Low-Profile PCB Encapsulation for Direct Cold-Plate Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Magnetic devices pose challenges in cooling due to their sensitive nature, irregular shapes, and high thermal resistance, making traditional conduction cooling methods inefficient and costly, especially when only a select number of components on a printed circuit board require encapsulation.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-tight enclosure with a rigid sidewall and minimal height extension above the printed circuit board, using a flexible film or tape for the top surface, which allows for direct contact with a cold plate after encapsulating material curing, reducing thermal resistance and encapsulating material usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If traditional conduction cooling is used for magnetic devices, then cooling capability is provided, but the enclosure size increases and cost increases due to sensitivity to deformation and irregular shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexible film or tape as the top surface of the enclosure, which can conform to the irregular shapes of magnetic devices without requiring large clearance. This flexible top surface allows direct contact with cold plate surfaces while accommodating the sensitive nature of hand-wound magnetic components, thereby providing effective cooling without increasing enclosure volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional rigid three-dimensional enclosures to a flattened enclosure design where the top surface is a flexible film or tape with minimal height extension (no more than 0.003 inches) above the printed circuit board. This dimensional reduction in the vertical direction while maintaining flexibility resolves the contradiction between cooling capability and enclosure size.
2Temperature
If traditional conduction cooling enclosures are used for magnetic devices, then cooling is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases due to large enclosure requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible film or tape top surface replaces expensive rigid enclosure structures, reducing material costs and manufacturing complexity. This flexible surface can be easily applied to irregularly shaped magnetic devices without requiring precision machining or complex assembly processes, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining cooling capability.
Solution Approach 2:
By reducing the enclosure height to no more than 0.003 inches above the printed circuit board and using a flexible film instead of a bulky rigid structure, the patent significantly reduces material usage and manufacturing complexity, thereby lowering production costs while maintaining effective thermal contact.
3Strength
If rigid enclosures with sufficient height are used, then mechanical protection is provided, but thermal contact with cold plate is insufficient due to height constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible film or tape top surface provides sufficient mechanical protection while maintaining conformal contact with cold plate surfaces. The flexibility allows the surface to adapt to any irregularities in the magnetic device geometry, ensuring optimal thermal contact without requiring excessive enclosure height or rigid structural support.
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 approach minimizes the size and cost of the enclosure, enhances heat dissipation efficiency, and maintains electrical insulation while allowing for direct contact with a cold plate, thus improving thermal performance and reducing complexity.
Implementation Method 1
an encapsulating material disposed inside the liquid-tight enclosure and encapsulating the at least one electronic component
Implementation Method 2
A conduction-cooled component may have at least some of the surfaces of the electronic component mechanically coupled to a heat removal apparatus (i.e., a heat sink or a heat exchanger) in order to be cooled
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for encapsulating at least one electronic component disposed on a printed circuit board may include a liquid-tight enclosure that surrounds the electronic component and that is fixed with respect to the electronic component and the circuit board, and an encapsulating material disposed inside the enclosure and encapsulating the electronic component. The enclosure may include at least one sidewall and a top. The at least one sidewall may include a rigid material, a lower edge that is proximal to the printed circuit board, an upper edge that is distal from the circuit board, and a height above the circuit board that is no more than 0.003 inches greater than a height of the electronic component above the circuit board. The top may include a solid surface disposed on the upper edge of the at least one sidewall, where the at least one sidewall and the top form the enclosure.