Automotive lighting assembly cooling system
First Claim
1. An automotive lighting assembly comprising, an LED that generates heat when energized, and a heat pipe thermally coupled to the LED, such that at least some of the heat generated by the LED is transferred to the heat pipe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automotive lighting assembly cooling system includes a heat pipe with an evaporation area proximate to a beat generating component, such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED), and a condensing area located remote from the evaporation area. Evaporation of fluid within the heat pipe transfers heat away from the heat generating component. The efficiency of the cooling system in one embodiment is increased by including fins associated with the condensing area and placing the fins in an area where air flow external to a moving vehicle assists in cooling the fins.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An automotive lighting assembly comprising,
an LED that generates heat when energized, and a heat pipe thermally coupled to the LED, such that at least some of the heat generated by the LED is transferred to the heat pipe.
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11. A method of cooling an automotive lighting assembly comprising the steps of,
thermally coupling a fluid to a light assembly, and evaporating the fluid to form a vapor.
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17. An automotive lighting assembly cooling system comprising,
a heat pipe with a shell, an evaporation area and a condensation area located remote from the evaporation area, the condensation area designed to be thermally coupled to a heat sink external to the body of a vehicle when the heat pipe is mounted to a lighting assembly which is mounted to the vehicle, and fluid located within the shell at the condensation area.
Specification