Stepped Sub-Heat Sink for Electronic Component Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing cooling devices for electronic components, such as inverter devices in air conditioners, face challenges in achieving sufficient heat radiation due to the need for a sub-heat sink with reduced thickness for insulation, which compromises thermal conductivity and contact area, leading to inadequate heat transfer.
Innovation Solution
A cooling device design featuring a sub-heat sink with a stepwise, convex shape made of high thermal conductivity aluminum, where the upper stage is in close contact with the switching element package and the lower stage is in contact with the main heat sink, increasing the contact area and maintaining insulation distance from terminal pins, thereby enhancing thermal conductivity and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sub-heat sink is interposed between the heat sink and the switching element package to ensure separation from the original heat sink in distance, then electric insulation is secured, but thermal conduction performance becomes poor due to increased thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The sub-heat sink transitions from a conventional flat structure to a stepped convex structure with multiple height levels. The first stepped portion rises closer to the switching element package while the second stepped portion maintains insulation distance, effectively utilizing vertical dimension to resolve the conflict between insulation requirement and thermal conduction efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the sub-heat sink are designed with different heights to serve different functions: the first stepped portion (higher) prioritizes thermal conduction by being closer to the heat source, while the second stepped portion (lower) prioritizes electric insulation by maintaining distance from terminal pins. This local differentiation resolves the global contradiction.
2Reliability
If the sub-heat sink is configured to have outer shape slightly smaller than the switching element package, then insulation distance from terminal pins is secured, but contact area between heat sink and sub-heat sink becomes small, reducing thermal conduction
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of reducing the sub-heat sink size in horizontal dimensions which would reduce contact area, the invention utilizes vertical dimension by creating stepped portions at different heights. This allows the sub-heat sink to maintain both adequate contact area with the switching element package and proper insulation distance from terminal pins through vertical positioning rather than horizontal reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The sub-heat sink is segmented into multiple stepped portions (first and second stepped portions) with different heights. Each segment serves a specific function: the first stepped portion maximizes thermal contact with the switching element package, while the second stepped portion ensures insulation from terminal pins. This segmentation allows simultaneous optimization of both thermal conduction and electric insulation.
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 configuration ensures efficient heat radiation and high reliability by increasing the thermal conduction area between the sub-heat sink and the main heat sink, while maintaining insulation distances, thus providing effective cooling performance and safety for the electronic components.
Implementation Method 1
a sub-heat sink (5) made of a material excellent in thermal conductivity such as aluminum material is interposed between the heat sink (3) and the switching element package (1)
Implementation Method 2
heat radiation fins constituting a heat radiation section of the heat sink are cooled by wind-blow by a fan of the outdoor unit
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~4
AI summary
A cooling device for an electronic component includes an element package having a rectangular shape, including a heat radiation surface that radiates the heat generated by the electronic component, a terminal pin extending from a side surface of the element package, a main heat sink including a flat heat radiation surface as a element packaging attaching side, and a sub-heat sink which is provided between the element package and the main heat sink and has a shape in which an upper stage and a lower stage are integrally formed into a stepwise shape in cross-section, the upper stage having an upper surface in contact with and fixed to the heat radiation surface of the element package and the lower stage having a lower surface in contact with and fixed to the heat absorption surface of the main heat sink.