CLOSED AND INTERNAL COOLING SYSTEM FOR CAR RADIO

• US 20120181003A1
• Filed: 08/12/2010
• Published: 07/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aptiv Technologies AG
• Original Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Inventors: Zurowski, Miroslaw J., Andrzejewski, Jacek, Kamon, Michal
• Granted Patent: US 8,837,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 165/121
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20154 Heat dissipaters coupled to components

Abstract

A vehicle audio apparatus such as a car radio includes a casing defined by external walls and electrical components mounted on a printed circuit board. The radio also includes a cooling system having a fan arranged in a first external wall of the casing, an opening arranged in a second opposite external wall, and a cooling plate which forms a heat sink and which is adjacent to at least one electrical component producing heat. The cooling plate and an associated internal cover plate have a combined shape optimized for guiding the air flow between the fan and the cooling opening.

Claims

1. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) such as a car radio comprising a casing (12) defined by external walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 22) including substantially parallel lateral walls (14, 16) and substantially parallel transversal walls (18, 20), and containing electrical components (24) mounted on at least one printed circuit board (26) extending substantially in parallel above a first (20) of said transversal walls, at least one of said electrical components (24) producing heat, and comprising cooling means (30) which include:

at least one fan (32) which is arranged in a first lateral wall (14) of said casing (12),

a cooling opening (34) arranged in a second lateral wall (16) opposite to the first one,

characterized in that it further comprises;

an internal cooling plate (36) which forms a heat sink and which is adjacent to said electrical component producing heat (24), said cooling plate (36) extending substantially in parallel to said first transversal wall (20) above said printed circuit board (26) on which said electrical component producing heat (24) is mounted, said cooling plate (36) having a shape optimized for guiding the air flow between the fan (32) and the cooling opening (34), and

an internal cover plate (44) which extends over the cooling plate (36), the air flowing between the cover plate (44) and the cooling plate (36).

2. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said cooling plate (36) comprises longitudinal fins (38) which extends along the air flow.

3. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cooling plate face (40) facing the printed circuit board (26) comprises contact surfaces (42) which are in contact with corresponding surfaces of the electrical components producing heat (24).

4. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cooling plate (36) and the cover plate (44) are fixed to each other in order to form a closed air tunnel with openings only towards the exterior of the casing (12).

5. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that a disc driving unit (28) is arranged in the casing between a second transversal wall (18) and the cover plate (44).

6. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fan (32) is pulsing air into the casing (12) towards the cooling opening (34).

7. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the casing (12) is essentially parallelepiped and comprises a front panel (22) substantially orthogonal to the lateral walls (14, 16) and to the transversal walls (18, 20), said front panel (22) including a user interface for controlling the vehicle audio apparatus (10).

8. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to the preceding claim in combination with claim 5, characterized in that the front panel (22) includes an access opening for the disc drive unit (28).

9. Vehicle audio apparatus (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it constitutes a car radio (10) designed to be mounted in a complementary radio housing located in the dashboard of a vehicle passenger compartment.