US20100089555A1

US20100089555A1 - Liquid-cooling type thermal module

Info

Publication number: US20100089555A1
Application number: US12/257,808
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-peng Chen
Original assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Current assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-10-14
Filing date: 2008-10-24
Publication date: 2010-04-15
Also published as: TWM357645U

Abstract

A liquid-cooling type thermal module includes a liquid cooling unit and at least one heat pipe. The heat pipe has a heat-absorbing end and a heat-dissipating end. The heat-absorbing end is connected to at least one heat-producing element. The heat-producing element is located inside a system while the liquid cooling unit is located outside the system. The heat pipe connects the heat-producing element to the liquid cooling unit. Heat produced by the heat-producing element is absorbed by the heat-absorbing end and transferred to the remote liquid cooling unit via the heat-dissipating end to be dissipated. With the heat pipe being used as a medium for conducting heat, the problem of fluid leak can be eliminated, and the heat produced by the heat-producing element can be effectively carried away from the system without stagnating around the heat-producing element, enabling the thermal module to provide excellent heat dissipating effect.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a liquid-cooling type thermal module, and more particularly to a thermal module that employs a heat pipe as a heat conducting medium and uses a liquid cooling unit to cool the heat pipe and dissipate heat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

While an electronic device operates at constantly increased high speed, electronic elements inside the electronic device also produce a large amount of heat during the operation thereof. In general, a heat sink or a radiating fin assembly is arranged on the electronic elements to provide increased heat-dissipating area and thereby enhanced heat-dissipating efficiency. However, the heat sink or the radiating fin assembly can only radiates heat and provides very limited heat-dissipating effect. In order to solve the above problem, liquid-cooling type thermal modules have been developed for providing better heat-dissipating effect.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a conventional water-cooling type thermal module 1 including a dissipating unit 11, a pump 14, a first water pipe 12, a heat sink 13, and a second water pipe 15. The dissipating unit 11 has an inner receiving space (not shown), a flow way (not shown), a water outlet (not shown), and a water inlet 111. A fluid is filled in the receiving space. The pump 14 is connected to the water outlet of the dissipating unit 11 to pressurize the fluid, so that the fluid flows in the receiving space and the flow way. The heat sink 13 has a hollow case with a water inlet 132 and a water outlet 131 provided on a top thereof. The hollow case has a bottom defining a contact face 133 for contacting with at least one heat-producing source (not shown) to absorb heat produced by the heat-producing source. The heat sink 13 has an internal receiving space (not shown) communicating with the water inlet 132 and the water outlet 131. The fluid can flow in the receiving space of the heat sink 13 to circulate between the heat sink 13 and the dissipating unit 11, so that the heat absorbed by the heat sink 13 can be carried away from the heat sink 13 by the fluid. The first water pipe 12 is connected at an end to the pump 14 and at the other end to the water inlet 132 on the heat sink 13. The second water pipe 15 is connected at an end to the water inlet 111 on the dissipating unit 11 and at the other end to the water outlet 131 on the heat sink 13. When the pump 14 operates, the fluid is driven to flow in and circulate between the above components of the thermal module 1 for dissipating heat. However, since joints between the internal components of the electronic device are not always watertight, the fluid tends to leak to cause damage to the electronic device. Moreover, the components of the conventional water-cooling type thermal module 1 are complicate to occupy a large room and can not be easily installed. Therefore, the conventional thermal module 1 requires a relatively high manufacturing cost.
In conclusion, the conventional water-cooling thermal module has the following disadvantages: (1) having complicated components; (2) uneasy to install; (3) being subject to water leak; (4) occupying a relatively large room; and (5) requiring relatively high manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a liquid-cooling type thermal module, which has simple structure and eliminates the problem of fluid leak.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid-cooling type thermal module that can be easily assembled.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a liquid-cooling type thermal module that is able to effectively remove heat produced by a heat-producing element from a system and thereby prevent heat from accumulating in the system.
To achieve the above and other objects, the liquid-cooling type thermal module according to the present invention includes a liquid cooling unit and at least one heat pipe. The heat pipe has a heat-absorbing end and a heat-dissipating end. The heat-absorbing end is connected to at least one heat-producing element. The heat-producing element is located inside a system while the liquid cooling unit is located outside the system. The heat pipe connects the heat-producing element to the liquid cooling unit. The heat-dissipating end of the heat pipe is connected to the liquid cooling unit located outside the system. Heat produced by the heat-producing element is absorbed by the heat-absorbing end and transferred by the heat pipe to the remote heat-dissipating end via the heat-dissipating end and be dissipated. With the heat pipe being used as a medium for conducting heat, the problem of fluid leak can be eliminated, and the heat produced by the heat-producing element can be effectively carried by the heat pipe away from the system without accumulating therein, enabling the thermal module to provide excellent heat dissipating effect.
With the above arrangements, the liquid-cooling type thermal module of the present invention has the following advantages: (1) having simple structure; (2) eliminating the problem of fluid leak; (3) easy to assemble without occupying too much room; and (4) preventing heat from accumulating in the case of an electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a conventional water-cooling type thermal module;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of a liquid-cooling type thermal module according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cutaway view of a liquid cooling unit for the liquid-cooling type thermal module of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of a liquid-cooling type thermal module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. A liquid-cooling type thermal module according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid cooling unit 2 and at least one heat pipe 3. The heat pipe 3 has a heat-absorbing end 31 and a heat-dissipating end 32. The heat-absorbing end 31 has a flat configuration and is connected to and bearing on at least one heat-producing element 41. The heat-producing element 41 is located inside a system 4 while the liquid cooling unit 2 is located outside the system 4. The heat pipe 3 is extended from the liquid cooling unit 2 into the system 4 with the heat-absorbing end 31 bearing on the heat-producing element 41 and the heat-dissipating end 32 connected to the liquid cooling unit 2. Heat produced by the heat-producing element 41 is absorbed by the heat pipe 3 at the heat-absorbing end 31 and then transferred via the heat-dissipating end 32 to the liquid cooling unit 2, and is finally dissipated into ambient air. Since the heat pipe 3 is able to absorb and exactly transfer heat to the remote liquid cooling unit 2 for dissipation, the heat produced by the heat-producing element 41 would not stagnate around the heat-producing element 41, but can be effectively removed from an interior of the system 4.
The liquid cooling unit 2 includes a plurality of radiating fins 22 protruded from one side of the liquid cooling unit 2. The radiating fins 22 are connected to at least one cooling fan 5. The liquid cooling unit 2 further includes a pump 21 and internally defines a dissipating space 23 and a flow way 24 communicating with the pump 21. A type of fluid is filled in the dissipating space 23. The pump 21 drives the fluid to flow in the dissipating space 23 and thereby cool the heat-dissipating end 32 of the heat pipe 3.
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of a liquid-cooling type thermal module according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4. It is noted parts that are the same in the first and the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals herein. As in the first embodiment, the liquid-cooling type thermal module 2 in the second embodiment is connected to a system 4 for dissipating heat produced by at least one heat-producing element 41 located inside the system 4. The liquid-cooling type thermal module 2 of the second embodiment includes a liquid cooling unit 2 located outside the system 4. The liquid cooling unit 2 is connected to the heat-producing element 41 via at least one heat pipe 3. The liquid cooling unit 2 defines an internal dissipating space 23 and a flow way 24, and includes a pump 21 communicable with the flow way 24. A type of fluid is filled in the dissipating space 23. The pump 21 drives the fluid to flow in the dissipating space 23.
In the second embodiment, the heat pipe 3 also has a heat-absorbing end 31 and a heat-dissipating end 32. The heat-absorbing end 31 is bearing on the heat-producing element 41. When the heat-producing element 41 produces heat, the heat-absorbing end 31 of the heat pipe 3 absorbs and transfers the produced heat to the remote heat-dissipating end 32. The heat-dissipating end 32 is inserted into the dissipating space 23 of the liquid cooling unit 2, which is located outside the system 4, so that the fluid in the dissipating space 23 can cool the heat-dissipating end 32 to achieve the purpose of dissipating heat.
In the present invention, by using the heat pipe 3 as a medium for conducting heat, the heat produced by the heat-producing element 41 can be exactly transferred to an outer side of the system 4 without accumulating therein. Moreover, with the heat pipe 3 being used as the medium of conducting heat, the problem of fluid leak is eliminated and damage to electronic components inside the system 4 caused by the fluid leak can be prevented.
In the second embodiment, the heat-absorbing end 31 of the heat pipe 3 is further connected to at least one heat sink 6. The heat sink 6 is attached to the heat-producing element 41 to give the heat-producing element 41 an increased heat-dissipating area.
The system 4 can be a case of an electronic device, a telecommunication cabinet, a computer case, or an LED lamp lens. In the illustrated embodiments of the present invention, the system 4 is a computer case.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A liquid-cooling type thermal module, comprising a liquid cooling unit and at least one heat pipe; the heat pipe having a heat-absorbing end and a heat-dissipating end, the heat-absorbing end being connected to at least one heat-producing element, and the heat-dissipating end being connected to the liquid cooling unit, whereby heat produced by the heat-producing element is absorbed by the heat-absorbing end and transferred by the heat pipe to the liquid cooling unit via the heat-dissipating end to be dissipated.

2. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat-producing element is located inside a system while the liquid cooling unit is located outside the system, and the heat pipe is extended into the system to connect the heat-producing element to the liquid cooling unit.

3. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquid cooling unit internally defines a dissipating space and includes a pump, a type of fluid being filled in the dissipating space, and the pump driving the fluid to flow in the dissipating space.

4. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one cooling fan is mounted to one side of the liquid cooling unit.

5. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat-absorbing end has a flat configuration for bearing on the heat-producing element.

6. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat-absorbing end is connected to at least one heat sink, and the heat sink is attached to the heat-producing element.

7. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the liquid cooling unit further internally defines at least one flow way in the dissipating space, and the flow way being communicable with the pump.

8. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the heat-dissipating end is inserted into the dissipating space.

9. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquid cooling unit includes a plurality of radiating fins protruded from one side of the liquid cooling unit.

10. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the liquid cooling unit internally defines a dissipating space and includes a pump, a type of fluid being filled in the dissipating space, and the pump driving the fluid to flow in the dissipating space.

11. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the system is selected from the group consisting of a case of an electronic device, a telecommunication cabinet, a computer case, and an LED lamp lens.

12. The liquid-cooling type thermal module as claimed in claim 10, wherein the liquid cooling unit further internally defines at least one flow way in the dissipating space, and the flow way being communicable with the pump.