The thermal bump of each of the cooling fins is in contact with the heat source. When each of the cooling fins is in contact with the liquid for heat dissipation within the case, the heat conducted by the thermal bump of each of the cooling fins through contacting the heat source could be conducted to the liquid for heat dissipation in the chamber
Implementation Method 3
With a circular process that the liquid for heat dissipation flows into the case through the liquid inlet and is discharged from the case through the liquid outlet for cooling, so that the heat source contacting each of the cooling fins could be cooled down
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid-cooling heat dissipation device includes a case having a chamber. At least one cooling fin is disposed in the chamber. A bottom case has at least one opening matching a number of the at least one cooling fin. The at least one cooling fin has a thermal bump protruding from the opening. A side of a periphery of the thermal bump has a guiding portion. A first seal ring is disposed between the cooling fin and a periphery of the opening. An elastic assembly which drives the at least one cooling fin to return to an original position after moving is disposed on the bottom case. When the present invention is used, the case is connected to a liquid pipeline for heat dissipation and the thermal bump of the at least one cooling fin contacts a heat source.