Heat sink assembly for densely packed transistors
First Claim
1. A heat sink assembly for a plurality of transistors, comprising;
- a metal heat sink having a top, a bottom, and side walls, at least one of the side walls being adapted to receive a plurality of transistors, each transistor being situated at a predetermined transistor site on the side wall;
a plurality of spaced-apart ramp surfaces carried by the heat sink and situated near the top thereof, each ramp surface extending downwardly and outwardly from the top of the heat sink, the space between adjacent ramp surfaces defining a clip space, and each clip space being located above a transistor site;
a resilient spring clip for each clip space, each spring clip being substantially U-shaped and comprising a horizontal member joined to a pair of downwardly extending legs, at least one leg of each spring clip having a relatively narrow portion close to its horizontal member and a relatively wider portion at its opposite end, the dimensions of the legs being selected such that, as a clip is inserted into a clip space, the wider portion of its one leg bears on a pair of adjacent ramp surfaces, and the same leg is spread outwardly by the ramp surfaces as the spring clip is urged downwardly until the relatively wider portion of said leg disengages from the previously engaged ramp surfaces, whereupon the leg snaps back to hold a transistor in place against a side wall.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A heat sink assembly for a plurality of transistors includes specially-formed spring clips and a specially-formed heat sink to hold the transistors firmly on the heat sink, and a lead protector that mates with the heat sink to receive and protect the leads of the transistors during handling. The lead protector and the heat sink include integrally-formed fastener/alignment pins for aligning the lead protector with the heat sink, and for aligning the completed heat sink assembly with a circuit board and for holding the assembly securely fastened to the circuit board. A particular feature of the lead protector permits it to mate with heat sink in a first discrete position in which it receives and protects the transistor leads, and to more closely mate with the heat sink in a second discrete position in which the transistor leads pass through the lead protector and into target holes in the circuit board.
41 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A heat sink assembly for a plurality of transistors, comprising;
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a metal heat sink having a top, a bottom, and side walls, at least one of the side walls being adapted to receive a plurality of transistors, each transistor being situated at a predetermined transistor site on the side wall; a plurality of spaced-apart ramp surfaces carried by the heat sink and situated near the top thereof, each ramp surface extending downwardly and outwardly from the top of the heat sink, the space between adjacent ramp surfaces defining a clip space, and each clip space being located above a transistor site; a resilient spring clip for each clip space, each spring clip being substantially U-shaped and comprising a horizontal member joined to a pair of downwardly extending legs, at least one leg of each spring clip having a relatively narrow portion close to its horizontal member and a relatively wider portion at its opposite end, the dimensions of the legs being selected such that, as a clip is inserted into a clip space, the wider portion of its one leg bears on a pair of adjacent ramp surfaces, and the same leg is spread outwardly by the ramp surfaces as the spring clip is urged downwardly until the relatively wider portion of said leg disengages from the previously engaged ramp surfaces, whereupon the leg snaps back to hold a transistor in place against a side wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A heat sink assembly for transistors that have bendable leads, comprising:
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a heat sink having a top, a bottom, and side walls, at least one of the side walls being adapted to receive a plurality of transistors such that the transistors'"'"' leads extend toward and beyond the bottom of the heat sink; a lead protector that has a base member with lead holes therein to receive leads from the transistors, the lead protector also having resilient detent means movably the heat sink such that, the base member is releasably held at a first predetermined position relative to the bottom of the heat sink, in which first position the transistor leads are received by the lead holes in the base member, thereby to protect the leads from inadvertent bending, and such that the base member is movable to a second predetermined position that is closer to the bottom of the heat sink in response to the base member being urged toward the heat sink. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A heat sink assembly for holding a plurality of transistors that have bendable leads, comprising:
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a heat sink having a top, a bottom, side walls and a pair of end walls, both side walls being adapted to receive a plurality of transistors mounted thereon at a plurality of transistor sites such hat the transistors'"'"' leads extend toward and beyond the bottom of the heat sink; the heat sink having a plurality of pairs of spaced-apart ramp surfaces located on the side walls, a pair of ramp surfaces being located immediately above each transistor site; a plurality of spring clips, one for each transistor, each spring clip having a pair of legs for holding a transistor against a side wall of the heat sink, at least one of the legs of each spring clip having a relatively wide portion that bears on a pair of ramp surfaces that spread apart the legs of the spring clip as the spring clip is being mated with the heat sink, and a relatively narrower portion that slips between the spaced-apart ramp surfaces to permit the spread-apart legs to snap back and hold a transistor against the heat sink; a lead protector having a base member with lead holes therein, the lead protector having a pair of upwardly extending arms that engage the end walls of the heat sink to position the base member closely adjacent the bottom of the heat sink, the arms being moveable between a first discrete position in which the transistor leads are received by the lead holes so as to protect the leads from inadvertent bending, and a second discrete position in which the transistor leads extend through the lead holes.
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Specification