Ruggedized electronics enclosure
First Claim
1. A ruggedized electronics enclosure for housing an electronic circuit comprising:
- a top compartment configured to house the electronic circuit; and
a cooling assembly comprising a rigid truss plate structure, rigidly coupled to the top compartment and thermally coupled to the electronic circuit, the top compartment, cooling assembly, and electronic circuit providing a rigid structure;
that does not substantially deform in response to one or more destructive shock events, to protect the electronic circuit against said one or more destructive shock events.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a ruggedized enclosure for housing and protecting electronics circuits. The enclosure utilizes a top compartment for housing the circuit and a cooling assembly rigidly coupled to the top compartment. The cooling assembly utilizes a passive radiator to form a rigid truss plate structure. The truss plate structure rigidifies the enclosure helping to protect the enclosure and circuit from destructive shock events and destructive vibration events. The cooling assembly further provides an efficient heat exchange for removing heat from the electronic circuit. A method for protecting an electronic circuit utilizing a rigid truss plate structure is also provided.
50 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A ruggedized electronics enclosure for housing an electronic circuit comprising:
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a top compartment configured to house the electronic circuit; and
a cooling assembly comprising a rigid truss plate structure, rigidly coupled to the top compartment and thermally coupled to the electronic circuit, the top compartment, cooling assembly, and electronic circuit providing a rigid structure;
that does not substantially deform in response to one or more destructive shock events, to protect the electronic circuit against said one or more destructive shock events.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
the top compartment comprises a heat spreader plate coupled to the cooling assembly; and
the cooling assembly comprises;
a bottom plate; and
a passive radiator coupled to the heat spreader plate and to the bottom plate to form the rigid truss plate structure.
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15. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 14 wherein the cooling assembly is configured to allow air to pass through a passageway formed by the heat spreader plate, bottom plate, and the passive radiator.
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16. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 14 wherein the passive radiator comprises a corrugated fin.
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17. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 16 wherein the corrugated fin is formed from one of copper, aluminum or composite materials.
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18. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 16 wherein the corrugated fin provides support against destructive shear forces in the horizontal plane and provides support against destructive twisting and flexing of the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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19. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 14 wherein the passive radiator comprises a triangular fin structure.
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20. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 19 wherein the triangular fin structure provides support against destructive shear forces in the horizontal plane and provides support against destructive twisting and flexing of the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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21. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 14 wherein the passive radiator comprises a plurality of pin-style heatsinks.
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22. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 21 wherein the pin-style heatsinks are arranged in a pattern of varying pin density, or profile, to form a turbulence gradient and configured to provide an even heat dissipation across the heat spreader plate.
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23. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 21 wherein the heat spreader plate varies in thickness to provide an even temperature distribution across the heat spreader plate.
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24. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 14 wherein the cooling assembly further comprises heat pipes configured to draw heat away from the cooling assembly to a point external to the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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25. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 1 wherein the top compartment further comprises a thermal interposer configured to remove heat from the electronic circuit.
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26. A ruggedized electronics enclosure comprising:
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an enclosure means for housing and protecting an electronic circuit; and
an external cooling means having a rigid truss plate structure, rigidly coupled to the enclosure means and thermally coupled to the electronic circuit for rigidifying the electronics enclosure, said electronics enclosure does not substantially deform in response to destructive shock events and destructive vibration events, and for transferring heat generated by the electronic circuit. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of housing and protecting an electronic circuit in a ruggedized electronics enclosure comprising:
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enclosing the electronic circuit in a top compartment;
externally cooling the electronic circuit with a rigid cooling assembly and rigidifying the electronics enclosure by rigidly coupling the cooling assembly comprising rigid truss plate structures to the top compartment, wherein said rigidified electronics enclosure does not substantially deform in response to one or more destructive shock events. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
the cooling assembly comprises a passive radiator; and
the step of cooling comprises conducting the heat generated by the electronic circuit to the passive radiator.
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40. The method of claim 37 wherein the step of cooling includes receiving an external air flow to aid in dissipating the heat.
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41. The method of claim 37 further includes raising the resonant frequency of the ruggedized electronics enclosure above the frequency of a destructive vibration event by selecting the mass and rigidity of the top compartment and cooling assembly and their materials.
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42. The method of claim 41 wherein the resonant frequency of the ruggedized electronics enclosure is in the range 200 Hz to 1 kHz, for land-based aircraft applications.
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43. The method of claim 37 wherein the resonant frequency of the ruggedized electronics enclosure is in the range of 20 Hz to 40 Hz, for shipboard applications.
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44. The method of claim 37 wherein the ruggedized electronics enclosure fully protects the electronic circuit from a destructive shock event of at least 20 G'"'"'s.
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45. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 37 wherein the ruggedized electronics enclosure is configured to protect the electronic circuit against a shock event of at least 40 G'"'"'s.
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46. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 37 wherein the ruggedized electronics enclosure is configured to protect the electronic circuit against a shock event at least 60 G'"'"'s.
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47. The method of claim 37 wherein the cooling assembly provides protection against shear force.
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48. A ruggedized electronics enclosure for housing an electronic circuit comprising:
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a top compartment configured to house the electronic circuit; and
a cooling assembly rigidly comprising a truss plate structure, coupled to the top compartment and thermally coupled to the electronic circuit, the top compartment and cooling assembly forming a rigid structure with a resonant frequency greater than the frequency of a destructive vibration event, wherein said rigid structure does not substantially resonate in response to said destructive vibration event. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
the top compartment comprises a heat spreader plate coupled to the cooling assembly; and
the cooling assembly comprises;
a bottom plate; and
a passive radiator coupled to the heat spreader plate and to the bottom plate to form the rigid truss plate structure.
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61. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the cooling assembly is configured to allow air to pass through a passageway formed by the heat spreader plate, bottom plate and the passive radiator.
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62. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the rigid truss plate structure is configured to radiate heat generated by the electronic circuit and to provide support against a destructive vibration event or a destructive shock event experienced by the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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63. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the passive radiator comprises a corrugated fin.
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64. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 63 wherein the corrugated fin is formed from either copper, aluminum or carbon composites.
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65. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 63 wherein the corrugated fin provides support against destructive shear forces in the horizontal plane and provides support against destructive twisting and flexing of the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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66. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the passive radiator comprises a triangular fin structure.
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67. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 66 wherein the triangular fin structure provides support against shear forces in the horizontal plane and provides support against twisting and flexing of the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
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68. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the passive radiator comprises a plurality of pin-style heatsinks.
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69. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 68 wherein the pin-style heatsinks are arranged in a pattern of varying pin density to form a turbulence gradient and configured to provide an even heat dissipation across the heat spreader plate.
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70. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the heat spreader plate varies in thickness to form a thermal gradient to provide an even heat dissipation across the heat spreader plate.
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71. The ruggedized electronics enclosure of claim 60 wherein the cooling assembly further comprises heat pipes configured to draw heat away from the cooling assembly to a point external to the ruggedized electronics enclosure.
Specification