Apparatus and method for direct attachment of heat sink to surface mount
First Claim
1. A method of thermally connecting a heat sink to a surface mount heat generating electronic device, comprising the steps of:
- providing a surface mount heat generating device having a device contact region;
providing a heat sink having a heat sink contact region with an aperture formed therein, said aperture containing a reservoir of solidified thermal binder;
disposing said heat sink in proximity to said heat generating device;
melting said thermal binder for causing it to flow out of said aperture for forming a thermal and mechanical coupling between said heat sink and said device upon re-solidification of said thermal binder.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for thermally coupling a heat sink directly to a surface mount heat generating device package in a manner which provides a more efficient thermal path between the heat sink and the device package, and which allows for a simplified assembly process. The heat sink is mounted in direct thermal communication with the heat generating device package which is surface mounted to a printed circuit board or other substrate. The inventive heat sink has a reservoir of thermal preform which allows the heat sink to be secured to a device package at the same time as the device package is being secured to the surface mount substrate, as opposed to doing so in a separate step in the assembly process after the electronic device packages have already been secured to the surface mount substrate. The inventive heat sink thereby simplifies the assembly process by eliminating steps in the manufacturing process and by allowing for the further automation of the assembly process.
225 Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A method of thermally connecting a heat sink to a surface mount heat generating electronic device, comprising the steps of:
-
providing a surface mount heat generating device having a device contact region;
providing a heat sink having a heat sink contact region with an aperture formed therein, said aperture containing a reservoir of solidified thermal binder;
disposing said heat sink in proximity to said heat generating device;
melting said thermal binder for causing it to flow out of said aperture for forming a thermal and mechanical coupling between said heat sink and said device upon re-solidification of said thermal binder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A method of forming a reservoir of thermal binder in a heat sink contact region for facilitating thermal and mechanical coupling of said heat sink to a heat conducting device, comprising the steps of:
-
providing a heat sink;
forming an aperture in the heat sink contact region, said aperture having an exit end; and
disposing said thermal binder in the aperture, whereby when said heat sink is disposed in proximity to said heat conducting device and said thermal binder is melted, said thermal binder flows out of said exit end for forming a thermal and mechanical coupling between said heat sink and said heat conducting device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
Specification