LOADING MECHANISM WITH INTEGRATED HEATSINK

• US 20200137896A1
• Filed: 12/24/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: ELENITOBA-JOHNSON, Olaotan, HEMMEYER, Mark, LIU, Mengqi
• Granted Patent: US 11,678,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/409 Mechanical coupling back panels H05K7/1438
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4221 being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2023/4075 Mechanical elements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/4093 Snap-on arrangements, e.g. clips
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0209 External configuration of printed circuit board adapted for heat dissipation, e.g. lay-out of conductors, coatings
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/006 characterized by features for holding the PCB within the housing
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20154 Heat dissipaters coupled to components

Abstract

Examples described herein relate to a tool-less manner of forming an assembly with a circuit board carrier enclosure that provide leaf springs that provide a force against a circuit board to maintain a level surface of the circuit board. Multiple leaf springs can be used to apply a desired force to the circuit board. A heat sink can be mounted in the enclosure at a distance from the circuit board. The circuit board with carrier can be inserted without tools into an electrical connection for communications with other devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one leaf spring protrusion to provide a force against a circuit board, wherein a thickness and angle of the at least one leaf spring protrusion is set to adjust the force against the circuit board and

at least one retention clip, in part, capable to maintain a plane of a heat sink relative to the circuit board.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising:

a base surface to which the at least one leaf spring protrusion is attached and to which the at least one retention clip is attached and

a stabilizer formed on at least one side of a retention clip and fixed to the base surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising:

a base surface to which the at least one leaf spring protrusion is attached and to which the at least one retention clip is attached and

at least two card retainers fixed to the base surface.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a retention carrier capable to physically hold a heat sink and a circuit board, the retention carrier comprising:

a base surface to which the at least one leaf spring protrusion is attached and to which the at least one retention clip is attached;

a stabilizer formed on at least one side of a retention clip and fixed to the base surface; and

at least two card retainers fixed to the base surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising:

a base surface to which the at least one leaf spring protrusion is attached and to which the at least one retention clip is attached and

a folder-over portion of a handle, the fold-over portion formed at a height away from the base surface to avoid physical contact with circuits of the circuit board.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a base surface to which the at least one leaf spring protrusion is attached and to which the at least one retention clip is attached;

at least two card retainers fixed to the base surface; and

an M.2x circuit board held by at the least two card retainers and the at least one leaf spring protrusion, where x is an integer.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a card retainer comprises a shelf and further comprising:

a heat sink fastened at least by a retention clip and opposed by the shelf.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

a switch communicatively coupled to the circuit board to provide communicative coupling with at least one other circuit board.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the circuit board comprises one or more of:

storage, volatile memory, persistent memory, central processing unit, accelerator, or graphics processing unit.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, comprising an insulation layer affixed to the circuit board and opposite the base surface.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, comprising a Thermal Interface Material layer affixed to the heat sink.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more of:

a data center, rack, switch, fabric, or interconnect.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one leaf spring protrusion comprises SK7 spring steel with at least 0.3 mm thickness.

14. A method comprising:

performing a tool-less mounting of a board to a retention carrier by use of the card retainer with vertical separation from the base provided by the at least one leaf spring, wherein the retention carrier comprises a base, at least one leaf spring affixed to the base, at least one card retainer, and a heat sink retention clip and

mounting a heat sink to the retention carrier by use of the heat sink retention clip and a lip of a card retainer.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising mounting a thermal interface material to a bottom surface of the heat sink that opposes a board.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the board comprises an M.2x board, where x is an integer.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising affixing an insulation layer to a surface of a board opposite of the base.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the performing a tool-less mounting of a board to a retention carrier by use of the card retainer with vertical separation from the base provided by the at least one leaf spring comprises:

sliding the board into the at least one card retainer with a force applied against a bottom of the board by at least one leaf spring.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the retention carrier comprises SK7 spring steel with at least 0.3 mm thickness.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

connecting the board to a Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) connection.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein a thickness or length of a leaf spring is adjusted to adjust a force applied to the board.